Mildfruits 2020 hydroponic

lespaulde · Sep 28, 2020

Hey MF, good to have you back and glad to hear things are winding down a bit for ya workwise. And nothing like a bunch of fresh starts to prepare us for the dark winter times which are already arriving...

In terms of Rocoto, I can recommend (and share seeds for) the Rocoto Cristobal and CaneDog's Hyperpube x. These have exactly the warm glow you're referring to which I'm also rather a big fan of. Skullbiker's Montufar is on my list for next year, and could probably share a few seeds from the stock I bought last year.

How did your ferment turn out? I just blended up my first fermented sauce this with some Dorset Naga Orange and peaches, and it definitely hits home in terms of heat hahaha. But a fermented Rocoto sauce should simply be awesome.

Mildfruit · Sep 28, 2020

skullbiker said:
Those Costa Rica pods look very similar in shape and size to the Equadorian Sweet Rocotos I am growing. I have personally become biased to the Rocoto Montufar.

You are right on the money! I don't think I could see them apart. I had to look them up, the only difference I can see should be the heat where the Equadorian Sweet Rocoto is perhaps a bit milder. How is the heat level in the montufar? I really like the name already

CaneDog said:
Hey MF. Glad to hear things may be easing up on you a bit. And great to see the new start!

How many varieties of rocoto are you planning to add to your grow? Any preferences as far as colors? I can't fault SB for suggesting Montufar - I think they're great. Plenty of other fun ones, too.

Glad to hear your rocoto sauce turned out so good! I haven't yet been able to come up with a really solid rocoto sauce and you've inspired me to try again and maybe with some new ideas.

Cheers

I think my limit will be 3 or 4, but I'll probably exceed that number as usual when I find all the varieties I want to try

I think a yellow and or orange variety would be nice, and I can see I have 3 replies about the montufar already seems like that one is settled

I looked through the seeds I have, and found you mailed me "Hyperoube.X (yell) x CGN card F1. Can you recommend those?

Im glad, I really think the rocotos are perfect for sauce!
I used this recipe with some tweaks, the original recipe had mangoes as well, but I didn't have those.

2-3 tabel spoons of neutral oli
2 onions
3-4 cloves of garlic
2 apples
1dl honey
3 dl water
All the pictured rocotos including about 10more.
2 De gernika peppers
A bit of salt
The juice of 2 limes

lespaulde said:
Hey MF, good to have you back and glad to hear things are winding down a bit for ya workwise. And nothing like a bunch of fresh starts to prepare us for the dark winter times which are already arriving...

In terms of Rocoto, I can recommend (and share seeds for) the Rocoto Cristobal and CaneDog's Hyperpube x. These have exactly the warm glow you're referring to which I'm also rather a big fan of. Skullbiker's Montufar is on my list for next year, and could probably share a few seeds from the stock I bought last year.

How did your ferment turn out? I just blended up my first fermented sauce this with some Dorset Naga Orange and peaches, and it definitely hits home in terms of heat hahaha. But a fermented Rocoto sauce should simply be awesome.

Unfortunately they are, hopefully we have a few good days like this one left before the darkness overwhelms us

I've actually been following your Christobal in your glog for some time now, that seem very interesting indeed. I found some (but not much) information online regarding that pepper, and it should be pretty hot by pubescent standards, do you agree? I have tons of seeds as well so im down for an exchange before next spring, what types of peppers are you interested in?

My fermentation is actually still going, way longer than intended

I think its ready for some sauce making, but I think im letting it sit until I run out of my rocoto sauce, which shouldn't be long

lespaulde · Sep 29, 2020

Mildfruit said:
Unfortunately they are, hopefully we have a few good days like this one left before the darkness overwhelms us

I've actually been following your Christobal in your glog for some time now, that seem very interesting indeed. I found some (but not much) information online regarding that pepper, and it should be pretty hot by pubescent standards, do you agree? I have tons of seeds as well so im down for an exchange before next spring, what types of peppers are you interested in?

My fermentation is actually still going, way longer than intended I think its ready for some sauce making, but I think im letting it sit until I run out of my rocoto sauce, which shouldn't be long

Yeah agreed, we know the darkness hits hard when it does, so for sure have been enjoying the nice hours of sunshine these past few days (and so have the peppers)!

Yeah the Cristobal is pretty elusive when it comes to online reviews, but what I found was pretty positive and I can say it didn't disappoint one bit. Indeed nice and hot (I dunno, perhaps it hits the 100k SHU; hard to judge due to the different flavor profile compared to other peppers, with it being more of a glow like you also say rather than a sharp burn) and really did well in a fried egg and grilled cheese sandwich. I just harvested 2 more pods and there are about 2 handfuls still ripening, so hope to test it in a bit more depth soon. Nice pods though I'd say:

A swap sounds pretty awesome, as I've been getting quite curious about your Antep Aci Dolma - you made a good sell on its flavor!

Let me send you my list of seeds and then we can take this over DM or what not.

And well done in letting the ferment go; I will try the same for my next one and try to keep it going until at least Xmas

Sent from my LYA-L29 using Tapatalk

CaneDog · Sep 29, 2020

Mildfruit said:
I think my limit will be 3 or 4, but I'll probably exceed that number as usual when I find all the varieties I want to try I think a yellow and or orange variety would be nice, and I can see I have 3 replies about the montufar already seems like that one is settled I looked through the seeds I have, and found you mailed me "Hyperoube.X (yell) x CGN card F1. Can you recommend those?

Im glad, I really think the rocotos are perfect for sauce!
I used this recipe with some tweaks, the original recipe had mangoes as well, but I didn't have those.

Thanks for sharing your recipe! I have a lot of rocotos coming in and I can put it to good use. The Hyperpube-X x CNG Cardenasii F1 was an attempt to cross the rocoto, but I grew out only 1 plant from the seeds and the cross didn't take. Hard to say if your seeds would be failed crosses, like mine, thus hyperpube-X's, or if they'd produce rocopicas, with little culinary value. I neutered and protected the flower, but apparently it pollinated before or when I was operating on it. LP's Cristobal looks pretty cool and since the hyperpube-X is also a yellow/orange, I'd probably grow LP's and look for something else offering more variety.

I've grown puno pica orange and cap 1242 orange, either of which I'd recommend as a true orange rocoto. Always happy to share.

Mildfruit · Oct 8, 2020

lespaulde said:
Yeah agreed, we know the darkness hits hard when it does, so for sure have been enjoying the nice hours of sunshine these past few days (and so have the peppers)!

Yeah the Cristobal is pretty elusive when it comes to online reviews, but what I found was pretty positive and I can say it didn't disappoint one bit. Indeed nice and hot (I dunno, perhaps it hits the 100k SHU; hard to judge due to the different flavor profile compared to other peppers, with it being more of a glow like you also say rather than a sharp burn) and really did well in a fried egg and grilled cheese sandwich. I just harvested 2 more pods and there are about 2 handfuls still ripening, so hope to test it in a bit more depth soon. Nice pods though I'd say:

A swap sounds pretty awesome, as I've been getting quite curious about your Antep Aci Dolma - you made a good sell on its flavor! Let me send you my list of seeds and then we can take this over DM or what not.

And well done in letting the ferment go; I will try the same for my next one and try to keep it going until at least Xmas

Sent from my LYA-L29 using Tapatalk

Well I guess im sold! Sounds like a solid pepper, and anything that works with fried eggs and grilled cheese is a winner in my eyes

For sure lets take it over DM, BTW the HotPeppers reddit is open for registration for EU and US seed swap exchange. I've participated the last 3 years, and can really recommend it! The aci Dolma is a favorite of mine no doubt, luckily I have lots of seeds to share!

CaneDog said:
Thanks for sharing your recipe! I have a lot of rocotos coming in and I can put it to good use. The Hyperpube-X x CNG Cardenasii F1 was an attempt to cross the rocoto, but I grew out only 1 plant from the seeds and the cross didn't take. Hard to say if your seeds would be failed crosses, like mine, thus hyperpube-X's, or if they'd produce rocopicas, with little culinary value. I neutered and protected the flower, but apparently it pollinated before or when I was operating on it. LP's Cristobal looks pretty cool and since the hyperpube-X is also a yellow/orange, I'd probably grow LP's and look for something else offering more variety.

I've grown puno pica orange and cap 1242 orange, either of which I'd recommend as a true orange rocoto. Always happy to share.

No worries!
Thanks for the advice, I'll definitely look into the Cristobal, and check out the ones you mentioned. Im always up for another seed swap in the future

Mildfruit · Oct 8, 2020

The peppers are doing their thing, almost all on their own. I've giving them a low dose of nutrients and due to work, the last 2 weeks pure water feeding, but they don't seem to mind. If I had a bigger setup it could be fun to see how low you could go, probably a lot lower than the companies recommend.

Another fun thing, I managed to snatch the limited sale from fataliiseeds for the sugar rush stripy before they ran out. Will be a fun pepper to grow as well.

dragonsfire · Oct 8, 2020

They look real nice

internationalfish · Oct 8, 2020

Oh wow! Looking great; hopefully your Bahamian Goat keeps chuggin', and those stripey buggers should be pretty brilliant.

Mildfruit · Oct 12, 2020

dragonsfire said:
They look real nice

They really caught my eye as well! If the taste is like regular SRP im sure they will be great!

internationalfish said:
Oh wow! Looking great; hopefully your Bahamian Goat keeps chuggin', and those stripey buggers should be pretty brilliant.

I plan to take the Bahamian into a solo tent later, hopefully to maximize its potential

I also talked about trying out coco coir with the Autopot system. So I just ordered 4 auto pots to try it out and some coco coir!

PaulG · Oct 12, 2020

Always moving forward, Rasmus! :clap:

Will be interested in seeing your results with
the Stripy next season!

Your starts in the rock wool look awesome!

internationalfish · Oct 12, 2020

Mildfruit said:
I plan to take the Bahamian into a solo tent later, hopefully to maximize its potential

I also talked about trying out coco coir with the Autopot system. So I just ordered 4 auto pots to try it out and some coco coir!

Coir is great stuff! I use generic hydroponic nutrients for my indoor plants, it's worked well for me (the problems they have when I just kinda ignore them for a week are clearly not the coir's fault). I switched from soil primarily because I was sick of having bugs in my tent, and it's been worth it for that alone.

Mildfruit · Oct 21, 2020

internationalfish said:
Coir is great stuff! I use generic hydroponic nutrients for my indoor plants, it's worked well for me (the problems they have when I just kinda ignore them for a week are clearly not the coir's fault). I switched from soil primarily because I was sick of having bugs in my tent, and it's been worth it for that alone.

Yea that was my reasoning for hydroponics in the first place, soil is a great medium, but I won't have it indoor

Mildfruit · Oct 21, 2020

Grow is doing good

I received the Stripey seed yesterday, and planted the seeds right away. I needed to cross it with something, so I also planted the yellow starfish a few days ago. Currently just waiting for the plants to grow large enough to get into the Autopots with the coco coir

.

The weather is getting cold, rainy and its getting dark early. Cant believe the Costa Rica red is still living fine outside on my balcony.

PaulG · Oct 25, 2020

Looking good, Rasmus, that tent will be full in no time!

Mildfruit · Oct 28, 2020

PaulG said:
Looking good, Rasmus, that tent will be full in no time!

Thanks Paul! They really grow fast, it surprises me every time

Mildfruit · Oct 28, 2020

Okay, big update inc.

Today I have a day off so I finally had the time for some plant love. I wanted to start the auto pot system with coco coir. It took nearly two hours to setup including mixing coco coir and nutrients, but wasn't really complicated, and I think its time well invested (hopefully!)

Heres 3 autopots containing from the left: Dutch chille, Bahamian Goat and lastly Poblano.
The Bahamian goat is going into another tent, when I figure out what the last fourth' plant should be. I have 4 autopots which I hope to expand later when/if the system works out for me. So for a start im going to have 3 inside this tent, and 1 inside my other tent which is placed behind where I took this photo. All four are connected to the 47L reservoir.

Heres some closeups:

The dutch are already setting flower buds.

And heres a top view of my yellow biquinho.

The last few plants that im still deciding which is getting the last autopot space:

Left to right:
Murupi aramela , Starfish yellow and lastly stil waiting for germination for the Stripey Sugar rush peach.

And lastly a picture of my padron like pepper called "De Gernika"

Overall im really excited to try out a new medium, nutrients and growing system.
Still wondering if I should cover the coco with perlite.
Hope you all are safe in these times.

CaneDog · Oct 28, 2020

Good stuff, MF. Some nice-looking leaves on those guys, especially on the biquinho!

PaulG · Oct 28, 2020

Your starts look great, MF! Your grow tent
set-up is pristine.

What plant wouldn't like growing in there?

Have fun during the cold winter months,
my friend!

Mildfruit · Nov 3, 2020

CaneDog said:
Good stuff, MF. Some nice-looking leaves on those guys, especially on the biquinho!

Thanks CD! Yea im really glad how "perfect" the symmetry is from above, still a very small plant but buds are starting to form. I hope to cross it with the Bahamian goat and Murupi.

PaulG said:
Your starts look great, MF! Your grow tent
set-up is pristine.

What plant wouldn't like growing in there?

Have fun during the cold winter months,
my friend!

Thanks for the kind words Paul! Believe it or not, but I've managed to kill some plants in there, but maybe that's more on me than the tent :mope:

Hopefully something will emerge that can keep me warm during the next months

Mildfruit · Nov 3, 2020

I planted the first set of plants 44 days ago, and today the first flower have opened!
The plants I've transplanted into coco coir have been doing great as well! Heres a few pictures.

First open flower and the plant to do is was the Dutch chille plant. The name is something that was written on the pack on some fresh chilles I bought a few years ago. I remember I liked them and saved some seeds. I couldn't find much with this name online, so maybe when the pods ripen up I can get a better ID. But so far im just calling them dutch chille.

Next in line to open is the De Gernika. A really great tasting padron type pepper. I grew one earlier this year in a kratky setup, and I liked them very much.

Top is my stripey sugar rush peach.
Down left Murupi. I've only ever managed to produce a single pod from this pepper, so this time I hope for more success.
Down right Starfish yellow. Im only growing this plant for crossing potential with the Stripey.

My Bahamian goat 6 days after transplanting into coco coir. Growing, cant wait to turn on the system in a weeks time

.

Flower bud on my poblano starting to form.

And flower buds on my Biquinho yellow starting to form.

Lastly and not chili related I bought a Fiddle leaf fig, and took a closeup, just found it interesting so im including it here

.