JJJ Glog 2014.....in summary

Whew!
2013 Swirling down the Drain of Time.
 
Washing the 10x20s for a New Year.
 

 
 
By last October I was so peppered out  -40 some superhot plants and over twice that many mild and sweets. Didn't think I'd ever see the end of it. But, an early surprise freeze caught me off guard and I lost several mild and sweeties. I did get almost the entire superhot crop, dried, smoked, fermented, frozen or pickled. so I should have no dearth of heat to see me through to 2014 harvest.
 
I owe most of my pepper success in 2013 to YOU.
All the folks here at THP helped me from seed, to advice, to encouragement, to inspiration.  Couldn't have done it without y'all.
 
Some changes for 2014:
 

 
I'm moving my Cappy 1000 Pepper Incubator into my  basement utility room. Last year I had it in a minimally heated out building and the night times often dipped into the 50s or lower. And come to find out, baby peppers don't much care for that. They survived, they were just slow growers.
 
 
Dirt:
 
Fox Farms Ocean Forest will be my potting mix. It's organic and hopefully will be as good as the Miracle Grow Moisture Control and it can't be any worse than my home-brew last year which wasn't horrible but coulda been better.
 
Timing:
 
Instead of putting most of my seed in the ground in early February, I'm going to hold off until later on the Annums. The Chinensis at least some in early - mid January and some Manzano seeds earlier than that if I can find them.
 
How Many for Plant Out?:
 
Not 140.
I'm devoting 2 raised beds -a 4x30 and a 4x16 to Sweet Peppers -Jimmy Nardello, King of the North, Gaint Marconis, Aji Dulce. About 26 plants. 
100' in my row garden. Probably 40 plant's. Haven't decided on the balance, Bhuts, 7 pot, Habs, Bonnets, Jalas, the usual suspects and a few odd balls.
66 plants +/- total. I totally neglected my maters last year(which given the season didn't make much difference), but this year I vow to do better by tomatoes. I hope to do 50 or so -all heirlooms, mostly paste.
I'll start several more of both than needed for selling and give-aways.
 
 
 
In related news....
 
My buddy up in Richmond grew a lot of peppers last year. He has a geodesic dome greenhouse. At the end of season he just dug up several of his pepper plants and moved them in inside.
 

 
They're looking pretty good for late December.
 
My last "harvest" of 2013 was 12/22/13; some Thai Chilis that I'd pulled the whole plants in October and just laid up on a table outside. Most had dried leather-hard.
 
I pulled, cooked, seasoned, ground and strained them into a sauce for Pad Thai for this winter.
 

 
 
Everything subject to change without notice.
(But I'll keep you posted)
 
Thanks for reading,
JJJ
 
 

 

[Jeff H]

A few posts to catch up on. The gardens look like they survived the winter. I can't believe anything survived this winter in a hoop house. Amazing.
 
All of the sprouts and plants look like they are doing real good. Looks like you have enough land that those 48 "extras" will find a good home. That C word makes me shudder.

 

[KiNGDeNNiZ]

love all the sprouts...

 

[JJJessee]

Pot ups look great! I love the roxas... Make good bonchis too yknow! Jealous of your raised beds!
 
Thanks, yeah, your bonchis have me thinking. I'm resisting the urge to explore the path of the Bonchi partly because I've never been much to tend potted plants.
But raising pepper plants may be helping me across that hurdle. This photo on Fatalii.net is just so darn cute and surreal at the same time
 

And since resistance is useless, I ordered a packet of Bolivian Rainbows yesterday.
I hope you're satisfied
 
 

 
 

Love the space that you've got there....well done.
Thanks, Penny. It's an on ongoing, back breaking labor of love.

 
 

Nice looking pot up of bhuts.  Did they stress much?  Mine did a little when I had to separate them, but they bounced back really quick.
 
Thanks, Jeff. I watched for stress, but never saw so much as a whimper. I don't saturate the pot right away and I don't put them real close to the lights for several hours too. I had some stress a few weeks ago, and I think the light or possibly the heat was a little much.

 
 

A few posts to catch up on. The gardens look like they survived the winter. I can't believe anything survived this winter in a hoop house. Amazing.
 
All of the sprouts and plants look like they are doing real good. Looks like you have enough land that those 48 "extras" will find a good home. That C word makes me shudder.
 
Thanks, Jeff.I can hardly believe the spinach(Gigante d'Inervno) held up that well. I've dug good cilantro out of the snow. We've been down to 5° a few times this winter, Knocking the wind( and deer) off plants is the key.

 
 

love all the sprouts...
 
Sprouting is pretty addictive. I've been playing around with micro-greens and have been raising a jar or two of alfalfa sprouts per week on the kitchen counter since New Years. A bowl of sprouts, a little grated cheese, a few sunflower seeds, topped with your favorite hot sauce makes a good quik-lunch   

 
Time to go water some plants.

 

[Nick08*]

Absolutely love that bonchi photo. Every time a see/hear the word.. that's the plant I think of. Makes me think of some Alice In Wonderland, or Middle Earth type stuff. And as nerdy as that is, I don't care. I might have to get something like that going so  have a project for the fall...

 

[JJJessee]

Well I got to spread a load of compost yesterday. It barely made it to 40°, but there was a bright sun, no wind, it felt downright pleasant. 
Tomorrow it's going to snow,  but just 3-8" . 
End of next week it'll be 60° 
 
As they say, "Life is not so much about avoiding storms, as it is about learning to dance in the rain." 
 
 
 

 
This is what you get for 20 bucks at the local water reclaimation center. It's about 1.25 cuyds more or less. They do a pretty fair job of taking their/our "excess nitrogen" and taking the local tree-trimming waste(carbon) which is reground to a particle size that about what what you'd find in a potting soil. This makes for a good airy medium to get the composting  biology on track. It undergoes a quick sever heat 140-160. And they turn it in windrows with a front-end loader to keep the temps optimal.The large particles are very pithy and crumble easily. 
 
I used most of this to top off my ill-fated experimental hot bed spot from last year. Mixed in with a few scoops of soil from the other beds 
 

 
 
NEW PROJECT
 
SInce I've been in the  sign business all my life - a family thang, couldn't seem to help it, I get access to a large variety of scrap and excess material for Projects
Seeing Blister's and some other's LEDs lights, got me to thinking about doing a little experiment with what parts I could scrounge up.
I'm not an electrician or a light physicist, and I've never played neither of TV.
But a lack of knowledge hasn't stopped me yet.
 

 

 
I don't have technical docs on these modules yet -wave lengths, lumens,  and such. I'd like to have some specific data even shop drawings  of some commercial models like the BlackStar, before I get down to grit and nit. 
 
 
 
This day last year I was put my first seeds to soil.
This year....

 
Thanks for reading,
jjj

 

[Penny]

I am so jealous! I'd love to be outside playing in the dirt. Nice score on the compost for your gardens, have fun out there.

 

[Sawyer]

Wow, I've missed a lot of good stuff here.  I went back three pages and caught up from there; I'm sure I've missed more good stuff prior to that.
 
Bees - will be watching your experience closely.  We had a hive when I was kid, but mostly it was left alone to pollinate the garden and fruit.  I was on the verge of getting a hive three years ago or so, but then a swarm moved into a hollow tree in my back yard.  They lasted until last winter.  I fed them the previous winter, but last winter was so mild I didn't think of it.  I think now, they need feeding more in a mild winter than in a cold one, since they'll be more active and there's nothing for them eat.
 
LEDs - Interesting.  Will you be able to get data sheets for those?  I've collected a few varieties and will be building some panels/strips soon.  In the next couple of weeks (as soon as I get power and heat sinks figured out) I'll take some into a lab at the U and have the spectra measured.  That's a big problem with a lot of the LEDs out there; their emission spectra don't match the absorption spectra of chlorophyll a and b.
 
Hah!  I remember now that we started our seeds on nearly the same day last year (11th for me).  I'm ahead of that this year, but you're way ahead of me.

 

[maximumcapsicum]

Led board looks powerful JJJ! And the colors look right about where you'd want them too. Plants are gonn eat that up. Does it stay pretty cool?

Shelf full of starts look great, and the raised beds are certainly moving right along. Keep up the good work!

 

[Jeff H]

Looking good JJJ. Jealous of the ability to start working on raised beds already, but I'll be at it soon enough.
 
Interesting LED project. I'll be checking in to see how well it works on the plants.

 

[HillBilly Jeff]

First and foremost I must say I WANT YOUR WEATHER!!!
 
Raised beds are looking good and you seem to be way ahead of schedule from last season.  They are looking really nice.
 
Since you're in the sign business, why haven't you got some neon pepper signs up??!!!  I jest, but that would be pretty kewl looking!!!

 

[JJJessee]

Wow, I've missed a lot of good stuff here.  I went back three pages and caught up from there; I'm sure I've missed more good stuff prior to that.
 
Bees - will be watching your experience closely.  We had a hive when I was kid, but mostly it was left alone to pollinate the garden and fruit.  I was on the verge of getting a hive three years ago or so, but then a swarm moved into a hollow tree in my back yard.  They lasted until last winter.  I fed them the previous winter, but last winter was so mild I didn't think of it.  I think now, they need feeding more in a mild winter than in a cold one, since they'll be more active and there's nothing for them eat.
 
LEDs - Interesting.  Will you be able to get data sheets for those?  I've collected a few varieties and will be building some panels/strips soon.  In the next couple of weeks (as soon as I get power and heat sinks figured out) I'll take some into a lab at the U and have the spectra measured.  That's a big problem with a lot of the LEDs out there; their emission spectra don't match the absorption spectra of chlorophyll a and b.
 
Hah!  I remember now that we started our seeds on nearly the same day last year (11th for me).  I'm ahead of that this year, but you're way ahead of me.

As far as scheduling with plant out I think I've got a better plan this year -super hots need more time maturity time than I gave them last year. And annums got root bound starting this far out. 
 
You sound like you've been checking into LED more than I have. I think I can get specs on my modules, but I may need you to interpret.
 
 

Led board looks powerful JJJ! And the colors look right about where you'd want them too. Plants are gonn eat that up. Does it stay pretty cool?

Shelf full of starts look great, and the raised beds are certainly moving right along. Keep up the good work!

I don't think heat will be a problem as there is a nice sized heat sink on each module. Heat is the enemy of LED. If it don't out right kill them, it can degrade their brightness. These are designed for outdoor enclosed applications. Their secondary is 12VAC which is a bit unusual, but we have gotten better field service from this brand/spec than several others in DC -especially the specs of several years ago.
 
 

Looking good JJJ. Jealous of the ability to start working on raised beds already, but I'll be at it soon enough.
 
Interesting LED project. I'll be checking in to see how well it works on the plants.

I was surprised myself at how workable the soil was yesterday.
Today is a whole different game though.
 

First and foremost I must say I WANT YOUR WEATHER!!!
 
Raised beds are looking good and you seem to be way ahead of schedule from last season.  They are looking really nice.
 
Since you're in the sign business, why haven't you got some neon pepper signs up??!!!  I jest, but that would be pretty kewl looking!!!

What weather?
 

I am so jealous! I'd love to be outside playing in the dirt. Nice score on the compost for your gardens, have fun out there.

 
Well Penny, fortunately I like the snow too. But there are few things you can do in a snowy garden, though raised beds give more flexibility.
 
Today, I made it to the garden about the time the snow started.
I spread greensand and 

 
Azomite, (this is the future home of the JA Habs and MoAs I'm thinking)

 
and some rock phosphate. Maybe the snow will soak it into the soil better.
 
Suppose to get several more inches tonight. 
 
Y'all stay warm.

 

[maximumcapsicum]

Things are coming along JJJ! How much greensand you usin?

 

[Jeff H]

What the heck is greensand?

 

[Devv]

JJJ,
 
Your soil building will come back to reward you ten fold! I'm working it from the other end adding heavy soil and compost to fatten up the sand. Are you mixing the clay base with the improvements?
 
I know nothing about LED's for growing, keep us informed as to how your experiment goes.
 
How does the house handle heavy rains? I see it's been leveled around it. I had to do some terraces and cut some drains up hill to channel water away. Then it stopped raining around here, go figure.
 
Grow bench looks good and right on schedule!
 
Keep it green!

 

[Sawyer]

You sound like you've been checking into LED more than I have. I think I can get specs on my modules, but I may need you to interpret.

 
Let me know if I can help.  If the data sheets don't answer your questions, I can measure the output spectra if you want to send samples to me.

 

[JJJessee]

Things are coming along JJJ! How much greensand you usin?

I weighted out 4 lbs and tried to shoot for 100sf. After I saw the distribution density I just shot from the hip, as usual
 

What the heck is greensand?

 
It's actually a mineral-rich clay( but it's very grainy) that is mined from ancient sea beds where there had been a lot of anaerobic decay that mineralized. It's 0-0-3 on the NPK scale. but a wide variety of plant-growth trace minerals if I remember correctly. Supposed to be good at breaking up clay somehow. 
 
 
 

JJJ,
 
Your soil building will come back to reward you ten fold! I'm working it from the other end adding heavy soil and compost to fatten up the sand. Are you mixing the clay base with the improvements? 
 
Yes, if my all the clay at my place were properly ammended, it would be 20' deeper
I have oats and peas on the Row garden and that stretch for the JA Habs and MOA, but it has never been double-dug. I'd like to till that stretch up soon and try to squeeze in one more cover crop before a late May plant-out.
 
I know nothing about LED's for growing, keep us informed as to how your experiment goes.
Will do. I'm thinking about constructing a shelf (2x3,2x4,something like that) for tall plants and putting it over that for gallon pots.
 
How does the house handle heavy rains? I see it's been leveled around it. I had to do some terraces and cut some drains up hill to channel water away. Then it stopped raining around here, go figure.
 
That's not my house, but I have seen a little water standing well away from the house. It's slope away from the house slightly.
 
Grow bench looks good and right on schedule!
 
Keep it green!

 
 

 
Let me know if I can help.  If the data sheets don't answer your questions, I can measure the output spectra if you want to send samples to me.

Thanks, I may call on ya.
 
 
We're are about at the other end of the snow that started yesterday. About 8-10" which will really soak the ground good and deep.
 

 
Fortunately, it hasn't broke up my bamboo much, no tree limbs, no power lines, it's not too cold or windy. 
It's been about the best of all possible snowstorms
 
I gave up with just one Jigsaw at about 3 weeks and 1 Jay's Peach after about 4 weeks. I found a helmet head Jigsaw in the there and potted it too.
I had a few more Jigsaw seeds and thought I'd try them. These must have dried out. I'm treating this next germ a little differently. We'll see.
 
And while there's a lull, here are the About One Month Progress Reports.
 

 
The Birgit on the left is my only Ocean Forest the right two are coir that gets daily hydro nutes. Obviously taller, not quite as green though.
 
 
 

 
About the same with the Fatalli. Especially that one goober in the back.
 
 

 
These Whatever they Ares don't show much difference.
 
I'm growing these under T8, about as close as they can stand.
 

 
Last year was my first pepper year. This year, the plant are taller, stockier, and way,way bigger leaves.
 
The big game changers -Soil and Heat. Ocean Forest or Coir w/nutes vs. Homebrew last year.  These plants have rarely seen an hour below 70° and last year they had nights in the 50°s early on commonly.
 
Thanks for reading...

 

[JJJessee]

 
Weird DDOOUUBBLLEE PPOOSSTT

 

[Sawyer]

How did that happen (double post)?

 

[JJJessee]

Beats me.

 

[maximumcapsicum]

Looking good JJJ. Lots of wheels turning. Bet the greensand makes a big difference and contribution.

Ocean forest is nice stuff. Making a world of difference for me as well. Last year my plants barely had true leaves by plantout. This year I am afraid of running out of space. This year I am using cfls too, as opposed to window light.

Keep on growin!