Guru's 1/8 Acre Fabriculture - 5 yr mothers

[Pepper-Guru]

Hey THP! Guess I will go ahead and share my plans with a journal this year too! Most of my transplants that go into the garden this year will be cuttings/volunteers from mother plants I have kept for the last five years. I like to start from seed most of the time, but this year it's getting a little late for that. I have started some strains this March from seed and those will be going into the dirt soon. I will more than likely still try and go through my seed stock and pull out a few more varieties that I have missed over the years and get them started too. I like to use my mothers because I know there is no chance for crosses (although i'd say 90% of my pods still breed true, and that's pretty good for planting in such close proximity)
Here are a few shots of the garden from earlier this year. I have laid woven ground cover over each raised row (like they do in nurseries under their container plants) because last year the weeds kicked my ass. Not this year. I use drip irrigation for watering and feed through it as well. I feed all organic, nothing but the best for my babies.

Bhut Jolokia Mother

Trinidad Scorpion Mother

Fatalli Mother going into 65 gallon air pruning pot!

White Bullet Mother

Aribibi Gusano (Caterpillar) Mother just made it last year

Red Aribibi Gusano Mother - personal cross, bigger, red, and great Caterpillar taste

cont...

 

[Pepper-Guru]

Rooster Spur volunteers - mother didn't make it, getting transplanted for sure!

Fatalli vonlunteers - kept me from dropping those seeds this year

Hope you guys are having a great season and I'll post back with more updates after the cuttings go in the ground! TheHotPepper rocks!

 

[wayright]

I would love to try that fabric method one day!
Weeds can get outta hand quick in these parts!
That is some pretty red dirt ya got there
Do you ammend it or just go with it like I do?
Those are some nice looking mother's Guru!
Great job,Cant wait to see how you do the cuttings!


Kevin

 

[mmcdermott1]

Very nice setup guru! Beautiful mommy plants

 

[RedtailForester]

Those are some HOT Mommas!!!

 

[Pepper-Guru]

That is some pretty red dirt ya got there
Do you ammend it or just go with it like I do?


Kevin

Its the best kind! Peppers love whats in that stuff. I do amend it. With Ga red clay you just about have to unless it has been top soiled for years under big oaks and stuff. You see the clay itself, has just about everything that pepper plant wants, the problem is the aeration. If you want monster plants, the roots need to move around easily and quickly. Adding compost or a verm/perlite/peat mix will do the trick just fine. Drainage and oxygen are very important with ga red clay. Thing is, once the roots get going in it, WATCH OUT! We Georgia boys grow some big healthy trees down here!

Very nice setup guru! Beautiful mommy plants

Thanks. Hopefully they will do me right this year!

 

[Eephus Man]

Cool! Looking forward to following and...got any more of that Red Aribibi Gusano seed?

 

[Pepper-Guru]

Cool! Looking forward to following and...got any more of that Red Aribibi Gusano seed?

Glad to have you aboard! And...I think I might be able to hook a brotha up May be a month when these pods come out but none the less we can get ya some...

 

[Downriver]

We Georgia boys grow some big healthy trees down here!

Yepper. We've already seen some of them GA trees.

Nice looking plot ya got there. Those woods are scary close though. You got any DEER in Georgia?

Looking forward to your grow this year, and I too LOVE Gusano. Keep me in mind when those pods ripen up. A trade could be in our future.

Hope you have a great growing season.

 

[millworkman]

Looking great Guru. Cant wait to see how it all works out for you this year.

 

[Yaotzin]

Looks good man very healthy

 

[SuperHot]

Looking great Guru. Cant wait to see how it all works out for you this year.

+1

 

[Alphaeon]

65 gallon grow bag Can you say FATALII TREE???

 

[Nova]

They do look like mini trees! Nice work.

Cute kid too

 

[JADOZE]

65 gallon grow bag Can you say FATALII TREE???

65 gallons is maddness, that things gonna grow legs and take over. plants look great though, you obv got your wintering down pat.

 

[Pepper-Guru]

65 gallons is maddness, that things gonna grow legs and take over. plants look great though, you obv got your wintering down pat.

Over wintering is an easy process. Cut em back and bring em in to a sunny window or your preferred grow light. Water as needed. I've noticed that if I'm bringing in a plant that has been in the ground, It really helps to make sure the amount of foliage cut back equals that of the amount of roots lost upon extraction. You're gonna cut some roots, its inevitable. So just make sure you level out the ability to feed the branches that will remain. Otherwise you'll get leaf drop and end up with dead limbs (disease attractants). This way you can bring VERY large plants in, even if you only have 1-3 gallon buckets available. Saves space and keeps the wife happy Sooner or later you'll notice new green growth everywhere and its off to the race for which plant wants to be the biggest before set out the following spring! Ah, the life of a Pepper Plant...

 

[Pepper-Guru]

Gonna get Mrs. Guru to help me transplant the mothers into the garden this evening when the sun goes down over the tree line. Here are some shots of them at the moment. They are VERY ready to get out of these 5 gallon pots After their Peruvian Seabird tea they went ultra green, almost blue, and now the roots show at the surface when I water them daily. I have to, they are root bound and wanting to bust out of these little pots; they drink up and perspire every bit of the water I give them daily.
Red Arribibi Gusano: a bit larger than the original and red when mature.

Trinidad Scorpion

Red Fatalli

Fatalli

Bhut Jolokia

White Bullet

5 gallon batch of self caught north georgia trout tea!

The mother patio

 

[millworkman]

Awesome Guru. Those things are beasts. What do you have growing on the soil of the mother Fatalii tree, lettuce?

 

[Pepper-Guru]

Since I took cuttings today, I figured why not go ahead and share a great soil mix I like to use as well as give a small pictorial on taking cuttings from pepper mothers.

Anyone can make this soil and its much cheaper to make than buying pro mix or any other brand name mediums. Its light and airy so roots can ROCKET through it. This mix can be used for starting seed and propagating cuttings, as it is very conservative in the nutrient department.

If I'm using a standard 5 gallon bucket, the ratios are as follows:
First I start with 2 shovel fulls of native garden soil (from where the plants will be going)

Then 2 shovel fulls of peat.

1 Shovel full of Vermiculite

2 Shovel Fulls of Perlite (don't be stingy with this stuff, its great)

Then some Mychoraeze innoculant (great for helping roots "eat" more)

Then a small amount of a light N source( i used Kelp here, but worm castings is a great alternative)

Mix really well with your hands and you will end up with a great soil mix tailored for these types of applications. It should look something like this beauty here.

Cutting pictorial cont on next post...

 

[Pepper-Guru]

When taking cuttings, a lot of people will advise the most important part is sterile working conditions. This is true, but don't rack your brains over it. As long as you follow these main easy steps, you're success rate should stay above 85%:

First I like to start out with a good soil medium like the one we made above, and a tray like this:

Fill the tray with the soil and now we are ready to cut. Here is my little work station:

Fill a container with clean, pure water so that when we make our cuts, they go directly into the water without much air contact. Make clean angled cuts below a couple of the newest growth tips nodes. You should end up with a cup full of this:

Strip the bottom most leaves and cut 60% off of the remaining leaves. The cuttings will not need much light during this time, and the absence of a root system will only make it that much harder to feed the leaves, so you don't want fully mature leaves to remain on the cuttings. You should end up with something like this:

If you like you can use rooting hormone. It sure does help, but it isn't a must. Now stick each cutting gently down into the cells filled with your medium. In the end you'll end up with a nice tray that should look something like this:

Place your trays in a warm, shady spot for a week or two and make sure to keep the medium moist. Some like to place humidity domes over the trays and bring them in under florescent lights. That would be fine to. But make sure your root zone stays WARM. In as little as a week you should start to see new growth and/or roots when you check the bottoms of the cells. You can also pull gently on a cutting to see if it is rooted into the medium, if it pulls out easily it hasn't taken root yet. But make sure to look for small round nodules forming on the stem. This is where the roots will shoot out from.

Oh, I almost forgot the most important part! Hydration As seen here:

Enjoy THP!