JJJ Glog 2022 Preview

State of the Garden -Late Fall 2021​

The whole of the fenced garden is 60x70 with 6" wove wire 8' tall
Starting last fall, we built the first beds inside the newly leveled and fenced garden area.
Garlic, shallots and a few fall greens were planted immediately.
This spring about 3/4 of the fenced area was put into typical garden vegetable production.
An additional 15x38' area was temporaily fenced and hand tilled for a crop of sweet corn and is currently in diakon radish for cover.

14 cuyd of mushroom compost were delivered last year, and 14 yd of Tru-leaf compost this year.
I had 4-8' beds made in spring 2020 or prior that were brought inside the fenced area -compost and all.
Only a few yards of the Tru-leaf remain unused.
The bed were filled with pure compost early on, but last winter I discovered the spot of an old feed lot (10-20 years old?) overgrown in poke, thistle, chicweed.
I cleared this by hand and grubbed out the poke roots.
I've hauled 5-10yd of the "bardyard dirt" and have been blending about 50/50 with the compost to fill beds.
Along with another smaller area of the same compostion I estimate almost 20 yards of very rich dark soil available for filling beds.

All my plantout beds are 42" wide
I'm in the process of building 4- 22', 8-10' and 8- 8' with 4' paths between them.
Some already have homemade concrete side panels 11.5" tall.
Some have 1.5" x 12" pine or fir sides
Some have been dug into the sandy clay subsoil 8-12" with the excavate mounded a few inches around the perimeter
Some beds have not been started except for a crop of Austrian Winter Peas being currently grown in the space currently planned for tomatoes
A 2' inner and 2' outer border for most of the 60x70 is being developed for herbs, flowers, asparagus, strawberries, rhubarb, gourds, whatever.
Outside the garden on the north end, grass and weeds are being scalded out for red and black raspberries plants that are on order for a 60' row of each next spring

(Early Plans subject to change without notice)​

2022 Peppers​

22' bed of sweet peppers (28)

Carmen F1 (Johnny's) -16​

Sulu Adana (self-saved) -2​

Ancient Sweet (self-saved) -1​

Jimmy Nardello (self-saved) -5​

Jimmy NarYellow (self-saved) -1​

Big Jim (2021-2021 Seedtrain)-3​

10' bed of medium hots (12)

Zapotec Jalapenos (Baker Creek) -4​

Yaki Blue Fawn (PaulG) -3​

Cabe Merah Panjang (self-saved) -1​

SB Papa Dreadie (self-saved) -4​

Potted or Mini-beds of Supers and Misc

Fatalli -1​

Aji Charapitas (Richmond Dave) -1​

Aji Ahuachapan (Harry_Dangler) -1​

Red Habanero (Richmond Dave) -1​

Shishito (self-saved and 2021-2021 Seedtrain)-2​

Potted Ornaments

UFO (Richmond Dave) -2​

16 Varieties
Total Pepper Plantouts Target -48

Sometimes I pre-soak 24hrs. Sometimes I don't.
Gerninate in starter mix in cups on a heatmat set to 85F

Transplant about 72 plants at coty stage (usually 14-28 days after sowing
4 trays of 18 allows for extras.
3.5" square x 5" deep P86D pots (43.75cu in each) in 18 pocket liners with Extra Heavy Duty 10x20 trays from Greenhouse Megastore
Uses about 2 cuft of 15gal of starter soil mix. (This seems like a lot but the calculator said 1.82 cuft)

Starter Soil recipe​

For 15 gallons
Start 30-60 days before needed for "aging" to allow beneficial fungal and microbial growth and organic nutrient breakdown to begin.

​

7.5 gal Sphagnum Moss​

3.75 gal Perlite​

3.75 gal Tru-Leaf compost​

​

2 cup Kelp Meal (1-0-2)​

3 cup Plantone (5-3-3)​

2 cup Comfrey Compost Tea (homemade)​

1/2 cup Feed Molasses (dissolve in the comfrey compost tea)​

​

2 cup Dolomite​

8 cup Glacial Rock Dust​

Mix throughly and store damp (not soggy) in waterproof container in place not subject to prolonged freeze. (Like in a contractor waste bag in a garage)

For an Early-Mid May plantout
Start chinensis Feb 1
Start baccatum Feb 21
Start annum March 7

I have a 50% shade cloth that I used for baby trees last summer that will come in handy for hardening plants off.
We live near a ridgetop and wind is vicious especially in, but not limited to, winter, spring, early summer and late fall.


Thanks for reading
advice welcome,
JJJ

 

[PaulG]

@JJJessee - That garden space has really shaped up nicely, Carl!

 

[Downriver]

@JJJessee Definitely looks good. That'll keep ya busy lol. Looking forward to watching your progress.

 

[JJJessee]

Thanks, guys.
Yesterday I did get my 2 cf of starter mix assembled

And bagged. The white perlite is in there, just dirty.



Today I've been spiffing up the old Germinator.

Like last year it's in a unheated garage, which is not I ideal but we make do.
I have a little Inkbird temperature monitor that gives me the Current, 24hr Min, and 24hr Max temperature.
Last night the germ test trays fell to 54F even sitting on the HyrdoFarm grow mat dialed to 85F.
Variation is good for germination I hear but I'd feel better if 60 was the low for germination and pepper growing.

Last night outdoors temperature only went down to about 34, but we'll see a alot of mid 20s and 10F on in the next few months.
I have a little heater, but I probably should rig a cloch for the front of it to keep things close to toasty.

I'll be back.
j

 

[JJJessee]

It's only been 4 days.....
but we have a couple of poppers.

Upper left are some self-saved Beaver Dams though the parent plant had trouble with sunburnt fruits just wasn't a great plant.

Lower right is a Red Bhut Jolokia. Don't recall ever having a chinense germ in 4 days.
But, the seeds are only a few months old. Or, I could have made an accounting error.
To me, bhuts look a certain way when they first spread their wings. They are tiny with pointy cotys, so evidence might present tomorrow.
I'm not growing these out and they are not on the 2022 list, so we'll see.

***********************************************************************

I failed to follow up with a formal birth announcement, but
Owen Jack Jessee is one month old today!

Rockin' a triangle wave wrap and a teal passie.
Welcome to planet Earth, I think you'll like it.
j

 

[PaulG]

Congratulations to you and your spouse, Carl!
What a good-looking young-un, decent head o'
hair, for sure!

Oh, and BTW good news on the hook scene.

 

[ahayastani]

OJJessee will be swapping that pacifier for peppers before you know it! Congratulations.

It's only been 4 days.....
but we have a couple of poppers.

Four days, that's fast! My seeds usually begin to pop up on the fifth day, and I have one in my memory that popped up on the fourth day.

 

[JJJessee]

6-7 for just annums is about par for me. Chinnies, 10 has been good. Maybe it's a hybrid?

 

[MarcV]

Congrats with the newborn one!

Are those seedlings only meant as a test germination as they are not in your grow list?

 

[JJJessee]

Those are just test germs, @MarcV . If an old seed lot popped where I only had a few more seeds I might consider keeping it. Or a manzano, it is time to sow right now anyway.

 

[Downriver]

Youngins abound in the J family. Congrats all-round my friend!

 

[JJJessee]

It's been a week since I dropped seed on the first germ test tray.

The fresher the seed , the quicker it pops is the is the only generalization I've seen.
Annums are a few days quicker than chinense. The oldest seed to sprout is a Big Jim packed by Page Seed Co for 2019.
They are on my 2022 grow list so that base is covered.

I may tinker with a germination medium as this mix tends to want to dry on the top. Maybe I'll try a small batch of this same mix with some vermiculite added fro wetness. I still have a few lots to test.
j

 

[JJJessee]

A bit of success.
Some Cabe Merah type peppers a friend brought back from Indonesia in early 2014 we both grew out and a couple of my 2014 grow-out sprouted. Even one of his original seeds popped for me.

But, today I let my medium dry out. maybe enough to end the test.
We'll see.
j

 

[JJJessee]

Popping has really slowed down by Day 17, but had two overnight.
Another Cabe Merah Basar lot from way back and a 7+ year lot of Aji Verde from Mpicante via the seed train. Don't recall ever growing it out.
I watch HRSeed's YouTube on the variety and thought I might grow a plant out if the rest of the lot cooperates since it has gone to all the trouble to remain viable.

It's a loner with a bad, bad case of helmet head.

Poor little Aji will have to be a fighter to pull through.

Wishing you all a happy, prosperous, peppery, healthy, and safe New Year.
j

 

[PaulG]

It looks like the helmet might slough off, I can
see the leaf separation under the husk. Maybe a
gentle squeeze of the husk to open it a little
with some fine pliers or tweezers.

 

[JJJessee]

Thanks, @PaulG. I might be tempted to attempt a helmetectomy if no others show, which is likely.

Have you had any success with soak and freeze, vinegar bath, soda bath, or any other pepper voodoo to get old seeds to pop?
j

 

[PaulG]

Thanks, @PaulG. I might be tempted to attempt a helmetectomy if no others show, which is likely.
I have had do deal with two of those so far. One very successful, the other seedling went through some turmoil squeezing out before I removed the husk.

Have you had any success with soak and freeze, vinegar bath, soda bath, or any other pepper voodoo to get old seeds to pop?
j

I'm just not that creative, Carl. I have used Hydrogen Peroxide
occasionally, but I usually just use distilled water. I had seed
from 2016 and 2017 sprout today.

 

[JJJessee]

Outside the Pepper Garden is under a glaze of snow with more on the way tonight.

I've decided to hold and grow out the few old seed lots that have sprouted, so I potted them up yesterday.

The helmet head Aji Verde tipped his hat all by himself.
The two on the left are un-named or un-known varieties probably in the Cabe Merah designation.
At least one of those, or it's parent, was found growing along the road somewhere in Indonesia that my friend brought back seed in 2014.

Sadly I don't think any of the old chinense are going to pop. Next week will make a month.

But...

....today, being Epiphany, a baccatum popped. An Inca Red Drop from 2012 put on the Seed Train by Beth Boyd. I think the Red Drop I grew out last year traces it origin to that seed lot. Of course I'll grow this one out.

Seeds are a living heritage.
j

 

[ahayastani]

An Inca Red Drop from 2012 put on the Seed Train by Beth Boyd. I think the Red Drop I grew out last year traces it origin to that seed lot. Of course I'll grow this one out.

 

[MarcV]

Another one to cherish