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."

 

[Uncle Eckley]

@Uncle Eckley - A question I often ask myself, Unc!
Oh yeah, welcome to PNW weather. I figure our climates must be similar.
What latitude is Williamsburg?

~37.25 USDA 7b or so.
Our winters are similar, but summer here is horribly hot and humid. We often see heat indices over 110°F.

 

[PaulG]

Sun break lighting up the Yellow Pequín and Capuccinno Chiltepín.
Probably one more lame harvest before Fall ends. No freezing temps
in the forecast for at least 10 days.

 

[PaulG]

Wild Cumari c. praetermissum still soldering on flowering
and setting pods. A+ for perseverance.

 

[PaulG]

I have created a monster by having an indoor grow this winter.
My question is what should lighting be? I have it set for 12/12
now. Should I leave it there or...? I don't want the plants to grow
too fast, but don't want to stunt them too much either. Hoping
@CaneDog will chime in here.

 

[CaneDog]

Hey @PaulG. Really enjoyed your recent posts of your wilds and all the pods you processed. What a great season! Those wild pods look almost like candy in those little bags. Great to see many of those guys will be getting a year 2. Where are you keeping them? Is that the new table in your garage?

My best success with bigger OW's has been with a fairly bright LED (HLG100) running only about 6 hours per day backed off to a decent height. My takeaway from that experience was that the lights weren't warming the plants much so they stayed in the low 50's and didn't try to grow too fast. Plus, because they stayed cool with minimal warming from the lights, the aphids didn't proliferate - they did in spring rather suddenly though once the plants warmed up and before I could get them back outside

My best guess is 12 is plenty and even fewer hours would be fine. With T5HO's or other lights that produce more heat I'd probably keep the lights back off the plants a little farther to keep the warmth and aphids down though, so I might keep my # of hours up a bit higher than otherwise to compensate for the lower intensity.

I'll be moving my OW's into the garage shortly and will try that same lighting plan again this year.

 

[Tybo]

Good luck with your overwinters Paul. An idea to thwart the aphids is a layer of sand on top of your media. Maybe an inch or so.

 

[PaulG]

Thanks for the advice, @CaneDog. I think I will lift the lights
a little and leave then on the timer for 12/12. Our garage is
heated a little bit, so temps at night get down to high 50's
and daytimes in mid 60's. I have been keeping aphids under
control with insecticidal soap. I have my NEEM concentrated
oil warming up on the lights for use when necessary.

And, @dragonsfire, I'm thinking of a Neem drench for the soil
sometime in the later winter to head off the Spring Aphid
explosion. Have you tried/had any luck with that? I haven't
heard oof the sand trick before. How does that help control
the aphids?

 

[PaulG]

Pulled a few rocotos. Total harvest for the season.
Yellow Tatianas, Mostly Montufars and one Ecuador Sweet.

 

[Hawaiianero]

I recently moved to Olympia from Kona, Hawaii. Just starting to plan for next years pepper season. I think I need to invest in lights and heating pad for when I'm ready to germinate my seeds.

 

[ahayastani]

I haven't
heard oof the sand trick before. How does that help control
the aphids?

Same here

 

[dragonsfire]

And, @dragonsfire, I'm thinking of a Neem drench for the soil
sometime in the later winter to head off the Spring Aphid
explosion. Have you tried/had any luck with that? I haven't
heard oof the sand trick before. How does that help control
the aphids?

No I havent had any luck with Neem
Diatomaceous earth the only thing that might.

 

[PaulG]

Got a surprising amount of late Yellow Pequins
yesterday, Nov. 9. It looks like the weather may
hold for another couple of weeks, so some of
the late ripeners, praetermissums and the
Cappuccino Chiltepin, may produce a few more
berries.

 

[Tybo]

Thanks for the advice, @CaneDog. I think I will lift the lights
a little and leave then on the timer for 12/12. Our garage is
heated a little bit, so temps at night get down to high 50's
and daytimes in mid 60's. I have been keeping aphids under
control with insecticidal soap. I have my NEEM concentrated
oil warming up on the lights for use when necessary.

And, @dragonsfire, I'm thinking of a Neem drench for the soil
sometime in the later winter to head off the Spring Aphid
explosion. Have you tried/had any luck with that? I haven't
heard oof the sand trick before. How does that help control
the aphids?

My fault Paul. We have been dealing with fungus gnats in our potted plants and have been fighting them. A layer of sand prevents them from laying eggs in the potting mix. It also helps prevent those that are already in the potting mix from surviving. Ive had fungus gnats on my mind and in my eyes and in my food and I guess I just transposed your aphids to fungus gnats. Who knows.
Sorry for the misinformation. I'll try to read better I promise.

 

[PaulG]

Hey, @Tybo, no need to apologize, my friend.
Fungus gnats can be a nuisance for many reasons!
Thanks for getting into the conversation!

Do you bottom- or top-water your plants?

 

[PaulG]

A few more Rocotos. The majority Montufar, and two
Ecuador Sweet. Going to let these ripen some more
in a paper bag for awhile before trying them. Aji Straw-
berry Drop on the right.

Montufar plant just before picking pods above.

 

[PaulG]

Going to drop these seeds soon.

 

[nwpepper]

Here is a few photos of the greenhouse i built about ten years ago. I dug 6 ft down and built block walls. It is filled with gravel with perforated tubes which flow thru. The front side has a plenum wall about a foot away. There is a tube which draws air from top of greenhouse thru the plenum and out thru the tubes to the other side of the greenhouse. There is a couple thermostats that run it above and below set temps. This serves as a heat battery which builds heat all summer and disperses heat all winter. It is based on a system promoted by SunnyJohn around 15 years ago. I believe you have to access the time machine for some of his plans, as he died a decade ago and websites disappeared. It works so well you can grow anything all winter if ya have the time. I use it for plant storage in midwinter, post a couple pepper pics later. These pics are from when it was built. Little dirtier now!
here is site that is promoting his work and a few pics will show ya some of the design.

Reviving SunnyJohn's Work

Recently it was brought to our attention that elements of John Cruickshank's former website (sunnyjohn.com) were available in web archives. What was considered lost forever had been found! John was...

www.ecosystems-design.com

 

[PaulG]

That is a beautiful unit, @nwpepper! Perfect for the PNW, alright.

 

[CaneDog]

Looks fantastic! Yep, just the thing for the PNW.

 

[dragonsfire]

Very Nice!