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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. :rolleyes:
 
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
 
 
 
Click to expand...
NO YELLOW 7 POD??!!  :mope:  Be still my heart. Just my .02. I have some seeds, if ya want. :D  And I quit messing with pubes. I got them to come up, bush out, have flowers and I think these have to be overwintered. Got pods on red rocoto in October. But by then . . . I soaked mine and the reds Mexican Manz that Judy sells both popped like monsters. I'd do them in big-a pots, JX3C. 15 gallon and clean, cut back, bring in to overwinter but they bushy and took up lots of space in garden. Put them on a some-shade area. Just no go until October so think these must be OW projects for me, since I can't plant out in March. I don't think I need another project this year.
 
Grow shelves looks nice! Is that R-Max? I updated mine with car-shades--it's mylar and thick--my bro was doing promo for his automotive mechanics corp and got me some (aka I paid for them) without his name and logo. But that looks like R-Max!! Cool! And am mixing FF Lt. Warrior with Promix. OForest comes later. But glad to see you've gotten them out of 50's F to warmer. Love the Geo-d greenhouse of your friend!!! Too :cool: !
 
Best in 2014. But no yellow 7 pod? Dude. I have seeds!!! :D
 
Annie,
Well I thought that big Einstein you sent to was a 7 pot family, it's not? I do have seed I think, and  I do like 7 pot yellows, made a great little simple sauce for Thai noodles with it.
 
I am gonna give the Manz a try,  I need a project :), Ambitious for here I guess, I knew it was an OW project.
 
No, the dirt is Ancient Forest, I'm upgrading from homebrew this year :)
 
Never thought about using car-shades. I broke down and bought a roll of Reflectrix last year since I use it for backpacking gear too and whatnot. In the house though, I don't really need the R-value.
 
I'll re-think the 7P-Y, I have 4 of 77 spots to fill. I'm trying not to go overboard this year. And if mine don't sprout, I'll holler.
 
Hi Jesse,
   Nice wrap-up of the 2013 season and a well-rounded list for 2014. I can trade you some of my Manzano seeds for some of your Inca Red Drops if you want... pm if that sounds good to you. Good luck with your Manzano project, but I think your latitude may be a little too warm for them unless you're up in the hills where it gets a mite cooler. My pet theory on why they're so hard to germ is that they ripen so slowly that people pick the pods too early for truly viable seeds. I left some pods on my plant last year until they got over-ripe and flabby before I picked them, and when I cut into the pods, half the seeds inside were already sprouting.
 
Good luck with 2014!
 
Thanks, Rick.
Yeah Incas for Manzano sounds good, PM me I'll get em out.
 
I wouldn't doubt you're right on the unripe seeds.
 
I am in the hills  about 1600'+ elevation. The nights often get in the 60°s through the night, Days can be 80-100 but mostly 80°s and not too humid most of the time. I've got an in ground spot in the garden that gets shade from the earlier afternoon on. And I'll put a couple or three in containers and see if they like the high shade around my house.
 
Worse come to worse, I'll find me a clear-cut up on the mountain clandestine-like :)
 

 
 
Actually got some test seeds in medium and on the matt today.
 
 
I soaked most of them a day but still had a lot of floaters.
I did the 
 
Manzano
Annie's Einstein
Fatalii
Ecuador Lemon NOT (it looked very bhutish and was very productive )
Birgit Locato (from a mushy pod I just recently rescued from the debris of October's final harvest frenzy)
King of the North (a sweet bell I saved)
Bonda ma Jaques
lAji Dulce
 
Brought in some rainwater to warm up.
And soaked a brick of coco coir to have on hand and revitialize my almost defunct vermiculture.
 
It was a productive day
 
 
 
Chase those wintery blues away with some mango-avacado salsa.
Used my last little fresh Market Scotch Bonnet juiced only half the lime and chopped half the onion.
 
 
 

 
Had to bump it up a notch with a tablespoon each of my Serrano and Naga ferment concentrates.
 

 
I think this will be good on a bed of fresh alfalfa sprouts,
 
 
Keep it warm.
JJJ
 
Well, we can do nothing or everything, but the Wheel of Fortune has it's say too. I like to split it about down the middle.
 
 
We've got about 20mph wind plus gusts twice that and about 15°, but they keep moderating the forecast and it may not even break  0° tonight.
 
Time to bring the Kin Tsai inside.
Chinese Celery -has all the flavor and more of regular celery but stems not much bigger than cilantro.
A little hard to start, but mine has been in a flower box on my shady back deck since May.
 

 
 
 
Thought I'd try to over-winter it.
 
I dumped the rest of my Manzano seed, 24, in a cup of dirt.
 

 
Sifted soil on them and bottle-sprayed them point-blank with 12 oz of warmed rainwater.
and set them under the dome with the other seekers to wait for an epiphany. 
 

 
May all your epiphanies be warm and bright.
JJJ
 
Wow jjj! Organized setup. I wish I could weigh in on more of the varieties, but I know I couldn't grow enough Habs last year. Delicious.

How many seeds will you start per target plant? Also, what are your favorite ferments?
 
If you still need some Jimmy Nardello, let me know.  I bought some from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds.  I'm also going to grow the Padron pepper.  I
bought seeds for it 3 years ago and wound up giving them all away, and had none for myself.  This time I'm growing it.  I really want to try the tapas.
I purchased a bag of that Fox Farms Potting Soil.  It's really expensive in Virginia Beach.
 
maximumcapsicum said:
Wow jjj! Organized setup. I wish I could weigh in on more of the varieties, but I know I couldn't grow enough Habs last year. Delicious.

How many seeds will you start per target plant? Also, what are your favorite ferments?
Click to expand...
Thanks Max, I about  fell in love as soon as I took the cap off my fermented Bhuts this year. Heavenly aroma. It must have taken a half bushel, I can't remember, to make less than a pint.
 
I mashed them fresh in a Corona Mill, salted them, and packed a quart jar tight. After a few weeks I ran that mash through a Victoria mill with a tomato screen and put a little vinegar in it. I say it'd get better with age but, it ain't gonna last that long.
 
 
 
 
 
roper2008 said:
If you still need some Jimmy Nardello, let me know.  I bought some from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds.  I'm also going to grow the Padron pepper.  I
bought seeds for it 3 years ago and wound up giving them all away, and had none for myself.  This time I'm growing it.  I really want to try the tapas.
I purchased a bag of that Fox Farms Potting Soil.  It's really expensive in Virginia Beach.
Click to expand...
Thanks Roper, I think there's JNards on the way to me right now, but I can't seem to grow enough of them so I may hit you.  :) 
I appreciate the offer. I woulda swore I'd saved seeds, nope I knew I had some, just asleep at the switch is all.
That pepper is just so sweet after it has been slow-roasted. I smoke 'em whole, seed 'em, then put 'em in vinegar in the fridge. I know. I go on an on  about 'em.
Fox Farms better be good for the price.  I reckon nothing comes cheap outta Humbolt Co. ;)
 
 
My target stands at 77 plant-outs, about half of last year, but I'm propagating almost that many extras, cause you always need extras :D
 
[SIZE=17.77777862548828px]Last year I grew seed-to-plantout in 2.5" pots. for 95% of them. Almost 90 days from mid-Fed  to mid-May really put a bind on the roots in that size pot. Given the volume I grew, I didn't have room to-up pot them when I should have. They recovered more or less, but I would have preferred the more. I learn slowly, but eventually :) [/SIZE]
[SIZE=17.77777862548828px]I'm tryin' real hard here to take the "less is more" approach.[/SIZE]
 
[SIZE=17.77777862548828px]So, I order new grow bench ware : P86D pots -3.5" x 3.5" x 5" deep with 3x6 holder trays. 4 will fit on one of my  2'x4' light shelves. Instead of 32 pots per tray last year, only 18 this year.[/SIZE]
 
THE HOTS

 
THE NOTS

 
This will leave me with two shelves for tomatoes, eggplants, and whatnot by the time mid-April rolls around. 
 
Thanks for reading
jjj
 
Great plan JJJ!

Showing restraint is tough. Getting tougher thanks to the amazing generosity on THP.

Interesting that they lasted in the 2.5" pots so long. I am thinking I'll be able to go from solo cups to the plot... Plant out should be toward the start or middle of April. Just have to watch those night temps.
 
Wow 77 plants.  I am mostly growing sweet peppers, Jimmy Nardello's being my favorite, going to grow lots of these.
I still need to start the few chinense that I will be growing this season.  MOA, CGN21500, and a few others.
 
I like your set up, way better than mine!  I not growing the volume you are but I go to McDonald's garden center,
and they have a recycle area in the back.  It's free for the taking.  I found lots of nice sized pots for my pepper
and tomato seedlings so they will have plenty of growing room before planting out.  Even though our last frost
date is around the middle of April, I plant my peppers May 1st to be on the safe side.
 
Many Thanks, Jeff. Oh yeah, 5-6 weeks is plenty of time to sprout and grow sweet peppers if you're dialed in proper. Last year I think I sowed 3/3/13; that was a bit longer than needed and probably stunted the plants. I still got a dozen or so pods off each plant even after the groundhog took a few swipes at them.
 
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