Highalt's 2012 Grow Log

highalt · Apr 11, 2012

Yeah, I have a couple of Earthboxes, and a few other containers, but most aren't big enough. I could use more 5 gallon, and larger, but they would either end up on the patio or the porch, so I need to find something more decorative than a 5 gallon bucket. I know there are some cheap online sources for the plain black 5 gallon containers, just thinking my spouse might complain about them. I'm already pushing my luck.with all of the milk jugs sitting out on the patio that I'm using for winter/spring sowing all of my other non-pepper seeds.

stc3248 · Apr 11, 2012

You can get the fake platic terra cotta stuff at wally world that are decorative enough and pretty cheap! I would much like to have all my container plants in something like that along my pool deck, but I buy my plastic 5 gallons for 50 cents each off craigslist...just can't justify spending the extra $$$. Maybe I'll start picking up a few at a time for next year. I have also seen a bunch of decorative planters on craigslist here, so you may want to take a look on there every now and then.

romy6 · Apr 11, 2012

Sounds like you need to come down here with me Bonnie.
Lots of action all year around.
But your babies look awesome!

Jamie

highalt · Apr 12, 2012

Thanks, Jamie! I think maybe it's too easy where you live ... where's the challenge?

Didn't know how good I had it when I gardened in the mid-south. I feel like if I can garden here, I can garden just about anywhere. One minute it's 80 degrees, and you're out cutting the grass, the next it's 50 mph winds, and a couple of hours later there's 5" of snow on the ground (true story, BTW). Now that's a challenge, LOL!!!

highalt · Apr 13, 2012

This morningI was goofing around on the Jung Seed Website's garden planner. Here is what I came up with for the community garden this year. I'm going to try to use the Florida weave support technique for the peppers. I purchased 16 of the 5' t-posts this morning, which would put them about 6' apart. I'm wondering if maybe that will be too far apart, but at around $5 a piece, that was about all I could afford to spend on it.

Here is a link to the garden plan I created. What do you guys think? Will this work?

http://gardenplanner...n.aspx?p=270588

Just got back from taking a walk down to the community garden (less than a mile away), and discovered the garden manager has already tilled all the plots, and the irrigation is now on, so I guess I'll start setting up all of my posts for the peppers, tomatoes, and beans as soon as this cold front passes. It sprinkled on me on the way home, but the forecast is calling for a 50 - 60% chance of rain and/or snow over the weekend.

stickman · Apr 13, 2012

I feel for you, the last couple of weeks have been clear, cold, dry and windy here, but starting this weekend it's supposed to warm up into the 40s and low 50s overnight. I put up a low hoophouse over the bed I prepared for the peppers and put down black plastic thermal mulch inside. I'm planning on putting the Korean Annuums out under cover this weekend, and the Mexican peppers from your seed swap in a couple of weeks when they get a little bigger. Good Luck!

PaulG · Apr 13, 2012

Hey Bonnie, good on ya for taking on the challenge of high altitude gardening!
You seem to do pretty well despite the odds!

stc3248 · Apr 14, 2012

I'm "digging" that garden planner! :rofl:

Didn't get too far into checking it out. Can you plan irregular shaped gardens?

highalt · Apr 14, 2012

Shane, I wasn't sure if the program was set up to do irregular beds, so I thought I'd try to recreate my frontyard bed, which is odd shaped and curved. Here is what I came up with.

http://gardenplanner.jungseed.com/garden-plan.aspx?p=271205

It took a little time to get the shape the way I wanted it, but I eventually got it pretty close.

stc3248 · Apr 14, 2012

That's pretty cool! I really like how you just put it all in there....most people if they only had a little space to work with just don't bother. I really like the small gardens busting at the seams with growth. If you're careful with your arrangement for light purposes and don't mind feeding a little more often. You can make a lot happen in a little garden. Can't wait to see your plots in July. Going to be really cool looking!

highalt · Apr 14, 2012

Thanks!!! It took a couple of years to dial it in. The far left side gets a good bit less sun than the rest of it, due to catching afternoon shade from the porch, It still gets enough sun for things like lettuce, carrots, and peas, but not quite enough to keep most peppers or tomatoes happy. Also, I did have to cut the number of tomato plants down from eight to six to allow enough sun for the ones on the back row. The peppers don't seem to mind being crowded at all though. The peppers in this bed outproduced the ones at the community garden, and all of the ones in containers! It starts to look like a jungle by August, but I don't notice it much, because I'm too busy harvesting, canning, and dehydrating by then.

highalt · Apr 15, 2012

stickman said:
I feel for you, the last couple of weeks have been clear, cold, dry and windy here, but starting this weekend it's supposed to warm up into the 40s and low 50s overnight. I put up a low hoophouse over the bed I prepared for the peppers and put down black plastic thermal mulch inside. I'm planning on putting the Korean Annuums out under cover this weekend, and the Mexican peppers from your seed swap in a couple of weeks when they get a little bigger. Good Luck!

Good for you for getting a jump on the season! A hoophouse would really come in handy here ... or a greenhouse for that matter. The irregularly shaped bed, and the 7' t-posts for the tomatoes would make it a little tricky, but I'm sure it could be done. I have a couple of floating row covers, but I need the metal hoops to keep them off of the plants.

We've had every kind of weather today. Woke up to snow coming down, then this afternoon it alternated between sleet, rain, sun, and hail, with some strong winds mixed in. The overnight low is supposed to be around 28 degrees. I am sooooo ready for summer!!!

highalt · Apr 17, 2012

Observation of the day today. Same variety of peppers, from the same seed source, sown at the same time, watered and fertilized on the same schedule, can STILL grow at very different rates.

Entering into evidence the first example - Black Hungarian. If it wasn't for the purple cotyledons, I might assume the one on the right wasn't a Black Hungarian at all!

Second example - Costeno Amarillo. The one on the right is almost 3"' taller.

Example # 3 - Japone (middle row).

Example # 4 - Hawaiian Sweet Hot.

Here are a couple of varieties behaving as I would have expected, similar growth rates and habit. First two on the top row, Aji Chinchi Amarillo. First two on the second row - Belize Sweet.

Here is an update on the poor little Inca Red Drop that had the fused cotyledons. Starting to look like a real plant now!

One of the faster growing annuums - Jaloro.

These last three shots are of the last peppers to germinate. They are still behind the rest, but have put out a lot of growth this past week.

Thanks for stopping by!!!

romy6 · Apr 17, 2012

Everything looks great Bonnie. :dance:

Just a few more months and you can plant out.

Just kiddding.

Wait no I am not :rofl:

stickman · Apr 17, 2012

Looks good Bonnie, and so do the chilies I got from your seed swap. I got sick of waiting and put up a low hoophouse to cover my chilies and black plastic thermal mulch to plant them in. Had an initial setback when a brisk wind blew it over, but have since weighted it down with a sixteen pound sandbag at each end of each hoop. So far so good...

highalt · Apr 17, 2012

romy6 said:
Everything looks great Bonnie.
Just a few more months and you can plant out.

Just kiddding.

Wait no I am not

That was just wrong! :shame:

Besides, it's only 5 more weeks, so just a little over one month to go. :dance:

It's kind of like a pregnancy. You start to get excited when you can count the time left in weeks, rather than months.

stickman said:
Looks good Bonnie, and so do the chilies I got from your seed swap. I got sick of waiting and put up a low hoophouse to cover my chilies and black plastic thermal mulch to plant them in. Had an initial setback when a brisk wind blew it over, but have since weighted it down with a sixteen pound sandbag at each end of each hoop. So far so good...

Yeah, I saw your hoophouse. Looked good to me! I really should do that myself ... and by myself, I mean my spouse should put his engineering skills to work on that project.

stickman · Apr 17, 2012

highalt said:
Yeah, I saw your hoophouse. Looked good to me! I really should do that myself ... and by myself, I mean my spouse should put his engineering skills to work on that project.

Whoo... Sounds like he might be feeling a draft... :whistle:

highalt · Apr 17, 2012

I'm not complaining. He's done several big projects around here. A couple of years ago, he built this pergola, and the playground from scratch - no kit.

He's just not into gardening, so the smaller projects don't seem to interest him much.

stc3248 · Apr 17, 2012

I see a ton of room along that fence for containers! A long row of Florida weave! He did some really nice work there!

stickman · Apr 18, 2012

Yeah, nice looking pergola. I like the way he used peeled logs for the corners. It kind of goes with the whole southwestern adobe theme.