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Eephus Man's 2012 March to Hell and Back (Grow Log)

Okay, I'm going to *actually* try and update things this year. My first flats will start tomorrow (chinenses and a few other long-seasons), and the rest, minus a few herbs/tomatoes, will go in later this week or early next. I'm going to try and be better about keeping records this year, too. We'll see how it goes with my limited time, but I'm hopeful.

So...without further blab, here's a tease of a few batches of seeds soaking in a seaweed/superthrive solution over night.



My current grow list looks like this:



Peppers (Hot)

7-Pot White (OP)
Aji Angelo
Aji Omnicolor
BAC593605
Bahamian Finger (Direct Sourced!)
Barro do Robiero
Billy Biker Jalapeno
Bonda ma Jacques
Broome
CA438633
Cheiro do Norte
Chocolate Bhut Jolokia
Chocolate Habanero (OP)
Criolla Sella
Congo Trinidad
Datil
Fatalii
Fish
Goat's Weed
Guampinho de Veado
Habanero de Arbol
Hinkelhatz
Hot Portugal (OP)
Mustard Habanero
Naga Jolokia
NuMex Jalmundo
Peach Scorpanero
Peppadew
Pilange (OP)
Rooster Spur (seedlings destroyed)
Santa Fe Grande
Thai Hot
Uyababa
Yellow Bhut Jolokia
Zimbabwe Bird

Peppers (Sweet or Very Mild Heat)

Ashe County Pimiento (0% germination)
Buran
Canary Bell (Two germinated, gave both away)
Cubanelle
Dulce di Minvervino
Hungarian Wax
Jimmy Nardello's
Kaleidoscope
Kalocsa
Kurtovska Kapiya 1619
Miniature Red Bell
Piment D'espelette (0% germination)
Pimiento L
Piquillo
R Naky
Shishito
Sweet Banana
Sweet Chocolate (lost seed, did not plant)
Sweet Pickle

I'm trying out small batches of varietals that are new to me, and larger for those that are known favs for me. Most of these will end up in pots or small raised beds. My title is in reference to the well-known summer conditions in Texas this year, where we were spared little in the way of either rainfall (none between late April and early October) or temperatures (over 100F for 90 days, including two, back-to-back 25+ day runs over 100F). This is also a test to see which varieties produce before the heat set, during the summer, and which begin to produce again the most quickly in the fall.

We'll see how it goes and I'm happy to have you on board for advice, tips, questions and observations!

Special thanks this year to Buck77, Kappy, menotume, hot stuff, and Spicegeist for help with wanted seeds and unrequested generosity!
 
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The seedlins are looking a bit leggy, you may want to move the lights closer.

Looking forward to watching your season Eephus, best of luck to you.
 
patrick said:
The seedlins are looking a bit leggy, you may want to move the lights closer.

Looking forward to watching your season Eephus, best of luck to you.
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Thanks, Patrick. I'm having big problems with variable growth already. I started them a touch too high, but now my Goat's Weed and Broome are crushed while others are way to far away. Not sure if there's an easy solution for that. I'm all ears for tricks...
 
Okay, here's a shot of the good half (did a soil starting test and found out EASILY which was better) of my first flat now.




And here's my first death-by-cat casualty of the year. A poor Piquillo met its probable end. There will be more carnage from this cat. I promise not to show too much gruesome without warning. My plants are behind closed doors in my son's bedroom (he's not sleeping there yet - we'll see what next year brings for space to grow), but it occasionally gets left open. This cat will binge and purge on anything green, so there is definitely more to come. Hopefully past the seedling stage so the plant will survive next time.

 
Justaguy said:
last season I had to top some of my seedlings, which sucked in my mind at the time, but in the end they were hearty plants
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Good to know, Brian. I'm hoping I won't have to, but will if I need to. I had a few slightly leggy ones last year, too. But once I potted up deep, it solved the problem.

I got started a bit too early, I think. But that's better than too late!
 
Thanks for sharing the baby pictures! And for sharing your log categories - very helpful.
 
Not too hard to fix the leggy ones at this stage, which you already know, just plant them neck deep when you pot them up. Amazing how fast new roots show up.

Good luck with the cat.
 
patrick said:
Good luck with the cat.
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lol. This sounds ominous. But maybe that's just my state of mind with the cats...

PaulG said:
Thanks for sharing the baby pictures! And for sharing your log categories - very helpful.
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No problemo. Later on, I'll try and attach it or publish parts of it to look at, if y'all might find it helpful. Trying very hard to keep everything detailed and up-to-date.
 
My cats decided that my plants were of no interest after their dirt meal was followed up with a spoonfull of Daves for dessert......just sayin :mouthonfire:
 
woody3says said:
My cats decided that my plants were of no interest after their dirt meal was followed up with a spoonfull of Daves for dessert......just sayin :mouthonfire:
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Man, I have yet to find the cure for this cat. I *doused* our hibiscus last time I brought it in, but to no avail. He consumed at least two handfuls of leaves and re-deposited them in at least four strategically placed locations around the house. What a turd.
 
Eephus Man said:
Man, I have yet to find the cure for this cat. I *doused* our hibiscus last time I brought it in, but to no avail. He consumed at least two handfuls of leaves and re-deposited them in at least four strategically placed locations around the house. What a turd.
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Cat's can be so frustrating at times. So far we've been very lucky in regards to cat damage. Fix yourself up a bottle of hot pepper spray and give the seedlings a light misting. Hopefully the smell will be enough to get him to leave them alone. If he eats and still likes them afterwards you may as well give up and plant a couple of extra ones just for him. Don't you just love 'em?
 
Hey Eric! Your little seedlings are looking great besides the cat damage of course D: When my cats happen to sneak into my room when I open the door (the plants and cats stay in seperate rooms due to extreme plant damage they've caused in the past) and run straight towards my plants, I will pick them up one at a time, show them the plants and tell them no, sit them down in my lap, show them my tabasco hot sauce bottle, pour a tiny bit on my finger and shove it in their mouths. Some may call this cruel, but everytime I show them the hot sauce now they run away lol and they'll still cuddle with me on the couch later. Its better than cutting one of the peppers off the plants they are wanting to eat and shoving a little bit of that in their mouth, what they would of learned the hard way in the first place. ^^ Good luck with the kitty problem! Looking forward to the next update!
 
Okay, some pics ten days later. This first one is of the original flat, planted on 12/29/11. You can see that my starter soil test (left vs. right half) yielded VERY obvious results. So much so that I have to be very careful that my single Fatalii survives! :)

These are well overdue for pot up, but I'm poor as dirt and can't afford dirt. Next month.




Some closer shots...







Below you can see that the stems are fairly robust. Maybe the daily fan use is paying off?




And here you can see the high variability in height. I planted this year based on published days-till-ripe from xplant, but as you can see, interspecies plant outs have their disadvantages. The foreground right (on the good soil side) are Goat's Weed. The left is Chiero do Norte and Yellow Bhuts. Big difference!





Flat #2 (planted 1/2/12)







Next time I'll shoot the other two flats as well as (hopefully) some pot up shots. They were planted a touch later and include a few of my arch enemies...tomatoes.
 
Lots of variety on your growlist! It's nice to see pictures of all your babies. Sowed my first round 3 days ago, so now I'm impatiently waiting, and checking the flats every time I walk by.

I feel your pain on the cat issue. Had to move mine to the guest room last year because our cat would not leave them alone. Then, we had a houseguest for a month, and the door to the guest room got left open a time or two. Ended up putting the plants out a couple weeks earlier than I should have, which really set them back, but I guess it was better than losing them all to the punk cat. Hope that you win the battle this season!
 
Okay!

It froze last week, but the next 10 days+, it looks really nice out. Due to the fact that I don't have any room under the lights, I'm behind on xplants, and we've been blessed with perfect weather for hardening off, all my plants are staying outside for the next week or so, minus the possibility of one night mid-week.

So...here's what things are looking like right now (captions under photos)...




Clockwise from top: Zimbabwe Bird, Peppermania Mystery Pepper, Bahamian Finger, Naga Jolokia




A shot of some of my early plant (12/29) chinenses xplants, including Bonda ma Jacques, Chocolate Habaneros, Chocolate Bhuts, Yellow Bhuts, and Chiero do Nortes.




The other side of that tray, with some annums, baccatums and some chinenses.




A bird's eye view of the disarray. The fresh 1/2 tray is all cherry tomato starts that will be left to their own devices early after they "hatch". The other half of that tray and the one to the right are yet-to-be xplanted tomatoes and peppers. Mainly peppers.




A shot of my three overwinters, including a Yellow Bhut, Aribibi Guisano, and my 4-year-old Chocolate Habanero. They look okay, but not great. Keep in mind they've been indoors with only window lighting until about a week ago, when I got aphids, banished them outside, killed the aphids, and have let them stay out. The Aribibi is budding already. Since I just tossed them out, they're a little sunburned and worn out, too. But...they'll get stronger and looks like they'll make the winter and be ready for xplants to larger, better homes here in about a month. Maybe sooner...

That's all for now. Things are going pretty good so far!
 
romy6 said:
Love the overwinters and your babies look superb! Can't wait to see them all grown up! :dance:
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Thanks, romy. I'm feelin' good about this season. I'm hoping we go freeze free the rest of the winter/early spring here. Not counting on it, but if it stays like this, I think I'm gonna get a REALLY nice April/May flush of fruit.
 
Yeah, Eric, those are some beauties. I'm looking forward to seeing them get big, too.

One day I will germinate in early January, as I plan to every year...Seems like I'm always playing catch up....
 
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