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

Pepper-Guru · Jan 16, 2017

Datil said:
I hear ya!

Good luck for 2017 Rich!

Datil

Thanks man!

So, I got some rye sowed in the plot a week ago:

Its fast growing stuff, so about a week before I'm ready to plant, I will till it all in as green manure! Rye is supposed to be good for fixing soil issues and running of nematodes as well.

Overwinters are starting to revegetate quite nicely! I've been battling aphids on all new growth at nodes, but I think we finally see the light at the end of the tunnel. I've been taking advantage of temperatures in the 70's here in Atlanta and have had them out on the back patio:

And most exciting news of all is the seed trays are starting green up nicely as well!

Grow list so far with the first two trays are as follows:

-7 Pot Bubblegum
-Aji Lemon Drop (Growdown 2017)
-Fatalii
-Coyote Zan White
-"Cobra Chili" smuggled from my trip to Sri Lanka - Essentially the Hoyt Saxton's Pumpkin...ill post pics later
-"Banana Chili" smuggled from my trip to Sri Lanka - Not sure what it is, found on ground at market, but it looked like a Banana pepper...ill post pics later
-Mini Rocoto
-CGN 21566
-P. Dreadie Select
-Aribibi Gusano "Caterpillar"
-"Chili Red" smuggled from my trip to Sri Lanka - Got it with some shrimp biscuits on a train through Tea Country. People come up to the train windows and sell drinks/snacks/trinkets.
-Rooster Spur/Sloth Nail

-Ephedra Sinica
-Rossa di Treviso Radicchio
-Black Magik Kale
-Cilantro
-Lettuce Mix
-Parsely
-Oregon Spring V Tomato - super early determinate
-Oxheart Red Tomato - indeterminate
-Bing Cherry Tomato
-Broccoli
-Florence Fennel
-Anise dulce

OCD Chilehead · Jan 16, 2017

Looks very good.

I'll be interested in seeing how the rye works out. I think Devv (Scott) cover crops. I wish I could. To cold.

I like the background on the Chili Red. Congrats on the seeds

Are you going to use the greenhouse this year?

Here's to another epic season.

Pepper-Guru · Jan 22, 2017

OCD Chilehead said:
Looks very good.

I'll be interested in seeing how the rye works out. I think Devv (Scott) cover crops. I wish I could. To cold.

I like the background on the Chili Red. Congrats on the seeds

Are you going to use the greenhouse this year?

Here's to another epic season.

I may order some decent uv material to recover the greenhouse frame! Haven't decided yet.

I pulled a few shots from my trip to Sri Lanka.

Basically, there are only THREE chili's in Sri Lanka. Trust me...I scoured the entire country.

The most common is what they just call "chili". It is available at every market, grocery store, restaurant etc.

Here it is.

This one came with some shrimp biscuits being sold by people that approach the train windows as you stop at stations:

Here are some at the main market in Kandy.

And even unripened green ones, generally used in breakfast curry. Seen here at a street side market in Ella.

A typical meal from a Sri Lankan roadside buffet:

Then a very hard to find chili that the locals call "Cobra Chili". This one was presented to me in preparation for a breakfast meal at a hostel after showing the owner some of my pictures from past grows. These generally aren't eaten by the locals in dishes. Only certain uses for this. To me it closely resembles the famous Hoyt Saxton Pumpkin that I used to grow. The genetics of which have long since been lost...until now. Here it is unripe:

Then there are also peppers that look very similar to a banana pepper. They ripen red. Unfortunately I'll have to dig deeper for a photo of that one. I sort of just picked it up off the ground after the market had cleared.

Either way, all three will be featured ion my grow this year. Thought you guys would find that interesting. If you want to see more shots of the trip, I'd be happy to upload them.

Pepper-Guru · Jan 22, 2017

Oh yeah! Rye is coming in really well. Hope it ends up being a decent choice of cover crop!

Datil · Jan 23, 2017

Great pics from Sri Lanka Rich, you bring me memories... i've been there during my honeymoon

incredible place.
I've also grown the "Sri Lanka MI-2" (maybe an indian cultivar):

sort of short sized cayenne growing on low bushes, very prolific and flavorful.
I would be surely happy to see more pics from your trip

Be well

Fabrizio

Pepper-Guru · Feb 6, 2017

Ripped the adopted Manzano out of the dwc bucket and threw it into one of the containers with the other over winters. This plant is unstoppable.

2017 Minions are doing just fine. Enjoying the light and extra root space for now.

Devv · Feb 6, 2017

Looking good here Rich!

I've been using Rye for years as a cover crop, that and winter oats. The rye can create a tough root system if left too long. So here I usually plant two crops starting in September and ending in January. Let the first hit about 8"s turn under and replant. It really helps with tying up the nutes so they don't leach down, and of course the green manure factor. I give myself at least 6 weeks to rid it before I plant in the spring so it's not a "weed"; it just likes to come back if it rains

Good luck this season!

OCD Chilehead · Feb 6, 2017

Awesome Rich!

I live the pics of your travels.

The rye pic is fantastic. Been trying to educate myself in photography. Capturing light, Motion and depth, and Composition. It's a lot to take in at once. I feel with enough practice it will sink in.

Good luck with the grow!

Pepper-Guru · Feb 7, 2017

Devv said:
Looking good here Rich!

I've been using Rye for years as a cover crop, that and winter oats. The rye can create a tough root system if left too long. So here I usually plant two crops starting in September and ending in January. Let the first hit about 8"s turn under and replant. It really helps with tying up the nutes so they don't leach down, and of course the green manure factor. I give myself at least 6 weeks to rid it before I plant in the spring so it's not a "weed"; it just likes to come back if it rains

Good luck this season!

It's a SUPER thick carpet of cover now. About 4-5 inches high. You think it will be too hard to kill/till come April?

OCD Chilehead said:
Awesome Rich!

I live the pics of your travels.

The rye pic is fantastic. Been trying to educate myself in photography. Capturing light, Motion and depth, and Composition. It's a lot to take in at once. I feel with enough practice it will sink in.

Good luck with the grow!

It is a lot to take in at first. Just throw your camera in Manual and start experimenting. It's the best way to learn. The more you shoot, the more you get good at it.

Here is something a buddy of mine put together of our most recent trip in Sri Lanka.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tr7HswTPlyg&t=10s

OCD Chilehead · Feb 7, 2017

Will do. Been watching videos and reading. Now it's time to get some time in.

Very cool! What an adventure.

That's living life.

Thanks for sharing.

Pepper-Guru · Feb 7, 2017

OCD Chilehead said:
Will do. Been watching videos and reading. Now it's time to get some time in.

Very cool! What an adventure.

That's living life.

Thanks for sharing.

Forget everything you've read about photography too. The most important thing is light, followed by lens. The camera hardly matters when compared to those two things. Of course composition is the other main factor, but light is the most important. Then after that, the lens' job is to try and not mess up the image. A good flash will do more for your photography than any other investment.

stettoman · Feb 7, 2017

Oh great, now I'm going to be self conscious of every stupid pic I post....and here I thought my prowess with point-and-shooting an S7 was pretty snazzy....

Ya know Rich, I thought your glog WAS the Throwdown glog, then I see that you are like one of the few that recycle everything, including your diary...

An honorable endeavor, no doubt of it...And a nice record of you as well!

I'm stamping this glog Stettoman Approved!

Pepper-Guru · Feb 7, 2017

stettoman said:
Oh great, now I'm going to be self conscious of every stupid pic I post....and here I thought my prowess with point-and-shooting an S7 was pretty snazzy....

Ya know Rich, I thought your glog WAS the Throwdown glog, then I see that you are like one of the few that recycle everything, including your diary...

An honorable endeavor, no doubt of it...And a nice record of you as well!

I'm stamping this glog Stettoman Approved!

There are some great photographers here on this site for sure! Prodigal son was killing it with that ring flash the last few years! He's a dude that when you look at his photos, you see what he sees. It's like you immediately know you've just been given the gift of sight.

I actually just built my own site: http://richblood.photo

As for my on going glog; I really should've caught on to it sooner. Would've been great to have all the info in one thread! Sometimes I go back to my old threads and just laugh at some of the posts. Then I'll run across a post and a picture that brings back so many memories, tastes, smells, music. It's a good way to keep "where we've come from" right at our finger tips. The internet is a wonderful tool and I'm really glad there are places like THP where we can meet all these cool folks that we share something in common with.

Devv · Feb 7, 2017

My feeling on using rye for that long is the tilling will be tough, as it creates a thick root mat. I have a Troy built with a 6hp Honda (rear tine) and it wants to drag me all over the garden

The difference may well be that we can replant here a second time. If you get cold weather that stops the growth you may be OK. But here, I plant around mid Sept. and at 8"s tall till and reseed that day watering afterwards. Here it will hit the 8"s again 6 weeks before March 1st. So I like to give myself the 4-6 weeks to kill it. It usually takes 3 passes over 3-4 weeks. One thing it does once above 4-6"s is create it's own weather. Morning dew waters the crop and the soil will not dry out. So the first tilling will be in kinda wet soil, and the "survivors" come right back.

As for pic taking: My Father taught me how to shoot with a manual 35mm (Pentax K1000) when I was a kid (many moons ago). He retired as VP of Technicolor East Coast. I learned about F-stops and shutter speed, so much can be done playing with the effects created by the different settings.Today's cameras make things easy, and as mentioned the lighting, lens selection, make them shine. I gave my daughter a fine old Cannon D-60, 14 years old and it took great pics. I now have a Nikon D3300 with 2 lens', and it's like starting over again. I have to develop a feel for this one like the last. So for now my pics are a bit rough

So I take quite a few and pick the best one.

Pr0digal_son · Feb 8, 2017

Seedlings are looking good,starting here in a month or so. Only interested in 3 Capsicum this season,the rest will be from another Peruvian Genus.

Glad to see you are getting into the pubes,just watch you don't get em stuck in your teeth!

I need to get you some seeds for ones I found that tolerate higher temps better.

That Sri Lankan trip looked amazing. I would really like to get to Bolivia this fall,odds are it won't happen,but hoping the planets align.

Pepper-Guru · Feb 8, 2017

Pr0digal_son said:
Seedlings are looking good,starting here in a month or so. Only interested in 3 Capsicum this season,the rest will be from another Peruvian Genus.

Glad to see you are getting into the pubes,just watch you don't get em stuck in your teeth! I need to get you some seeds for ones I found that tolerate higher temps better.

That Sri Lankan trip looked amazing. I would really like to get to Bolivia this fall,odds are it won't happen,but hoping the planets align.

You aren't kidding! The giant variety that I brought back from Peru absolutely stopped when I put it outside in our temps for the summer. A buddy's did much better with a lot less sun (another reason why the garden is getting a shade cloth this year)

Pepper-Guru · Mar 3, 2017

Seedlings are doing fine. Perfect actually. I started very early and have limited light and space so, I preferred root growth as opposed to foliage. After checking on them the other day, and noticing the roots coming out of the bottoms of the cells up to three times the length of the plant, they definitely needed potting up. So they got it!

Check out the color on this CGN 21566

Rest of the overwinters are doing fine. Enjoying the warm, early spring days.

The RYE is killing it! Here's hoping for a good living soil!

JoynersHotPeppers · Mar 3, 2017

Rye looks great, I am going to food plot this year for the first time. Looks like you are off and running!

Devv · Mar 3, 2017

The rye looks great Rich! About time to turn it under and let it break down so the goodies are available for the garden crops.

Good luck this season!

Pepper-Guru · Mar 3, 2017

JoynersHotPeppers said:
Rye looks great, I am going to food plot this year for the first time. Looks like you are off and running!

Thanks! Good luck with the food plot!

Devv said:
The rye looks great Rich! About time to turn it under and let it break down so the goodies are available for the garden crops.

Good luck this season!

You think? In that case, I'll turn it in this weekend and maybe even work in some composted chicken manure.