glog Hey Y'all, the Stettoman is Still Hangin'!

Wow, it's been a minute, eyuh?

Since moving to Colorado Springs in 2021 I've been pretty busy failing at growing my pepper bliss. Oh, stuff will grow, but my Serranos are stunted and not prolific. Colorado is supposed to be great for peppers, but been a bust for me.

Except for one stubborn Arequipeño that, without any assistance from me, is entering it's FOURTH season. And IS prolific. Dunno why, but I let it.

And yes, I planted Serranos and this year.
When I get a chance, I'll try to catch up with y'all I used to kibbutz with.

Oh, and we're moving again, this time to east-central Texas...

 

[stettoman]

OK folks (& folkettes, of course), I was told to get to work, so here I am, at it

My grow this year is going to be meager, as I haven't had much luck on this side of town (halfway to Kansas). But as noted earlier, I have an overwinter Arequipeño Rocoto that has defied logic and nature and doing quite well in its 4th season. There are several pods now and continues to flower:

I'm so impressed that I culled seeds from last year's harvest and birthed an Arequipeño baby:

Other than that, those LO Thais have been "thinned" to two in each 4" pot. I'd like to keep them slow until Texas, along with all these stunted Serranos Tampiqueño.
LO Thai:

And Andy's (GIP) Serranos Tampiqueño:

Believe it or not, the Serranos were planted way back in Jan/February. Given every ounce of love, care and feeding that I've always given, yet they refuse to grow more than 4 inches tall. I abandoned the raised beds, but thought they'd do better than this. We shall see. These guys have had a solid 10 days of good ionized rain from Colorado thunderstorms, I was expecting a burst of growth. Many/most of you never had the pleasure of @GIP famous smoked powder, but I'm hell and high water determined to carry on in his heavenly craft, and to share with the membership.

Wish me luck, folks!

...now back to your regularly scheduled program...

 

[The Hot Pepper]

Carry on the legacy!

 

[stettoman]

Heh heh, boy I can't wait for bumper crops like I was getting in zone 3. And yeah, if I can get the chokecherry trees to grow there the jelly will roll!

It's late already, I know, but I'll have a list of seeds to share soon as well, half of them Pubescens.

Boss, you ARE the Kwisatz Haderach!!!

 

[NJChilehead]

Nice! Would it be awkward to start a band with three bass players?

 

[stettoman]

Nice! Would it be awkward to start a band with three bass players?

 

[stettoman]

Man, I thought I'd get further down the road

before this, but my "tallest" Serrano was covered with aphids this morning. I spent 5 minutes squishing every one I found, but no doubt the uphill battle has begun.

There oughta be height restrictions for these little monsters, or better yet SPECIES restrictions....

 

[stettoman]

Quick update (I believe I said something about a meager grow )

So then, we uproot in 5 weeks and head to Texas, I'm hopeful that the spoiled rotten kids all survive the trip. We have movers booked, realtor signed, and packing is well under way.

Remember in a prior post that this guy had a family of aphids move in, right?

A debris field has developed on one leaf. A tiny spider has set up shop and the aphid issue seems resolved!

All plants are growing, happy and healthy, yet uncannily adolescent. I'm fine with that, it means easier transport to the new digs in Pflugerville. Meanwhile, my 4th season Arequipeño has set a number of pods.

And continues to bust out flower buds.

I haven't really done much research yet regarding zone 9, but I'm guessing year-round production is not in the cards. Can't wait to find out!

Thanks for watching, we will continue after this short commercial break.............