Thanks! I shot that vid last December, right before the first freeze...At the time the in-ground plants were at 10 months since sowing, maybe 11...So yours should get there easily!
-
Do you need help identifying a 🌶?
Is your plant suffering from an unknown issue? 🤧
Then ask in Identification and Diagnosis.
in-ground First time planting in the ground (2nd year growing) Issues
- Thread starter Helldozer
- Start date
Your plants look beautiful windchicken !
Seriously ?? You soil is pure clay ?
Where I live is a swampland, a little like the surrounding of Venezia if you know Italy. I'm 200 yards from the sea, so the soil is very sandy but at the same time loaded with clay (and salty ... and very windy carrying salt although ... the worst condition to grow anything I guess ...)
But honestly Helldozer I don't know what your problem is. It can be anything imo. Do you have the same breeding in pots ? (just to compare pot's plants and soil's plants)
Seriously ?? You soil is pure clay ?
Where I live is a swampland, a little like the surrounding of Venezia if you know Italy. I'm 200 yards from the sea, so the soil is very sandy but at the same time loaded with clay (and salty ... and very windy carrying salt although ... the worst condition to grow anything I guess ...)
But honestly Helldozer I don't know what your problem is. It can be anything imo. Do you have the same breeding in pots ? (just to compare pot's plants and soil's plants)
I should have mentioned that you can't always go by the paleness of the leaves, as Pierre mentioned, because other things can keep the leaves from greening up, even when the plants are carrying a metric heck-load of nitrogen...
In one of the photos there is some real hard leaf curl, almost like a tamale wrapper...That's a pretty good sign that you don't need any more nitrogen. Also, you will see that extreme "dimpling" of the leaves when you've got a nice amount of nitrogen...
It seems to me that a plant's ability to assimilate nitrogen is closely affected by the extent of its root development...A plant with a nice large root ball in loose, humic soil will really drink up the nitrogen, get nice and green, and grow fast, but that may take some time...I have damaged my plants roots by overwatering-induced root rot, and it took weeks and weeks for them to recover to the point that they could green up. I have also burned the roots by using too much Osmocote...same apparent effect...I'm not saying that's what's going on in your garden, but quite often young plants will spend several weeks "nutting up" underground without much apparent growth above ground.
Try not to overwater or over-fertilize plants. Keep a close watch on them. When they finally get "up and striding" they can handle more water and ferts.
In one of the photos there is some real hard leaf curl, almost like a tamale wrapper...That's a pretty good sign that you don't need any more nitrogen. Also, you will see that extreme "dimpling" of the leaves when you've got a nice amount of nitrogen...
It seems to me that a plant's ability to assimilate nitrogen is closely affected by the extent of its root development...A plant with a nice large root ball in loose, humic soil will really drink up the nitrogen, get nice and green, and grow fast, but that may take some time...I have damaged my plants roots by overwatering-induced root rot, and it took weeks and weeks for them to recover to the point that they could green up. I have also burned the roots by using too much Osmocote...same apparent effect...I'm not saying that's what's going on in your garden, but quite often young plants will spend several weeks "nutting up" underground without much apparent growth above ground.
Try not to overwater or over-fertilize plants. Keep a close watch on them. When they finally get "up and striding" they can handle more water and ferts.
Ok, excellent information. Thank you very much Gary, appreciate it. 
I kind of figured that I wouldn't see as much growth on top for a few weeks, due to the roots getting more established. On some plants, the new growth is coming in at the base, not the top, and it looks pretty good...for baby leaves.
I kind of figured that I wouldn't see as much growth on top for a few weeks, due to the roots getting more established. On some plants, the new growth is coming in at the base, not the top, and it looks pretty good...for baby leaves. Thanks Pierre! The clay at my house is actually pretty stuff...If you dig deep enough to get below the humus and plant roots it looks very much like dark chocolate...The 90% cacao type! And just as hard!
If you have time, please take a look at the paper I linked to...I did have the original French version, but it seems to be gone from the web now....It really changed my life, I'm not kidding!
As for your native soil...Sounds like a challenge! My first thought is to build some high beds with plenty of wood chips, either in frames or just mounded up. Then flush and flush with plenty of fresh water to get the salt out...
I'm looking forward to seeing the progress of your grow!
Thanks for the doc Windchicken ! (I'll read it even in English 
)
My soil is even worst that what you might think. In 2010 we had a pretty big storm (Xynthia). It killed several people in my village, destructed most of the houses (except mine which is a little upper) and we had to remove the boats which flew 500 yards into the land and crashed. I had 1,2m (47.2") of sea water covering all my garden with plenty of fishes and a huge amount of waste. More 2/3 of the trees in my 5 acre garden died because of the salt that the sea brought to the soil ... We are just starting this year to plant new trees, because so far all the new one we have planted died .... That's how bad my soil is ...
The high beds technique is I guess what my father is doing in his vegetable garden ("square gardening"). I'll probably try that which seems to be the best solution.
Edit : watching your video I realized that "high beds" are not "square foot gardening". Sorry, my vocabulary in English is a bit limited and I'm learning new words every day.
To stay in the topic (sorry Helldozer for being a little off-topic ...), I thought clay was also a problem for O² : clay is not only waterproof but also airtight. Getting more and more interested into Aeroponic growing, I realised reading some content about HPA & AAA, that Oxygen is probably as important as nutrients or light. Did you do something special concerning this windchicken to have such beautiful plants ?
)My soil is even worst that what you might think. In 2010 we had a pretty big storm (Xynthia). It killed several people in my village, destructed most of the houses (except mine which is a little upper) and we had to remove the boats which flew 500 yards into the land and crashed. I had 1,2m (47.2") of sea water covering all my garden with plenty of fishes and a huge amount of waste. More 2/3 of the trees in my 5 acre garden died because of the salt that the sea brought to the soil ... We are just starting this year to plant new trees, because so far all the new one we have planted died .... That's how bad my soil is ...
The high beds technique is I guess what my father is doing in his vegetable garden ("square gardening"). I'll probably try that which seems to be the best solution.
Edit : watching your video I realized that "high beds" are not "square foot gardening". Sorry, my vocabulary in English is a bit limited and I'm learning new words every day.
To stay in the topic (sorry Helldozer for being a little off-topic ...), I thought clay was also a problem for O² : clay is not only waterproof but also airtight. Getting more and more interested into Aeroponic growing, I realised reading some content about HPA & AAA, that Oxygen is probably as important as nutrients or light. Did you do something special concerning this windchicken to have such beautiful plants ?
Wow, a disaster...I'm glad your house and your family are all right...
There does seem to be some ambiguity around the terms "square foot garden" and "raised beds". I think probably the former is a subset of the latter....."Square foot" gardens seem to usually be framed up into 4-foot x 4-foot squares, or some other size, the point being that they are always square...."Raised beds," as I see it, can be any dimensions, and you see quite a few excellent large framed beds on THP—(JungleRain's beds come to mind.) Also, "raised beds" can be either framed up or simply mounded up.
At any rate, the two terms get used interchangeably, but the general idea is a garden built up above ground level for any number of reasons...In some areas it's done because the native soil is deemed unusable (often unjustifiably so). Rather than attempting to amend the indigenous ground, new dirt is simply stacked up on top of the old. In my case, it's because the soil does not drain—There is an impermeable clay "hardpan" layer just beneath the humic zone. However, that impermeable ground, if broken up and amended with something that improves the permeability and porosity of the soil, can become wonderfully fertile, well-drained ground. The old traditional amendments are sand, gypsum, and/or manure. None of those things, however, come anywhere near the long-term effectiveness of hardwood chips...
Problems caused by the "waterproofness and airtightness" of dense clay soil are obviated by the use of wood chips...The improved porosity and permeability are only part of the many wonderful things that begin to happen when you begin to build soil the way nature does....
Love your coffee machine...
There does seem to be some ambiguity around the terms "square foot garden" and "raised beds". I think probably the former is a subset of the latter....."Square foot" gardens seem to usually be framed up into 4-foot x 4-foot squares, or some other size, the point being that they are always square...."Raised beds," as I see it, can be any dimensions, and you see quite a few excellent large framed beds on THP—(JungleRain's beds come to mind.) Also, "raised beds" can be either framed up or simply mounded up.
At any rate, the two terms get used interchangeably, but the general idea is a garden built up above ground level for any number of reasons...In some areas it's done because the native soil is deemed unusable (often unjustifiably so). Rather than attempting to amend the indigenous ground, new dirt is simply stacked up on top of the old. In my case, it's because the soil does not drain—There is an impermeable clay "hardpan" layer just beneath the humic zone. However, that impermeable ground, if broken up and amended with something that improves the permeability and porosity of the soil, can become wonderfully fertile, well-drained ground. The old traditional amendments are sand, gypsum, and/or manure. None of those things, however, come anywhere near the long-term effectiveness of hardwood chips...
Problems caused by the "waterproofness and airtightness" of dense clay soil are obviated by the use of wood chips...The improved porosity and permeability are only part of the many wonderful things that begin to happen when you begin to build soil the way nature does....
Love your coffee machine...
I read half of the doc you sent to me and BRF seems very interesting. I only read half of it so far, because I'm also reading several other doc from Lemieux at the same time.
I also trying to figure out if I can make some BRF, because I'll have to chop at least 15 more dead trees in the garden (due to salt from sea). So if can make something out of it instead of firewood ... If you have any tips
(yes I like my coffee machine also, does everything by itself and makes me great coffee)
Are we not going off Helldozer's topic ?
I also trying to figure out if I can make some BRF, because I'll have to chop at least 15 more dead trees in the garden (due to salt from sea). So if can make something out of it instead of firewood ... If you have any tips
(yes I like my coffee machine also, does everything by itself and makes me great coffee)
Are we not going off Helldozer's topic ?
Oops, sorry, you're right...Moving to your glog....
They're hanging in there, maybe a tad better? I think I may have read them wrong after I planted them. Here's my current theory. I think I shorted them time on hardening off and put them in the ground too soon to start with. Then, we had about two weeks of unusually record tying/breaking temps. They wilted, and I knew some was from heat, but they also looked like they needed to be watered. So, I may have over watered them the first few weeks. I believe the signs they have are similar to that. Not to mention, they look like they may have a couple of other minor things we mentioned before here.
So, the short of it is...I think they are currently just okay. Thanks for asking.
So, the short of it is...I think they are currently just okay.
Thanks for asking.Good to know they are okay.
If you didn't hardened them off enough it's possible they look that way. But at that size they will recover for sure. If you grew them indoor under T5 for instance, they must have had a shock with the sun light which is like 20 or 30 times more intense. If it's the case don't worry, I did that also once, they lost almost all their leaves, but they recovered.
If you didn't hardened them off enough it's possible they look that way. But at that size they will recover for sure. If you grew them indoor under T5 for instance, they must have had a shock with the sun light which is like 20 or 30 times more intense. If it's the case don't worry, I did that also once, they lost almost all their leaves, but they recovered.
I'm getting some yellowing on the bottom leaves, some are dropping off too. Could be because of my previous theory of over watering to begin with, or could be a calcium deficiency. I was thinking of boosting the soil around it a tad with a handful of worm castings around the base and maybe mist with epsom salt. OR, just make some worm castings tea without the steer manure/compost and chicken manure/compost.
OR, I could just leave it alone like Gary suggested.
OR, I could just leave it alone like Gary suggested.
Worm castings can never hurt. Ca deficiency should cause deformed new growth. Oldest leaf yellowing could be a lot of things. Check out pages 6 and 7 of this nifty doc http://landresources.montana.edu/NM/Modules/NM%209%20mt44499.pdf
Thanks PepperWhisperer, great article. Yeah, top leaves are deformed. With a quick search, it looks like castings have a bunch of calcium in them. I added some in as a top dressing last night, and tonight or tomorrow my worm tea should be done for some foliage spraying. I've read that can help with bugs and diseases (I know this is up for discussion), but I figured it couldn't hurt.
Weakened plants are bug magnets. Spray em with some of this: http://www.amazon.com/Spectracide-QT-Conc-Bug-Stop/dp/B000IKOJBI/ref=sr_1_27?s=lawn-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1368129310&sr=1-27&keywords=spectracide+garden+insect+killer Best stuff I've found and can spray up until harvest
A full dose of Cal-Mag with some worm castings/tea seems in order too.
A full dose of Cal-Mag with some worm castings/tea seems in order too.