maxcaps 2014 grow: avoiding the freeze!

Hello All,
 
New here, but feeling right at home. I figured I'd go ahead and get my glog started, though I may wait a few weeks yet before starting anything.
 
I'm pretty new, not totally new. I had a small grow last year, mostly in containers, bringing up plants that I hoped would make cool overwinter bonsai's (bonchi's). I ordered a handful of different varieties from http://fataliiseeds.net, all  95% of which sprouted nicely, though something must have gone wrong because many never grew true leaves. I think my house was too cold... I've moved now and now have an excellent heating system. I also kept the seeds by a window that I think got too drafty. 
 
I did have a handful of chinenses survive, including a wonderful Red Habanero from fataliiseeds, and some chiero roxa plants that produced a handful of tasty purple pods. I purchased some local Scotch Bonnett starts from a small scale nursery, and grew jalapeños and serrano starts from a local nursery. It's safe to say I am now addicted, as all these fire worked its way into my family's weekly diet. I have a 12'X8' plot begging for plants, and I may do some extra in containers...
 
Enough background. Here's the plan. As jalapeños (salsa, roasted, and canned) are not a staple, I want to grow a handful of varieties. The chinenses have amazing flavors, so I'm going to branch out with two or three new varieties (though sadly I did not save any scotch bonnet seeds from the last season... what is wrong with me?). Last year I tried some super hot varieties... none lived. I am going to try again! I actually ordered most of these seeds before stumbling upon this wonderful community. In any event, here is the lineup:
 
Chinenses:
 
Red Habanero (seeds kept and OW bonchi (thanks fatalii)
Chiero Roxa (seeds kept, may use OW bonchi, haven't decided)
Scotch Bonnett (forgot to keep seeds, but I can replant OW bonchi)
White Habanero (seeds from Pepper Joe, should arrive soon...)
Chocolate Habanero (seeds from Pepper Joe, should also arrive soon)
Fatali (from pepperlover.com)
Big Sun Habernero (from pepperlover)
 
Superhot Chinenses:
 
Carolina Reaper (seeds from PuckerButt)
Naga Morich (seeds from PuckerButt)
Bhut Jolokia (seeds from PuckerButt)
Dorset Naga (seeds from PuckerButt)
7 pod (from pepperlover.com)
 
Other Superhot:
 
Tiepin (seeds from PuckerButt)
 
Annuums:
 
Poblanos (from Pepper Joe... growing to Acho's to use as powder base)
Giant Jalapeño (from Pepper Joe)
Early Jalapeño (from Pepper Joe)
Black Jalapeño (from Pepper Joe)
Purple Jalapeño (from Pepper Joe)
Fresno Pepper (from Pepper Joe)
 
Wish I had found you guys sooner, I'd have added some douglah's to the list. I am also on the fence about adding a couple more chinense varieties. 
 
Also growing some companions. Planning on putting in a couple tomato plants, garlic, cilantro, and carrots (had a lot of luck with tasty fat purple carrots... atomic purple I think they were called)
 
Will post some picks of my OW bonchi's tomorrow, and start going into techniques. On the fence about coffee-filter germination versus sowing in a tray.

 

[maximumcapsicum]

Plants are all looking strong today. New growth on the yellow 7 pot, so it made it. 7 pot bubblegum in the pot is not out of the woods. Hoping to do a round of pics tomorrow or Wednesday... depends on what happens with the weather.
 

Good to see the damaged plants bouncing back Adam! Those purple jal's sure are a beautiful plant. And I'm the same, always eating the pods with my eyes before they're anywhere near ready. 

 
Thanks man! Hard not too. I should start measuring this black jal... I think the pod is growing a half an inch a day. Looks like there are some "early" genes in there.
 

Plants are going to come back strong. I'm keeping my fingers crossed. Thanks for sharing.

 
Hoping. Tomatoes haven't skipped a beat. Annuums are looking very good too.
 

Adam, you aren't the only one who has damaged primary growth tips on their growdown plant. Looks like the mites found mine. I'll just have to train the branches to reach up instead of out.
 
Looks like they all survived with minimal damage. Good for you. Did any of your neighbors loose crops? I didn't see any other plastic row covers on neighbors in the photos 'cept for the two beds to your right. .

 
Yeah there is going to be some training. Secondary and lower growth is fine, but yeah the primary node is looking nuked. Kind of a shame. Keeping an eye on it.
 
The two beds next to me are apparently vacant. Looks like they are full of weeds and neglected brassicas, mostly kale going to seed. Kale doesn't care about the cold. If they don't clean those beds up soon I'll ask them if they want me to take them over. Could use some more tomato space, but don't want to shell out the donation this year.
 
I did notice the main farm lost some tomatoes. One of the community plots also had some nuked tomatoes.
 

Henry looks like he's havin' a ball helping Dad, cutie he is!
 
Gee where I have seen plants that look like that before? Well right outside my door.
 
The Chuncho, if it sprouts multiple branches you can remove the lesser ones and it will hardly miss a beat.
 
The rest will settle down and perform for you. I always push the spring here, because the oppressive heat comes too soon. I think I pushed them too hard this season, or maybe Ma Nature just slammed me.
 
It's all part of the game. And this is just a minor setback.
 
Wishing you continued success!

 
Glad a pro is having some of the same problems. Going to keep an active eye on the chuncho... don't really think it's a good idea to start a new round of seeds this week, though I was tempted to get some manzanos going in containers. Can you ever have enough pepper plants? Don't think so.
 
I'll let Henry know you said hi!
 
Thanks guys.

 

[Devv]

Hardly a pro, it doesn't matter how long one gardens, there's always challenges. Be it weather, changes to the soil one makes, just gotta roll I say!
 
You'll do fine this season!

 

[TrentL]

That white habanero is going to be a monster producer. Holy crap is that thing budding up!!!

 

[HillBilly Jeff]

Looking really good man!!!

 

[Jamison]

Glad you saved your babies my brotha!  Your gonna be amazed at how much different they'll look in a month from now.   Your picture of the Goats Weed a few pages back looked absolutely spot on man.  Them things put out tons and tons of pods.  Can't wait to see everything podding up!

 

[PaulG]

Hey, Adam, sorry to hear about your scrape with the weather.  I'm always amazed
at how resilient the plants are, and to what extent they can bounce back from damage.  
You will have some real bushes in your grow after the frost!  Good work getting a row
cover up in time.
 
Good luck going forward, buddy!

 

[maximumcapsicum]

That white habanero is going to be a monster producer. Holy crap is that thing budding up!!!

 
It's been a fascinating plant to watch. It was knocked over by the fan in the grow chamber early on, and has since seemed to put all its energy into secondary growth and buds. Very strange plant. Hope it puts out some leaves or it may not ever set fruit!
 
Here's yesterday's pic:
 

 
Really hoping to see some branching or a little more foliage on this guy.
 

Looking really good man!!!

 
Thanks HJeff!
 

Glad you saved your babies my brotha!  Your gonna be amazed at how much different they'll look in a month from now.   Your picture of the Goats Weed a few pages back looked absolutely spot on man.  Them things put out tons and tons of pods.  Can't wait to see everything podding up!

 
Here's hoping! Most are making tons of progress day by day. And the Goat's Weed is going to be a tower by the end, I can tell already. Also one of my thirstiest plants.
 

Hey, Adam, sorry to hear about your scrape with the weather.  I'm always amazed
at how resilient the plants are, and to what extent they can bounce back from damage.  
You will have some real bushes in your grow after the frost!  Good work getting a row
cover up in time.
 
Good luck going forward, buddy!

 
Keeping on an on 'em Paul. I think the 7Pots all lived, just lost a ton of leaves, as will show below.
 
I think I can officially report that I didn't actually loose any plants from that scrape with the cold, though I can tell already that a bunch of their habits changed. Lots of main nodes got knocked out, so I'm gonna have some bushy beds I think. I'll try to stress the canopy on the other plants.
 
The potted 7Pot Bubblegum took the most damage in the freeze. I really thought it was a goner. Bu lo and behold:
 

 
New growth at the nodes! May give it a very cool growth habit ultimately.
 

 
Here is my fallen warrior. The Chuncho has definitely lost its main node, which means its probably out of the growdown race. Once its reestablished I'll try to get it to favor its healthiest node. Secondary growth looks very good on it though.
 

 
Lost track of flowers, but pretty much all the Jals have set pods by now. Abunch of the other annuums have as well. I definitely have an early edge on the season with these guys. I think next year annuums will go out before chinenses... they really don't seem to care about the weather.
 

 
Remember these guys? Here are the four bonchis I made last October. All are still kickin around pretty well, and since moving outside they've started to fill out their leaves a bit. Two are Chiero Roxas, one is a "Scotch Bonnet" that I think was actually a carribbean red, and the other is an actual carribean red hab. They need bonchi pots... that's on the list, but things like rent have taken precedence.
 

 
Chieros looking good!
 

Red Hab putting on leaves AND flowers. Hopefully it'll set a couple pods. That would look so cool. 
 
Will try to get some better pics of them later today and make some plans for pruning/potting.
 
A new community gardner has taken over the vacant beds to the south of me:
 

 
He's gonna try vertical gardening. Plans to cram some watermelons and pumpkins in there. This I gotta see! I am pretty happy with my nighshades for the summer, though I'd love to have some space to fit some melons when I stop renting. He also put some jalapeno seedlings out.
 
Most of the other community gardeners think I'm nuts for growing 40 different kinds of peppers. And no bells at that!
 
To close this update out, another courteous helper has moved in:
 

 
Thanks for reading! 

 

[Jeff H]

Plants are looking great Adam. Love to see all that new growth form the frost bitten plants. They look like they will pull through nicely.
 

 
 
 
Most of the other community gardeners think I'm nuts for growing 40 different kinds of peppers. And no bells at that!

 

 
HAHA. I get that a lot myself.

 

[TrentL]

Looks great man! Glad to see some of those plants bouncing back so fast.

 

[PaulG]

Community garden looks cool, Adam.  Does the lot next to it
belong to the church in the background?

 

[Devv]

Well Adam, I think we both learned this season the Chinense don't handle the cooler weather like the Tomatoe's and Annuum's do. I'm already looking ahead to next season and a later plant out.
 
I wouldn't worry about the Chuncho, it's all in the roots, pick the strongest shoot and remove the rest when you're ready. October 31st is a long way off!
 
In a few weeks those babies won't show any sign of the bad experience.
 
Keep it green!

 

[HillBilly Jeff]

Things are looking good there.

 

[MeatHead1313]

Looking great Scott! Loving the new growth on the bubblegum. And love seeing the ladybugs turning up. Hope they stick around for you.

 

[OCD Chilehead]

Some growers intentionally strip there plants with great success. Mother Nature did it for you. I can't wait to see the progress pics on that Bubblegum. Have a great weekend.

 

[stickman]

Glad to see you got 100% survival under your row covers Adam.   I've had similar things happen to me, so no surprise on this end. Maybe next year you'll put down some IRT plastic mulch first to warm things up for the Chinense varieties. It's cheap and effective.
 
The White Hab is looking very promising... I think maybe I'll grow one next year, since I'm partial to chopping one of the pods into my breakfast eggs, and it's prolific enough to provide them daily. Continued success bro!

 

[maximumcapsicum]

Horrors abound. I've gone out of town. I'll be in Chicago for the rest of the week! A warm, dry week none the less. I let the neighboring community gardeners know and they promised me they'll keep my plants watered. Lets hope they're reliable. I've had a couple antsy moments, but one of the gardeners texted me yesterday to let me know things were looking dry, even if my pots dry out quickly.
 
 

Looks great man! Glad to see some of those plants bouncing back so fast.

 
 

Community garden looks cool, Adam.  Does the lot next to it
belong to the church in the background?

 
Indeed, the whole farm belongs to a neighboring church, which has dibs on a couple of the plots.
 

Well Adam, I think we both learned this season the Chinense don't handle the cooler weather like the Tomatoe's and Annuum's do. I'm already looking ahead to next season and a later plant out.
 
I wouldn't worry about the Chuncho, it's all in the roots, pick the strongest shoot and remove the rest when you're ready. October 31st is a long way off!
 
In a few weeks those babies won't show any sign of the bad experience.
 
Keep it green!

 
Sure enough the chuncho is thriving now, but bushing out very strongly. I'll trim away the weaker shoots to encourage a taller plant, but tallest is probably out of the question now. At least I'll have basketfuls of chuncho peppers!
 

Things are looking good there.

 
Thanks HJeff! Gonna try to get over to your glog after wrapping up the next round of grading.
 

Looking great Scott  ! Loving the new growth on the bubblegum. And love seeing the ladybugs turning up. Hope they stick around for you.

 
Just wait... see below...
 

Some growers intentionally strip there plants with great success. Mother Nature did it for you. I can't wait to see the progress pics on that Bubblegum. Have a great weekend.

 
Yeah it seems to encourage a very cool looking canopy plant. I've stripped a bunch of mine following Rick and Jeff's lead.
 

Glad to see you got 100% survival under your row covers Adam.   I've had similar things happen to me, so no surprise on this end. Maybe next year you'll put down some IRT plastic mulch first to warm things up for the Chinense varieties. It's cheap and effective.
 
The White Hab is looking very promising... I think maybe I'll grow one next year, since I'm partial to chopping one of the pods into my breakfast eggs, and it's prolific enough to provide them daily. Continued success bro!

 
It does look that way! So long as nothing gets too dry by Friday I think I'll be in good shape.
 
I did take a round of pictures before I left. The frosty plants have basically made a full recovery by this point.
 

 
MoA is covered in ladybug eggs. Woo!
 

 
Barrackpore X Tepin is explosive! Looks like 100 flowers on the plant at this point, though no good pod sets. Going to dial back the nitrogen now (gave it two small doses of fish emulsion over the past month).
 

 
Annuum pods are setting and growing fast. Hoping to start eating pods before the end of May.
 

 
My second generation Chiero. Pretty sure it crossed with a hab by the leaf shape. Wouldn't complain. 
 

 
White and Yellow Bhuts both got flowers... no pods yet, but hoping to see some soon!
 

 
More ripening jals!
 

 
Bonchis are coming to life! This one is looking very cool. It's started putting on very tiny little leaves now.
 

 
Red Hab bonchi is actually looking like a tree! It may set a pod in the next week or so. 
 

 
And finally... THE 7POT BUBBLEGUM PHOENIX. You'll recall this guy lost everything in the BIG FREEZE, now its bounding back to life. 
 
Thanks for stopping by! Going to try to make my glog rounds now.

 

[PaulG]

The post-apocalyptic freeze episode seems to have safely passed, Adam!
Looks like the GA sun is being good to your plants!  Everything looks
really good.

 

[HillBilly Jeff]

Super looking plants in your pics!!!  Keep it green!!!

 

[Devv]

Glad to see the ladies took it all in stride Adam!
 
Peppers are a pretty tough plant for sure!
 
Hope the peeps watering water for you!
 
Leaving town is tough while a grow is happening.

 

[OCD Chilehead]

Looking green. Spring has sprung. That bonchi is insane. Thanks for the updates. One good thing about leaving town is when you get back you can see the progress. Good luck on your trip