Hi from Spokane, WA!

E

erikjlee

Hi! I've been lurking for a few weeks and have found this to be a great active site with a lot of helpful people and good conversation. Glad to be here!

I stared gardening 3 years ago when we bought our house and quickly got the hot pepper bug. I have 7 4' wide raised beds filled with premium garden soil amended yearly with manure and compost (about ~100 sq. ft. of planting area). I built a 6'x20' greenhouse on the back of my garage and that's been awesome for getting an early start in the spring.

Last year I tried a few milder hab varieties (aji dulce #2, tobago seasoning, trinidad seasoning, and some hotter ones like choc hab and thai red) all planted in 7gal pots, but I got very few pods from a total of about 25 plants. I didn't get to taste any ajis or chocolate habs. I know the season was not good, and I made the mistake of moving the plants from my greenhouse to the garden early July (the night temps were still mid-high 40's). I realize now that I should have just left them in the greenhouse as they can self pollinate amd I can keep the temps at least 55.

So! Another year, another chance to learn. Any of you E. Washington people please feel free to share your tips on growing habs in this climate (what varieties work well, when do you start germinating, etc).

Time to shop for seeds I think!
 
erikjlee said:
Hi! I've been lurking for a few weeks and have found this to be a great active site with a lot of helpful people and good conversation. Glad to be here!

I stared gardening 3 years ago when we bought our house and quickly got the hot pepper bug. I have 7 4' wide raised beds filled with premium garden soil amended yearly with manure and compost (about ~100 sq. ft. of planting area). I built a 6'x20' greenhouse on the back of my garage and that's been awesome for getting an early start in the spring.

Last year I tried a few milder hab varieties (aji dulce #2, tobago seasoning, trinidad seasoning, and some hotter ones like choc hab and thai red) all planted in 7gal pots, but I got very few pods from a total of about 25 plants. I didn't get to taste any ajis or chocolate habs. I know the season was not good, and I made the mistake of moving the plants from my greenhouse to the garden early July (the night temps were still mid-high 40's). I realize now that I should have just left them in the greenhouse as they can self pollinate amd I can keep the temps at least 55.

So! Another year, another chance to learn. Any of you E. Washington people please feel free to share your tips on growing habs in this climate (what varieties work well, when do you start germinating, etc).

Time to shop for seeds I think!
Click to expand...

Welcome from the other side of the state :D Wow the Washington crowd is growing in a fast way!
Tips on your growing? I will tell you that I live on the not so hot and alot more wet side of the mountains.. I started late since we just moved in this year and I still had an OK crop even with the shitty season.. Which leads me to believe somethings going on that a bit of advice would fix for you. On that side of the mountains I don't think I would have even bought a greenhouse. Also, if you don't know this already.. pepper plants can handle night temps in the high 30's and anything in the 40's n do just fine. YES they will do alot better with night temps in the 50s. Mine have always been okay. Here in WA night temps rarely get above 55. You just gotta work with what you get I guess. Also.. I will tell ya, peppers do IMO better outside in the elements than in the GH all season.. in my experience being in a GH allows aphids, and other pests to thrive. Not in a greenhouse? the natural predators are there to take out any intruders.. I'd give ya the long story of how I realized that but this post is already longer than any welcome reply in history I'm pretty sure lol.

PM if you ever have any questions, I'll do my best to help.

Good luck
Brandon
 
Welcome......from Chicago

Good luck with the chocolate habs this season.......they are a tasty pepper!.......smoked in particular

Greg
 
Welcome from Twisp, WA. You'll learn a lot here. I don't think any of us here on this side of the state had a good pepper year.
Even though Brandon's on the wet side, he's a pro. You should look for his grow log, and see his set up. WOW!
 
Greetings from the mountains of Virginia... interesting climactic conditions you're facing there. I'd recommend heavy experimentation... get your hands on some wild varieties too, C. pubescens, galapagoense, praetermissum et cetera...
 
there are a lot of Washington people here. kinda intimidating for someone from down south...
Eastern WA gets great summertime heat, doesn't it? Seems like it would be great pepper-growing country.
:welcome:
 
Welcome from the wet side of the state...Maple Valley! Glad you joined. I would like to add that my greenhouse gave my potted chiles 2 more months to finish ripening. That made the difference between a kinda bad season and a surprisingly decent season.
 
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