Highalt's 2013 Grow - End of Season Wrap Up

I know some of you guys have already started seeds for next year's grow, and I should have started the Manzano's a month ago, but I am still working on finalizing the grow list.

Each year since I started growing peppers, the list has gotten bigger, and they have taken up a larger % of my vegetable growing space. I started working part-time 3 months ago, and I am a mother of three, so I am struggling with being realistic about how much time I can devote to pepper growing this coming season. Right now, I've got between 65 and 70 varieties on the list, and some of them I'd really like to have more than one plant. Last year, I ended up with about 50 varieties and a total of 75 plants. So you can see that I have some work to do before I start putting the seeds in the dirt!

I thought I would go ahead and put up my tentative list, and use the feedback I get from you guys to help me narrow things down a bit. Those of you that know me will notice that I still haven't gotten brave enough to add any supers yet ... maybe next year.

So here's what I got so far:

Annums
Alice's Favorite
Alma Paprika
Ancho Gigantia, and/or Ancho San Luis
Barker (NuMex)
Biker Billy Jalapeno
Black Hungarian
Cayenne Thick (Can't remember who it was that was raving about this one this past season, but I don't have seeds for this one yet.)
Chilhuacle Amarillo
Chocolate Cherry
Cochiti
Cosa Arrugada and/or Pepperoncini
Costeno Amarillo
Fish
Fresno
Georgia Flame
Goat's Weed
Golden Cayenne
Hungarian Hot Wax
Jaloro
Jamaican Hot Yellow (Anyone have a source for these? It's confusing to me that the Jamaican Hot Choc. is a Chinense, but this one is listed as an Anuum!)
Jimmy Nardello
Leutschauer Paprika
Lumbre
Mulato Isleno
NuMex Pinata
NuMex Vaquero
Patio Red Marconi
Pusztagold
Sandia
Sante Fe Grande
Serrano (Not sure which one. May try the purple one this year.)
Tangerine Pimento and/or Yummy
Tobasco (Need seeds for this one.)
Zapotec Jalapeno

Baccatums
Aji Chinchi Amarillo
Aji Yellow
Birgit's Locoto
Bishop's Crown (Don't actually have seeds for this one yet. If anyone has some, I'd be willing to trade for them.)
El Oro de Equador
Inca Red Drop
Lemon Drop (Maybe. Last time they were bitter. May try a difference source.)
Pimenta Barro do Robiero
Purple de Arbol and/or Negro de Arbol (Which one is better?)

Chinenses
Aji Dulce (type 1 or 2 ?) Is this the same as Rocotillo?
Aji Limo Rojo
Bonda ma Jacques (Don't have seeds for this one yet either. May just grow Gold Bullet or regular yellow habanero as a substitute?)
Cheiro Roxa
Habanero, Peach (and maybe the Pink as well)
Habanero, White (I have the regular white, and White Bullet. Is the Peruvian White better, or are they all about the same?)
Jamaican Hot Chocolate
Purple Bhut (Okay, I don't have seeds for this one either. Maybe I'll substitute Condor's Beak if I can't find any.)
Scotch Bonnet Yellow (Have some labeled True Jamaican Scotch Bonnet. Should those be yellow? Or red?)

Pubescens (Yeah, I know I'm really too late on these, and probably won't get any ripe fruit this coming season)
Orange Manzano
Red Manzano
Yellow Manzano


Well, I think that's about it. I'm sure the list will change a few more times before it's a done deal, but at least it's a start!

So tell me what you think about the ones I have questions on, or let me know where to find seeds for the ones I'm missing, or tell me what I should have on the list and don't. Just kidding on that last one!!!

 

[Sanarda]

Beautiful pics Bon.... and so glad you have more hooks. Your germination is killer. You rock

 

[KiNGDeNNiZ]

Strangest helmet head I've ever seen. Reminds me of a hermet crab coming out of his shell. Pimenta de Neyde.

i had something similar....cotys eventually popped but stayed on the stem

best of luck growing... ps .. having hard time sowing the flower seeds u sent me

 

[highalt]

Denniz, I gave it a couple of days, but it didn't seem to be making any progress, so I pinched the back of the seed, and accidentally pulled off one of the cotyledons with it. I'm thinking that leaving the helmet on would have set the plant back further, than just having one cotyledon.

Last year the annuums were sown on the 14th of February. This year, I held out until 2/7.

First step, getting organized. Deciding who makes the cut and who doesn't. To me, this is the hardest part!

Then, it's time to make some labels

All the little babies, tucked in for the night.

The entire germination station

This morning I had to redo the chart, since I made a few changes from the original plan. The seedlings in tray #1 have been moved around quite a bit, but it still shows what was sown.

Well, that's it for me. There were half a dozen things I planned on growing, but just couldn't fit them all in.

There's chores and grocery shopping to be done, songs to practice on the guitar for Sunday, and then hopefully I can work on the swap for a while.

Hope everyone has a great weekend!!!

 

[PIC 1]

Bonnie that's a ton of plants. Do most get planted in the Community Garden?
I hate to cut back on the list but it's also painful to discard extra seedlings. That's where the friends come in.....the ones with the gardens..............hah
Your indoor grow is well organized and clean...........nicely done.
Enjoy your weekend !

 

[Sanarda]

Very organized Bonnie. I wish I was that organized. I think I planted everything I had seeds of and crossed my fingers.

 

[stc3248]

OCD much...dang! I had to go out and take inventory of the plants with a crayon and a used envelope to figure out what all I had going...geez!

Bonnie's Pimenta de Neyde X Bird of Paradise F1!

 

[DocNrock]

Glad to see you got them going. They're going to be podding up when it's time to plant out. Very nice! From that tray number one chart, looks like you have more room....

Seriously though, looks great. Love the shot of the PdN coming out of the seed husk. It should do fine with a single cot.

 

[ThePepperManiac]

what did you use to make those charts seems like a good idea

 

[highalt]

Bonnie that's a ton of plants. Do most get planted in the Community Garden?
I hate to cut back on the list but it's also painful to discard extra seedlings. That's where the friends come in.....the ones with the gardens..............hah
Your indoor grow is well organized and clean...........nicely done.
Enjoy your weekend !

I could probably fit all of them at the community garden, but I have to leave space for a few other things, such as tomatoes, tomatillos, onions, and zucchini. Last year about 50 of them were planted there, another 16 in the small veggie bed here at the house, and I think around 15 more in Earthboxes and other containers on the patio.

I planted 2 of most varieties, just to have a back-up, but I am sure I will be giving away quite a few leftovers after I've planted everything I have space for.

Very organized Bonnie. I wish I was that organized. I think I planted everything I had seeds of and crossed my fingers.

OCD much...dang! I had to go out and take inventory of the plants with a crayon and a used envelope to figure out what all I had going...geez!

As Shane pointed out, I'm a little OCD when it comes to gardening. Thankfully, for those who live with me, it doesn't carry over into all areas of my life! If you saw my kids rooms, you'd know I'm telling the truth here.

Glad to see you got them going. They're going to be podding up when it's time to plant out. Very nice! From that tray number one chart, looks like you have more room....

Seriously though, looks great. Love the shot of the PdN coming out of the seed husk. It should do fine with a single cot.

Yeah, I wondered how long it would take before someone pointed out those empty spaces.

The amputee is recovering nicely!

what did you use to make those charts seems like a good idea

It's just a basic Excel file.



Our snow cover was down to about 50%, but it is snowing again, so we'll see how much we end up with this time. I know the skiers and boarders love to see snow in Feb. and March, but I'm kind of over it by this time of the season. I'm ready to get my hands in some real dirt!

 

[stickman]

Our snow cover was down to about 50%, but it is snowing again, so we'll see how much we end up with this time. I know the skiers and boarders love to see snow in Feb. and March, but I'm kind of over it by this time of the season. I'm ready to get my hands in some real dirt!

Everything you have going looks good Bonnie. It seems like we all have something that we wish would do better with our grows, and usually it's something other folks seem to have no problems with. I hear ya about being so done with the snow...Lol! Hopefully you have a Chinook soon that'll take it all away. We don't get those here, but I remember them from my days on the front range. Cheers!

 

[RocketMan]

Hi Bonnie, glad to hear the Mr. Helmethead is coming along. I had a couple that did that this year, guess I didn't plant them deep enough or something.

Hope your having a good week
Bill

 

[highalt]

Thanks, Bill!

Today's update is a good news/bad news kind of day.

I'll start with the bad. I lost my only Birgit's Locoto sprout, and my only Orange Manzano sprout too!

I did sow another Birgit's Locoto a week or so ago, and I do have 3 Yellow Manzano sprouts and one Red that still look okay. I don't usually have damping off issues, but this makes 3 lost seedlings so far, so I'm a bit concerned. I know the Root Riot plug looks very wet, but that was my last ditch effort to revive it, before tossing it in the garbage.

Okay, so the good news ...

I have a Purple Bhut hook!!!!!!

The other Pink Habanero popped today too! Still nothing from the Peach Habaneros.

Oh, here's a pic of all of the bubble envelopes that have been sent in for the Pick-A-Peck of Peppers swap.

... and now, just because it's pretty, and blooming in the middle of February, my Kalanchoe houseplant.

 

[stc3248]

Sorry to hear about your damping issues...hope your other seed pops for you. Great camera work on the flower shot!

 

[GA Growhead]

Flower shot is nice!
Awesome news with the purp bhut!

 

[highalt]

Thanks Shane, and GA Growhead! My first few pics with my new camera were pretty blurry, but I think I've got the settings figured out now.


UPDATE:

It's another good news/bad news sort of day.

Bad news = I lost my only Red Manzano sprout today. I am really getting concerned about the loss of sprouts! It doesn't look like typical damping off, but I'm no expert on the subject. When I've had damping off in the past, it's always presented with a place somewhere along the stem kind of shrinking until the sprout just falls over. None of the sprouts I've lost have the stem issue, the leaves are simply withering. When I pull the Root Riot plug out, they all have roots growing through the bottom and sides of the plug. I thought about maybe they are getting too much light, but something tells me that's not it either. I'm only using one florescent light with two bulbs in it, for ~ 16 hours/day about 6" - 8" away from the sprouts. Any chance it could be the water? Our water here is horrible. Smells like rotten eggs, so I know it's high in sulfur. The salt/mineral content is so high, that it leaves a white crusty film on the sink when I wash dishes. I buy jugs of water for drinking and making coffee. I'm wondering if that could be what's killing the sprouts? I'm going to try and find a cheap fan to see if that will help, and start using bottled water. I'm open to other suggestions though ...

Anyway, on to the GOOD news! I have a Peach Habanero hook, and an Inca Red Drop hook. They were both sown 1-3-13. That = 42 days to germinate!!! Crazy!

 

[Sanarda]

My water also smells like rotten eggs and I am also having the same problem with wilting leaves from the top. looks like my three seedlings were dying from top down its crazy.

 

[KiNGDeNNiZ]

Bonnie. U in colorado?! Don't u have that mtn spring water?! Hope all goes well let me know if there's anything I can do to help with the manzano situation

 

[stickman]

Hi Bonnie
I think you may be right about the sulfur in the water having an effect on the plants. Maybe you could boil the water first or run it through a charcoal filter.

 

[highalt]

It's been 4 or 5 days since I stopped using tap water. The sprouts are looking less yellow, and there's only one sprout that looks like it won't make it, a Pink Habanero, but it was already showing signs of distress before I made the switch. Hubby said he's going to buy a new water filter for the house, but in the mean time I'll just keep using the bottled stuff.

I'm about to head out, but I'll try and get some pics later.

Oh, I almost forgot, the first annuum popped overnight ... a Yummy. First time to grow that one. Hope it really is yummy!

 

[DocNrock]

Sorry to hear about the sprout deaths and the water issues. It sounds like you figured it out, though. Glad to hear there are new ones coming up! In for pics!