Highalt 2011

[highalt]

Back again with a status report on the wind damage. Man, I just went back and looked at the photos taken when I first planted these out. What a difference!

This El Oro De Ecuador is a total loss. I have one more small one that I can replace it with.

This is the only Serrano Tampiqueno I have, so I'm hoping it will recover.

What do you guys think about this Georgia Flame? I do have one more plant, though it's not as big as this one. Should I replace it? Also, there are a couple of tiny buds on it, should I pick them off to help it recover?

The rest of the inground peppers seem to be okay, though they are all leaning a little to the East today ...

 

[highalt]

Another calm, sunny, and warm day, so I headed out to the community garden. First I stopped by a local organic nursery and picked up a Serrano Tampiqueno (just in case mine doesn't make it), some ground cherry plants, and a couple of tomatillo plants.

So here is what got planted:

Aji Yellow
Ancho Gigantia
Chimayo
Jalapeno M
Joe E. Parker
Puya
Sandia
Serrano Tampiqueno

Since I can never be sure if stuff from the nursery is really hardened off, or just brought out from some greenhouse that morning, I didn't put the ground cherries and tomatillos in the ground, but partially buried the container. I'll leave them like that for a few days, and then transplant. I started doing it this way after losing a few nursery bought plants.

Thought I'd get some yardwork done today too, but the heat has done me in ...

 

[RedtailForester]

Sorry to hear about you weather related issues Bonnie. Hopefully things start shaping up for you.

 

[highalt]

Thanks, Redtail! I think it will. The forecast is looking pretty good for this coming week - highs in the 80's, lows in the 45 - 50 range, and lots of sun. There is only one day listed as "breezy" and so far no high wind warnings. I think things will start taking off soon.

I got a bit of a second wind this afternoon. Didn't cut the grass, but I did pot up some of what's left of my peppers. I may try and squeeze in 2 or 3 more at the community garden, and the rest will either stay in pots, or be given away. I'll try and take some pics at the community garden soon.

 

[midwestchilehead]

Congrats, Bonnie! Glad you got some stuff in the ground. Happy growing!

 

[highalt]

Everything in the veggie bed, or on the front porch has at least some wind damage, but I noticed today that the plants in the Earthboxes were actually starting to look better. The top growth is much more green than the old growth, which could be because they were finally fed when they were put in the Earthbox, but I also noticed that the leaves that were curling upward before have finally started to relax back down. Wondering if that is because they are on the East side of the house in a fenced in backyard now, so much less exposed to the wind than they were before.

Aji Panca

Alma Paprika

Giant Szegedi (Does anyone else want to call this one Giant Spaghetti?)

Earthbox # 1

I decided that even though this area only gets sun for 6 to 8 hours, compared to the front of the house, which gets closer to 12 hours, it was probably a better location for all of my container peppers, because of the protection from the harsh winds here. So here are the Earthboxes, along with what's left to be planted, and a badly damaged Alma Paprika in the decorative pot.

Oh, and the Aji Yellow that lost most of it leaves a couple of weeks ago, is starting to show some new, healthy looking leaves

The ones that I planted down at the community garden are all still alive, but not looking too happy right now. That location has no wind protection, and is in full sun for 12 - 14 hours/day. Hoping they will adjust to their new home soon!

 

[highalt]

Look what I found on a Chimayo tonight. This one is in an Earthbox on the patio.

There are also blooms on Frank's, and Georgia Flame. There are quite a few others that are developing buds, and the wind beaten plants in the veggie bed are starting to show new growth, but couldn't seem to get any decent pics this evening.

The plants down at the community garden still look sad, but are all hanging in there.

 

[midwestchilehead]

Looks like you are past the worst of it, Bonnie. Enjoy the oncoming pod onslaught!

 

[highalt]

We finally got a bit of rain last night and early this morning, so while it was still overcast, I ran out and got some more pics.

This first one is Serrano Tampiqueno. If you look back at the photo taken 6-3-11, you can see how much new growth it has.

This is Ancho San Luis. It also lost most of its leaves in the high winds last month, and is finally starting to put on some new growth.

Alma Paprika. Just transplanted this one to the garden to replace the El Oro De Ecuador that died. It has quite a few buds on it.

Santa Fe Grande

Sandia

Lemon Drop. Thought this one wasn't going to make it for a while there, but it too is putting out some new leaves.

Kalocsai V2. This is the only plant I have that has multiple branches on it. Hope that means lots of pods.

Czechoslovakian Black. Love the purple coloring. Can't wait to see the blooms and pods on this one.

Still haven't gotten any pictures of the ones at the community garden, but they don't look as healthy as these do!

 

[highalt]

Was at a garden center picking up a few more tomato plants, and a couple more pepper plants managed to jumped in my cart

Big Jim (which I think I have seeds for, but didn't sow this year)

Also picked up one that said TAM Jalapeno on the tag, but the owner said she ran out of tags, and it was actually Jalapeno M. Kind of made me suspicious about the tags on all the other plants, but I bought it anyway, since my Jalapeno M's are struggling a bit.

Then I stopped by one more place for a couple more tomatoes (mine germinated very late, and I have lots of 2" tall sprouts that have no chance in he** of actually producing a ripe tomato before the 1st frost). Somehow a Purple Jalapeno came home with me (its purple blooms were calling to me).

The tomato plants really were needed, but more peppers? My DH is right, I really DO need a 12 step program!

 

[highalt]

About 1/2 of my pepper plants are in containers, 1/4 in the garden here at the house, and another 1/4 at the community garden. Today I took pictures of the container peppers.

Earthbox #1

Earthbox #2

Jimmy Nardello

Joe E. Parker

Purple Jalapeno

Georgia Flame

Chimayo

Aji Yellow

Thanks for lookin'

 

[Dot Com]

Thanks for the update. One day I will grow peppers in the ground. Right now, I'm an urban dweller Seems like battling the weathering the elements will make your harvest that much more of an accomplishment though

 

[buddy]

looks like you survived the weather. good luck on the rest of the season.

 

[highalt]

Dot Com, I don't know that I'd be in a hurry to grow them in the ground. Most of my container grown plants are doing better then the ones in the ground, and they are easier to protect when there's bad weather. Gardening in the Rocky Mountains is a challenge, and I forget how easy things grow in other areas of the country, until I talk with my brother who lives in the Mid-South. He's already harvested the first round of pods, and I'm still weeks away from harvesting my first pepper.

Thanks, Buddy! It's too early to say what kind of harvest I'll end up with, but it definitely feels like we've rounded a corner here.

 

[romy6]

Bonnie. Just got done reading your log. Man are you patient. Plants are staring to come along well. When are you going to post some community garden pics? And I always hear you refer to DH ( I assume it's your not so better half) but what does that stand for. Hopefully not what I think.

 

[highalt]

Romy, DH is short for Dear Husband ... at least most days anyway. And he would be rolling on the floor to hear someone describe me as patient!

The problem with getting pictures at the community garden is that it is in full sun from sunrise to sundown, and I live in a place where you can go weeks in the summer without even seeing a cloud. I need to go by there to water in a bit, and I'll take the camera, but chances are the pictures will be overexposed due to the sun light.

 

[Indiana_Jesse]

Wow a chile grower that gets more wind than I do! I can definitely relate to how frustrating windy days/weeks can be. In the last 7 days we had one day (Saturday) in which wind speeds did not top 20mph. Most days we had 30-40mph gusts. Last Tuesday we had straitline wind close to 60mph (58 I think?). This spring has been crazy windy, I think we have 4-6 windy (greater than 20mph) days a week. Seedlings I started outside have dealt with the wind well, but anything that needed hardened off had there leaves ripped off or tattered no matter how much I tried to protect them.

 

[highalt]

Jesse, our winds have died down somewhat, with gusts staying in the 25 - 30 mph range this past week or two, which I am very grateful for.

I took quite a few pictures at the community garden this afternoon.

Here is an overview of the garden plot. The reason for the large gap between the 1st and 2nd rows is that the 1st row is mostly melons, so I was trying to allow space for the vines to sprawl. 2nd Row is tomatoes and tomatillos, 3rd row is tomatoes and peppers, 4th row is tomatoes and lettuces, and the 5th row is cauliflower, zucchini, and broccoli. I just put the straw down a few days ago, and it has made a tremendous difference in moisture retention. Before, I could water in the morning, and by late afternoon everything was completely dry, and the dirt hard as a brick. Now, 24 hours later, some areas are still moist.

The largest of the pepper plants there, Aji Yellow

Joe E. Parker, much smaller than the one at home in the Earthbox

Sandia

A puny Puya. Hasn't grown a bit since it was planted 3 weeks ago.

I'll post pictures of the other veggies on my 'other than peppers' growlog.

 

[romy6]

Thank you Bonnie. Can't wait to see more pics!

 

[megamoo]

Nice selection of plants. I had a strong wind problem as well, its terrible when your plants are in the ground and you can't move them.

I read in a very good gardening book that the best type windbreak is a hedge or shadecloth screen because the tiny gaps or holes allow air through but reduce its damaging force. A solid wall actually causes the wind to spiral over and back down the other side and doesn't reduce the gusting power as much.

To solve my wind problem I hammered some star pickets into the ground around my plots and stretched a fence of shadecloth around them, securing it with zip ties. It works really well and you can take it all down easily when the weather eases up. The holes take the sting out of the wind and it doesn't push it hard like a sail at all.