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NorTexChiliJ's 2011 Growlog

AlabamaJack said:
Patience NTCJ...it's early here yet for people to buy seedlings...most won't buy until the first or middle of April and customers will buy continually through the first of June...
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I'm sure you are right on'... The deal with the Nursery fell thru because my plants were much larger than their stock. Maybe I started too early for them...or maybe they need to get their "game" up.. Their plants look yellow, puny, and WEAK!!!

On a different note,... The Maters are flying off the shelf and people say they are already planting out???? Is it not still a bit EARLY????

I havn't seen an update in a while AJ, you must be busier than me atm.....


Happy Growing AJ!!!
 
Hello all....it's been almost two months since I've postd any info so here goes...


I've been super busy making new raised beds. The big orange home improvement store had landscape timbers on sale from 3.97 to 1.97 and I figured it was a sign!! I have decided to go with all raised beds this year. I had plans of just growing in some tilled rows, but then I started thinking......I want this garden to do as much by itself as possible.... I know we ALL hate pulling weeds and hand watering hundreds of plants.... The raised beds reduce the amount of weed pulling I will be doing as now I don't have to weed the walk-ways. Each bed will either be mulched with straw or cedar mulch(depends on the wallet)..
Here is the whole sha-bang!! Total area is about 80 feet by 35 feet.
DSC01683.jpg

I decided irrigation is a must for 15 raised beds. I have plumbed PVC to each bed and the beds will all have a 3/4" ball valve. This year I will be doing soaker hoses. I may do a more elaborate drip-irrigation next year...but the soakers are working nicely. I used a piece of line post as a housing for the pvc uprights. This will allow easy weed-eating and will act as a proctector against my clumsiness!!
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I only have half the garden irrigated. This is where everything will eventually be connected. At the moment I am feeding the PVC with a garden hose, but after all the beds are plumbed, I will make the 85ft run to the house. I have a boiler valve so that if I ever need to, I can drain the irrigation lines to at least 12 inches below soil surface. I doubt it will freeze that far below ground.
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And since the garden is 85ft from the house, I thought it would be ideal to have a hose spigot a little closer!! I'll probably put at least two of these in the garden.
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I've gotten a bit planted too!! I have around 152 plants in #5 pots....
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20 over-wintered plants in a new bed.... This bed is 4ft by 20ft
2-Jamaican Hot Chocolate (Ebay... :crazy: )
2-Red Habanero (Ebay)
Long Red Cayenne (Botanical Interest)
Yellow 7 Pod (AJ)
Red 7 Pod (AJ)
Fatalii (AJ)
Bhut Jolokia (AJ)
Trinidad Congo (AJ)
Trinidad Scorpion (AJ)
Biker Billy (AJ)
Orange Hab (Botanical Interest)
2-Poblano (??)
Tobasco (AJ)
2-White Bullet Habanero (Ebay)
2-????Lost Tags????
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10 overwintered plants sharing 5 blue half 55g barrels.....
Caribbean red
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Joe's long Cayenne
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Jamaican Chocolate
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Big Sun Scotch Bonnet
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And Orange Habanero
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I have also planted two more beds with 20 plants each. The new beds are 4ft by 16ft.
Bed #1:
4-Caribbean Red Habanero (Seed Saver's Exchange, SSE)
4-Red Savina (Thanks MidwestChilihead!!)
4-Trinidad Congo (AlabamaJack)
4-Trinidad Scorpion (AlabamaJack)
4-Bhut Jolokia (AlabamaJack)

Bed#2
Tobasco (AlabamaJack)
Pasilla Bajio (Botanical Interests)
Hot Portugal (SSE)
Thai Hot (Motherherb's Gardens, local nursery)
Jalapeno M (Motherherb's Garden)
Patio Marconi (Baker Creek Seed Company)
Sweet Banana (Motherherb's Gardens)
Condo Di Toro (Motherherb's Garden)
Chervena Chushka (Motherherb's Garden)
Wonder Bell (Motherherb's Garden)
Serrano (Motherherb's Garden)
Hinkelhatz (SSE)
Georgia Flame (SSE)
Aji Lemondrop (SilverSurfer)
Joe's Long Cayenne (SSE)
Sweet Chocolate (BakerCreek)
Jimmy Nardello (SSE)
Blanco Bell (SSE??)
Red Ruffle Pimento Motherherb's Garden)
Giant Marconi Overwinter (Motherherb's Garden)

The Nursery #5 Potted plants are:
32-Trinidad Scorpion (AlabamaJack)
32-Bhut Jolokia (AlabamaJack)
16 -Yellow 7 Pod/Pot (AlabamaJack)
8-Red 7 Pod (AlabamaJack)
8-Red 7 Pod "Brain Strain" (SilverSurfer)
8-7 Pod Douglah (SilverSurfer)
8-Yellow Trinidad Scorpion (SilverSurfer)
8-Trinidad Congo (AlabamaJack)
8-Black Congo (AlabamaJack)
8-Hananero Orange (Botanical Interest)
8-Jalapeno M (Motherherb's garden)
8- Long Red Cayenne (Botanical Interest)
 
The weather here in North Texas has been fairly unpredictable, as usual, but I am having a VERY hard time keeping up with the plants that are for sale. I started a little under 3,000 seeds this year in hopes of selling as many as possible to help the "Garden Fund". Even If I hadn't had an 8 week interuption (Building a Greenhouse/classroom), the weather has made it a real PITA, and without a real greenhouse, it has been almost unmannageable. I'm moving flats of plants in and out of the greenhouse/patio multiple times a week. We had a cold spell where they were inside for about 4 days. This pushed back some of the time I had invested in hardening off. I got a little sunburn here and there on the young-uns. Gnats have been a little bit of an issue too. It's hard not to over-water some of the couple thousand containers. They don't much seem to affect the plants, but they are annoying!

I need to build a real-deal Hoophouse/greenhouse. Not sure yet if I will build a PVC or metal structure, but plans are in the works for both. I want to see the cost difference and the possible long-term longevity differences. Trouble here is my town does not see the difference in temporary and permanent. If a structure is larger than 10ft by 10ft or over 8 feet tall, I must get a permit. TO get a permit, the exterior must match the exterior of my house???? A brick/veneer Greenhouse??? :crazy: So I have to pay money to apply for a variance. Which is basically paying them to ask them a question, and they still may say no. :banghead:

Next year I will sell veggie starts as well as tomato and pepper starts. I have had alot of people asking me for okra, squash, all of it. So I will try that next year. I will tone down the superhot inventory and add a TON of Cullinary Variety!!!

I really appreciate all the help from the various forum members who have helped me along. I know I don't show my face around the forum much, but I tag along all day long on my cell phone, I just can't interact!!
 
capsidadburn said:
Very nice Josh! Serious space envy here. Looks real good. Congratulations.

Mike
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Thanks Mike!! You may have some space envy, but brotha' I have POD ENVY!!!!!!! I've been watching all the Texas Logs really close. I can't wait to have plants as far along as yours. Dude, You are like 60 days ahead of me EASY!!! Keep it up!
 
That's a great big garden. Nice job on the irrigation set up. I'm trying to do something similar and I hope I can rig it up half as nice. What are you using to fill the beds?
 
S.S.Tupperware said:
lookin great... I'm expanding a lil this year due to some new varieties...
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Thanks, S.S.T.! I have a few new varieties as well. Most of the new varieties are from fellow THP members!!! Now to Isolate them all for good seed... :think:


ZanderSpice said:
That's a great big garden. Nice job on the irrigation set up. I'm trying to do something similar and I hope I can rig it up half as nice. What are you using to fill the beds?
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Thanks Zander! The irrigation has been ALOT of work digging, the PVC is easy! I am doing it in phases. I think eventually I may divide the garden into sections and use an automated sprinkler controller so I never have to turn a spigot on, or more importantly OFF again!!

The soil I have is a "work in progress" to say the least. The native soil here is pretty good as I am on part of an old farm. I am adding a few ammendments each year.
I basically have three types of soil in my garden right now: (these figures are approximate)

Mix 1:
25% Native Soil
45% 1 year old bulk bedding soil (cow manure based)
25% new this year Premium Mushroom Compost
5% Expanded Shale

Mix 2:
30% Native Soil
30% Mushroom Compost http://www.vitalearth.com/pdfs/bulkproducts.pdf
30% Old bedding soil
10% Expanded Shale

Mix 3:
50% Native Soil
45% New this year bedding soil http://www.livingearth.net/products-and-services/mulch-and-soil/
5% Expanded Shale

The soil in the beds is mostly for water retention and food for the plants at time of plant-out. I would imagine I will be side-dressing in a month or so when the roots get into the soil under the beds.

The raised beds are short. Maybe I should call it a Bordered Garden. I basically wanted a hard edge where I could keep mulch in place and also be able to run a mower or weed-eater thru each walkway...eventually I would like the walkways to be paved or mulched or something so I don't have to use any "lawn equipment" around my garden plot!!

I hope to plant out my remaining 4 beds this weekend (weather permitting).... I still have a few plants ready NOW to go in the ground!!
 
Any updates on the big overwintered chile plants?

Being further down south than you, I am thinking I should overwinter my plants.

Using your experience to keep me honest.
 
No updates thru and after all these DFW/Texas fun days? How is the crop doing?
I know how mine look, they are limping along,look terrible, not dead but still alive. Guess
that is something.
 
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