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Don't Panic! 2020 - The Year of the Covid

I'd been keeping a text-only Glog for myself on my computer.  I figured I might as well add some pictures, and share it with everyone here on THP.

Here's my current grow list for the year:

Annuums

Jamaican Yellow Mushroom (3)
About 5 or 10 years ago, a friend bought some peppers at a farmer's market in Connecticut.  He brought them back down here, and offered them to his neighbor, who is an avid gardener.  He gave me some seedlings about 5 years ago, and I've been growing them from saved seed since.

Junk Yard Mutt F3 (3)
One of my Jamaican Yellow Mushrooms crossed with something (I think a Banana Pepper), and I've been playing around with growing out the cross.

Sri Lankan Chili Red (3)
From PepperGuru for the 2019 GrowDown ThrowDown

Orange Thai (3)
From a SFRB of peppers I got from PepperGuru in 2018.

Allepo (2)
From the YAMRacer754 (and Edmick before that, I think) via Jeffcontonio's Seed Train that goes around each year.

Cajun Bell (2)
Saved seed from a local friend.

Jalapeno (3):  Random saved seed.

Utility Cayenne (3):
From saved seed.  I've been growing this variety for so long, I've forgotten where I got this variety originally.

NuMex 6-4 (1): Refining Fire Chili's

Chinense

Aji Jobito (2): White Hot Peppers.
Aji Margariteño (1): White Hot Peppers.
Bahamian Goat (2): White Hot Peppers.
P. Dreadie (2)
Saved seed originally from a SFRB of peppers I got from Annie57 (THP user name).
 
Trippaul Threat (2)
These seeds wound a crooked path from PaulG originally.  I got a PDNxBMJ seedling from Sawyer two years ago, and have been saving seed since.
 
Purple Thunder BJh2 (2): PaulG
Purple Thunder BJh Mystery (2): PaulG

Other

PGPG Sausage Pepper (F2) (3)
From PaulG.  This was one of the crossed Sri Lankan Chili Red varieties from PepperGuru for the 2019 GrowDown ThrowDown.

Volunteers (4):  I can't resist giving a chance to at least a few of the peppers that spontaneously spring up in my beds each year.

Stump Peppers (3-4):  These rascals just won't die.
 
 
Most of my peppers are in raised beds.  I have seven pepper plants in each bed.  One in the center, and a hexagon of plants arranged around the edge.  I know this is too dense, and the plants would grow better if they had more room.  But every year I succumb to the temptation of wanting to grow more plants than I have space for.
 
It's also very shady, but that's what I've got to work with.
 
Here's my main growing area:
 
iHgyGI5.jpg

 
And a small raised bed tucked into the back of my lot:
 
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Click to expand...
I'm having some successes and some failures with my PGPG Sausage Peppers.
 
 
My best looking example is still throwing out a bunch of pods.  The variation in color is almost similar to an ornamental.
 
However, looking at the leaves, you can tell I'm having some issues.  I think I'm over-applying compost (or some other nutrient).  This is also complicated by all the rain I received in August.  In years past, I've been guilty of neglecting my garden.  But, this year, I think my problem stems from giving them too much of the wrong kind of attention.  :)
 
i9YJvku.jpg

 
 
Unfortunately, the yellow example of the PGPG Sausage Pepper is all but dead.  Although I've got a few plants that are struggling, this one is doing the worst.  It's frustrating because I don't have a good feel for what's going wrong here, other than getting too much rain.
 
EfY7MbC.jpg

 
 
I have a third PGPG Sausage Pepper plant growing in the ground.  It's healthy, but small.  It's finally setting a few pods, but it's no where near as prolific as the other 2 PGPG Sausage peppers I've been growing.
 
IeH8ddS.jpg

 
 
So, I guess it's a mixed bag.  Some successes and some failures.  :)
 
Ride! Sally Ride!
 
dWfxuyK.jpg

 
Aw4Tdyz.jpg

 
But it could be worse!  :)
 
Not that many (if any) plants were completely obliterated.
 
But I've got too much other clean-up before I can get to back to my pepper plants.
 
And now it's raining again.  Difficult to start clearing the priorities off the list.
 
It could be worse.
 
If I had more time, most of it is really recoverable.  Many of the plants are responding well to the stress.
 
Too bad Sally dropped a whole bunch of other small tasks in my lap.
 
Time for me to wrap this Glog up for the year.
 
I've been reluctant to post because it almost sounds disastrous, but I accomplished a lot of my goals this year before things went sideways.
 
Between two hurricanes and the Covid, my peppers have had to fend for themselves.  I wasn't able to give them much attention.
 
The storms did more damage than I first thought.  The winds were whipping them around so much, many of the branches that had ripening peppers (with the extra weight) were somewhat damaged.  They weren't completely broken, and initially things didn't look that bad because these peppers began to furiously ripen up.  But because of the slightly damaged stems and branches, many of those peppers began to shrivel up and/or rot.
 
My largest PGPG Sausage pepper plant did provide an interesting end-of-the-year surprise.  My biggest PGPG Sausage pepper plant was vigorously cranking out peppers, much more so than the other examples of that variety.  It was so vigorous, I've been wondering if it hadn't crossed again last year, and was displaying hybrid vigor, especially since it seemed to have picked up some of the genes for purple coloration.
 
I haven't bothered with any pictures lately since everything looks kind-of ugly.  While this plant was full of pods, about half of them were damaged, and were either shriveled or rotting.
 
Then I went out there one morning last weekend, and to my surprise I noticed that the plant had been picked clean.  Both the damaged pods and good pods were gone.  Even the few that had fallen to the ground were gone.
 
None of my other pepper plants appeared to have been touched.  Just this one PGPG sausage pepper plant, and it was cleaned out.  I'd post a picture, but it's just a sad little twig now.
 
I'm thinking one of the migratory flocks of birds that have been coming through took a particular fancy to this pepper.  This is the first time all year I've noticed anything bothering this plant.  If it was one of the local birds, it would have been picked over all year long.
 
I wish I'd have seen it happening so I'd know for sure.  This would be the first time I've been suspicious of birds snitching my peppers.  But I can't think of what else would have done this.  I think humans or pests would have left the rotten/shriveled peppers behind.
 
It'll be interesting to see if any of this variety begins to spring up wild around the neighborhood next year.
 
Interesting finish to your season, Mitch!
 
That's funny about the 'Mr. Sausage' pepper.
I still have some of that seed, I may try another
next year just to leave for the birds. At least
somebody got to enjoy them!
 
Better times ahead, brother! Have a great holiday
season, and come back ready to rock in 2021!
 
Was a weird year and a weird season too, but nice to have some peppers growing and good keeping up with yours.  Strange what happened with the purple sausage.  That would have been a cool one to see.  Who knows? -Maybe it'll show up in next season's volunteers.  Purple Stump Sausage?   ;)
 
Hope you're enjoying the Holidays.  Better things in 2021  :cheers:
 
CaneDog said:
Strange what happened with the purple sausage.  That would have been a cool one to see.  Who knows? -Maybe it'll show up in next season's volunteers.  Purple Stump Sausage?   ;)
 
Click to expand...
The purple sausage pepper is the same one the birds apparently decimated.  This pepper would eventually ripen to red, but many of them would pass through a purple phase.
 
I only got a chance to grow out three examples of the sausage pepper, and this one stood out from the other two.  It was very prolific, it had some purple in it, and apparently is appealing to birds.
 
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