Growing in the Pacific NorthWest Community GrowLog

There have been several yearly PNW grow logs, the last in 2017,
so @FGpepperguy and I thought it might be a good idea to start
an on-going glog for the PNW. This is a community glog, so anyone
is free to post here, whether in the PNW or not. Hopefully, this forum
thread will provide for some information sharing particular to growing
in our crazy, unpredictable weather.

So, that being said, welcome all. Don't be strangers!

"Yes, we can grow chili peppers in the
Pacific NorthWest! Usually."

 

[CaneDog]

Wow. Those guys look fantastic. And you're finding some great angles with your pictures. Not always easy to do.

 

[MarcV]

That dwarf chiltepin looks huge!

 

[PaulG]

Wow. Those guys look fantastic. And you're finding some great angles with your pictures. Not always easy to do.

Thanks, Doc. I bought an iPhone 13 Pro Max,
which has a great camera system. I used the
wide-angle lens on those greenhouse pics.
Cool thing is that the lenses are infinitely ad-
justable, so you can dial in the exact focal
length you need.

That dwarf chiltepin looks huge!

About one meter, in a @2NC container, about 6 l.
The Semillas web site said one meter was the ex-
pected height. The low wide angle shot makes it
look like tall timber!

 

[FGpepperguy]

Looks like a dojo from Karate Kid. Dumping rain when I took the photo.

Anyone order seeds from mattspeppers? I couldn't resist last night.....

 

[PaulG]

Greenhouse starting to wind down, three
plants left, all of which seem tolerant of the
cooler temps. Left to right:
>Rocopica Brown, second generation, seed
from @CaneDog. about a dozen nice sized
brown berries.
>c. flexuosum with one ripe berry. Hoping
fervently for at least a handful of ripe ones.
>c. tovari with a couple of dozen ripe red
berries. I’ll let these plants roll for a little
while longer before pulling the plug.

Flex seed from @Pr0digal_son, Tovari seed from @Mr.joe.

 

[Downriver]

...might just be the tidiest greenhouse EVER! lol

 

[PaulG]

...might just be the tidiest greenhouse EVER! lol

I think that @Mildfruit's greenhouse has that award!

 

[MarcV]

...might just be the tidiest greenhouse EVER! lol

...at least it isn't filled up with useless plants...

 

[FGpepperguy]

Anyone throw some seeds in the dirt yet for 2023?

 

[mcbob]

I'm all in now. I promised myself I would downsize this year. It didnt work. I blame it on the seed train.
I hope I can find a home for some of these. I still have a tote full in the freezer.

 

[mcbob]

All Annuum's are in the ground and are waking up. I'm liking the weather so far.
How are the rest of the PNW growers doing?

 

[PaulG]

All Annuum's are in the ground and are waking up. I'm liking the weather so far.
How are the rest of the PNW growers doing?

Good work, my friend! Great to see all those plants in the ground.

I’m a slacker this season. Only two new plants and a dozen or so
OWs which were were basically neglected during the run up to Spring.
Partly to stroke recovery and the fact we are going to be gone for
a couple of months later in the Summer. Glad to see you carrying
the Willamette Valley load so far this Summer,

 

[mcbob]

Good work, my friend! Great to see all those plants in the ground.

I’m a slacker this season. Only two new plants and a dozen or so
OWs which were were basically neglected during the run up to Spring.
Partly to stroke recovery and the fact we are going to be gone for
a couple of months later in the Summer. Glad to see you carrying
the Willamette Valley load so far this Summer,

Hope you have a full recovery and a great vacation! There is always next year and new varieties.

 

[PaulG]

Hope you have a full recovery and a great vacation! There is always next year and new varieties.

Thanks very much, friend!

Right on both counts!

 

[Peppers In Keizer]

I have a couple questions if anyone could answer them for me please. First off let me say totally new to growing peppers other than jalapenos and such from the stores. This year went all in on about a dozen types from dragon breath, reapers to as low heat as tam jalapenos ( for my wife) all from seed.
First is it normal to have pepper plants same size when planted out in the raised beds but within just a few weeks some are 3 times the size of others even when side by side? Watering, sun, soil, type all the same. I know types are different but just looks odd to see a cayenne or scotch bonnet, at 18", bushy and flowering and the next one a scrawny 11".
Second question is directly related to reapers, a friend gave me 2 almost dead overwintered plants late in March. Long thin stalks, about 28" tall and very few leaves but still put out a couple 3/8-1/2" pods over the wintering. I built a plastic film 6mil and 2x3 greenhouse with a heater to keep them alive. Now they are almost 4' tall, mostly spindly and bushy in spots with little branches going all over. My question is the pods, some have been small at about the 1/2" size but the one I got this Wednesday was easily 1-1/2'. The orange and green pods seem to be the same, all kinds of different sizes, is this normal? no consistency to size? Also is there anything I can do to get the size larger?

 

[CaneDog]

Hey Keizer.

Pictures would definitely help, but I'll offer you some thoughts.

#1 - Plants planted out around the same time would generally expected to grow similarly, but they can progress differently based on the weather at the time they're planted out and any shock they might experience during transplant. For instance, if you plant out into cold conditions, those peppers may stall compared to ones planted after the cold conditions (perhaps just a day or two later) or even a plant that has a week or so to establish themselves before experiencing the cold conditions. Also, how well the plants are hardened off - if transplanted into hot weather - could have an affect, e.g., a plant not well hardened before transplant into hot conditions could suffer setback compared to a plant that waited several days longer, thus hardened off more before transplant into the hotter weather. Another consideration is that damage during transplant could affect the roots and set back a pepper compared to another planted at the same time without any root damage during transplant. I did this with a tomato this season and ended up pulling it and replacing it with a back-up as it was obliviously struggling in the heat compared to the others due to lacking its full root system.

#2 - Pepper pods may be smaller than typical if the plant is weaker or less established when they set. This can be due to the visible part of the plant or the root system and is often the case when the plant begins production while still small. The plant has only so much energy to put into the pods. Then, as the plant puts on size and well-establishes its root system it starts producing bigger pods, but production may be slowed given that it's still supporting the early-set smaller pods. If you want bigger pods, removing the smaller pods once the plant begins to better establish itself and put on size should cause it to set replacements which will be bigger now that the plant is stronger. Some Jalapenos are notorious in my experience for producing small pods if they start producing while smaller, but then putting out bigger pods once the plant is bigger. I typically remove the "button" pods once the plant starts setting larger pods.

Hope that gives you some ideas. It's very early in the season now here in the PNW so there's still plenty of time for your plants to establish themselves.

 

[Peppers In Keizer]

Thank you Cane, every plant was germinated and put into the ground at the same time for each separate box. Had 3 separate germination groups/periods so I did allow for that. The much bigger and bushy plants germinated first so I don't count them just the grouped ones. I waited till soil temp was over 65* and used shade in the afternoon with a 50% shade cloth for any days temps hit 80-90* for couple weeks. I did harden off by slowly allowing over night temps to be lower by 1* per day for a week and gave an hour or two per day for a week, then went to 4 hrs of direct sunlight for another week before they went outside.

 

[CaneDog]

Well, that all sounds good and nothing looks bad - and some look really great and bushy. Hard to say sometimes why they do what they do, but they usually come on strong once they've dug in a bit post-transplant.

Good luck and I look forward to seeing how they progress through the season!

 

[Peppers In Keizer]

So another question for you PNW growers. We are expecting 3 days of rain ( 3/4" total) and temps into the low 60's, over nights to upper 40's. I plan on moving potteds to the GH but the planted ones I am wondering should I cover? If yes I can partially cover some with clear but only an opaque tarp for the most of them. Should I cover or just leave it to nature?

 

[CaneDog]

I won't cover anything, but if a plant looked weak like wind or rain might damage it I'd consider tying it to a stake for protection. The cool nights shouldn't be an issue.