MikeUSMC 2017 Grow

A little late in the season to start a glog probably, but I figure if I want to trade seeds with some of you guys at the end of the year, at least you'll know I'm not full of shit when I say I have stuff to trade

Anyway, I had a pretty rough start this year. Started my seeds mid-February, then proceeded to fry half of them when they dried out from being in the living room with my pellet stove (Doh!). After that, my two overwintered plants (a Manzano and a Rocoto) turned into aphid magnets. Those promptly got chucked outside in March (I think?) to freeze and die a cold, miserable death. Of course, the aphids found their way to (what was left of) my seedling tray, but I got those under control.

Ok, enough whining. I'll try to get you guys caught up.....
Last year, I grew about 30 different Scotch Bonnet plants, which caught the attention of Superhot Sim and Trident, who are also huge Bonnet fans. We ended up doing a seed trade last year, so a lot of my seeds this year came from my chilehead brothers from across the pond (in the U.K.) Thanks guys!

Here's my 2017 list (this will be my 4th year growing), which is a little smaller than last year due to a lower back surgery I had about a month ago. All is well, I'm on the mend, and back out in the garden

-Numex Twilight x3
-7 Pot Douglah x2
-Chocolate SB x2
-Scotchbrain (F4) x2
-Cappuccino Scotch Bonnet
-"Yellow" Scotch Bonnet
-TFM Scotch Bonnet
-Tobago Scotch Bonnet
-M.A. Peach Scotch Bonnet
-M.A. Daisy Cutter x2
-Bahamian Goat
-Aji Mango
-Aji Jobito
-Orange Blob
-Chocolate Bhutlah (DM)
-Nagabon
-Mammoth Jalapeño x2
-Poblano

Here's some pics from earlier in the year:
March 30, 2017

April 16, 2017- First look at the sun

I always grow in 5:1:1 mix (and add in CRF granules) in 5 gallon buckets. Here's a couple shots of my 5:1:1 "Graveyard" in the woods behind my house, and the new stuff ready to be mixed.

May 21, 2017- All potted up

What a difference a few weeks makes (Pics taken this morning)
I'm also trying CNS17 (3-1-2) instead of DynaGro this year. It's just so much cheaper.

Chocolate Scotch Bonnets on the right, Douglahs on the left

Numex Twilight (biggest plant in the middle). I had 2 Belingrath Gardens plants in that pot last year, and now there's a TON of volunteers popping up. Almost looks like ground cover, haha. Gonna leave 'em just cuz

Another Numex Twilight out front. Getting some volunteer Twilights in that pot too, but I'll probably pull those

Besides the Twilights, the only pods I have so far are a couple of 'peños...

...and a couple of small Poblanos

5 Tomato plants for Mrs. USMC

Thanks for looking, everybody

 

[Chewi]

Looking really good! Can't wait to see pics of the Cappuccino Scotch Bonnet!!

 

[tctenten]

Good luck Mike. Everything looks good.

 

[MikeUSMC]

Looking really good! Can't wait to see pics of the Cappuccino Scotch Bonnet!!

Thanks Chewi! Here's some pics of all the different Bonnets I grew last year:

For flavor, the TFM has gotta be my favorite. I tried getting the P. Dreadie onto my list this year, but just couldn't get them to germinate. There's always next year, right?

 

[Trident chilli]

Great to see your grow Mike all the very best for your bonnets this season ... don't worry about the P. Dreadie seed you'll have some in my Christmas Card. Nice to see the bonnet photos again

 

[Guatemalan Insanity Pepper]

nice glad to see your doing a Glog too Mike 
 
love the individual pod pics with coin for size comparison, and sliced as well   (wish more people would include something for size reference in individual pod pics )
 
 
will be following your Grow
 
 
 
 

 

[Superhot Sim]

[emoji1] [emoji1] [emoji1] I knew I'd seen those pods somewhere buddy, lol.
Some great pheno bonnets, and a great chilli bro to trade with.
Highly recommend anyone wanting to trade with Mike. .
Glad your recovering from your back surgery, you got to be fit and strong maan ready to pick a abundance of pods [emoji6] . Feel proud watching your grow and know your going to " smash it " .



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[moruga welder]

All is looking Great !  Good luck on this years grow , and a speedy recovery ! 

 

[Devv]

Good looking grow Mike!
 
Back surgery? No fun buddy, been running from that for years. Get well soon and keep that grow looking great!

 

[Bhuter]

Very, very nice, Mike! I was just looking for your glog the other day. No wonder I couldn't find it. Lol. Great selection of Bonnets last year...and this year, as well. I love the color of the Cappuccino Bonnet. Great phenos all around! Your plants look fantastic and your tomatoes are doing awesomely. Great job!

-Adam

 

[MikeUSMC]

...don't worry about the P. Dreadie seed you'll have some in my Christmas Card

Haha! Thanks, John! We should definitely make that trade an annual thing! Not gonna have much (if any) "new" stuff to send you this year; most of my seeds this year came from you and Sim! I'll figure something out

love the individual pod pics with coin for size comparison, and sliced as well (wish more people would include something for size reference in individual pod pics

 Thanks, G.I.P.! Me too, that's why I do it Not as intricate as some other people's pics on graph paper w/ rulers, but it does the trick

I knew I'd seen those pods somewhere buddy, lol
Highly recommend anyone wanting to trade with Mike.

 Haha! It was great trading with you too, Sim. Thanks for the kind words! I've had those Bonnet pics "locked and loaded" for a while now. I was just waiting for a good opportunity to pull the trigger

All is looking Great !  Good luck on this years grow , and a speedy recovery !

  Thank you very much, Frank! I'd post the link to the pics of my X-rays, but I'm having Photobucket issues at the moment (more to follow at the bottom of this post)

Good looking grow Mike! Back surgery? No fun buddy, been running from that for years

Thanks, Devv! Believe me, I ran and ran like Forrest Gump for years, but it eventually caught up with me, haha. My second surgery actually, and I'm only 36! All stemming from a 30' fall at work, back in 2010

Very, very nice, Mike! I was just looking for your glog the other day. No wonder I couldn't find it. Lol. Great selection of Bonnets last year...and this year, as well. I love the color of the Cappuccino Bonnet. Great phenos all around! Your plants look fantastic and your tomatoes are doing awesomely. Great job!
-Adam

Thanks, Adam! You found it! LOL! Yeah, last year's Bonnet grow was a lot of fun, and plan to do something similar again next year. This year's grow was loosely based on some fermented hot sauce recipes I'd like to try First time growing tomatoes, and they're really taking off!

Thanks for the kind words, everyone!

 

[MikeUSMC]

Pics restored after all that Photosuckit B.S.

 

[MikeUSMC]

Been a while, so I guess I'm overdue for an update

Tomato plants are going bonkers, but one is having some BER issues

2 Numex Twilight plants out front. One with 850 Belingrath Gardens volunteers popping up. I left them in there because I thought it'd look cool, but now I think the Twilight is competing pretty hard for nutes and water. It hasn't grown much lately, haha

MA Peach SB

Aji Mango (flowering, but no pods yet)

Cappuccino SB

Tobago SB

Chocolate Bhutlah (DM)

Nagabon

Chocolate SB

"Mammoth Jalapeño" (thanks, Home Cheapo! Grrrrrrrr.....)

Scotch Brain. I'm hoping the pheno gets a little better later on

Orange Blob, putting out 3 different pod shapes so far (same plant), but these are the first pods of the year

Chocolate SBs (right) seem to be outperforming my Douglahs (left) this year. These are my 4 main "sauce plants"

Group shot

Also, something's been eating the fruits off my Poblanos (pretty sure it's rabbits). I had two HUGE pods on there and they were both ripped right off the stem, with the calyx still attached to the node. I found one on the ground with a lot of bite marks in it, but the other one completely disappeared. Whatever it is sure as hell doesn't like Nagabons though, haha! Found one in the dirt with a bite mark taken out of it, but they decided to leave it there

Thanks for looking, everybody

 

[Superhot Sim]

Wow
Great update Mike, some serious looking poddage my friend, love the phenos of your Orange blob.
The way Cappuccinho sb grow upwards are really cool , ( aji mango) grows same way Mike.
Your Aji mango looks really healthy and a nice size.
Save us some seeds from a decent pod of your Chocolate Bhutlah DM please Mike, will send you something cool in return buddy..
Growing like a boss buddy. [emoji106]



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[MikeUSMC]

Great update Mike, some serious looking poddage my friend. Save us some seeds from a decent pod of your Chocolate Bhutlah DM please Mike, will send you something cool in return buddy

Thanks, Sim. Sounds like a plan, bud. No problem

I'm really looking forward to the Daisy Cutter to start podding up. I can't wait to taste that bad boy!

 

[Bhuter]

Very, very nice, Mike! Your unripened Cappuccino SB looks exactly like one of my 7 Pot Caramels (PL). I have two and one is growing upright pods that look identical to yours. I pulled my seeds from pods I got from Judy. Interesting. I love the color of the ripened Cappuccino SB from the year before. That Daisy Cutter DOES sound good, but I'd be looking forward to the Chocolate SB. I grew Judy's one year and loved that version. Your pheno is spot on from CCN. Awesome looking plants and your tomatoes are crushing it! Great job!

 

[MikeUSMC]

That Daisy Cutter DOES sound good, but I'd be looking forward to the Chocolate SB. Great job!

Thanks, Adam! Yup, I'm a huge fan of the Choc SB. I've grown it for the last three years in a row. Definitely in my Top 5 (if not Top 3) for flavor. I love them so much more than Choc Habs. They make killer smoked powder and sauces

 

[OCD Chilehead]

Mike, your killings it. Awesome pods and varieties.

 

[Trident chilli]

Great update pleased the NagaBon and Matthew Arthur's Peach SB working well for you ... at my end your Cappaccino is flowering well and starting to pod nicely

 

[peppamang]

Looking great Mike!