NH Jalapeños 2019 (Runty Lives)

Runty Lives! He's had a rough winter under the Aerogarden lights, but he's finally adapting well and setting fruit.

 
Runty's first born (Junior) has had a great run in the Aerogarden. This will be our third harvest from Junior.

 
Three seed starting experiments and the lone Cayenne from last summer. The seeds were started under the the AG lights and ran into problems. I had to replace the lights last year and I think there's something wrong with the replacements. Regardless, moving the starts into the window has done all three a world of good.

 
And finally, after seeing all your 2019 starts flood my inbox, I started my own 2019 yesterday. Might be a little early, but screw it, let's see what happens. My original plan was to wait till mid March, but I'll do another round then too. 5 Banana Peppers, 4 Hungarian Hot Wax, and 5 Jalapeños (Runty seeds).

 

 

[timegoat]

Figured I get some closeups of the Aerogarden 5 plus Runty while Jr. and the Mrs. are asleep.
 

 

 

[PaulG]

Wow, great looking AeroGarden plants!

Is that a bug on the leaf of the plant in the
fourth picture in the above post?

 

[timegoat]

Wow, great looking AeroGarden plants!

Is that a bug on the leaf of the plant in the
fourth picture in the above post?

 
Thanks. The baby pods are a little wonky in shape but I'm pleased so far. And yes, that is a bug. Didn't notice when taking the pics. No idea what it is.
 

 

[timegoat]

Snuck out for an early morning photo shoot of the Banana Peppers. They're all looking very good. Clearly the full light in the front yard is good light. I stopped nipping buds a week earlier than planned because things appear to moving along well.
 

 

 

 

 

 
 
These are two Jalapeno experiments to see if the soda bottles will work as starter containers. I poked the drainage holes at about the height of the arrow to leave a small pool of water so they don't dry out too fast. Time will tell.
 

 

[PaulG]

Those bottles will work great. They will make
a nice, deep root ball.  Some people cover them
with a sleeve to keep the light from the roots, but
I'm not sure how necessary that is.
 
Plants look great.

 

[timegoat]

A nice deep root ball is what I was hoping for, so yay! I was thinking I might wrap them in duct tape if I needed to, but for now I want to watch how my container mix behaves over the course of  a season. Now I just gotta take a minute to see how many I can fit in a shoebox and that will be my main batch for next year.

 

[timegoat]

Some glamour shots:
 
The best of the Feb 3oz cuppers. The others are right behind this guy.
 
View attachment 79937
 
 
One of the Aerogarden 5. The pods that started when the nights were around 50ºf seem to have stalled. The pods that came after the weather improved are growing normally.
 
View attachment 79936
 
 
Cayenne is going nuts.
 
View attachment 79938
 
 
Mini Sweet doing great.
 
View attachment 79939
 
 
Top view of a Hungarian. I double checked and they only get about 4 hours direct sun then tree shade and light dappled. Doesn't seem to bother them a bit. I really hope they work for the pepper onion relish I want to use them for. I figure their tough skin might help the relish retain some crunch. We'll see.
 
View attachment 79940
 

 

[timegoat]

I haven't made a big deal about these two Jalapenos because I... well, I wasn't sure how they were going to do. They were my 3oz cup experiments in late 2018 to see if the tiny cups would even work. They were started on 10/20/18 (left) and 11/09/18 (right). Other than their start date they were treated the same as all the other 3oz cup peppers. I'm pleased with their buddage and they should do well.
 

 
 
They are the 2 cups on the far left of the window.
 

 

 

[PaulG]

They have really grown. I really like the growth
habit on the plant with the beer can it it.

 

[timegoat]

Some new shots:
 
Jalapenos slow and steady on the deck, but looking good. The middle one is in the lead for seed collection because it's the furthest along and just seems the happiest.
 

 
 
Cayenne going nuts.
 

 
 
Mini sweet looking better than I could have hoped. This one was started in Oct of 2018 in a 3oz cup. It's the other small plant in the window.
 

 
 
The Hungarians seem just fine with the minimal light.
 

 
 
The tallest of the Bananas loving full sun.
 

 

[timegoat]

Notes:
 

1. If the mini sweets taste good I may grow more of them next year.
2. The Jalapenos started late 2018 are bushy and strong, the ones started in Feb '19 are a little lanky. Might start next year's plants a little earlier than Feb, and will likely top them long before they go into the cold fame in May.
3. If the Bananas are any good will grow them again next year. If not, I may grow the Jalapenos out front in full light and grow the Hungarians up on the deck for a little extra light... if the Hungarians work for relish. If they don't then I won't bother with them for next year.
4. ...there is no 4. Yet.

 

[PaulG]

Looking good, TG. Your grow is well on its way!
 
Should be pod city soon...

 

[timegoat]

Thanks! Things are moving along nicely. The only hiccup right now is our cold wet Spring has become a hot humid Summer with little actual rain. As problems go, I'll take it. I don't mind watering by hand.

 

[timegoat]

Speaking of watering by hand I had to do an emergency watering yesterday on the bananas. All of them looked like they were going through mid-day wilt but something seemed different. When I went out to actually check the containers were very light. Got everything back up and perky, but learned than I cannot rely on container weight for watering. My old rule was to water every week (if not twice a week) rain or shine. The Bananas have an oak umbrella over them and the Hungarians have an umbrella made of Hemlock.
 
My container mix is almost too free draining (lots of perlite) so over watering them is tough to do. I think I just got a little lazy after all the rain this Spring, so once or twice a week rain or shine it is!

 

[PaulG]

Thanks! Things are moving along nicely. The only hiccup right now is our cold wet Spring has become a hot humid Summer with little actual rain. As problems go, I'll take it.

I would, too, TG!
 
Our weather pattern is stuck in a 'day of sun, three days of clouds'
cycle this month. Looking at the lr forecast the other day, I noticed
there were only 5 cloud-free days in July. Whaaa...?

 

[timegoat]

3 days clouds: 1 day sun sounds like this year's Spring over here! Glad the weather's clearing up for you. I hope it continues.
 
 
A couple quick shots this morning.
 
The October start.
 

 
 
The best of the Feb starts.
 

 
 
Runty himself.
 

 
 
Cayenne pods are looking a little short, but whatever, it's producing well.
 

 
 
And a shot of the Hungarians below their Hemlock umbrella.
 

 
 
All in all very pleased. Checked last year's glog and at this time last year the first flowers were just opening. I might not need to panic at all this year! That's going to be weird.

 

[timegoat]

Everything appears to have survived the heat wave. Several baby pods are looking like they're done for but the plants and established pods are good. Gave them a preemptive watering Sat morning. Didn't on Sunday and had to go out and give the bananas a drink mid day. They get the most sun, so no big surprise there. Everything else only needed the Sat sip.

 

[timegoat]

Pulled a bunch of stunted jalapeno pods off the Aerogarden 5 both to get them off the plants and to put something fresh on our pizza. I got 18 slices from these 9 pods. They were delicious with varied heat.
 

 
In other news, all plants are setting pods like champs. The mini sweet has one beginning to ripen. The Hungarians are doing better out back in part sun than the bananas are doing out front with full sun. I'm starting to regret growing the bananas and wish I had put Jalapenos out there instead. The Aerogarden 5 are starting to pump out new growth for a second flush. The 2 weakest Jalapenos came down with a case of the aphids so they've been quarantined far away from everything else. Fortunately there appears to be no spread to the other plants and they are all doing very well. That alone is a welcome miracle since I have the Jalapenos pack tightly together.
 
I'll get some pod pics soon.
 
(Added in edit) Oh yeah! We got about 2" of rain yesterday into today and everything is very well watered, and a warm, sunny week is coming up.

 

[timegoat]

The Hungarians
 

 
 
The Mini Sweet
 

 
 
The Cayenne
 

 
 
The Aerogarden 5 with the elusive bellapeno.
 

 
 
The late 2018 starts
 

 
 
The lanky 3oz Feb starts and Runty
 

 

[timegoat]

One of the mini sweets was ripe enough to taste today. The flavor wasn't bad but it wasn't great either. The biggest issue was the tough skin which I didn't like. The skin was Hungarian tough, which I expect from a Hungarian, but not from a sweet.
 
I've been wondering about my Cayenne too. I notice our immature pods are almost yellow while normal Cayennes are a darker green. I did some research and found I'm apparently growing a Ring o' Fire Cayenne. It came from a kit that I got as a Christmas gift. It was from a Seedsheet grow kit that I started way too late last year. https://seedsheets.com/products/gyo-hot-sauce-seedsheet
 
I don't know if it's actually what it says it is, but I do know that they're more than hot enough for us. Nothing else grew from the kit last year except for 2 regular carrots, which, I must say, were two of the best carrots I've ever eaten.
 
Beyond that, our current pod count is:
 
Hungarians: 19±
Cayenne: 19±
Jalapeño: 30±
Banana: 30±
 
Didn't count the mini sweets.