Lespaulde's 2020

Good day to all my fellow pepperheads out there. Given that 2020 is well underway, I figured it's time to get my new glog going. I'm hoping this year's will be full of delicious peppers, learning moments, new things to try out and last but not least, a lot of fun growing these tasty little devils together with the awesome community that makes THP the mecca it is.
 
I'm almost exclusively growing new varieties this year, which is not due to the fact that I didn't like last year's peppers, but rather taking the opportunity to create the illusion of making a dent in trying the many cultivars that have found their way onto my bucket list. I've sourced seeds from various places including Semillas and South Lincs Chili boys, and am forever grateful for the awesome trades I got to do with PaulG and Dr. Cane McDog, which have shaped this and even next year's grow already.
 
So now to the good stuff, the peppers. The list (thus far, after lots and lots of back and forth in Google sheets) looks as follows:
 
Autopot
Sugar Rush Peach
Numex Pumpkin Spice
Numex Lemon Spice
Numex vaquero
Jalapeño Zapotec (CaneDog)
Jay's Peach Ghost Scorpion
Paper lantern
Dorset Naga Orange

Fabric bags
Rocoto Cristobal
Jamaican yellow hot
Hyper Pube (CaneDog)

Buckets
BJ hybrid-2 (PaulG)
7 pot burgundy (PaulG)
Aji Amarillo (PaulG)

Indoor / Tent
BJ Purple x Aji Mango
Aji Lemon x BJ Purple
B. O. C. crosses
Early Jalapeño
Bahamian goat
Rocoto Oculto
 

For those of you that remember my glog from last year, Sugar Rush Peach is the only cultivar I'm repeating, which is because it was a huge hit at home, with both me and the missus enjoying it on lots of different dishes. Sweet, but still with a nice kick, especially when added to a hot meal. Other than that, there are lots of Jalapeno varieties as this must still be my favorite type, and I took a "why not try them all" approach, which I hope to continue over the years. Seeds will be planted in 2 batches, with the first batch having been put in the rockwool just before New Year's:
 
Jay's Peach Ghost Scorpion
Paper lantern
Dorset Naga Orange
Rocoto Cristobal
Jamaican yellow hot
Hyper Pube (CaneDog)
PaulG's BJ hybrid-2
7 pot burgundy (PaulG)

I'm extremely excited to be able to grow some Rocotos this year, so thanks for edging me on to that, CaneDog and others in the forums. I have a feeling they will like the Danish climate which tends to have cool nights even during the summer, and will be grown fully outside, not in the greenhouse (space limitations).
 
I had already started a small winter indoors grow consisting of my own Aji Lemon x BJ Purple cross (F1), which has been making good progress.

Oct 11th:

Nov 14th:

December 5th:

Today (bear in mind it was on a non-sunny windowsill for 3 weeks during the holidays in order to not let it dry out under the intense lights, where it also aborted its recently set first fruit):

Once the other seedlings made their way outdoors, I will expand the indoor grow according to the plan above (yeah, right! xD) and keep that going too, simply just to get as many peppers sampled this year as possible. 

So at the start, the tent looked as follows:

Soon after, I moved the bulk of the seed starter rockwool cubes into a heated dome, and am transferring the cubes to the tent as the seeds pop. Currently, the JPGS, Jamaican Yellow and PaulG's BJ hybrid have already popped, so let's see how quickly the others follow. From seed to seedling in basically a week is as good as I could have ever asked for.

As always, thanks for reading and any input/criticism/feedback you may have, and I will try to keep it saucy in terms of pictures and taste reviews etc.... Happy 2020!

 

[juanitos]

what nutes you using?

 

[PaulG]

Alright, LPD, off to an impressive start! 
 
That's an awesome root mass in the Aji
Lemon cross!
 
 Here's to a great 2020 grow season!

 

[Uncle Eckley]

Limo cross is looking good! 

 

[CaneDog]

Great to see your glog up and going, LP - and what an awesome grow list!  I'm psyched to be growing PaulG's 7 pot burgundy and Aji Amarillo this season too; just really been looking forward to those varieties.  I expect they'll do really well for you with the early start and greenhouse.  The Rocoto Oculto has been on my list for a while now, but it just never was convenient to pick up seeds - which is probably best, 'cause I'm back out over my skis again this season and if anything need to trim things back.  I'll be really happy to watch see what yours does.  Did you get the SLP or SLCB version?  For all I know they're the same, but in the pictures SLP's look boxier and SLCB's seem to have more of a collar and angular look to them.
 
Here's to a great 2020 LP!

 
And +1 to E.  Your cross is looking great!

 

[internationalfish]

Looks like a great mix of peppers. Every time one of these starts I learn something completely new; never heard of Rocoto Oculto at all, seems like a very nice pod.
 
Best of luck!

 

[PtMD989]

Yeah, that cross looks really good and healthy [emoji106]and very interesting [emoji848][emoji106][emoji16].


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[lespaulde]

what nutes you using?

Currently I'm still on HESI Coco (single source fertilizer, rather than A&B), which works well when used with tap water (due to low calcium of the nutes themselves). Soon will be running out and switching back to the Plagron Hydro A&B which was dirt cheap for 2x 5L at ~35bucks. Most of the grow will end up in coco, but will take that part when we get there as I've had some really nice offline discussions on soil etc. with Solid7...
 

Alright, LPD, off to an impressive start! 
 
That's an awesome root mass in the Aji
Lemon cross!
 
 Here's to a great 2020 grow season!

 
Thanks Paul, and I managed to squeeze in a few of your varieties this year so I hope to get some decent harvests as they're sure to be good eatin'! And yes, I'm very happy with how quickly the Aji cross is picking up. It was sad to have lost the first set of pods and flowers over the holidays, but it sure beat losing the plant in its entirety as there was no one around to give it water...
 

Limo cross is looking good!

 
Thanks Unc, not as many pods/flowers as yours yet, and I'm excited to hear how yours turns out!
 

Great to see your glog up and going, LP - and what an awesome grow list!  I'm psyched to be growing PaulG's 7 pot burgundy and Aji Amarillo this season too; just really been looking forward to those varieties.  I expect they'll do really well for you with the early start and greenhouse.  The Rocoto Oculto has been on my list for a while now, but it just never was convenient to pick up seeds - which is probably best, 'cause I'm back out over my skis again this season and if anything need to trim things back.  I'll be really happy to watch see what yours does.  Did you get the SLP or SLCB version?  For all I know they're the same, but in the pictures SLP's look boxier and SLCB's seem to have more of a collar and angular look to them.
 
Here's to a great 2020 LP!

 
And +1 to E.  Your cross is looking great!

 
back CD, may we all be swimming in pods come Aug/Sep! Thanks again for the seeds, was trying to squeeze in more of your varieties too, but some will have to wait till 2021 and hope to fit a couple into the tent for the offseason grow. Awesome you're also planning on growing the 7 pot burgundy and Aji Amarillo, I think they will be super tasty! I'm sure they're gonna love your care and climate, and will be fun to see whether we get the same phenos out! And lol, if I can send you some Oculto seeds once I've grown it out, you know where to find me. Always so difficult to prioritize! I'm not entirely sure which version mine is, I got it from here: https://slchilliboys.com/collections/c-pubescens/products/rocoto-oculto-seeds-cpubescens-6715797 

Looks like a great mix of peppers. Every time one of these starts I learn something completely new; never heard of Rocoto Oculto at all, seems like a very nice pod.
 
Best of luck!

Thanks 'fish, I hadn't heard about it before either, but the word fruity keeps getting the better of me which is why I bit... Will be checking your glog soon as I saw you even had a winter one going. Hope all is well on the homefront too!  
 

Yeah, that cross looks really good and healthy [emoji106]and very interesting [emoji848][emoji106][emoji16].


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Thanks Bryan, I will keep the progress updated and hope to be able to start the F2s rather soon after to see where the real excitement starts. Will be happy to share seeds at any point of course, for now I'm just happy it germinated and seems to be taking well to the tent.

 

[lespaulde]

just a quick update to celebrate that the paper lantern has now also moved to the tent, as it should be showing its coties very very soon. Now mainly waiting for the rocotos, which I suppose are notorious for taking a while, and the dorset naga orange.

I'm also loving the purple foliage on PaulG's hybrid, that's a first for me!

The Aji Lemon x Purple BJ (actually it was Aji Pineapple, so might start calling it the Purple Pineapple) is also really growing strong now that it's back in the tent and was potted up before Xmas. I love that you can see the purple genetics in its branches, and I'm SO curious to see what color the pods end up being at this stage.

 

[internationalfish]

Ooh, Purple Pineapple, not bad.

 

[PtMD989]

Is Paul’s hybrid, Purple Thunder? My PT are 1 for 3 on having purple leaves. It took about a week for it to change color.


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[PaulG]

@ LPD - Glad to see the 7 Pot Burgundy Pecan is up, as well.

Is Paul’s hybrid, Purple Thunder? My PT are 1 for 3 on having purple leaves. It took about a week for it to change color.


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The BJh-2 is the Purple Thunder with the
purple-shaded yellow pods.
 
All the Purple Thunder had purple foliage
in varying degrees.

 

[Devv]

Good luck this season LPD
 
I hope the Purple Pineapple meets your expectations, it sure is a purdy plant!

 

[lespaulde]

Is Paul’s hybrid, Purple Thunder? My PT are 1 for 3 on having purple leaves. It took about a week for it to change color.


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Yes, the BJ-h 2 is indeed PaulG's hybrid - super excited about those gorgeous looking pods, and one can only hope they taste half as good as they look as that would be more than plenty! This one emerged from the seed all in purple, and seems to have held his color on all the leafs so far. Guess we are still seeing some genetic variation, so I consider myself lucky to have struck gold in that case...
 
 

Good luck this season LPD
 
I hope the Purple Pineapple meets your expectations, it sure is a purdy plant!

 
Thanks Devv, and the same to you! Hopefully you can get your garden exactly the way you want this time around, what with that thing called work no longer getting in the way!  
 
Yes, the plant seems quite happy now again, will post a canopy shot next week but the second wave of flowers has appeared and some should have set over the weekend. Just need to decide how many F2's I'm going to grow out, as I guess it will have to be 3-5 to see some nice level of variation for future pickings...
 
For the rest, unfortunately not much else has popped in the meantime, so I'm getting a bit antsy. None of the rocotos popped, the Paper Lantern never managed to unfold its coties and just seemed stuck in the cube since last time, and still no sign at all in the Dorset Naga Orange. I know some of these can take a while, but we are soon hitting a month so I must be doing something wrong. I planted a second seed in the same cube etc. to see if it was the seeds that were duds. Simultaneously, I also tried a different method of just putting the seeds straight into distilled water in a 96-well plate (yay for biological cell lab access! ), and keeping that one in the tent so that when the lights are off at night, temps will drop a bit. Hopefully those temperature swings will kick them into high gear... Any other ideas are always welcome, especially in terms of the rocotos as I'm new to those.
 
Just a quick shot of what I'm looking at now, with 2 seeds per variety:
 

 

[PaulG]

Hey, Erv, I hope you see an uptick in your
germination rate soon. I know what you
mean about the waiting.

Good luck with your new round of seeds!

 

[CaneDog]

It seems to always feel like you're waiting forever when the sprouting begins to slow down, but I agree, it's definitely time to drop some more at 30 days.  Cool that your purple thunder came up as colorful as it did.  I have the PT Mystery and PT#2 cooking in Grodan cubes right now and I hope I'm as lucky. 
 
My input on your Purple Pineapple F2 is "grow lots" - of course, I pretty much subscribe to a more-is-better theory of pepper growing, which gets me into trouble from time to time.   That Baccatum x Annuum is a tough cross to get to begin with, though, and with the increased genetic diversity of it being interspecific it seems like rolling the dice a couple/few more times might really pay off.  
 
And free lab supply access?!  That's GOLD!

 

[lespaulde]

Hey, Erv, I hope you see an uptick in your
germination rate soon. I know what you
mean about the waiting.
Good luck with your new round of seeds!

 
Thanks Paul, and yes, days turn into weeks and weeks into months while you're waiting at this stage! 
 

It seems to always feel like you're waiting forever when the sprouting begins to slow down, but I agree, it's definitely time to drop some more at 30 days.  Cool that your purple thunder came up as colorful as it did.  I have the PT Mystery and PT#2 cooking in Grodan cubes right now and I hope I'm as lucky. 
 
My input on your Purple Pineapple F2 is "grow lots" - of course, I pretty much subscribe to a more-is-better theory of pepper growing, which gets me into trouble from time to time.   That Baccatum x Annuum is a tough cross to get to begin with, though, and with the increased genetic diversity of it being interspecific it seems like rolling the dice a couple/few more times might really pay off.  
 
And free lab supply access?!  That's GOLD!

 
Haha, you won't believe it, but when I came into the office this morning, the Dorset Naga Orange (the originally planted one) finally popped:
 

28 days seems like a long time, even for Chinense, but I suppose it might be normal. The heating dome is at a measured 84-86F (29-30C) constantly, so should be in the right ballpark for Chinense. I'm guessing the Rocotos are less of a fan of this constant heat, so now I've attached the heating dome to my lights timer so that it switches off at night. Hopefully those temperature swings (thanks Paul for the inspiration) will convince them to sprout...

Fingers crossed on your PTs CD, I'm hoping for nice purple coloring for you too!

And haha, I'll try my best to max the nr of F2s. I think I can safely "fit" up to 6 in the tent if I keep them in smaller pots, and then use a semi-democratic approach to choose which ones to continue selecting on for F3s etc. But I'll let your words ring in my head when time comes for those. In the mean-time, let's enjoy the fact that the first pollinated flowers have arrived:

And a canopy shot where you can set quite a few more set flowers:

 

[CaneDog]

That's awesome that you're seeing set pods!  The leaves have a cool bit of pubescence to them too, I see.

 

[PaulG]

Good news about the Dorset Naga 
 
Orange super hot peppers are way cool!
 
to an avalanche of hooks!

 

[lespaulde]

That's awesome that you're seeing set pods!  The leaves have a cool bit of pubescence to them too, I see.

Funny you say that, as I noticed it too but didn't think much of it - so you think it is a genetic phenotype showing? Never seen an actual pubescence in real life y.e.t., it's gotta happen soon though!

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