HP22BH's GLOG 2013/14

Penny · Jan 28, 2014

Your list is amazing.......good luck in 2014, and I cant wait to see some more pics!!

CAPCOM · Jan 30, 2014

Penny said:
Your list is amazing.......good luck in 2014, and I cant wait to see some more pics!!

Thx for the compliment. this will be a learned year as well as hopefully a successful year.
This "13-14" season has been a challenge from the start. When I brought last years plants in to OW they brought with them a developing case of powdery mildew that blew up once indoors. I didn't diagnose it till it was too late, lost a lot of plants and the ones that survived as well as my new grow faced a daunting barrage of relentless aphids. I have only recently gained control of them and I'm in the process of babying some of the plants back to health after being so incredibly stressed.

As is to be expected, some seeds will be difficult and not cooperate within the expected time frame. I have replanted those that fall into this category. My goal this year is to experience a variety of pods I have never had before, put up a good supply of seed, have a good supply of peppers to share with those around me, Make some powder from all of the peppers and maybe experiment with some blends. And, I have some crosses on the agenda. #1 that comes to mind is the pink tiger. I had a pimenta du neyde pop that I had to preform surgery on. will see if it survives. I have 3 different bhut jolokias that have yet to germinate, but I still have time. Last year, I planted late May and still got a reasonable harvest of super hots. so we'll see.

CAPCOM · Mar 9, 2014

Just like you cant put out a house fire with a squirt gun or dog paddle up the Niagara falls. You cant beat aphids without destroying your plants or without a formidable quantity of lady bugs in a manageable time frame. I have run out of time for 90% of my 2013 start. the insecticides and soaps I used either did nothing at all or stunted my plants. and the aphids have overrun the plants and diminished them to what words cannot even begin to describe. I have managed to salvage a few plants and will concentrate on them as they seem to be doing well enough to go to 1 gal containers and may be mature enough to withstand a dose of permethrin. of these are several manzano and rocoto varieties, a few Ajis and a hand full of wilds, super hots and baccatums. many of the super hots I wanted to get a head start on will just have to wait til April after the grow room is either vacated or I decide to start up the jiffy mini green houses.
I'll have to inventory my seed stock, but I am fairly certain I can complete the grow as intended at the beginning of the glog.

CAPCOM · Mar 30, 2014

The following is a comment I made in another topic.

"I have released over 3000 ladybugs since Feb. As of now, they are in check. but I cannot afford any quarter as they multiply very quickly. Aphids and an indoor grow is devastating. I may someday post pictures of the devastation they can inflict, but not today.
Maybe after I am SMOKIN' HOT."

I have since given it some thought and considering this forum is about hot peppers and learning from the info provided. I have decided that I will post a couple of pictures. As embarrassing as the pictures are, I want to ensure that anyone having issues now or any newbies that may be considering an indoor grow understand the implications of being impatient, under informed, unprepared or just plain ignorant towards just 1 or 2 aphids.

I brought over 2 dozen plants into the grow room to overwinter. I either lost or had to destroy most of them as they succumbed to an outbreak of powdery mildew. The remaining plants, though they survived carried a more sinister epidemic. I started my next years grow on the 25th of Dec. that it over 3 months ago and the resulting plants should be better than a foot tall by now. They are not. I cannot with words even begin to describe how much stress an outbreak of aphids places on a plant. so I will with the following pics. what you will see is the relative destruction that occurred to over 100 plants. I do not grow for a business or a profit margin so I don't need to cut my losses by any particular time and start over. I resisted starting the bumper crop for a couple of reasons. 1. I already had a successful germination and don't like to waste seed. 2. the root systems are already large and can reestablish growth topside if just given a chance. and 3. I wanted to see if I could bring them back from the brink.

pic above is just after second outbreak.

above pic is the result of the aphids being under control for a couple of weeks by ladybugs and ladybug larva.

randyp · Mar 30, 2014

Thanks for sharing.You put your hard work in something and win some lose some.I learn as do the others from the bad times more than the good.I wish ya luck the rest of the season.

CAPCOM · May 1, 2014

I am going to start my backup crop. The aphids have basically won, as I do not have the assets to continue bringing in ladybugs and green lacewings. It is just too expensive.
I am still within the time frame to plant and harvest something from an early May planting.

It would be easy to say this has been a complete failure, and as I am very disappointed that the grow has not gone as intended, I also see this as an important lesson that many growers have not been subjected to. The great thing about a hardship this early (my first indoor start) is that I wont make the same mistake in the future when my stakes may be higher.

kgetpeppers · May 3, 2014

I got a late start as well my friend from these terrible spring temps, really dampened my growth. i only started seeds like 6 weeks ago so im cutting it close but things are looking good now. should be able to start hardening some for my plant time of mid may.

randyp · May 3, 2014

Thats the spirit.Get back on the horse.You still have time.I just moved some of mine outside because in the 10 day forecast,overnight lows finally don't drop below 50.

CAPCOM · Jun 1, 2014

Aaaaand there off.

No, not the horses. My 2013/14 regrow.
Actually it is off to a really good start not withstanding some non hooks, But well within the parameters of a future successful season *(providing).
What didn't sprout on the restart will be replanted when I purge the grow room, which should be relatively soon. All in all I will have the full compliment of the grow list at the beginning of the GLOG. In the most immediate future comes the daunting task of making isolation nets for individual flowers.

CAPCOM · Jun 15, 2014

I AM IN TROUBLE!!

My 2013/14 grow, or should I say regrow is exceeding all expectations and I now have the jungle that Maximumcapsicum referred to in the beginning of this GLOG. I have a 4' x 72" grow table that is absolutely FULL. I even have several b.morugas on the floor because of lack of room.

sp33d · Jun 24, 2014

Looks awesome!!!
I would say that is a good problem to have with not having enough room....or maybe not lol....

CAPCOM · Jun 29, 2014

!2 cu feet of miracle grow, and half an afternoon later and the grow room vegetation is starting to diminish. Just transferred 23 b. morugas to 3 gal pots and 34 solo cups to 1 gal pots. Many of these are shorter in height and should do much better hardening off without the issues I have had in the past.

randyp · Jun 30, 2014

Great job HP.You'r on your way.Keeps us updated.

CAPCOM · Aug 17, 2014

Lots of updates will be forthcoming in about a week from now. Up till now I have had to shoot all my images with my phones camera. Although this is OK for most situations when nothing else is available. It is rather problematic when attempting to get good resolution macro images and doesn't require jumping through a bunch of hoops to get them on the pc and then on the glog. No longer will that be an issue. I have finally invested in a new camera that should work rather nicely for all my pepper needs. I have lots of plants to catalog and show off when the time is right. I may even shoot a few video clips of the grow area.

I know someone will ask what camera I chose so I'll save them the post. I didn't want a purse camera but I also didn't want to spend $3,000.00 either and from my past photographic background and experience, that would be VERY EASY to do. I went with the middle ground.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/sony-nex-5t-compact-system-camera-with-16-50mm-retractable-lens-silver/1579299.p?id=1219056200963&skuId=1579299&ref=30&loc=KW-4326

Stay tuned

Verivus · Aug 17, 2014

Can't wait to see the update pics!

CAPCOM · Aug 24, 2014

My 2013/14 grow
Over 150 different types of peppers well over 200 all together. There are 3 rows of pots to the left of the yellow pots in the middle.
The yellow pots in the middle and the small black pots on the far right are all brown morugas that were pictured in the grow room earlier in the post.

randyp · Aug 24, 2014

They look great Jeff,the leaves are huge.

CAPCOM · Aug 24, 2014

randyp said:
They look great Jeff,the leaves are huge.

Yes, they are. That seems to be a trait of morugas in general. I have found they grow so large they tend to turn over so the undersides face up.

This week is supposed to heat up and rain a bit in between. Pods are ripening right now, and fast.

I may start reviewing the pods that come from my harvest.
Yes,
I said I may start doing some reviews of the harvest from my glog. I will say right now though, I am doing reviews and not pepper challenges. That means I will consume enough of the pod to render as accurate a profile as I can without providing fodder material. My capsaicin tolerance is not equal to Nigel Carters or compmodder 26, whom I have the utmost respect for in the chili review community, and I will not attempt to compete with them, nor can I. Instead, I offer a profile that provides a more down to earth approach of what someone who gets a really good burn from an occasionally superb jalapeno or Serrano(Which I do from time to time) might experience.

I may, I say, I may occasionally throw in a little more super hot than I feel comfortable with just to show what the playing field level is.

randyp · Aug 25, 2014

Thats how I review,one piece at a time.Hard to do a good review if your rolling around the floor.