JJJ 2013 Glog- C'est fini. -awmost.

So,I may as well grow them, eh?

I started back gardening last year, but I left it to my co-gardener mostly to come up with pepper plants. We had some Bells, and Cayenne, a Carrot pepper, a black Jap, Hungarian sweet, maybe a Bullnose, Then I bought a 4 pack each of Anaheims and Jimmy Nardellos. I set out a little Shoshito start in July and it had a lot of fruit considering. Nothing here to write home about. The Jimmy's did ok. 2 of the Anaheims weren't true (and a cow at half of one of them), one did ok. The last one I planted in a new asparagus bed and the first week some sucky bug drilled it right in forehead and wilted the top. I started to pull it out, but thought, "no harm to leave it to see what would happen". I pinched the wilt off. That pepper forked an by frost it had held its own with the asparagus which hit about 6 foot. I pulled the whole plant day before frost, and it had about 50 nice peppers on it. I blistered and smoked them all.

.

But this year I'm gonna be pepper pro-active. Thanks to Durham Bull, I have a treasure house of Capscium genes -Bhuts, Scorpions, and the likes -none of which I'd ever heard of a year ago. The generosity of this community seems to only be matched by it passion for peppers. I dig it. Plus I was in at another site with an online seed blind swap and ended up with some mildly hot goodies.

Well I've never grown a pepper from seed. Never. So yet another new door. Bought a heat mat, I've got onions about to come off it now. After Spicy Chicken's glog, I liked his grow station and thought I'd buy some shelves and put overhead fluorescent on them. I had a domestic conversation about where to put the shelves and lost amicably. So I guess I'll have to finally clean out my toolshed after only 4 years to make room.

It has a skylight about, 30" x 96", but no heat, no electricity. But I think I can get by with an extension cord, and will have to pick up a little propane heater to knock the chill off. Peppers aren't safe outside here until mid-May.

Yesterday, I got my shelves assembled with one light installed - a 4x4' T8 fixture w/ 6500ks.

Plan is to wire them on to a gang of light switches, maybe a timer, cover it with Reflectrix movable curtains, some small fans.

I'd appreciate any advice, especially since I'm in the early build phase.

I'm shooting for about 100-150 plants if there's room -some to wind up in rows, some in beds, some into containers, some to share

A friend is sending me some more seeds today I believe, so I'll be closer to a final grow list when I see what that brings.

Thanks for reading and for any words of wisdom you can share.

 

[annie57]

Here is the Michael Tray 2/7 on the left and 3/2 on the right.

My only concern is the shading on the first true leaves tends to be pretty yellow -good form; healthy looking; just yellow. As the leaves grow they seem to green up. Too much nitrogen maybe?

I'll try to get a close up tomorrow.
Thanks for the read,
jjj

Dayum, JJJ! You've named your trays after archangels? BEAUTIFUL! I'm waiting on the Barachiel tray . . . how astoundingly William Blake of you! We simply must meet up for coffee next time ya wanna hit A-ville. I really recommend The Asian Grill on "Hooterville" Road if you've never had their sushi . . . archangels . . . genius!

 

[JJJessee]

Sushi is right down my alley, I'll have check it out.
Get Roasted out toward Weaverville makes the most potent frappuccino in the east.
Sounds like a plan.

 

[annie57]

Sushi is right down my alley, I'll have check it out.
Get Roasted out toward Weaverville makes the most potent frappuccino in the east.
Sounds like a plan.

Well, then, we can meet up--be extra fun to do in fall and take some pods into GR and sushi place with us. "And extra wasabi, please. Also, can you folks hang on to our living wills for the EMS people?" Be a rush two different types of heat . . . "WLOS with breaking weird news . . ."

One more thing, CarlJJ, are those 2.5 x 3.5 deep pots? If so, I read some post by Chris Phillips, forever ago, that one could do exactly what X-country Nurseries does: I've never grown supers but bought them from Janie and those guys at X-country. They send live plants in the 2.5 x 3.5 deep. In short, if I don't WANT to pot up, if I can keep them from getting leggy, they'll be fine to stay in those pots until plant out.

Also, I didn't plant Ram's Horn this year. It's a locally grown only--not cowhorn--Ram's Horn--seed was brought over from Italy by the Waldenses in "Valdisease" NC. What's odd about the danged pepper is often the seeds been crossed near a hot pepper and those things can be as hot as any chinense but have the sweet, smokey taste of an Italian frying pepper, loads of seeds, and cool--curls and curls into horns, LONG ones. Would you like to meet up and I'll bring you a couple different 6 packs of plants from different sources so you can intentionally cross them? I'm doing that this year. Haven't decided which chinense but here's a table that could be fun: http://www.tonyslug.com/pepper/crossing.php Just remembered an heirloom I generally buy about 6 packs of, plant a pepper from each pack and see what I get! If I can bag and tag in time and figure which of the many chinese these would cross well with taking the male from chinense to female on Ram's Horn . . . just a thought! Peace, hon!

 

[JJJessee]

Sure, annie next time I know I'm headed to A-ville I give you a shout.

Exactly right, 2.5sq x 3.5 deep as per Shane's advice. Yeah I'm pretty sure, they will hold the chinense to plant-out. I'm less sure about the sweet bells.

Those Ram's Horns sound fun. That article was fascinating,and sure, I could wrap my head around some pepper cross pollinating. When do we need to set that up April or May?

Oh yeah, everybody on earth just calls me JJ, or Triple J, or Trips. But my school teachers did call me Carl
It is pronounced JJ but spelled JJJ. The first J is silent.

JJJ

 

[Sanarda]

Those top shots are perfect. You can really see the growth looking downward like that. Good to see all that poppage you have going on.

 

[JJJessee]

"I get by witha little help from my friends...."

I was away from my germination station for 4 days and there were temps swings of 25-65+° while I was gone. But I had help. A lady I gardened with last year checked things out and even gave all my plants a drink while I was gone, and everything looked good when I made it home.

A few tips and leaves got a little scorched, but overall all things looked A-OK.
Before I left, I scored some mystery seeds from a potted pepper in the window of a friend's diner up the road. Some pods had dried right on the plant. I sampled a morsel and it was quasi-cayenne heat wise. I've got some seeds in the the ground. Of course.

OT, maybe even more interesting than mystery annums. On the way to my daughter's last weekend we hunted down some Thai chow via phone, but opted for some Peruvian right next door at the last moment. Not much English went down with the waitress in the course of our ordering, but I did get her to sell me an ear of corn from a bowl she had on the counter. I think she said it was used in a drink I had. The drink was sweet, had pineapple bits, and cloves - deep, deep purple, but didn't taste of corn. But the corn was beautiful though.

Thanks for the reading,
jjj

 

[Sanarda]

Your germ station had temps between 25-65 degrees????? And your plants still look that good? Wow. My plants would be laying in the dirt resting in peace.

 

[JJJessee]

Sorry, Pia, no the heat was set to compensate for 25°outside, but the day temps hit 65+ yesterday. Since I'm working in a one room outbuilding, with the heat mat, T8s, heater and wild weather it's hard to keep everything the zone. But my plants have seen action everywhere between 55 and 90 I'd say, maybe higher yesterday. I've got to buckle down and get some fans going in there preferably on a thermostat.

 

[Indiana_Jesse]

mmmm Chicha Morada! A Thai restaurant near a Peruvian restaurant, you weren't at Mi Rico Peru in Alexandria, VA were you? Loved that place!

 

[WalkGood]

Carl great updates mon! Nice pics and seems like you have over 64+++ seedlings, you got me beat hands down, hehe. Keep up that great work and that black corn looks interesting!

 

[annie57]

Carl, am allowed no more "likes" today but wowzers! I second Pia's 25F??? Woah, yeah: mine would have croaked too. What kinda voodoo you do? (Turnabout's fair play ) Also, yep: Chicha morada! How cool! Make me miss Austin . Lots of great, diverse restaurants there . . . glad you have somebody who knows how to water a pepper seedling . A friend of mine was about to drown mine last week: caught that just in time . . . Seriously, had 3 quart jars getting ready to pour in one flat.

 

[JJJessee]

Yeap, Indiana, [background=rgb(255, 244, 228)]Chicha Morada must be it. The recipe looks spot on. I hope those seeds sprout, I like seeds with a story. [/background][background=rgb(255, 244, 228)]It was in Harrisonburg VA. at the US33 crossing I-81.[/background]

Yes, WG, I have about 4 and a half 32 trays roughly 140. I pulled a 32-trays worthy of parsley sprouts to see they will take to a new pot. Parsley don't care much for moving.

Hillbilly voodoo, Annie, from a long, long line. The 25° was outside my building. That usually translates to 50-something under the lights. What had me in a fret was I didn't know what 65° translated to -under the lights.
I'd love to do Austin. Drove across the top of it once, or so it seemed with all those rollie-coaster bridges. San Marcos looked more manageable to me.

My eggplants and a little 6-pac of peppers to give away popped and got leggy on me. Also about 50 rhubarbs popped -a lot a cobbler on the way.

But what tickled me most, was a Red Bhut from my insurance seeds popped, and that was less than 7 days. Makes me suspicious almost.

I've feed everything and put a little fan on the bigger plants some gentle air. Give 'em a workout.

 

[Indiana_Jesse]

That particular corn (Maiz Morado) grows very very tall (~15+ feet) and needs a loooong growing season of at least 180 days or more to get to the right drying stage. Get them in early and hope you don't get any crazy wind storms! I can't recall whether or not the Maiz Morado has decent (light)frost tolerance, some South American varieties do, some don't.

 

[JJJessee]

Thanks, for the heads up, Indiana. 15' ,180 days! That's pushing my zone to the limit, but I'll give it a shoot. Definitely gonna need some voodoo on this one.

I nipped a few buds above some 3rd leaf pairs -Thai, Cowhorn and maybe a Goat's Weed. They were already wanting to sucker.

The poster pepper of this grow is a little 7 Pot Yellow. It came up late and I thought it was a breech -couldn't see a coty one- just a green "root" straight up. I thought about tossing it, but "No Harm", so I left it. Well, eventually I noticed a knub on one side, but you could hardly call it a coty. But by golly that's what it was. The knub got a little bigger, and bigger, two leaves appeared and it's working on another pair.

Who woulda thunk?
jjj

 

[stc3248]

Sweet! I had a few miracle babies this year too...Didn't think they stood a chance. Great choice not to toss that sucker!

 

[JJJessee]

Inventory time.


Individual plants in 2.5" square pots 3/13/13

Anaheim.................................. 7
Aji Colorado............................ 4
Tabasco .................................. 4
Ancho/Pablano........................ 6
Fatalli........................................ 4
Marisol...................................... 6
Jalapeno................................... 2
Habanero, Caribbean Red...... 7
King of the North (sweet)...... 27
Waialua ................................... 6
Thai chili .................................. 4
Chiltepin ................................... 2
Goat's Weed ............................ 6
Habanero, Orange .................. 4
Bhut Jolokia -Red.................... 2
7 POT Jonah .............................3
7 POT -Yellow .......................... 4
& POT -Brain Strain ................... 1
Trinidad Scorpion -Chocolate.......... 3
7 POT -Primo ............................ 2
Trinidad Scorpion -Morouga ... 2
Bhut Jolokia-Indian carbon ..... 4
Trinidad Scorpion -Yellow ..... 1
Naga -Black ............................. 6
Datil ........................................... 3
Aji Dulce ................................... 3
Scotch Bonnet ......................... 4
Cherezo Cherry ..................... 4
Padron .................................... 2
Cowhorn Cayenne ................ 5
Serrano..................................... 5

[font=trebuchet ms']Total......................143[/font]

Re-sown 3/3/13
Bhut Jolokia -Red
Trinidad Scorpion -Butch T
Ecuador Lemon
Shishito
Banda ma Jacque
Trinidad Scorpion -Yellow


New varieties sown From the Pick-a-Peck-a-Pepper Swap 3/3/13

Aji Chinchi Amarillo
Chilhuacle Amarillo --- popped
Alma Paprika
Bhut Jolokia, Chocolate
Brigit's Locoto
Chapeau de Frade -Bishops Hat
Dorset Naga
Habanero, Chocolate
Jimmy Nardello
Sandia
Sante Fe Grande
Whistlepig Mystery Annum ---from the diner

I think I actually have plenty of space to set these in-ground about mid-May even if they all survive. But I will probably container grow some, especially the super hots.

Thanks guys and gals,
JJJ

 

[WalkGood]

Carl great pic of that little 7 Pot Yellow "poster child," as Shane noted he’s had some of those before. I had one of my JA Habs last year pop as only a green stem which later developed leaves. These little babies are amazing and I love your story on her. Never toss dem till brown and completely dried out, heck I sometimes leave those for a few extra days wishful thinking on my part I guess, hehe.

Great updated “Inventory,” I especially like how you hot linked your “new varieties sown” list to pics. I do the same on the excel list I keep on my pc for varieties I’ve never grow to get familiar with leaf and pod shapes. Unfortunately hot links won’t work from jpeg’s so I don’t post that list, only a similar version without the links.

 

[JJJessee]

Thanks, Ramon. The hot links helped me learn a little about the peppers when I was deciding which to plant. I wish this site had an easier cut and paste directly from a spreadsheet. Someone here may know the work-around but I can't suss it.

Got a pretty healthy pop on the Chilhuacle Amarillo (thanks Highhalt)

Probably pot these babes up tomorrow.

Also potted up 2 dozen eggplants (Diamond and Wiamanalo)..... mousssaka, baba ghanooj, caponato,,,

It's pi day, do something round.

later alleygators,
JJJ

 

[WalkGood]

Thanks, Ramon. The hot links helped me learn a little about the peppers when I was deciding which to plant. I wish this site had an easier cut and paste directly from a spreadsheet. Someone here may know the work-around but I can't suss it.

I know the how to, just didn’t want to bother and the links help me as you stated. Man you going to be seriously busy with all this continued planting, but on the plus side you’ll be one happy camper come dinner time

 

[JJJessee]

Gettin' to the bottom bottom of things.

I did a little repair work on my cold frame. One of the window lights got shot.
Well, It is SW By-God Virginia. It happens.

This could end up being an early pepper spot. I'm building a new raised bed and in this section I'm digging into and removing some sterile clay sub-soil. to make it deeper. Then, I'll pile in some fresh litter from the horse stables and cover it with a few inches of soil.. Horsepooh + sawdust + magic = Heat. After 2-3 weeks, when things cool down, I've got ground a little bit ahead of the growing curve for maters, eggplant, and peppers -among other things.

We've got a 10-day forecast with only one frost on it. I'm diggin' it.

Might be a while before these trays have to be carried back into the grow shed of the night.

I potted up 12-Chilhuacle Amarillo, and 14- Alma Paprika early this AM

Picked up a big sack of vermiculite and 2.5" pots and two more T8 fixtures -busy weekend coming up.

Got home, turned on the fan and gave the boys and girls a breath of air.

The Annums, mostly sweet, with some Thais, Goat Weeds, a bactuum or two are lookin' sweet.

At the other end of the scale, my mostly chinense tray.

I know they are slower and can tell they want to live in spite of what I'm doing for them.
I just think chinense and annums have different tastes when it come to soil, water, heat, and light.
Someday I'll get on the same page with them.

Then there's a couple of mixed trays that look fair to middlin'

My friend is suppose to be coming after her Poblano forest et al.

Soon I hope, I could use the light space.

Thanks for reading. Have a GREAT weekend.
JJJ