HabaneroHead's 2014 Glog - Nuclear Destruction

Devv · May 2, 2014

I'm a fan of sunshade too Balázs, works great in this heat here.

Otherwise I lose a lot to scalding.

Can't wait to see plants in the ground!

stickman · May 2, 2014

Your plants are looking fantastic Balázs, and the frame/shade cloth setup as well... I can tell you're going to have a great season this year! :dance:

Maybe next year you'll use poly sheeting over the frame to get a jump on the plant-out. Good luck!

HabaneroHead · May 2, 2014

Devv said:
I'm a fan of sunshade too Balázs, works great in this heat here.

Otherwise I lose a lot to scalding.

Can't wait to see plants in the ground!

There are two things what really set back the production here: scalding and hail. The sunshade will possibly eliminate both. I can't wait to plant them out, but I have to wait one week more... According to the forecast we are going to have 4 Celsius (39 Farenheit)night temps for three days, and I would really like to avoid that. They can take 9-10 Celsius (50 Farenheit) pretty easily, but the following nights would be colder than my fridge! I have been pampering them for 4 months, so they can wait another 1 week, until the conditions will be ideal.:-)

Devv · May 2, 2014

I agree!

And the soil temps are a major consideration too!

HabaneroHead · May 3, 2014

romy6 said:
Looking very nice Balazs!

Thank you, Jamie!

stickman said:
Your plants are looking fantastic Balázs, and the frame/shade cloth setup as well... I can tell you're going to have a great season this year! Maybe next year you'll use poly sheeting over the frame to get a jump on the plant-out. Good luck!

Thank you, Rick! Hopefully it will work. Poly sheeting is a good idea...we had one which got broken in a storm...by the pieces of the roof of the neighbour's barn (which was built withouth any official permission). Needless to say, that there was no aplogy made or anything...and now I can see that the roof was not repaired...there are stones and bricks on it to tie it down...unelievable...
To be honest I was spending way more on the peppers I should (or I'd be allowed), so I will see how I can sell them. If I will have some extra above my expenses, I will definately buy a poly sheet, so I can have a jump start, and I can extend the season with 3-4 weeks more.

Devv said:
I agree!

And the soil temps are a major consideration too!

Indeed, Scott. We won't have any issue with the soil temps, since we are having 25 Celsius (77 Farenheit) in shade so the Sun will warm the soil up pretty well.
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Here is the masterpiece :onfire:

According to the manufacturer, it gives 25% shade, and you will see on the pic, it actually makes a difference.

Thanks for watching!

Balázs

stickman · May 3, 2014

Very nice looking setup Balázs! :onfire:

I'm definitely going to keep an eye out here to see how it works out for you. Looking at how you and Scott set up your hoops, I think I may do something similar by permanently setting larger diameter pipes in the ground to put the ends of the PVC into... that'll raise the hoops up higher so I could actually walk inside instead of having to get down on my hands and knees, and it wouldn't bend in toward the middle at quite so steep an angle so I could set it up over the mature plants in the fall to extend the season on that end as well. I'd have to use UV-stablilized pipe though, so it doesn't break down in the sun.

HabaneroHead · May 4, 2014

stickman said:
Very nice looking setup Balázs! I'm definitely going to keep an eye out here to see how it works out for you. Looking at how you and Scott set up your hoops, I think I may do something similar by permanently setting larger diameter pipes in the ground to put the ends of the PVC into... that'll raise the hoops up higher so I could actually walk inside instead of having to get down on my hands and knees, and it wouldn't bend in toward the middle at quite so steep an angle so I could set it up over the mature plants in the fall to extend the season on that end as well. I'd have to use UV-stablilized pipe though, so it doesn't break down in the sun.

Thanks, Rick! Indeed that is a good idea. I'm not sure from where my fater got these pvc frame, but we are using them since 15 years, so it should be UV-stabilized for sure.
Bad news is that I had to move the plants inside since the morning temp was 7 Celsius, which is pretty cold. On the top of that we have very strong wind, which surprisingly did not really harm my plants..now I can see the benefit having the fan on 2-3 hours per day.

PaulG · May 4, 2014

Great sunshade, Balázs - should work like a charm for you.
Could it double as a greenhouse in cold weather?

I love your garden space - looks like you have a lot of room!

HillBilly Jeff · May 4, 2014

That is freaky kewl looking. Take it to the ground and you can picnic in there with your peppers with no mosquito's to bother you!!!

Well done

Devv · May 4, 2014

Nice hoop house with sunshade!

I take it you get some scalding?

I use 30%, and put it up yesterday. We're already seeing 32°C plus temps here.

And Paul has a good idea, plastic covering can extend your season.

Have a great week!

HabaneroHead · May 14, 2014

PaulG said:
Great sunshade, Balázs - should work like a charm for you.
Could it double as a greenhouse in cold weather?

I love your garden space - looks like you have a lot of room!

Hi Paul,
Well, this is only a net material, but the frame could be used to hold a poly sheet when the cold weather comes.

HillBilly Jeff said:
That is freaky kewl looking. Take it to the ground and you can picnic in there with your peppers with no mosquito's to bother you!!!

Well done

Thanks Jeff

Devv said:
Nice hoop house with sunshade!

I take it you get some scalding?

I use 30%, and put it up yesterday. We're already seeing 32°C plus temps here.

And Paul has a good idea, plastic covering can extend your season.

Have a great week!

Hi Scott,
It gives 25% of shade. We are going to see how much the plants will produce (in terms of income :drooling:

) and then to decide I we can afford purchasing a plastic covering for the end of the season.
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Unfortunately I did not have much time not even to check the glogs on THP in the last days...buying stuff for the baby...it is exhausting. :doh:

Eventually all my plants went into the dirt at last weekend. I was in the garden at 7 AM and got into the house at 8 PM, stopped only twice. I did not even know I have so many muscles...now I can fell them...all of them...
Good news:
- I was waiting 1 week with plantout...and I was right...we had frosts in the morning...I did not take any picture about my Mom's peppers which went to the ground before...the leaves were practically black since they were frozen...
- We had some rain right after planting them out, which is good

Bad news:
- This week we are expecting 70-100 km/hour (43-62 miles per hoiur) winds, which will surely have some bad inpact on them
- Also heavy rains are due (100 mm -->3.93 inch) within a single day
- We are having extremely cold weather (10 Celsius --> 50 Farenheit)

Now let's see some pictures! :fireball:

69 plants went inside the tent

30 of the weakest went outside

Thanks for watching!
Balázs

stickman · May 14, 2014

Alright Balázs... Dirt day in Hungary too! :woohoo:

I'm getting 50 degree farenheit temperatures overnight as well. It doesn't seem to hurt the chiles at all, but they're day-neutral, so they haven't been growing at night either. I hope it warms up significantly in the next week or so so they can start getting things underway! The exceptions are the Alpine varieties and your Hungarians... they're all in flower and growing like weeds.

HillBilly Jeff · May 14, 2014

Awesome....they should take off now.

Devv · May 14, 2014

Very Balázs

Feeling all those muscles is a good thing

It means you put a full day in, and that keeps one young and moving better.

I feel ya on the wind, it's been crazy windy here all spring. It will make the gals a little ugly at first, but they figure it out!

Keep it green!

PaulG · May 16, 2014

Devv said:
Very Balázs

Feeling all those muscles is a good thing It means you put a full day in, and that keeps one young and moving better.

I feel ya on the wind, it's been crazy windy here all spring. It will make the gals a little ugly at first, but they figure it out!

Keep it green!

Excellent work, Balázs! Your tunnel looks great full of peppers. Glad
you were able to avoid the freeze, ands hope the good weather continues
for you.

The Hungarian Sweet Paprika has two pods on it - one about 3-4 cm long!

HabaneroHead · May 21, 2014

Thanks for the good vibes! :-)

Meanwhile it turned out that I was too quick with the plantout...practically it was raining for a week with 8-9 Celsius degrees... According to my Mom we are going to loose at least 5 plants from the weakest ones, and the others look sh....ty as well... Brown spots, papery leafes due to the cold winds and the damp soil. I instructed her to remove the dead or sick leaves from the plants, since the side branches will quickly take off. Hopefully I can see her and the plants in two weeks, but not quite soon after that...baby is due on the 14th of July... I will teach her how to take and upload pics, so I can satisfy the apetite of THP as well :-)
I successfully managed to plant out 8 plants into my own garden on Sunday, and other 2 went into 80 liter grow bags.
Interesting to see how sunburnt they became withing 3 days. I am not removing those leaves now, since I would like to leave some shade for the side branches , to allow them to accustom to the new conditions.

Thanks for watching!

Balázs

HillBilly Jeff · May 21, 2014

Good luck on your continued plant outs. Tough time of year.

blorvak · May 22, 2014

Looking good! I planted mine out on Sat, and have the same sunburn issues. Did you harden off the plants? I did for a week, but it looks like they could have used a few more days. I'm hoping it builds character.

stickman · May 22, 2014

Sorry to hear the plants at your parents place have been having such a rough time. It's been a cool,dry, windy spring here too. The plants at your place look good though, and I see you've buried water bottles next to the plants for watering. Looking good Balázs!

Other varieties may be languishing in the spring conditions here, but your Hungarians are doing just fine. I've got pods already from the Sweet Paprika, Almapaprika and "Pointed Hot" varieties. The others are either flowering or about to start. The only other Annuums that are doing as well are the "Alpine" varieties from northern New Mexico like the Jalapenos, Serranos, Chimayos and Anaheims. I was pretty surprised to see that the Piri Piri that I got from Lourens in South Africa is also flowering and setting pods. I guess it's my most cold-tolerant Frutascens pepper.

HabaneroHead · May 22, 2014

HillBilly Jeff said:
Good luck on your continued plant outs. Tough time of year.

Thanks, Jeff! Indeed! What does not kill you...

blorvak said:
Looking good! I planted mine out on Sat, and have the same sunburn issues. Did you harden off the plants? I did for a week, but it looks like they could have used a few more days. I'm hoping it builds character.

Thanks. To be honest I did not harden them off... You might get better results, but I believe it is more about what strategy the plant has chosen to survive. Inside the house with minimal light the leaves grew bigger in order to catch more sunlight. This strategy is not working outstide because of the direct sunlight and because of the big leaf suface. The plant is loosing water rapidly via these leaves, therefore they must go... Interesting thing is that the new leaves, branches are at least 30 times smaller than the indoor ones, and even those which were fresh branches but also small did not get sunburn. This is why I am not worried about the plants, since the root they have is healthy, they have a healthy stem, so nothing will stop them to branch out. f

stickman said:
Sorry to hear the plants at your parents place have been having such a rough time. It's been a cool,dry, windy spring here too. The plants at your place look good though, and I see you've buried water bottles next to the plants for watering. Looking good Balázs!

Other varieties may be languishing in the spring conditions here, but your Hungarians are doing just fine. I've got pods already from the Sweet Paprika, Almapaprika and "Pointed Hot" varieties. The others are either flowering or about to start. The only other Annuums that are doing as well are the "Alpine" varieties from northern New Mexico like the Jalapenos, Serranos, Chimayos and Anaheims. I was pretty surprised to see that the Piri Piri that I got from Lourens in South Africa is also flowering and setting pods. I guess it's my most cold-tolerant Frutascens pepper.

Weather is crazy here, my friend. In the last years there was 30 Celsius degrees on the 1st of May, and now we got 8.... And I am happy that I avoided the frost. Watering bottles are pretty useful, thanks for sharing the idea :-) It is the easiest way for fertililzing the plants, and not to waste that expensive stuff. :-)
I am not surprised about the Annuums, they are designed for your weather conditions :-) 300 years of breeding finally pays off