Kramer Grew a Pepper (Maybe)

Hell, here goes nothing.
 
January 6: Sow chinense varieties.  I ended up covering with soil but it wasn't deep enough, so quick germination but too many helmet heads.  Reaper, Bhut J, Bih J, Carbonero, Scotch Bonnet, and a couple Cayenne for topping experiment later.
 

 
January 12: First germinations.
 

 
January 20: First true leaves.  Some turned purple or got crunchy because I read it is good to have lights close up to the seedlings.  Well..it was too much.  Read the mfg instructions and they recommend 40% power 24 inches away for seedlings for 14-16 hours a day.  Oops.
 

 
January 26: Potted up some of the leggy ones.
 

 
February 6: Potted the rest up last weekend.  No new growth since transplant except a couple of cayenne in the same batch which are doing great.  One reaper abandoned all leaves so I just tossed it.  Tried poking some holes deep down with a straw to help aerate.  Just seem small for being 30 days in but hanging in there.  The fan is on and feeding with diluted kelp once a week, bottom watering every 2-3 days.
 

 

[Kramer]

Plants look like they are enjoying the
shady deck space! Some of them look
pretty tall!
 
Rock on, bro!

 
Thanks, PaulG.  I see your plants are humming along too, like some well oiled machines! 
 
Yesterday was the day for me.  Got I think exactly 50 plants in the bags, some of the biggest are in 5 gallon bags or 2 per 10 gallon, and the smaller ones are 2 per 5 gallon or 3 per 10 gallon.  Pretty much followed the soil mix I planned exactly but only did I think 2 cups of epsom salt, I'd rather under do it and just add some cal-mag to the routine feedings than overdo it I guess.  Hardening off in just a week didn't really seem to be an issue for these, maybe because they're older and well past the seedling stage.  Almost 6 months now for some.  I did have just one bhut that got some bad sunscalding on the top, but I pruned it and only it mid-hardening off and pretty sure that's what caused it.  Everything else doing just fine.  They're already trying to push out tons of pods, but I'm going to pinch them for the next week or two to get them to focus just on growing into their new homes.  Overall, pretty excited.
 

 
The tomato plants actually look half decent too.  Not really counting on it, but with some luck and care maybe I'll get to try making some spicy fermented ketchup after all.  A nice bonus if they work out.
 

 

[PaulG]

Your plant-outs look great. Looks like
you are ready for Summer!
Where will you put your deck furniture  ?

 

[Kramer]

Your plant-outs look great. Looks like
you are ready for Summer!
Where will you put your deck furniture  ?

 
Valid question PaulG.  I would counter with, who needs deck furniture when you have peppers?    Haha
 
Mixed up some more dirt yesterday and got a few last stragglers potted up.  Will have to take inventory, but I believe we're wrapped up with 53 plants.  Also mulched with some straw.  Will do one more week of pod pinching and then let the peppers grow.  No signs of aphids yet, hopefully they keep to themselves a little more this year.
 

 
Indoor herb garden finally out of the humidity dome and looking decent enough.
 

 
And doing a little experiment.  Last summer I dried some thai chilis in a dehydrator and smoked some habaneros.  Thought I used them all, but found a little stash in the back of the kitchen pantry.  So - let's see if they'll still germinate?  Could use some more dried thai chilis for wok cooking, even if I only get a few at this point in the season.
 

 
In other news.. I'm a proud new owner of a PBC thanks to my folks.  Can't wait to get into this thing.
 

 
Happy memorial day weekend y'all!

 

[Pepper Merchant]

The plants are looking good and healthy!

 

[Kramer]

Thanks dude.  Checked out your website, cool stuff.  How productive are those thunder mountain longhorns?  I saw them awhile back but wasn't sure if they'd just put out a few long pods or just be loaded.  Looks like a super cayenne, does it taste like one or kinda different?

 

[Pepper Merchant]

They produced fairly well. I am growing them again this year. The only complaints I she seen from people on them is some come out thin and dry quickly on the vine but we found the seeds we have grown to be medium walled and held up well on the plant.

 

[Kramer]

Two weeks since pot out and looking good.  Last pod pinch on some of the smaller plants tonight and then we're smooth sailing.  Looking at a mostly sunny weekend coming with highs around 90.
 
Aphids showed up already.  I've heard you're really not supposed to treat it until it gets bad, but well.. last year I just let it go, and it just got bad lol.  So, I emulsified some neem oil and soap in a gallon of water and gave them a soaking earlier this week which they really did not seem to mind at all.
 
It's hard to tell if they've grown just by walking outside (especially since it has been on the cool side recently), but looking at the last pic, it definitely looks like the foliage has gotten denser a good bit.
 

 
And, I picked up some more plants because...why not?     A sriracha pepper is just a ripe jalapeno, but the tag on this one has some not quite jalapeno looking pods, more winkly and less perfectly smooth.  So I figured, why not just see what it grows.
 

 

[PaulG]

Sure. More plants. Why not?
 
You’ve got it bad, Kramer!

 

[Kramer]

Well y'all, it's been a few weeks so I thought I'd document some progress.
 
Had some pretty strong T storms past couple days but only had one plant that needed attention.  All still standing pretty proud, so that's a win.
 

 
Hot bananas are starting to look rather yellow.  Might be about time to enjoy some.
 

 
NuMex Las Cruces Cayenne.  So far I'm really liking how these are looking, a bit less of the characteristic bumpy texture, but they are much thicker and overall more substantial pods than what I had last year.  Should make a nice sauce.
 

 
Safi Scotch Bonnet is loading up.
 

 
And some Reapers.  Interesting enough, I have 3, and only the smaller one has set any pods yet.  I'm wondering why, considering it is a 45 day younger plant, but maybe also has to do with it sharing a 5 gallon bag with a habanero and the other 2 are in their own 5 gallon bags.  Any ideas?
 

 
And of course, obligatory smoked meat pic from this weekend.  Double pork shoulder/butts over mesquite on the PBC.  One fell apart in the tongs trying to pick it up, but I'm certainly not complaining.
 

 

[PaulG]

Plants look awesome, like they just sailed through
those thunderstorms. Hopefully you avoided hail.
 
Nothin' but good things ahead, K!

 

[ChilliCrosser]

Well y'all, it's been a few weeks so I thought I'd document some progress.
 
Had some pretty strong T storms past couple days but only had one plant that needed attention.  All still standing pretty proud, so that's a win.
 

6.15 Deck.jpg
 
 

 
You seem to accidentally have a walk-way on your decking where there should be more pepper plants?   
Some really good looking healthy plants you have going on there so sure you'll have a bumper harvest.

 

[Kramer]

Haha, don't worry.  They've got almost a whole summer left to close the gap. 
 
Pretty hot here past 3 days.  Hit like 94F with 50%+ humidity.  Too much for me, I'll take the single digits over that.  But, I did manage to get some much needed pruning done and cleaned up the bottom stems of the plants and shaped some of the more unruly ones up top.  Also fertilized, and trying something new, Neptune's Rose formula.  Plain NH is 2-3-1, NH Veg is 2-4-2, NH Rose is 2-6-4.  Plants are getting plenty big to produce already, so trying to throttle back overall N and boost PK for more pod sets.  Plenty o' nitrogen in the mix anyways.
 
Nothing very noteworthy, just some stuff I thought looked cool:
 

NuMex Jumbo Serrano from NMSU.  Really likes high temps, it got quite large but didn't want to flower much until temps hit 80's and then poof..pods.  Although I am somewhat disappointed in the heat so far.  The heirloom serrano is much smaller, but easily double the heat or more.  These honestly just seem like jalapas to me, lol.  Maybe a mix up somewhere along the line?
 

Puckerbutt Bhut Jolokia, starting to color up.
 

Hippy Seed Co Safi Scotch Bonnet, almost ready for a juicy chomp.

 

[PaulG]

Plants look great. We had a bit of heat here, too.
Peppers seemed to handle it okay except for flower drop.

 

[Kramer]

Hello chili friends.  It has been awhile; life took a turn and ended up buying a house, and all of the fun that goes with it.  I am excited though as this will be the final year of the deck and we will graduate to a more spacious back yard area.  Yay.
 

Plants have put on a lot of size and pods, and I think I'll be setting up my first fermentation this weekend.  I've got lots of fully ripened red bananas for some brine fermented rings, and a decent little bit to choose from in the super hot section for a sauce mash.
 

Carbonero
 

Safi Scotch Bonnet
 

Bih Jolokia
 

Tomatoes are also doing their thing which is nice to see; probably not the best place for them to be planted, but it's just about all we had.  None ripe yet but it seems many are on the way soon.  I think they might reach the top of the deck railing by the end, if so they could be almost 20 foot tall.
 

And here's my second try at pulled pork.  I did these ones completely unwrapped the entire time for 8 hours, and the bark turned out crispy but very delicious.
 
Hope everyone's summer is going well!

 

[CaneDog]

Congrat's on the house, Kramer!  - though, I'd be a bit sorry to leave that deck behind.  It looks like an awesome place to sit down with a beer and just chill among all those pepper plants. Great to see all those pods ripening, too.

 

[Kramer]

Congrat's on the house, Kramer!  - though, I'd be a bit sorry to leave that deck behind.  It looks like an awesome place to sit down with a beer and just chill among all those pepper plants. Great to see all those pods ripening, too.

 
Thank you CD.  And you are right.  It has been a very cool place to chill and as of lately grow.  Both peppers and as a person as a result.  I'm leaving behind not only a deck, but the two most important people in my life.  It is, even for me, emotional.  But it is for the better.  Everything is moving forward, and that's what matters.  I hope it works out.