Guru's Garden - Traveling the World in Search of Peppers

romy6 · Jun 23, 2015

Looking good Rich

chocolatescotchbonnet · Jun 23, 2015

Pepper-Guru said:
Plants have finally started growing

nice growing except those last two, you need to burn those to the ground.... :flamethrower:

chocolatescotchbonnet · Jun 23, 2015

so, did u take my advice? :fireball:

Trippa · Jun 24, 2015

Pepper-Guru said:
That is weird about the different germ times, from even the same pod. I usually keep my seeds in paper envelopes or plastic baggies. How about you? I may look into vacuum sealing and freezing. Will take some experimenting. I know I don't have any issues with volunteer seeds sprouting throughout the garden and compost pile, even after a long cold winter.

Well I used to just keep them in a dark place inside a plastic bag with some paper in it and then inside a glass jar. However because I had to get rid of a good portion of my seeds when I moved back home to New Zealand and getting them here is more problematic I decided to store them in a digitally controlled fridge inside a plastic container with lid at 3 degrees to preserve them as best I can. Hopefully it works

Trident chilli · Jun 24, 2015

Really healthy plants .. great to see plants in the dirt not something that is usually seen in the UK with the weather being so fickle ... looking forward to seeing them all covered in pods

Pepper-Guru · Jun 24, 2015

chocolatescotchbonnet said:
nice growing except those last two, you need to burn those to the ground....

chocolatescotchbonnet said:
so, did u take my advice?

Never! Things are just now getting good!

Trippa said:
Well I used to just keep them in a dark place inside a plastic bag with some paper in it and then inside a glass jar. However because I had to get rid of a good portion of my seeds when I moved back home to New Zealand and getting them here is more problematic I decided to store them in a digitally controlled fridge inside a plastic container with lid at 3 degrees to preserve them as best I can. Hopefully it works

Do you find they stay the proper humidity? I really wonder how this compares to storing at room temps. I would love to get more time out of my seeds, that's for sure!

Trident chilli said:
Really healthy plants .. great to see plants in the dirt not something that is usually seen in the UK with the weather being so fickle ... looking forward to seeing them all covered in pods

thanks! I love my root pruning containers and fabric grow bags, but I've been slowly building the soil condition of this plot and I think by next year it will be a wonderful place. I already notice a huge difference in the soil life compared to last year. Can't wait to be picking non stop!

Sat out in the garden this morning for a while, watching the plants grow.

Also got the Virgil T Ainsworth Rooster Spurs put into some air pruning containers

Trippa · Jun 25, 2015

Well they stay dry and cold in the fridge ... I have looked at the Norwegian seed vault https://www.croptrust.org/what-we-do/svalbard-global-seed-vault/and figured that was as close as I was going to get year round consistent temps without having to break seed dormancy from the freeze each time I wanted to start a seed. Maybe I should put some duplicates in some vacuum bags and freeze them at -18C as well. I guess there system of seed storage puts to bed the theory that freezing seeds ruins seeds!

ronniedeb · Jun 25, 2015

Plants are really starting to get going for you Guru. You'll be swimming in pods soon enough!

Pepper Ridge Farm · Jun 25, 2015

Rich, your plants and hair are growing like a weed. Seriously the plants look super, your food web gives the plants the perfect recipe for exponential growth. I sit out in my garden and watch the plants grow when I wake and bake. Next year I won't grow so many plants and will work the food web on fewer plants with better results. Thanks for the inspiration to become a better gardener.

Pepper-Guru · Jun 25, 2015

Trippa said:
Well they stay dry and cold in the fridge ... I have looked at the Norwegian seed vault https://www.croptrust.org/what-we-do/svalbard-global-seed-vault/and figured that was as close as I was going to get year round consistent temps without having to break seed dormancy from the freeze each time I wanted to start a seed. Maybe I should put some duplicates in some vacuum bags and freeze them at -18C as well. I guess there system of seed storage puts to bed the theory that freezing seeds ruins seeds!

I was thinking about that! You know it's gotta be possible with the conditions they are inducing in that vault! Good link

ronniedeb said:
Plants are really starting to get going for you Guru. You'll be swimming in pods soon enough!

Thanks! I had a bit of a stall because of my unintentionally and effectively tilling a bit too much non decayed wood chips into each planting hole. All my microbes have tied up a lot of N for a while, but I've been hitting them with everything I got! Chicken tea is brewing as we speak! You see, woodchips are probably the best thing you can apply and decompose as a soil builder, but if you mess up and till in in rather than carefully leaving it on top, then lots of N will get tied up as all your soil microbes chow down, doing their job eating and pooping. Only later giving up all that N after they are done and have re deposited the nutrients back as real soil.

Pepper Ridge Farm said:
Rich, your plants and hair are growing like a weed. Seriously the plants look super, your food web gives the plants the perfect recipe for exponential growth. I sit out in my garden and watch the plants grow when I wake and bake. Next year I won't grow so many plants and will work the food web on fewer plants with better results. Thanks for the inspiration to become a better gardener.

Ha! My wife wanted me to grow it out. I think i'm starting to like it, but damn its hot under this mop! lol But yeah man, sitting in the garden drinking coffee and enjoying the vape pen is one of my favorite times of the day

I used to grow as many small, container plants as possible, but now for about 10 years, I've been on this less is more kick. Just give the roots room and a nice airy, hummus filled soil and sit back and reap the pods....loads of pods man...Did you ever see that Brain Strain I grew?

and end of season....

Ozzy2001 · Jun 25, 2015

That plant is so bad ass. I showed my father in law a couple pics of that he was like "that's a pepper plant!!??"

gnslngr · Jun 25, 2015

Not even close to getting caught up here! Excellent stuff- been so hectic on my end for the last 2 yrs, I had lost track of a lot of glog browsing time.Thanks for the show.....it must grow on

SavinaRed · Jun 25, 2015

wow those are some amazing giant pepper plants. the only thing I've seen in person that comes close in my neighbors 2nd year bishops crown that is 6 feet tall by 6 feet wide but its grown along a fence so its only 2 feet wide. he grew it more like the shape of a grape or vine.

Roguejim · Jun 25, 2015

Where's that Ma Wiri Wiri? It should be getting some size (pods?) by now.

Pepper-Guru · Jun 29, 2015

Ozzy2001 said:
That plant is so bad ass. I showed my father in law a couple pics of that he was like "that's a pepper plant!!??"

hahah. yep! the Brain! the pepper that made me have psychic dreams... :hell:

SavinaRed said:
wow those are some amazing giant pepper plants. the only thing I've seen in person that comes close in my neighbors 2nd year bishops crown that is 6 feet tall by 6 feet wide but its grown along a fence so its only 2 feet wide. he grew it more like the shape of a grape or vine.

It was a good year! but that's what a light, airy soil mix, air pruning containers, fish and mulch will do for you!

gnslngr said:
Not even close to getting caught up here! Excellent stuff- been so hectic on my end for the last 2 yrs, I had lost track of a lot of glog browsing time.Thanks for the show.....it must grow on

Grow on Brotha!

Roguejim said:
Where's that Ma Wiri Wiri? It should be getting some size (pods?) by now.

Sure thing man! Here's one of the best looking ones at this point.

And a small harvest from today

Roguejim · Jun 29, 2015

Pepper-Guru said:
hahah. yep! the Brain! the pepper that made me have psychic dreams...
It was a good year! but that's what a light, airy soil mix, air pruning containers, fish and mulch will do for you!

Grow on Brotha!

Sure thing man! Here's one of the best looking ones at this point.

And a small harvest from today

Interesting growth habit on the Ma Wiri Wiri. It should bush out like mine here, I think.

OCD Chilehead · Jun 29, 2015

Dang Rich! Nice pics as usual. Garden looking good this year. Again, as usual. It should be explosive pretty soon. I think I'm going to take your lead next year and grow fewer plants. Quality not quantity. Need greenhouse setup to extend my season.

Horticulture at its best.

Thanks for sharing.

gnslngr · Jun 30, 2015

Pepper-Guru said:
I was thinking about that! You know it's gotta be possible with the conditions they are inducing in that vault! Good link

Thanks! I had a bit of a stall because of my unintentionally and effectively tilling a bit too much non decayed wood chips into each planting hole. All my microbes have tied up a lot of N for a while, but I've been hitting them with everything I got! Chicken tea is brewing as we speak! You see, woodchips are probably the best thing you can apply and decompose as a soil builder, but if you mess up and till in in rather than carefully leaving it on top, then lots of N will get tied up as all your soil microbes chow down, doing their job eating and pooping. Only later giving up all that N after they are done and have re deposited the nutrients back as real soil.

Ha! My wife wanted me to grow it out. I think i'm starting to like it, but damn its hot under this mop! lol But yeah man, sitting in the garden drinking coffee and enjoying the vape pen is one of my favorite times of the day I used to grow as many small, container plants as possible, but now for about 10 years, I've been on this less is more kick. Just give the roots room and a nice airy, hummus filled soil and sit back and reap the pods....loads of pods man...Did you ever see that Brain Strain I grew?

and end of season....

Can't see the forest for the TREE!

Pepper-Guru · Jun 30, 2015

Roguejim said:
Interesting growth habit on the Ma Wiri Wiri. It should bush out like mine here, I think.

who knows, this one happens to be in the shadow of a 20 ft oak until about lunch time, the one right next to it in full sun all day is about a third the height and a slightly better basal branching growth habit. Smaller pods too. Almost different looking.
Every plant just received a little over a gallon of chicken manure tea, about as young as one would want to use. Did a quick 5 day brew on about a pillow case full in a 55 gallon drum of rain water. Time will tell how much more I need to kick these girls into over drive, just seems like a slow year. Plants look great but they just aren't moving along as fast as I'm used to them doing. May be a late production, but it will come. It always comes

Here are the Large Orange Thai growdown plants

and the back up plant that was topped by deer in the mulch pile... baby fatalii in the background with the rooster spurs hardening off under the drying rack

And one of the top performers in the garden this year are definitely the original Orange Thais

Pepper-Guru · Jun 30, 2015

:::Second update for the day! :::

Been eyeing this pile of gold for about three months now. Decided to grab it today