GyO presents: '24 BONNET BONANZA + revenge of the fifth

growyourown · Feb 26, 2024

new batch sown tonight, more on that after these

pics as promised:

jan. 24: first batch in 4" pots and a few still in domes

feb. 15: first group 4" pots again, all the bonnet sprouts in trays

today: first group 4" pots now in greenhouse to make room on table

also today: bonnet group now 2 per 4" pot, new seeds down

note the big cardboard level 3.5 (duct tape bolstered) force field surrounding the table. curious child was asking "why no touch daddy" and deliberately just touching the plastic trays when the table was open. i tried to trust, but one day she did pull out one plant. then the first cardboard barrier i erected was compromised and about 6 plants she could reach got plucked from the dirt. i noticed soon after and replanted, fingers crossed none has died yet but it's only been 2 days since that second incident.

anyways, here's what's down tonight:

the jalapeno seeds could date back as far as 2020 and in my early days i might have not known about only harvesting seeds from fully ripe peppers, hence the shotgun approach with them. never grown any jalapeno from seed before, as the nursery plants are so cheap and available, but they did very poorly last year for me, and i am low on jalapeno after 2 poor years, so i might as well start a bunch and see what comes of it.

this will be all for the year, barring some catastrophe where a dozen bonnets somehow perish. tonight's round of seeds is just icing on the cake and to round out the growing of the all five; as long as some take it's all gravy. i'd really like to keep it to around 50 plants total this year so the outdoor beds aren't as jam-packed because many of the plants last year never took off due, i suspect, to crowding/competition having avg. 10 plants in each of the seven beds. seven per bed would give a lot more room for good growth in every plant, i'm hoping.

my favourite part thus far in the season is having a dozen pubescens coming along nicely, the largest specimen being e.p.f.h. (tall girl in back middle of third pic above) a variety which didn't give me any ripe pods last year. having started all the pubes at new year's, the prospects for a good harvest are more promising this time around, and the new to me this year giant yellow are growing well also.

oh and check the cool growth habit on this lotah bih (F). the second leaves kind of died and it looked stagnant, but after quite some time it grows in two branches apparently:

welp, it's past my bedtime folks. hope you enjoyed

-GyO

growyourown · Mar 9, 2024

hey all you lovely growers, here's what's cooking in GyO land:

BIG UPGRADE: GOT ANOTHER LIGHT

it's an aglex k100 or something. highest light output for lowest price is my only metric, got it at $61 (regular $90-99) for 940 ppfd @ 12". this one is just the panel-and-driver style, where my existing main light i was using has the plastic encasement with built-in fan.

it does get quite hot to the touch, and the light it emits is warm too. i am now using this one over the seed table, and rigged up the fan-cooled light into my cheap collapsible greenhouse in place of the 4 super-cheap light strips shown in the last update (who will move down to be used to light the lower shelf once i need to set that up, where last year i had just used only 2 bars on each shelf).

big issue right away with that, though - the fan exhaust is not being vented out of the greenhouse and as a result the temp got up close to 30c the first night, so i now blow a fan (most powerful but ~$20 one i could find last year) up from the floor to temper the heat and add only gentle agitation because how high up the shelf is from the wind source.

i was worried by the heat of the new unit and the fact that the minimal design meant that the power cord touched the panel when hanging down to the outlet that was obviously located well below the suspended light. a few moments of pondering made me realize the easiest solution was to use the excess loose rope from my lighting height adjustment rig/ratchet thing to hold the power cord up in the air to avoid contact with the panel (not shown in pic). so far, so good with this aglex light, it does look mighty powerful.

SMALL UPGRADE: REFLECTIVE MATERIAL

inspired by @FinInGermany i added a mylar foil "rescue blanket" around the shitty greenhouse as well to do some reflection duty, because why not?

the 7' length was just right to wrap around the entirety (minus the zippered front flap), and the 4.5' height also covers the lower shelf when i need to use it too. and as i had bought a pack of 10 (for $13), i cut a strip off a second blanket just wider than the door flap, so now it is covered as well and there is no impedement to using the zippers to open the door and yet all remains covered. it's really very nice and user-friendly for being a redneck-level setup.

i know the mylar is less effective due to being on the outside of the clear plastic greenhouse covering, but it was super-easy to slap on (and take off later if need be) compared to taking off the whole cover and taping everything to the inside of it. maybe after it's done its job and the plants go outside for the year i could take the time to redo it all nice and proper for maximum effect, but i doubt i'll find it worth it.

THIRD ROUND SEED UPDATE:

3/4 portugal x hab (A)
2/4 AOC (B)
4/4 hawk's claw (A)
2/6 aji cito (B)
2/6 SRP (B)

nothing from jalapeno mass sow, is it because i harvested from green and/or dehydrated seeds >110f? time will tell if these seeds are useless...

more grow pics since last time:

new light difference:

mylar tent with door open, 7 march:

now what's left to do:

doubled-up bonnets et al. need to get separated ths weekend. 1.5 weeks makes a whale of a difference; many once-tiny plants now need more space of their own. need to set up greenhouse lower shelf soon for some of these ones to go to.

i am really proud of what i accomplished so far. got lots of seeds to start growing and put some modest improvements in place to my setup. did i get as many bonnet plants as i'd like for what i sowed? no, but i have many more seeds. are the pubes looking super promising, though? absolutely.

most importantly, with the mylar blanket, the ambient light in this room is way lower than what would be otherwise bordering-on-blinding to my daughter. "rainbow colours, daddy" she said when i had everything open, which i can only equate to meaning damagingly bright.

FinInGermany · Mar 9, 2024

growyourown said:
hey all you lovely growers, here's what's cooking in GyO land:

BIG UPGRADE: GOT ANOTHER LIGHT

it's an aglex k100 or something. highest light output for lowest price is my only metric, got it at $61 (regular $90-99) for 940 ppfd @ 12". this one is just the panel-and-driver style, where my existing main light i was using has the plastic encasement with built-in fan.

it does get quite hot to the touch, and the light it emits is warm too. i am now using this one over the seed table, and rigged up the fan-cooled light into my cheap collapsible greenhouse in place of the 4 super-cheap light strips shown in the last update (who will move down to be used to light the lower shelf once i need to set that up, where last year i had just used only 2 bars on each shelf).

big issue right away with that, though - the fan exhaust is not being vented out of the greenhouse and as a result the temp got up close to 30c the first night, so i now blow a fan (most powerful but ~$20 one i could find last year) up from the floor to temper the heat and add only gentle agitation because how high up the shelf is from the wind source.

i was worried by the heat of the new unit and the fact that the minimal design meant that the power cord touched the panel when hanging down to the outlet that was obviously located well below the suspended light. a few moments of pondering made me realize the easiest solution was to use the excess loose rope from my lighting height adjustment rig/ratchet thing to hold the power cord up in the air to avoid contact with the panel (not shown in pic). so far, so good with this aglex light, it does look mighty powerful.

SMALL UPGRADE: REFLECTIVE MATERIAL

inspired by @FinInGermany i added a mylar foil "rescue blanket" around the shitty greenhouse as well to do some reflection duty, because why not?

the 7' length was just right to wrap around the entirety (minus the zippered front flap), and the 4.5' height also covers the lower shelf when i need to use it too. and as i had bought a pack of 10 (for $13), i cut a strip off a second blanket just wider than the door flap, so now it is covered as well and there is no impedement to using the zippers to open the door and yet all remains covered. it's really very nice and user-friendly for being a redneck-level setup.

i know the mylar is less effective due to being on the outside of the clear plastic greenhouse covering, but it was super-easy to slap on (and take off later if need be) compared to taking off the whole cover and taping everything to the inside of it. maybe after it's done its job and the plants go outside for the year i could take the time to redo it all nice and proper for maximum effect, but i doubt i'll find it worth it.

THIRD ROUND SEED UPDATE:

3/4 portugal x hab (A)
2/4 AOC (B)
4/4 hawk's claw (A)
2/6 aji cito (B)
2/6 SRP (B)

nothing from jalapeno mass sow, is it because i harvested from green and/or dehydrated seeds >110f? time will tell if these seeds are useless...

more grow pics since last time:

new light difference:

mylar tent with door open, 7 march:

now what's left to do:

doubled-up bonnets et al. need to get separated ths weekend. 1.5 weeks makes a whale of a difference; many once-tiny plants now need more space of their own. need to set up greenhouse lower shelf soon for some of these ones to go to.

i am really proud of what i accomplished so far. got lots of seeds to start growing and put some modest improvements in place to my setup. did i get as many bonnet plants as i'd like for what i sowed? no, but i have many more seeds. are the pubes looking super promising, though? absolutely.

most importantly, with the mylar blanket, the ambient light in this room is way lower than what would be otherwise bordering-on-blinding to my daughter. "rainbow colours, daddy" she said when i had everything open, which i can only equate to meaning damagingly bright.

Hey, GYO. Cool looking setup you have there. Just wanted to mention one thing before you go to the effort of coating the inside of your greenhouse with rescue blankets. After realising that silver actually only mirrors the light, whereas white actually reflects all of it (school physics lessons was a long time ago

) I replaced my blanket with a white sheet. Now I have to wear shades when I'm watering my plants

.

growyourown · Apr 3, 2024

BIG UPDATE: HAD A BABY!!
boy, 9.25 lb, healthy no complications & mom is doing well.

...pepper plants are also well. had just enough time after work that day to water the plants, shower myself, and get us to the hospital

--NEW BATCH OF JALAPENO HAS BEEN SOWN, GROWN, AND MOVED ON UP TO TWO PER 4" CUP--

dropped seeds on st. patrick's day; used my 2021 edition seeds as that batch sowing of the older stock gave all of a fat zero sprouts. these ones are labeled "jal (or ?) '21" because of the possibility of stray seeds falling in the dehydrator bottom, but the 18/24 seedlings that came out of this effort are looking pretty uniform. got them doubled up in 4" pots, so 9 pots added to the table.

my plan was to activate the second shelf of the mini-greenhouse-tent and transfer some of the bonnet cohort from table to tent, but that plan was waylaid when i could not immediately find an appropriate size riser to set the plants on, nor a good way to easily lower the light nearer to the shelf. i was able to squeeze all the new up-pots on the table with the ones that were there, but it's tight.

also the earliest batch of plants are now on the lower shelf of the tent with the 4x 10W strip lighting. it's for the best because most of them are growing way too big, or had gotten scorched leaves from the heat/intensity of the tent/light, so this will be easier on them because it's likely 7-8 weeks yet before they can go outside. 4 of these guys (all pubes - epfh, giant yellow, 2x rio hualaga) have been re-up-potted to 6 or 8 inch pots; half a dozen more of them probably ought to be, but i just don't have the right pots or shelf space to do so at the moment.

thinking i should have experimented with topping this year. the biggest ones in the larger pots are getting very rangy and the tent feels crowded. hopefully in the next week or two, the youngest ones get a bit bigger and can all go into the tent, then the biggest plants can come back out to the table, into bigger pots and with the light turned off or raised way up.

PICS:
march 13, table:

now, table:

now, tent:

see you at the next update. when i'm shuffling everything around, i will try to arrange a photo shoot with a pic of each variety grouped together.

join me in wishing for an early start to the outdoor season. we are getting mostly decent weather here (warmest dec-jan-feb ever), but every week or two we are getting a day of cold and snow coming back through.

is everyone getting pumped for the eclipse next week? path of totality here, still not sure how i should go about watching it though.

best,
-rob

CaneDog · Apr 3, 2024

Big congratulations to you, Rob! Pepper starts are looking great, too.

Tinkerbelle · Apr 3, 2024

oh wow Congrats on the new addition to your family Rob, that's lovely news

Plants are looking mighty fine as well

Downriver · Apr 3, 2024

That is a BIG UPDATE! Congratulations to you and your wife, Rob. 9.25lb - now that's a big boy!

Plants? :thumbsup:

Marturo · Apr 3, 2024

Congrats on your new seedling, enjoy him mucho they grow up so fast.
The plants are looking soo good.

MarcV · Apr 3, 2024

Congrats with the baby! :dance:

growyourown · May 4, 2024

thanks everyone. we're still all doing well, i had 5 weeks off work for parental leave and just started back this past week. life is good.

just a small update. weather has been pretty great but often windy. today was the plants' first day going outside on the deck for the afternoon:

amazingly there are 79 members in total. i grew way too many. and how do i have them all stuffed in my back room on one 2-foot card table and a two-shelf tent of like 18x30". tightly, is the answer.

fungus gnats, though, are a thing i've been living with. didn't really realize what a big deal they were, i read the thread here when it's posted to but forgot the beginning i guess about the damage they do. i thought all the leaf damage i was seeing was due to the light intensity, but i know now that the yellowing and blackening is because these assholes are eating the roots.

it has not been a horrible amount of damage, but there are always several dropped leaves around when i go to water. some of the plants are quite denuded, and a few others have very few undamaged leaves, so i am not sure all 79 will be justified to plant out to the beds. i've also had a couple of plants go over 18" tall before branching; they look ridiculous.

but all in all we are rolling right along. i would have liked to have taken the plants out to start hardening sooner, but like i said, wind.

many of the plants have begun flowering too, and i have plucked some off randomly with no rhyme or reason. ergo i must have started too early, lesson learned. somewhere between new year's and valentine's lies the sweet spot for me, glancing ahead january 18th is a saturday, we'll aim for that weekend or the following i should think.

that's all for now, next update i would imagine will be after planting out to the beds sometime later this month.

-GyO

growyourown · May 8, 2024

shaking things up with a surprise update:

nothing major. just had the plants outside again and had the time and willingness to take the "family" photos of them.

(WARNING: picture-heavy)

and this was after being outside and prior to a water; ALL THE DROOPY ONES ARE JUST DRY NOT ILL, I PROMISE.

EARLIEST BATCH (Jan 1)

two big boys, rio hualaga left, giant yellow rocoto right:

the other two in larger pots, ecuadorian pepper from hell:

four more rio hualagas:

four more giant yellow rocoto:

3x lotah bih:

4x hijo puta madre, 2 weaker, 2 strong:

_____________________________________________

BONNET BATCH (Feb 1)

4x fatalii:

3x SB safi:

2x SB orange, 1x SB yellow:

2x SB red, 1x SB chocolate:

2x SB trinidad red, 1x butch t -x- congo (red/black?):

3x SB (could be orange/red/choc, disrupted by child):

2x runty-ass SBs, chocolate and another o/r/c toss-up:

3x "malawi bird", 3x "malawi bird eye":

_____________________________________________

ANNS AND BACCS BATCH (Mar 1)

4x aji cito:

2x AOC aji omnicolour, 1x SRP sugar rush peach:

2x potugal -x- hab?, 2x hawk's claw (takanotsume):

another hawk (he's fine now):

two STUPIDLY TALL ones, port x hab, hawk:

FINALLY, THE 19 JALAPENO FROM MAR 17: (only 18 in pic)

hopefully it lets me post these 20 pics at once.

this makes me feel good to look at each type having its representatives, and what i was able to achieve so far.

it's unfortunate i got none of: scotch brains, SB peach, purira. i will definitely try to grow the brains next year because it's well regarded here.

but yeah, i am going to have a nice few hours of planting to do pretty soon here...

thanks for watching
-rob "GyO"

FinInGermany · May 9, 2024

Wow! Great collection, Rob. Looks like things are gonna be hot up in Ontario this summer :dance:

. Oh, and before I forget again, congratulations on your little seedling. My daughter brought a son into the world just under a year ago, so now he's actually at the age where he's starting to join up some dots, I'm getting all the fun without the pressure nowadays :party:

.

growyourown · May 10, 2024

possible frost again tonight, thinking it's best to wait until next weekend to plant outside.

they could use some more hardening off first anyway.

here's the totals of what i showed pics of the other day:
(P) rio hualaga: 5
(P) giant yellow rocoto: 5
(P) EPFH: 2

(F) lotah bih: 3
(F?) hijo puta madre: 4
(F?) malawi bird: 3
(F?) malawi bird eye: 3

(C) SB choc: 2-4
(C) SB red: 2-4
(C) SB orange: 2-4
(C) SB yellow: 1
(C) SB safi: 3
(C) SB trinidad: 3
(C) fatalii: 4
(C) congo x butch: 1

(B) aji cito: 4
(B) aji omnicolour: 2
(B) sugar rush peach: 1

(A) hawk's claw: 4
(A) portugal (x hab?): 3
(A) jalapeno: 19

NJChilehead · May 10, 2024

Lookin' good man!

growyourown · May 20, 2024

DIRT DAY HAPPENED!

the wife said last year i could not get any more planter boxes, so i only got one new one this year! my daughter is helping use the hose, and up on the deck are mom holding baby.

more pics:
left side boxes: left-centre section:

right-centre section: newest box for 2024:

layout of who's where:

early pod pic:

it's an SB orange looking true to form. the other confirmed SB orange is starting one, as is one of the fatalii and at least one rio hualaga. hopefully i was not too late potting them outside, as i have had it before where the first pods in a small container plant spells the end of production even after transplanting out to a large bed.

that's all, folks!
-rob

MarcV · May 20, 2024

That is a very nice setup! I could only dream of that!

growyourown · May 23, 2024

thanks marc! i must agree it is rather lovely. and this is the best it has EVER looked on planting-out day. usually i have >20 runty scraggly seedlings mixed in there who wind up getting overshadowed and producing nothing, but this year almost every single plant is looking strong and healthy (apart from gnat damage/leaf drop).

i was lucky to be able to get all of the wooden boxes for free from my work, or else i would certainly have a much more ghetto-looking setup. or be a lot poorer, as any decent planter boxes i've seen to buy are $100+ each.

the crappy thing though is there are several large trees on the perimeters of my yard, so only a couple of the boxes get more than 4 hours of direct sun. and only one tree is actually on my property so i don't know whether i can do anything much to open it up. also the shade is obviously nice for when we are outside playing and entertaining.

we are planning to do a major renovation/addition to the back half of the house within the next couple years (baby needs a bedroom), so when we build a new deck i am hoping to get plant housing built into it (and maybe keep using these boxes too if the wife allows).

-GyO

growyourown · Jul 2, 2024

pic heavy update:

overview 27/6:

everyone is growing. i feel like it's filled out even more in the last week.

earliest pepper:

first scotch bonnet is starting to ripen! unfortunately not interesting anymore though, as on sunday i discovered it was now fully orange, but been ripped from the plant! i think by a squirrel, owing to the occasional large dig marks i've been seeing in the soil. there were marks right by this plant that day, and the stem to the pepper was fairly cleanly broken off midway to the node, and there were possible bites taken from the pepper. hope he learned his lesson and fucks off.

a nicely flowering scotch bonnet:

holy crosses and/or mislabels, batman!:

these are "portugal (x hab?)", must have been crossed by the baccatums last year, because that pale calyx and pod shape screams of SRP to me. i can't even guarantee i did in fact segregate '23 from '22 seeds, nor that i picked the former to sow, but this doesn't look like a simple habanero/annuum cross, right?

couple jalapenos:

second one has some pointy bois on it

a decent-sized rocoto (epfh):

now noticing a few more getting to this size and majority of the pubes are growing well and flowering/fruiting.

another bonnet plant:

one of the subjects of this photo has since been eaten into by insects. (and the worms ate into his brain)

a couple of plants with young cream/ivory/pale-coloured pods:

once again, i must have mislabeled somewhere; i feel i was very meticulous this year, but maybe when i collected the seeds i recorded erroneously. or else it's a jungle of random-ass crosses all over the place. (sluts!)

frustrating:
when you are careful to label and transfer everything according to what you wrote down, and then a crapload of stuff doesn't show up in the right places.

what i wrote is there

what it is/appears to be

SRP : AOC
aji cito : AOC
AOC : aji cito
port x hab : SRP or hybrid of it and SRP
AOC : SRP or same as uncertain port x hab
hawk's claw x2 : SRP or hybrid of it and SRP (different look than the port x hab ones)

on top of all that, i only had recorded to have one plant of SRP, so at least some of them must be crosses, or else i BADLY mislabeled/miscollected my saved seeds from last year.

also frustrating:
WHEN INSECTS ARE BURROWING INTO YOUR PODS AND EATING YOUR LEAVES!!! at least three pods were eaten into, and several leaves of several plants have holes chewed in them. i had suspected problems with earwigs before, but i haven't seen many of them this year.

could it be ants? could it be this fly-type thing (my FIL called them "sweat bees", have yet to look it up)? there are TONS of these this year, and i regularly see them on my plants:

final thought:
i still have high hopes despite the setbacks. plants are all growing well enough, considering my laissez-faire approach. i just hope my crop doesn't continue to be devoured. i may have to take measures if this activity continues, but i have no idea where to begin when it comes to fighting pests.

what do you all think?

cheers and a hearty "hot-peppers-ho!",
-GyO

growyourown · Jul 25, 2024

welcome, friends!

here's first some boring stuff about the crossing/mislabeling miasma, followed by pics!

DISCREPANCY UPDATE

as much as i tried to label everything correctly, i recognize that there are so many links to the chain:
1. when i first collected the seeds - i labeled every dehydrator tray and recorded locations of pepper types on each tray clockwise of the location of the label, and took precautions against seeds "falling into the lap" of a pepper on a lower rack
2. soaking seeds in ice cube trays - i mark/tape one corner of the tray for reference to my paper record what seeds are in which cube
3. placing seeds in initial grow cell trays - just need to write what cube's seeds went into each cell of the marked/numbered trays accurately,
4. up-potting from cells to 4" pots - just need to write what cell's seedling went into each pot accurately, writing names one at a time onto the pots themselves
5. planting outside - write the name off the 4" pots onto my paper diagram of the garden beds

any one of these steps could have failed, but other than #1 whose activities took place in years past, i feel i was very dedicated to being meticulously accurate in my record-keeping this year, and this many errors (and in some cases more specimens showing than seeds planted) tells me it is not actually clerical mistakes but genetic diversity at play here.

however, the specimens in the garden of what appear very likely to be true AOC where they shouldn't be by my records, and no AOC showing where i thought i planted them, plus some other situations, makes me second-guess whether i did indeed mess my records up badly somewhere...

plants showing to not be as i recorded are:

SHOULD BE -- APPEARS AS: -reasoning-

aji cito -- portugal x hab: -horn-shaped pods with "corkscrew twist" (damaged plant during hardening, small and only 2 pods on it)-

aji cito -- AOC: -looks like AOC, white/purple pods-
SRP -- AOC: -looks like AOC, white/purple pods-

jalapeno -- portugal x jal: -horn-shaped pods, no twistiness like the hab cross, but showing corking indicating jalapeno cross-
jalapeno -- portugal (x jal?): -horn-shaped pods, no twistiness like the hab cross, no corking so could be simply portugal also-

5 PLANTS: portugal x hab (x2), hawk's claw (x2), AOC -- SRP (or hybrid with something else): -looks like SRP, pale yellow calyx on medium/large pale yellow pods-

4 PLANTS: portugal x hab, AOC, hawk's claw (x2) -- aji cito (or hybrid of): -looks like aji cito, pods are bigger than last year's though-

NOW SOME PICS:
(all taken today)

whole garden-

the malawi birds flush with pods-

what i think is port x jal, loaded up and starting to cork-

giant yellow rocoto, lookin thicc-

s.b. choc/orange/red? solved that mystery-
(i will eat you this weekend)

one of the SRP possible cross, some colouring in background-

the other possible port x jal plant without any corking-

an early rio hualaga rocoto is nearly ready-

fatalii, nice and gnarly-

congo x butch t-

and some assorted bonnets-

so that's my update. things are still looking good all around. some cool bonnet shapes. jalapenos booming. AOC and aji cito plants big, bushy, and loading up.

join us next time on GyO's bonnet bonanza!
-GyO

growyourown · Aug 24, 2024

update: nothing bad to report!

just about all of the plants are doing well. many (mostly jalapenos) are getting too heavy with pods and leaning over; i've had to stake up several of them, which is a good problem to have. but some i have let stay leaning, to allow more sunlight to get to the ones behind them.

unexpected surprise: the hijo puta madre plants were all very weak before and since planting outside, but one of them actually has a small number of pods forming now.

i've harvested a couple dozen peppers so far (not counting the tiny malawi birds, of which there are many i've picked but done nothing with except taste one and they are good and hot, i have like 40 ready i'll pick soon and freeze), and i have the dehydrator going now with some varieties i wish to save seeds from, especially:

Ecuadorian Pepper From Hell: there were no ripe pods last year, so i'm psyched to have a handful of peppers already ripened and seeds being saved from this kind. i forgot to taste-test it before dehydrating, but i have at least one more ready to come off when i do a pick this weekend. rocotos are so juicy and yummy, though, so i'm sure it won't disappoint:

things are also looking good on the scotch bonnet front - a couple of the plants are growing large quantities of pods, others growing fewer in number but very large specimens, a few plants also producing with that iconic bonnet shape:

at least one SB is confirmed chocolate:

in other news:

congo x butch (first ripe pod was BER unfortunately):

one of the almost certain jalapeno/portugal cross with positively huge pods:

(anything's a dildo if you're brave enough)

here's some overhead shots of the proliferousness (prolificity?) of the AOC and malawi bird (aji cito are also the same way, but the pods blend in with the plant too much for a good picture):

wide shot - there's pods in them there bushes, boy howdy itellyawhut:

also of note: fataliis are making a good showing now as well, but only on one plant so far are the peppers ending up yellow (which was the variant i purchased), a few have gone orange and had one you might even call red. and i am dehydrating the LONE pepper (the plant fell and broke in half before plant-out, and the one other pod had insects in it) from the only portugal x hab(?) plant i have this year for seeds to grow F2. i'm not a breeder/geneticist, i just always grow a shitload of plants way too close to each other, and i don't really care what happens, i just let it happen. i only said F2 to sound smart.

thanks for looking in!

Stay classy, San Diego.
-GyO