Highalt's 2012 Grow Log

highalt · May 4, 2012

romy6 said:
The yellow 7. Strong plant, very hot and very tasty.

Spicegeist said:
Naga Morich, it's unforgettable.

Well, I guess I have a few months to research that topic!

Ackkk!!! Today as I was checking the pepper babies, I found a couple of aphids on a plant! These plants have never been outside, and have been aphid free for the past two and a half months. They either came in on one of the overwintering plants that I haul in and out every day, or they came in through the window screen. Is that possible, could they actually fit through those holes? Anyway, what was strange to me, is that I could only find them on one plant, and it was in the very center of all the trays. After searching, I could not find another single one on any of the other plants. I would have expected them to be on one of the plants near the outside of the trays, closest to the overwintering plants. Just seems odd that those tiny little bugs would have hiked past all those other plants to settle on the one in the center. :think:

I'm not breaking out any chemicals yet, but I'll have to keep a closer eye on my babies from here on out.

romy6 · May 4, 2012

Just spray them with water and or mash. They were most likely lurking in your soil waiting to invade

roper2008 · May 4, 2012

Bonnie, the peppers I have still inside also has aphids. The ones outside do not. I'm going to
give them a good rinse under the sink. I still need to harden them off. Planting out has been a
good week now.

stc3248 · May 4, 2012

I've battled the little bas$#rds all spring...inside and out! Just curious was the plant they were on an annuum or baccatum? Seemed like they attacked those first??? They eventually quit discriminating and hit them all. Ughhh, Good luck! I used neem oil and safer soap on my indoor plants, it kept them under control, but never did eliminate them.

PaulG · May 5, 2012

Bonnie, your plants are looking great! Interesting anecdote about
the Inca Red Drop with fused cotys. The majority of my IRD sprouts
had fused cotys as well, but grew straight and true with no other
anomalies. I wonder if that is just a freak of the variety? I also had a
red hab with fused leaves like the plant you showed. After the plant
grew a little, that leaf just turned yellow and fell off by itself!

I share your observation about plant growth rates. I just think some
plants are just like i was as a kid, sort of a slow starter/late bloomer,
and there isn't much you can do but love 'em! I still have a choc hab,
a tepin and a red hab that are only a few of inches tall, but look great other
than that. I'll just leave them in small pots for a while longer, then put
them in 6" pots ('gallon").

And your hubby is a talented guy!

highalt · May 5, 2012

Thanks, Paul! I'll let the better half know you said so.

Speaking of him, he asked me the other day what I wanted for Mother's Day, to go out to eat, or for him to take the kids shopping to pick something out. I told him I wanted this new irrigation kit from Gardener's Supply Co.

http://www.gardeners...default,pd.html

It will take two to irrigate the entire plot at the community garden, but I spent way too much time over there watering the past couple of summers. I've already picked up a timer, so once it's in place, I can set it and forget it ... I hope.

Shane, I found more of the little @#$%* today, and I think so far it's been annuums that have been affected. I'll keep trying the squish method for another day or two, but if it looks like an infestation brewing, I'll break out the insecticidal soap. I've got some AzaMax, but I'll save that as a last resort. It's expensive, and a little hard on the plants even though it's organic.

stickman · May 6, 2012

highalt said:
Shane, I found more of the little @#$%* today, and I think so far it's been annuums that have been affected. I'll keep trying the squish method for another day or two, but if it looks like an infestation brewing, I'll break out the insecticidal soap. I've got some AzaMax, but I'll save that as a last resort. It's expensive, and a little hard on the plants even though it's organic.

Sorry to hear you have aphid problems. Here's something that may help... http://www.johnnyseeds.com/p-7885-metallic-silver-mulch-4-x-50.aspx Together with the insecticidal soap this might be enough to chase them off. It also has the side benefit of getting more sunlight into the canopy of the plants by reflecting it up off the ground, but the flip side is that since it greatly increases albedo in the area where you place it, it cools the soil that the sun would normally heat.

highalt · May 6, 2012

Hmmm ,,, interesting product. Not sure if cooling the soil would be a good thing here though, since our nighttime lows stay in the 40's until sometime in June or even July. We do get plenty hot during the day in the summer, and the sun is pretty intense at this altitude, so I don't know, maybe it would work ???

stc3248 · May 6, 2012

stickman said:
Sorry to hear you have aphid problems. Here's something that may help... http://www.johnnysee...lch-4-x-50.aspx Together with the insecticidal soap this might be enough to chase them off. It also has the side benefit of getting more sunlight into the canopy of the plants by reflecting it up off the ground, but the flip side is that since it greatly increases albedo in the area where you place it, it cools the soil that the sun would normally heat.

I researched this product before the season, and almost tried it...pretty good data supporting their claims. Increased yield and fewer pests. Only real draw back for me was is not water permeable so you'd have to use a soaker or drip system under it, or water through the planting holes. Decided to go conventional this season since it was my first year gardening in ground here at this house and my first year for many of these varieties. Next year I may try it out...

highalt · May 6, 2012

Took a few pics this evening, but not really enough light, so with my cheap point and shoot, some are not that great. Anyway, here we go.

Here is one of the Fish peppers, starting to show just a little variegation.

So these two plants look pretty similar, huh?

... except one is at least a foot taller than the other. My ridiculously tall Black Hungarian up against a Trinidad Perfume.

Check out my fuzzy Chile Hidalgo.

Aji Angelo starting to form buds. I've already been pinching them off some of the annuums - Chimayo, Fresno, and Melrose. He's leaning a little from being near the window today. He'll be straight by morning.

Chocolate Habanero, Long Pod. Probably the hottest thing on my growlist this season.

... and lastly, my pretty little Peach Habaneros all in a row.

The good news is no sign of aphids today. The bad news, it was still too windy to take the plants outside. The forecast says it should be calm on Tuesday, so maybe they'll get their first field trip soon.

stc3248 · May 6, 2012

That Black Hungarian is a trip! lol. Someone else posted one similar...would have to surf through the glogs to find it, but cool plant! Looks as though the timing of your starts was spot on! I think they'll be about perfect without crowding you out of your house before plant out! I really respect all you colder climate growers. So many more variables to work out. Keep it up! They'' forgive you for not getting their recess today.

Shane

SocalChilehead · May 7, 2012

Everything looks amazing and healthy that Chile Hidalgo is an interesting variety can not wait to see them start podding for you.

highalt · May 9, 2012

First day outside!!!

Finally, the weather was good enough today to take the babies on a field trip. This is a shot of all of them.

Annuums

Chinense

Mixture of Baccatums and Chinense

This tray has the late germinators in it, and you can see they've pretty much caught up with everything else.

One more group shot. You can see the veggie bed in the background where some of the lucky ones will spend the summer.

Thinking about potting up a couple of the overwinters today ...

romy6 · May 9, 2012

Your plants look really happy to be outside.

Have you decided which guys will be the lucky ones?

SocalChilehead · May 9, 2012

They looking amazing I see one that is trying to show his/her dominance over every other pepper plant.

highalt · May 9, 2012

romy6 said:
Your plants look really happy to be outside.

Have you decided which guys will be the lucky ones?

Well, no, not really. I was hoping the shade/sun issue could be the determining factor, but since that wasn't the case, I'm thinking I'll go by size. The Aji Yellow and Lemon Drop I grew last year were my biggest plants, so I'm thinking the baccatums will have to go at the community garden to have enough space. I've never grown any chinense before, how big will they get? So far they are my smallest plants, but I don't know if they will stay small or not. If they get pretty big, than maybe I'll put annuums in the veggie bed.

SocalChilehead said:
They looking amazing I see one that is trying to show his/her dominance over every other pepper plant.

Yeah, that one crazy pepper is one of my Black Hungarians. It was my favorite the last time I grew it, so I'm hoping it's ambition is an indicator of how productive it will be.

jsschrstrcks · May 9, 2012

different chinenses grow differently.

I saw a picture of a guys bhut that was as tall as his house...

My 2yr old Orange Hab is about two feet tall, and has bushed out a bit this year, but isn't much different than it was last year.

I'm not too sure about peach habs and I'm not familiar with all the varieties you are growing... Guess what I'm saying is it depends on variety, and will probably take a bit of research =(.

how is the flavor on a black hungarian?

highalt · May 10, 2012

Sigh ... you and Jamie just won't make it easy for me, Ken.

Maybe I'll group the plants by heat level then. That would probably be easier to figure out than the growth habit of fifty-something varieties.

You know, I grew the Black Hungarian in '10, and when I try to remember the exact flavor I'm having a bit of taste bud amnesia, but I do remember the heat was similar to a jalapeno, and I used it a lot in salsas, powders, and jellies. My notes say it was my favorite that year though, so I guess it's a good thing I take notes each year!

roper2008 · May 11, 2012

Your plants are looking nice and healthy. Do you know if the peach Habs taste like the orange
Habs? Reason I'm asking is because last year I made orange hab jelly. Although it was a pretty
jelly, I did not like the flavor at all. My jalapeño jelly is tasty, but not hot. This year I'm going to
make a red savina and red scotch bonnet pepper jelly.

highalt · May 11, 2012

Thanks, Linda! Glad you stopped by!

I've never tried the Peach Habs before, but I hope I like them. When the first batch was slow to germinate, I started more seeds, so instead of ending up with two plants, I've got 5! I made Habanero Gold jelly last year using regular orange habs, and the flavor was fine to me, but I was too conservative, and it wasn't hot enough. Won't make that mistake this year. I think the peach habs are a little larger than the orange, but I don't know that there is a difference in flavor. I'm also growing Chocolate habs, so if I don't like the Peach, I can use the Chocolate ones for jelly. I've read that the Chocolate ones are hotter, not sure how attractive the color would be in a jelly though.

You'll have to let me know how the Red Savina and Scotch Bonnet jellies turn out. I'm kind of wishing I had grown a red hab too!

I'm going to expand my jelly horizons this year too. Pulpiteer posted a Lemon Drop Jelly that I'm going to try. My Lemon Drops didn't germinate though, so I'll be using Aji Yellows, Aji Chinchi Amarillos, etc. There's also a Spicy Raspberry Jelly recipe over on the Red Hot Recipes (Other) forum that I'd like to try, minus the smoked Trinidad Scorpion powder, since I don't have any of that.

Sadly, my supply of Cranberry Jalapeno Jelly is starting to run low, so I am looking forward to harvesting some pods and bringing out the canner!