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Hendrix1326's Glog for 2012, yay!

Okay, so I have been incognito here on the forums for the last couple of months. Been distracted by video games, working on house projects, etc. Anyway, I decided last week that once I laid the vinyl flooring in my laundry room that I would start germinating my seeds! I have settled on 20 varieties for this year, with (as many as) 50 plants, some of which I will keep at my mother's house, since she has a big garden space that won't all be used this year. I have the following varieties planted in Jiffy pellets in a "Germination Station" heating mat. I represented the "Big 5" species (Chinense, Annuum, Baccatum, Pubescens, Frutescens) with at least one variety, and also have a couple wilds (C.Lanceolatum, and one called "Tio") to round it out. Here is the list, with how many of each one I am growing in bold parentheses at the end:

Chinense:
01-Yellow Bullet Habanero (similar to Peruvian White, but with a distinct canary yellow color) (2)
02-Jamaican Hot Chocolate Habanero (2)
03-Red Biquinho Iracena (3)
04-CGN-21500 (2)
05-Red Aribibi Gusano (F1) (2)
06-White Bhut Jolokia (3)
07-Red 7-Pot (2)
08-Turtle's Claw (Aribibi Gusano) (2)
09-Zavory (3)

Annuum:
10-Red Pimiento (3)
11-Monkey Face (3)
12-Chicken Heart (2)
13-Purple UFO (2)
14-Hungarian Wax Cross (Unknown F1) (1, only got one seed!)

Baccatum:
15-Hot Lemon Drop (Aji Lemon) (3)
16-Bishop's Crown (3)

Pubescens:
17-Red Rocoto (3)

Frutescens:
18-CGN-22184 (3)

Lanceolatum:
19-Lanceolatum (Unknown Designation) (3)

Unknown Species:
20-Tio (3)


Here are the initial pictures of my embryonic grow rig, which will be overhauled by the time the seeds sprout:

http://s1088.photobu...nt=101_0242.jpg
http://s1088.photobu...nt=101_0243.jpg
http://s1088.photobu...nt=101_0244.jpg
http://s1088.photobu...nt=101_0245.jpg

By the time the seeds are seedlings, I plan on having all of the rest of my supplies, which includes nursery pots, convertible heat lamps, thermostat, heater, oscillating fans, pulleys, reflective materials, the whole shebangabang.

I also wanted to thank the following THP members for either trading, SASBE-ing, or giving me seeds which are among the ones I am growing this year:


cmpman1974 (Biquinho, Purple UFO)
2gods (Aribibi Red, CGN21500)
paulmtonkin (Red 7, Monkey Face, Turtle's Claw)
Pulpiteer (Hot Lemon Drop)
ZanderSpice (Rocoto, CGN22184)
DudeThtsBad (Tio)
aropupu (Lanceolatum)
S.S. Tupperware (Bishop's Crown)
dshlogg (White Bhut)
melissa77754 (Chicken Heart)


Also, thanks to whomever sent me the Zavory, I couldn't remember or find any trace of who it might be, but I know it was one of the fine folks here on The Hot Pepper. Also, thanks to HH Farm on eBay, who was one of the shining beacons of hope for Chili-Heads on that abyss, and provided me with delicious peppers of all kinds, and to whom I owe thanks for the Jamaican Hot Chocolate Habs, as well as the Yellow Bullet Habs, among others.

Stay tuned, everyone, I will have dynamic updates over the course of the year on this thread, right up until final harvests and overwintering processes in probably October. Thanks for checking this thread out!


-Karl
 
So, just a few more weeks until planting/moving outdoors! Yes! It has been a great amount of learning experience this year, with so many plants. I've had a few setbacks with some plants, most notably many of the plants I kept in the greenhouse in my basement, such as my Rocoto, TC07246, Cheyenne, and Pimiento. I'm still holding on with them, though, so we'll see if they end up with any pods by September/October.

On the positive side, most of my plants are doing great! My Peach Bhuts in particular are ridiculously healthy and bushy. While only 6-8 inches tall, they have between 7 and 10 side branches off of the main stem, and look like they'll be heavy producers. Both Turtle's Claw, all 3 White Bhut, the Scorpion Morouga, and both CGN21500 are doing great in the greenhouse outside during the day, and I keep the door open so they get a little more sun and wind.

All of my Hot Lemon Drops are doing well, too, and while they aren't as tall as my other Baccatums (Bishop's Crown, Aji Cito, and Aji Cristal), they have thrown out countless flower buds already. I'd estimate well over 100 buds have formed that I have pinched most of. My Aji Cristal is my tallest plant, clocking in at about 18 inches tall, and is looking great. Both Aji Citos aren't far behind, only about 1-1.5 inches shorter, and the Bishop's Crowns are just a smidge behind those.

I have some work to do this week, mixing up a (hopefully) final batch of dirt to pot up the remainder of my plants before vacation, so my mom can have an easier time getting around in my laundry room, as well as the greenhouse. I also will be transferring the shelves from the laundry room into the greenhouse/porch to augment the space for the hardening off process. It's been tricky, but well worth it.

Here is my newest update video filmed Wednesday morning:
 
Hey, quick exciting update time! At least for me. Anyway, I was shuffling around some plants from my upstairs room into my porch/greenhouse last night, and when I grabbed my Peruvian Purple plants, I noticed that one of them has (2) fully developed flowers on it!

5-18-12-PeruvianPurpleflowers.jpg





As you can see, they are a gorgeous purple color, very similar to lilacs. The plant is very bushy, as well, so I'm leaving the flowers on it and we'll see how it goes. I'm torn as to how many plants I want to let go to bloom, although with the super small ones, it's a no brainer that I will pinch the flower buds off. However, my larger plants I will leave be. This one isn't a huge plant, but it has a ton of leaves, so I think it should be able to put out a few pods before I could pinch off again if I so chose. If it halts growing too much, I will pinch again.
 
Hey, bro, looks like you are dang near ready to go outside!
Hard to wait, but sometimes the weather just makes us cool
our jets for a while. At least we can catch up on grow logs
when the weather's goofy!

Good luck planting out!
 
Very cool videos man. I likie. Things are looking super healthy for you. Even the ones in the porch that were looking a little sad, are still not that bad. I like what you've got going on.

Variety is the spice of life right! Nice Glog. Hope you have an magnifico vacation bro. Looking forward to future updates.
 
Thanks, guys! I definitely am looking forward to plantout, Paul! I will definitely be having fun on vacay, David!


Update time, guys! I got home from work at about 5:30 last night, and it was supposed to rain, so I thought: "All right, rain! I'll bet the plants would love it!"
So, I put the porch plants outside, and took all plants out of the greenhouse and put them on the sidewalk, as well. Just as I was getting done, it started sprinkling. Pretty soon, it was raining pretty good. On a side note, too, a couple of plants fell in the greenhouse, crushing several others in the process (all are still alive!)

I had to go to my mom's to pick up my son, so I took off soon after this. I had gotten about a mile from my house when I start to hear "Tink tink" noises on my car. Shit, a hail storm!!!! I reversed course and floored it home, but I was too late! Many of my plants took a little asskicking from the 1-3 cm hailstones, although that was minimal damage overall. I nursed them back to health with a little watering this morning for any that were droopy, and plucked out/off all the dead leaves/broken branches.

All is well overall, though my Peruvian Purple with 2 flowers lost a branch, so it's down to one flower. The other Peruvian Purple was crushed my the Orange Manzano, damaging it pretty badly, and one Red Pimiento also fell, crushing a Purple UFO and a Tio partially. They are all still alive, though, so I'll see what happens! I smell an increase in overwintered plants if some of these others don't make it to the Autumn!

On another note, I finally completed my purchases for the next wave of potting mix that I use. I got the compost and vermiculite a week ago, and then the peat moss, but I needed to pick up some mulch to lay at the bases of the plants. I picked up some Red Cedar and Cocoa Bean Shell mulch today, and mixed them with some leftover Cypress mulch I had from last year. From now on, when potting up any plants, I am using that mixture.

I mixed up my latest batch of soil today, which contained the following:

2.2 cu. ft. peat moss
2 cu. ft. garden compost
1.5 cu. ft. vermiculite
approx. 5-8 dry quarts cedar mulch
approx. 6-8 dry quarts cocoa bean mulch


This is a modified version of "Mel's Mix" from the Square Foot Gardening book. I was not entirely satisfied with the water retention abilities of the original blend, which called for even mixes of Vermiculite/Peat/Compost. Hopefully this mix works well. I've already potted up both Pimenta de Neyde and one Anaheim using this mix. I will also be adding crushed eggshells under the roots, and a tablespoon of blood meal just before adding the last 1-2 inches of soil at the top. Topping all this off is my new cocoa bean/cedar mulch combo, which I am spreading about 1 inch thick. All in due time will I find out if this new methodology works. I always like trying new combos of materials/techniques. Anyone who has worked with any of these things feel free to post your 2 cents about them.
 
Glad to hear that things weren't worse for you and the plants
than it turned out! Having a large family is very worrying : )

Hope the injured make a full recovery and bounce back stronger than ever!
 
All right, a little update time! I don't do a lot of text updates these days, mainly posting the videos, but I have some exciting news. I am doing a bit of an experiment with my plants. I planted 22 plants out at my mom's in the past few days (22 varieties, what?!), and tonight, I selected a wild location to see how 6 plants (6 varieties, HUH!?), eventually will be 10 plants, do in a more rustic setting. I understand the risks, and that I may lose all of the plants, but I want to try. If it works, I really think my yield would go up. I did till up the ground, and lay down some potting soil, as well as my mix from the buckets that the plants were in. It is right at the top of a bluff, in a spot that gets a ton of sun all day, so they'll be seeing plenty of Old Sol! We'll see in a few days if they're doing okay, when I film my update video. I plan on checking it out on Wednesday to see what's up. Wish them luck!
 
Great experiment, Hendrix. If i know you, it will be well documented and cross-referenced!
Can't wait to see how they do. If they are really tough, they should take over the bluff!
 
Rolling along this week, I have fanned my plants out into the front yard, where I fenced off the plot (which may be rototilled next year and the plants put in the ground instead). I also took six plants up to the top of a bluff near my house as an experiment, and my mom/stepdad have a huge garden and said I could plant 22 plants there. So, I still have 63 plants at my house, which will be down to 59 after I plant out 4 more at the bluff location. Here is the update video:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JonwdNGn58Q&lc=QZzMZMPffvT9PDBYt3NBsPRitlB9v08-O48o-L324kY&feature=inbox
 
So, my plants are finally flowering and producing pods. In particular, my Lemon Drops, Cheyennes, and Biquinhos are first out of the gate, with the Lemon Drops holding the lead with over a dozen small pods between the 3 plants. Purple UFO, Peach Bhut, White Bhut, Peruvian Purple, Tio, and Kori Sitakame have tons of flower buds, and my experimental group is holding steady. Plants at my mom's garden are also doing quite well, with the aforementioned Cheyenne having 3-5 small pods on it, and many other plants flowering, including the solitary Orange Manzano and Tasmanian Red #1, as well as the Morouga(!).

Here is this week's update video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2x3tufDy2Ng&lc=5_6hVO7CDoAaPF529qEWqkefp5eaVL0xB8aATZyXMDI&feature=inbox
 
glad to see that the lemon drops are doing so well! It won't be too long and you'll be enjoying some pods!

Yes, indeed! I have many plants with small/medium pods on them now, so it won't be very long. Not sure if it's the weather, or soil, or what, but I seem to have a little slower getup for pods than even downstate. Probably not as intense of sun up here, but in any case, the plants are mostly doing well. Lost 2 CGN22184 plants now, and the third one is holding kind of steady at almost dead.

Mid-week update time, I really should do this more often, besides posting just the videos, since I know that they are getting quite lengthy!

[background=rgb(240, 227, 210)]Visible pods: Yellow Bullet Hab, [/background][background=rgb(240, 227, 210)]Red Biquinho Iracema, [/background][background=rgb(240, 227, 210)]CGN 21500, [/background][background=rgb(240, 227, 210)]Purple UFO, [/background][background=rgb(240, 227, 210)]Orange Cheyenne, [/background][background=rgb(240, 227, 210)]Kori Sitakame, [/background][background=rgb(240, 227, 210)]Apache, [/background][background=rgb(240, 227, 210)]Elephant's Trunk, [/background][background=rgb(240, 227, 210)]Tio, [/background][background=rgb(240, 227, 210)]Peruvian Purple,[/background][background=rgb(240, 227, 210)]Hot Lemon Drop,[/background]


[background=rgb(240, 227, 210)]Visible flowers/buds: Red 7-Pot, [/background][background=rgb(240, 227, 210)]Turtle's Claw (Aribibi Gusano), [/background][background=rgb(240, 227, 210)]Aribibi Gusano Red (F1), [/background][background=rgb(240, 227, 210)]Zavory, [/background][background=rgb(240, 227, 210)]White Bhut Jolokia, [/background][background=rgb(240, 227, 210)]Baker's Unknown #2, [/background][background=rgb(240, 227, 210)]Peach Bhut Jolokia, [/background][background=rgb(240, 227, 210)]NagaBon, [/background][background=rgb(240, 227, 210)]Trinidad Scorpion Morouga, [/background][background=rgb(240, 227, 210)]Tasmanian Red #1, [/background][background=rgb(240, 227, 210)]Red Pimiento, [/background][background=rgb(240, 227, 210)]Monkey Face, [/background][background=rgb(240, 227, 210)]Purple Cayenne, [/background][background=rgb(240, 227, 210)]Hungarian Black Hot Wax, [/background][background=rgb(240, 227, 210)]Pero Orange Sweet, [/background][background=rgb(240, 227, 210)]Anaheim, [/background][background=rgb(240, 227, 210)]C0 1225, [/background][background=rgb(240, 227, 210)]TC 07246, [/background][background=rgb(240, 227, 210)]Pimenta de Neyde, [/background][background=rgb(240, 227, 210)]Bird's Eye,[/background]
[background=rgb(240, 227, 210)]Yellow-Orange Bird Pepper, [/background][background=rgb(240, 227, 210)]Bishop's Crown, [/background][background=rgb(240, 227, 210)]Aji Cito, [/background][background=rgb(240, 227, 210)]Aji Crystal, [/background][background=rgb(240, 227, 210)]Red Rocoto, [/background][background=rgb(240, 227, 210)]Orange Manzano[/background]

[background=rgb(240, 227, 210)]No visible flowers/pods: Cantina Yellow, [/background][background=rgb(240, 227, 210)]Congo Orange, [/background][background=rgb(240, 227, 210)]White Fatali, [/background][background=rgb(240, 227, 210)]Tobago Seasoning, [/background][background=rgb(240, 227, 210)]Orange Amazon, [/background][background=rgb(240, 227, 210)]Unknown C.Chinense (possibly Choco Bhut :D), [/background][background=rgb(240, 227, 210)]C0 4392, [/background][background=rgb(240, 227, 210)]CGN 22184.[/background]


[background=rgb(240, 227, 210)]So, quite a few varieties have pods, though none ripe. Lemon Drops have several 1-2 inch green pods on them, and dozens of smaller pods (1cm or less). Kori Sitakame has probably 30-40 pods forming, and dozens more flowers, and dozens more buds that haven't opened yet. Yellow Bullet Habs have several pods, and many dozens of buds/opened flowers waiting in the wings. Tio #1 is looking beautiful, with countless small pods forming, and more countless flowers/buds. I could ramble on, but sufficient to say, we're finally rolling along with production, and it is barely July here in Michigan's UP![/background]

[background=rgb(240, 227, 210)]Here is the most recent video, as an addendum:[/background]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8WyC8jDa4f0&list=UUBeCLFnBO_IkpdQY0DVPyvQ&index=1&feature=plcp
 
Great update, Karl! Your unknown Chinese looks like this, all 5 plants are about the same height and are forming buds.

IMAG1228.jpg
 
I love watching those videos and seeing the Tio plant!
Keep doing work man! :D
everything is doing beautiful!


Glad you stopped in, Michael! I was going to send you a message because just since last week, Tio #1 at my house is going insane with pods! I have over 50 pods, the plant is about 1 1/2 feet tall, and one of the most beautiful pepper plants I've ever seen! There are a couple hundred more buds on it, dozens of open flowers, and countless pods. Thanks again for those, and I will be spreading those around if you approve :D

Can't wait to test those bad boys out, and get a new generation of seeds going. I will be overwintering at least one of them, they do very well in my climate up here in Michigan! I will be posting my newest video soon, where I do a spotlight on the Tio. I will mark the time index for you so you don't have to watch the whole 17-minute video if you don't want to.

Take it easy, dude! Do you have a grow log to check out? I didn't see it in your topics on your profile, shoot me a link if you have one! Otherwise, I'll talk at you later! Thanks again for stopping in!
 
woww! that's such a healthy looking plant!
LOL that's better than my tio plant here at home! I'm jealous!
thanks for doing a feature on it!
that's crazy how well your's is doing!
& noo I don't have a grow log as of now :[
Ima try and do one next year though!
 
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