MrSpiffy 2020 Glog

Well...  I'm late to the party, and have almost no plan.  But, here goes my grow log for 2020.
 
I just planted seeds today.  (I know...  as I said, I'm late to the party.)  Varieties include:

• Red habanero (one of my all-time favorites)
• Dragon's Tongue cayenne
• Aji Pineapple
• Aji Mango
• Aji Rainforest

I was recently the lucky beneficiary of a huge variety of seeds on another forum.  A user offered free seeds, we conversed, I said I like sweet and fruity hot peppers, I sent a few bucks for postage, and I got 36 varietals at my doorstep!  I picked out a few from my new cache.  The only ones I've grown previously are the red habaneros.
 
I grow in pots on my porch.  The last few seasons have been just miserable.  I had aphids one year, and I've had odd blistering on my peppers and cherry tomatoes, with leaves eventually turning yellow and dropping off.  I'm guessing I'm either over-feeding, over-watering, or they're just spending too much time in direct sunshine to grow in pots without getting too warm.  I had actually planned to skip growing this year, but this crazy-huge batch of seeds got me motivated to get something growing.  So, this year, I'll move them to the eastern side of my porch, meaning they'll be shaded during the hottest portions of the day.  I'll also try going back to plastic pots, or may even try clay pots.  Hopefully that will help.
 
Obligatory pic of the first planting.
 

 

[MrSpiffy]

I don't know what disease it is, but it recently killed one of my tomato plants. It infected the lowest set of leaves and slowly climbed upwards until the whole plant had succumbed. Removal of intermediary leaf sets didn't help...

I've tried trimming off the affected leaves, but it's not helping.  If it's TSWV, the plant is a total loss.  There's no cure for it.  Seems it's commonly carried by thrips, though I haven't noticed any bugs on the plants.  Fortunately, it only seems to affect tomatoes, and my peppers are all looking just fine.

 

[PaulG]

Sorry to hear about your tomatoes, Mr. Spiff! 
 
But really glad the peppers are not being affected
for the time being, and that that continues to be
the case.

 

[MrSpiffy]

Sorry to hear about your tomatoes, Mr. Spiff! 
 
But really glad the peppers are not being affected
for the time being, and that that continues to be
the case.

Thanks   I almost didn't plant peppers this year, after the past couple seasons produced so many issues.  Hopefully I'll get some tasty pods!

 

[MrSpiffy]

As always, I'm really bad at posting updates each season.  But, here's what I've got.
 
First, my tomatoes.  Surprisingly, just leaving them continue growing with water and ferts, they've continued growing.  Their yields seem a little low, but otherwise my Sweetgolds are still producing small bunches of tomatoes here and there.  And my San Marzanos now have 5 tomatoes growing.  Despite the yellowing leaves on the earlier branches, the later ones seem to be staying green.  Perhaps it was a nutrient deficiency?  I did sprinkle a bit of calcium around the soil to help with some longer-term leaf growth.
 
As for the peppers, they're still growing nicely.  A few are flowering, and the Aji Rainforest has 3 small peppers growing on it.  Interestingly, the Aji peppers seem to have a thinner foliage than my red habaneros and Dragon's Tongue cayennes.  Those two are thicker, darker-leaved, and bushier.  I can't wait to try all of these as they start producing fruit!
 

 

 

[MrSpiffy]

Another update here.  I now have multiple peppers on all three of my Aji plants!  An interesting thing is that the Aji Pineapple has a different pepper shape than the other two.  The Pineapple is long and thin, more like a serrano.  The others are shorter and squat.  I see both shapes when I search for these peppers, but I wonder if they're two different strains between the shapes.
 
Anyway, here are update photos:

 
An Aji Mango pepper:

 
An Aji Pineapple pepper:

 

[MrSpiffy]

Finally got my peppers transplanted into larger pots.  These are 5-gallon pots, I believe.
 
L to R:  Carolina Reaper, Aji Rainforest, Aji Pineapple, Aji Mango

 
L to R: Red habanero, Dragon's Tongue cayenne

 

[Mr.joe]

Plants look good. They will outgrow that planter box soon

 

[MrSpiffy]

Plants look good. They will outgrow that planter box soon

Let's hope so!