Ok, I wasn't going to do a glog this year. So many projects going on with the house, but part of that is a new garden plot. So, I guess this is the best way to document progress. I'm running a drip irrigation this year to free up my time for other things. Last year I discovered Aerogardening. I started plants late last year I the Aerogarden. They ended up producing and being just as big as my Feb. starts. Sold on hydro! This year I acquired another AG from a thrift shop for $5. I hacked it with a bigger pump and planning on a led hack as well. Next year I'm running a bigger scale hydro setup with my DIY Cob Led build. Anyways I'm on my 3rd batch of AG starts. I'm growing lots of GoatsWeed, Carolina Cayenne, Thai, Chi-Chien, Sadabahar, Chiltepin, Cayenne Long, Aji Pinapple, Genghis Khan Brain, Jay's Red, Srtsl x Bbg and there might be a couple of ones I forgot. Enough talk, here's some pics. More pics when it stops raining. 43 days from seed Aero Babies.
OCD 2016
- Thread starter OCD Chilehead
- Start date
Thats how it goes sometimes. It's not the first time this has happened. Pepper plants have a way of bouncing back.jcw10tc said:
Thanks. All the more reason to plant more. I'll double the number of plants next year to be safe. LOL!FreeportBum said:
Thanks David. I hope I get some ripe pod's soon. Every year I say I'm going to put up shade cloth and every year I get slammed. I thought, I got luck this year. I thought wrong. Next year, shade cloth up all year. No more sunburn, grasshoppers, or hail. LOL! It's part of growing. Ups and downs it's all good. I still enjoy growing.lobo said:I hope that was last cruelty of Nature !! All the best for your plants for future
Devv said:Dang! Hail this time of year is crazy! That's usually a spring thang.
I think you got off easy as far as hail goes. It could have been much worse. Glad to see the damage was to a minimum. Sorry to see your beautiful garden was damaged
I did get off easy for the most part. Further inspection of the Goats Weed, most of the leaves have damage. No holes, but lots of scratches to the leaves. A lot of the pod's got spots on them from the hail dents. A couple plants are wanting to fall over. To much water. The Aji Pineapples have pod's forming, but lost a lot of blossoms. I'll hit them with a foliar of Black Strap next week. The Chinese are ragged. I shut down the drip for the next 4-5 days. Need to let everything dry out. It was in the 90's just before the hail and rain. Dropped to 65 after the flood. Back to upper 90's since then. Lots of humidity. The cow pies would have definitely floated if there were any near by. LOL!
I have definitely seen some cow pies float this year, and that's a good thing around here! We have a semi desert climate, and any rain is always a good thing. No such thing as too much, our drainage is just too good 
But that's here at my place, the way it's laid out we'll never flood. Not so good in "D town" or San Antonio.
You should see some really nice flowering after all that rain, Peppers just love it. Hope they set in time for a huge harvest!
But that's here at my place, the way it's laid out we'll never flood. Not so good in "D town" or San Antonio.You should see some really nice flowering after all that rain, Peppers just love it. Hope they set in time for a huge harvest!
Thanks for the good vibes Scott. I took them to the garden this evening. It's easier for me to see the detail in the garden in the evening. In the daytime everything is so bright. I found a lot of pods. I planted a couple of Caribbean Reds. Both not looking like the Reds of the past, Ive grown. I bought these from the store. I love a good mystery.Devv said:I have definitely seen some cow pies float this year, and that's a good thing around here! We have a semi desert climate, and any rain is always a good thing. No such thing as too much, our drainage is just too good
You should see some really nice flowering after all that rain, Peppers just love it. Hope they set in time for a huge harvest!
Caribbean Reds. Two different plants.
Aji Pineapple
Hail damage. I drained all the SIP's. I'll let them dry out a bit. They'll recover.
Regardless those "Caribbean Reds" should be tasty. I bought a few plants this spring after a terrible germination at the get-go. They are mysteries for sure, very rarely true. My "Orange Habs" are nots. The same plant threw 2 pheno's, one a real bumpy kind of bonnet looking pod and the other 3 (yeah just 4 total, that's how we're rolling this year)" look bhut like. I can't wait until 4 or 5 weeks from now, the 100's should go away.
I say the next round of pics will have tons of flowers. Real rain always brings them on
I say the next round of pics will have tons of flowers. Real rain always brings them on
The temps are starting to drop here. It's been about 58 at night. I'll be happy if the Caribbean's taste good. Starting to get more flowers. The rain, foilar feeding, and lower temps are helping. I want to put all my potted plants in the garden, and put up the hoop house. Trying to extend my season. I still got a little bit of time. Overall, I'm happy with the results this year. Didnt start until April. Learned alot of tricks this year.
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Thanks Terry,tctenten said:
It's been terribly hot and dry. We had a week of rain that brought temps to the upper 80's. Other than that, it's been upper 90's since June. Everyday! That's why my Aji Pineapples look yellow. They can tolerate it better than the Chinese. The Inidan, Cayenne, and Goats Weed don't care if it's hot. That why I planted so much of what I know works for me. Next year I'll have a huge garden. I'll try and do half Chinese, half Annuum's and of course some Bac's. The Chinese will do better under the hoop house with shade cloth.
Thanks Justin,jcw10tc said:
No, I don't think they will produce unfortunately. I see some very tiny evidence of blossoms forming. I had my first flowers pop, the same day it hailed. They got hit hard. In going to keep them under the hoop house come Fall. We will see. I'll be buying my Chinese pod's. I like to have some for Winter cooking.
Usually we get first frost anytime in October. Hope we have some extended weather.
Well Chuck, I see a lot of progression in your skills within your climate. So give yourself a pat on the back! Your season is short, and has freaky high temps in the summer, and then bam, it's getting colder. I can't wait to see how you do next year!
I'm thinking that for both of us, we need 18" chinense plants at dirt day!
I'm thinking that for both of us, we need 18" chinense plants at dirt day!
Thanks Scott,Devv said:
That means a lot. It is a challenge in high desert. 0-20 for the Winter and 90-100 all Summer. I couldn't agree more. 18in plants and woody. I'm shooting for plants in the ground in March sometime. That's with the hoop house and solar mulch of course. We can have frost all the way to May. Im starting January for now on. I usually start Feb. 1st.
OCD Chilehead said:
You're probably wise to start your seeds in January Chuck... it'll still take about 120 days for the long-season varieties to ripen, but the difference between a 6-inch plant and an 18-inch plant is mainly in the number of pods they set after you transplant them. It's nice to see color coming out of your garden now... woot!
If you remind me come mid sept I'll send you a big box stuffed with peppers on a tin roof. I'm at the point where my compost pile is going to be really colorful this fall..lolOCD Chilehead said:
Cheers
Thanks I appreciate the offer.FreeportBum said:
All my Chinese got hit hard from the hail. Lost all their blossoms. I see some tiny bids starting to pop. I'll try and keep them as long as I can. I wa shopping for something off those. Also affected were the SRTSL x BBG7. I've yet to grow a BBG or anything crossed with BBG. Ordered some plants last year. Had a huge problem with getting them shipped to me. When I grew them out, they turned out to be some sort of orange Hab.stickman said:
everything is looking great ! good to see .
OCD Chilehead said:
Ouch... I liked that just so I could un-like it... sorry you ran afoul of another unscrupulous or uninformed seller.
You've done really well considering your extreme growing conditions Chuck.Thinking about making biochar... if one 10% application really does last 200 years, you probably won't want to invest in a retort unless you want to go into selling it, but I remember reading about a "Redneck retort" in the Foxfire books. It was in the section that talked about making black powder for the handmade flintlock rifles that smiths have been producing in Appalachia for a couple of hundred years or more. Basically, a fire pit was dug in the ground and a steel 55 gal. drum with a tight-fitting lid was set upright over it. The lid had a hole in the center that could be tightly stoppered with a 20-penny spike. The barrel would be filled with wood chunks and the lid fastened down, and a fire would be built in the pit underneath the drum. When it got hot enough inside the drum, wood gas would come out of the hole in the lid. It looks like thick white smoke, but can be ignited with a flame and will continue to burn as long as wood gas is produced. When the flame goes out, the hole is stoppered with the nail to keep oxygen from getting inside the barrel and igniting the char, and the fire is raked out of the firepit and the barrel is allowed to cool... probably overnight. The next day you remove the lid and there's the char.
Hope you have a good camping trip, we'll catch ya on the other side.
I first started making the biochar using a 55 gallon drum that I cleaned and then burned clean. I then fitted a 30 or 35 gallon drum inside of the 55, using 3/4" rods to hold it up, so I could just close the 55 gallon drum cover. I also had a lid for the smaller barrelI.I cut a 6" high by 10" wide "door" on the bottom of the 55 gal drum. And built my fire under the smaller barrel. At about four hours I tipped the barrels over and wet the char to make sure it didn't burn up.
I then built this:
http://www.devtex.net/images/kiln.pdf
I'll look for a pic...
OK, sometimes it's just easier to take a new pic..LOL than find the originals..
I made this from an old BBQ firebox that got too warped to control the heat. It's 3/8" thick, and damn heavy! Put angle iron legs and a firebox on the bottom. Along with the stack on top.
Inside is the box the raw wood goes in, complete with the pipe to use re-use the wood gas in the heating process as per the plans. I call it Frankenstein I use it to make charcoal from mesquite, and I guess I need to make some more biochar, can't have enough of the good stuff I've posted this before a few years ago, haven't used ti much lately.
I then built this:
http://www.devtex.net/images/kiln.pdf
I'll look for a pic...
OK, sometimes it's just easier to take a new pic..LOL than find the originals..
I made this from an old BBQ firebox that got too warped to control the heat. It's 3/8" thick, and damn heavy! Put angle iron legs and a firebox on the bottom. Along with the stack on top.
Inside is the box the raw wood goes in, complete with the pipe to use re-use the wood gas in the heating process as per the plans. I call it Frankenstein
I use it to make charcoal from mesquite, and I guess I need to make some more biochar, can't have enough of the good stuff I've posted this before a few years ago, haven't used ti much lately.