DocNrock's 2013 Glog - 7/11/13

Portuge · Jan 9, 2013

That would be interesting to follow along as your plants mature during the spring and summer months.... I wonder if the roots will air prune just like the smart pots or just get root bound in the wally bags... Its worth a try right?

stickman · Jan 9, 2013

DocNrock said:
Cool! What variety will you put in them? Will you post progress with them in your glog?

Positootly... I think I'll plant the ones I want to overwinter... Douglah, 7-pot yellow, Criolla Sella and Hot Paper Lantern.

DocNrock · Jan 9, 2013

Portuge said:
That would be interesting to follow along as your plants mature during the spring and summer months.... I wonder if the roots will air prune just like the smart pots or just get root bound in the wally bags... Its worth a try right?

They are supposed to air prune, but more like Root Pouches: http://rootpouch.com/ But I suppose this is similar to smart pots. I just need to make sure they are large enough (ie., 5 gal or more). I'll be doing that measurement this weekend.

stickman said:
Positootly... I think I'll plant the ones I want to overwinter... Douglah, 7-pot yellow, Criolla Sella and Hot Paper Lantern.

Most excellent. If the bags work as expected, should make overwintering much easier. Will happily follow your progress with these.

Stefan_W · Jan 9, 2013

I am guessing your plan is to overwinter in your greenhouse then? They will be monsters in summer 2014.

DocNrock · Jan 10, 2013

Stefan_W said:
I am guessing your plan is to overwinter in your greenhouse then? They will be monsters in summer 2014.

Actually, I hadn't even thought of this. I was referring to Rick's overwintering plans. Now that you mention it, hmmm.... :party:

PeriPeri · Jan 10, 2013

Overwintering is definately the way to go... if you manage to pull any of your plants through... come spring, they just sprout leaves and bang... you have flowers and pods! It's chilli growing on rocket fuel

PaulG · Jan 10, 2013

Great little experiment going with the pouches, bro!
The greenhouse is really doin' the trick for you; the
plants look great!

DocNrock · Jan 12, 2013

PeriPeri said:
Overwintering is definately the way to go... if you manage to pull any of your plants through... come spring, they just sprout leaves and bang... you have flowers and pods! It's chilli growing on rocket fuel

Well PeriPeri, I do have a few plants kind of overwintering. See below.

PaulG said:
Great little experiment going with the pouches, bro!
The greenhouse is really doin' the trick for you; the
plants look great!

Paul, this little greenhouse is a real gem. I can see why you got one a few years ago. But what speaks volumes is that it meant enough to you to go through the trouble of replacing the aged panels. I can really see why. I'm going to do some things with the pouches tomorrow. Of course, there will be pictures.

Today was time to finish up-potting the plants that were ready. There are still a significant number that need more time under the lights (slow growers, late poppers, etc.).

I had time for some pics today, so here goes.

These are the grow bags that I got. Can't beat 10 for $1.79!

I went through three of these total. Two today and two last Sunday :

Put about six handfulls of mix into a bag, spray with some water and add about 125 ml of Superthrive (1/4 tsp / gallon):

Pull rootball out of window planter:

Being rectangular, I was pleasantly surprised that there was no root circlin, even though they clearly were out of room.

Anyway, put rootball into bag on top of previously placed mix, cut off leaves from previous soil line to top of bag, fill in gaps around the sides, then fill the bag to the top with soil mix. Add another 125 ml of Superthrive solution and water.

One done!

Lather, rinse, repeat.

There was one more step before the filled bag went into the greenhouse:

I had decided to empty the greenhouse of all plants so that I could put up a couple of small fans I picked up. I noticed a few aphids on a plant. Damn! Fortunately, it was only two. But then I inspected every plant. There were six that had aphids on them. The most on any one plant was about 10. They were plucked and squished.

Sorry, no pics. Once I saw them, they needed to die immediately. I sprayed each and every plant though in case there were eggs that had not yet hatched.

Which reminds me, I should post pics of the fans!

With them both running on low, I think they'll provide plenty of air circulation.

I started today around 1 pm and finished around 5:30. Here is the current state of the greenhouse:

Oh, almost forgot! PeriPeri, I have been doing some "overwintering."

Our winters usually have highs in the 50's and lows in the high 30's to low 40's. Occasionally though, we do get a frost. This week there is an Alaskan weather system, so our nighttime lows have been in the high 20's. It started Thursday night and is supposed to be back to normal Tuesday night. So until then, my outdoor plants are "overwintering" in the bed of my pickup in the garage.

It seems to work. I'll put them back outside on Wednesday, where they'll stay until we get another frost.

That's it for now. I've got some plant/bud/baby pod shots if I get a bump! :party:

PaulG · Jan 12, 2013

looking very good, doc! Lights, camera, action!

DocNrock · Jan 12, 2013

PaulG said:
looking very good, doc! Lights, camera, action!

Thanks for the bump, my friend!

Pepper Joe "Free Seeds!" Serrano looks kinda fuzzy. Is this normal for a Serrano?

Cloning is another way to really jump-start production. Caribbean Red clone budding up. It's only about four inches tall!

The infamous:

Looks like the first pods in the HP22B Community Glog aren't looking so true. Too soon to judge. We'll see.

Moving along.

Golden Cayenne pod getting bigger:

First Jalapeno:

First Pasilla Bajio:

And first Yellow Bell:

And, the chinenses are starting to bud. There are more, but here are a couple.

Trinidad Morova:

Ajijoe's Yellow Hablokia:

Finally, I did a seed swap with Jamison last week. I swear, this is it for my grow this year. :liar

:

Portuge · Jan 13, 2013

Lookin good doc, have you seen any good come from using the superthrive? Never have used it only picked it up several times to look and read the claims on it..

Jamison · Jan 13, 2013

Damn, things are looking good man! Always work to do with the plants it seems eh?

Trippa · Jan 13, 2013

My Serrano is a real furry little plant and its from THSC so I would say its normal as far as I am concerned.

Looking good doc I like the pickup idea !!

DocNrock · Jan 13, 2013

Thanks guys, and thanks for stopping in!

Portuge said:
Lookin good doc, have you seen any good come from using the superthrive? Never have used it only picked it up several times to look and read the claims on it..

From what I have read, it's just a B vitamin supplement. B vitamins are supposed to help with transplant shock, so I use a bit when I up-pot things. I've never tried without it, so I can't really say if it's necessary or if it helps. The "snake oil" bottle really catches your attention though.

Jamison said:
Damn, things are looking good man! Always work to do with the plants it seems eh?

There is always work to do, but I try to time things so I can do it in one fell swoop. It should be a few weeks before I need to do any more with my grow.

Trippa said:
My Serrano is a real furry little plant and its from THSC so I would say its normal as far as I am concerned.

Looking good doc I like the pickup idea !!

Cool. I thought maybe it had been crossed with a pubescens, but none such luck.

I had said in the last thread that the seeds from Jamison were the final ones making it into my grow for this year. While true, I haven't posted what has been going on indoors. I had a few finicky varieties that took a few germination efforts to get a robust seedling. And there were a few more varieties that got sowed.

Finally got good seedlings for Aribibi Gusanito, Red Bhut, Paprika, Anaheim, Jay's Peach Ghost Scorpion and Butch T. Added varieties: Madballz 7, Bali Naga, Fresno, Variegata, Rapires F1, Bishop's Crown, Scotch Bonnet TFM, Bahamian Goat, Bih Jolokia, Siling Labuyo, Mustard Habanero, and Bird's Eye. This round still yielded one very wimpy Red Rocoto.

And the final germination round...I think.

Final attempts at Giant Mexican Rocoto, Red Rocoto, KingDenniz's "Arboretum," and White Devil's Tongue. Added varieties are the ones from Jamison showed earlier, as well as Wild Brazil.

Later today when it warms up outside (30F now), I'm going to do some things with the Wally bags and a couple of other things I picked up.

Have a great day and thanks for looking!

stickman · Jan 13, 2013

Came across this study done at Texas A&M that says that the synthetic Auxin analog NAA (The chief ingredient in SuperThrive) is mainly useful for growing roots from vegetative tissue. http://aggie-horticu...gation-2002.pdf
It doesn't seem all that useful unless you're cloning the plants.

DocNrock · Jan 13, 2013

stickman said:
Came across this study done at Texas A&M that says that the synthetic Auxin analog NAA (The chief ingredient in SuperThrive) is mainly useful for growing roots from vegetative tissue. http://aggie-horticu...gation-2002.pdf
It doesn't seem all that useful unless you're cloning the plants.

Very cool, Rick! Thank you for the link. I thought SuperThrive was just a B vitamin mix. I think I'll try it today on a couple of my sluggish small plants. Maybe root development is their problem.

PaulG · Jan 13, 2013

Great photos, Doc! I'd say you are about three months ahead of me!
Your starts all look great; good luck getting the manzanos to go for you.
I'm pleased to have 4 Orange Rocoto Sprouts, from harvested seed, so very fresh.
Be happy to send a few if you'd like.
My Peruvian White Hab and Devils Tongue haven't sprouted yet. :think:

Maybe
'White' and 'Devil tongue' are unlucky labels, and I need to change the
names :shocked:

DocNrock · Jan 13, 2013

PaulG said:
Great photos, Doc! I'd say you are about three months ahead of me!
Your starts all look great; good luck getting the manzanos to go for you.
I'm pleased to have 4 Orange Rocoto Sprouts, from harvested seed, so very fresh.
Be happy to send a few if you'd like.
My Peruvian White Hab and Devils Tongue haven't sprouted yet. Maybe
'White' and 'Devil tongue' are unlucky labels, and I need to change the
names

Thanks, bud! Very happy to hear about your Orange Rocoto sprouts. I'm going to give the pubes one last chance. I just earlier ordered some seeds from a different supplier than last time, so maybe that will make the difference. I just might take you up on your offer.

Good luck on the Peruvian Whites and DTs. I don't think you need to worry about "White" and "Devil Tonge." My other "White" varieties popped just fine, as did the Red "Devil's Tongue."

I may have to give the White Devil's Tongue a go next year.

Stefan_W · Jan 13, 2013

DocNrock said:
Thanks guys, and thanks for stopping in!

From what I have read, it's just a B vitamin supplement. B vitamins are supposed to help with transplant shock, so I use a bit when I up-pot things. I've never tried without it, so I can't really say if it's necessary or if it helps. The "snake oil" bottle really catches your attention though.

There is always work to do, but I try to time things so I can do it in one fell swoop. It should be a few weeks before I need to do any more with my grow.

Cool. I thought maybe it had been crossed with a pubescens, but none such luck.

I had said in the last thread that the seeds from Jamison were the final ones making it into my grow for this year. While true, I haven't posted what has been going on indoors. I had a few finicky varieties that took a few germination efforts to get a robust seedling. And there were a few more varieties that got sowed.

Finally got good seedlings for Aribibi Gusanito, Red Bhut, Paprika, Anaheim, Jay's Peach Ghost Scorpion and Butch T. Added varieties: Madballz 7, Bali Naga, Fresno, Variegata, Rapires F1, Bishop's Crown, Scotch Bonnet TFM, Bahamian Goat, Bih Jolokia, Siling Labuyo, Mustard Habanero, and Bird's Eye. This round still yielded one very wimpy Red Rocoto.

And the final germination round...I think.

Final attempts at Giant Mexican Rocoto, Red Rocoto, KingDenniz's "Arboretum," and White Devil's Tongue. Added varieties are the ones from Jamison showed earlier, as well as Wild Brazil.

Later today when it warms up outside (30F now), I'm going to do some things with the Wally bags and a couple of other things I picked up.

Have a great day and thanks for looking!

Maybe I'll put some rocoto seeds in the ground later on today so we can compare notes. Would this be interesting to you?

DocNrock · Jan 13, 2013

Stefan_W said:
Maybe I'll put some rocoto seeds in the ground later on today so we can compare notes. Would this be interesting to you?

Sure! I had very poor germ rates with them. The two Red Rocotos that did pop have made very slow growing, weak-looking seedlings. The Giant Mexican Rocoto finally showed signs of life in one cell, but the two that had rootlets seem to have stalled.