PaulG 2014

RocketMan · Oct 20, 2014

10' 8", that seems like some crazy growth for that Goat's weed but if anyone can coax a pepper to "Be All It Can Be". your one of the ones that can do it Paul. Good on ya

Some great looking plants this year Paul. That Chili Costa Rica is beautiful with the red pods against the black leaves. Looking forward to seeing what you do with the Fatalii Bonchi too. You'll have to get a Falming Ember up and going for one of those too.

Have a great week brother!

PaulG · Oct 20, 2014

RocketMan said:
10' 8", that seems like some crazy growth for that Goat's weed but if anyone can coax a pepper to "Be All It Can Be". your one of the ones that can do it Paul. Good on ya

Some great looking plants this year Paul. That Chili Costa Rica is beautiful with the red pods against the black leaves. Looking forward to seeing what you do with the Fatalii Bonchi too. You'll have to get a Falming Ember up and going for one of those too.

Have a great week brother!

Thanks for the vote of confidence, brother!

As for the Fatali bonchi nothing to do now but wait.

The Chili Costa Rica is an awesome plant. I pinched this one to
make it bush out a bit, so no telling how tall it might have gotten.
It is a great Fall plant - still turning red in the cooler weather!

Hope your flats of starts are nice and healthy!

The NuMex Twilight, third year plant, is ripening up another round of pods.
They were all purple when I put the plant in the greenhouse.:

The c. rhomboidium has grown 2" since I transplanted it to the bigger pot:

Closer look at the top nodes:

The c. galapagoense is giving it a good shot. There are some more pods coloring up:

There have been two ladybird beetles working over the plant for the past couple of days:

Devv · Oct 22, 2014

Glad to see thing still clicking along out your way Paul!

Just beautiful, healthy looking plants!

PaulG · Oct 22, 2014

Devv said:
Glad to see thing still clicking along out your way Paul!

Just beautiful, healthy looking plants!

It's nip and tuck now, my friend. Have a few plants/branches hanging up to ripen,
and a few more under cover. Temps don't vary much right now, maybe a 10 degree
swing around 55˚.

Grinding pods at the present, just a few quarts a day to keep from getting blown out.

PaulG · Oct 24, 2014

Just as a matter of record, the nighttime lows are turning about 5-7 degrees cooler this week.
Now lows in mid 40's rather than low 50's. 2.2" of rain yesterday.

PaulG · Oct 24, 2014

The c. chacoense var. Exile is coloring up slowly. Don't know if the pods are going to go all the way red or not:

A couple of blurry pics of the garage ripening pods.

7 Pot Barrakapore:

Bird's Eye HTM:

Aajis and Manzanos still ripening up on the vine. Got a little pull yesterday.
The loose pods are from garage ripened branches; Choco Bhuts, White Habs,
and some Barrakapores.
Sorry about the cluttered pic - there's a lot going on in a small space in my garage:

Okay, going down the rooting path at Pic1's suggestion. We'll see what happens.
The cuttings have been in the perlite/vermiculite mix for three days, and no wilting yet.
I put the plants out in the greenhouse yesterday:

Oh, yeah, they are 7 Pot Barrakapores.

Devv · Oct 24, 2014

Those cuttings look great Paul, are you using a root hormone?

Dot Com · Oct 24, 2014

they do look good.

PaulG · Oct 24, 2014

Devv said:
Those cuttings look great Paul, are you using a root hormone?

Dot Com said:
they do look good.

Thanks, fellas. I used a good coating of Rootone powder on the stems.

I followed Pic1's advice using premoistened 50/50 perlite and vermiculite.
I put 8-10 ounces of water in each sleeve and let the mix soak it up, then
dibbled a little hole for the powdered stem. A added a little water today.
Will check them again in the a.m.

If they make it a few more days or a week, they may have a shot.

stickman · Oct 25, 2014

Good luck with the cloning efforts Paul.. I may have to try that next winter instead of keeping whole plants. It would mean more varieties saved in less space since the only place we have with enough natural light is in front of a south-facing sliding glass door.

Devv · Oct 25, 2014

I'll be watching to see how they do. I've had great luck cloning when 2 or 3 grow in one spot, AKA "babies", but none so far with mature plants. Although I haven't yet used a hormone. But I will next time!

PaulG · Oct 26, 2014

stickman said:
Good luck with the cloning efforts Paul.. I may have to try that next winter instead of keeping whole plants. It would mean more varieties saved in less space since the only place we have with enough natural light is in front of a south-facing sliding glass door.

Devv said:
I'll be watching to see how they do. I've had great luck cloning when 2 or 3 grow in one spot, AKA "babies", but none so far with mature plants. Although I haven't yet used a hormone. But I will next time!

Thanks, boys. I've never tried rooting a cutting at this stage of growth before.
Almost all my cloning has been done with tender Spring growth.
They still seem alive this evening!

The Texas Tepin is really cranking along despite the cool, rainy weather. Seems to like it under the canopy:

I don't know what Jacen did to this plant to get it started!
It is trying to be a Goat's Weed cross #2 :shocked:

It has grown 3" since October 20th:

Edit: Forgot to mention it is a c. rhomboidium.

The lower branches are growing excruciatingly slowly. The 'Black Pearl' is ripening up some more pods:

Essegi · Oct 26, 2014

All is looking great!

PaulG said:
Okay, going down the rooting path at Pic1's suggestion. We'll see what happens.

That will be very interesting to follow!

Devv · Oct 26, 2014

Beautiful Tepin Paul!

PaulG · Oct 26, 2014

Essegi said:
All is looking great!
That will be very interesting to follow!

Thanks, SG! I hope so...

Devv said:
Beautiful Tepin Paul!

It's the best one I've had in three seasons.
Started 14 months ago and OW in the greenhouse.
It was one of those parasol-looking plants, and died
almost all the way back to the main stem before a
resurgence in the Spring.

Since it is a Texas plant, I assume it can handle some cold
temps. I mean, it does get cold down there, right?

It probably wouldn't like being soggy, but I'm hoping it will
continue under the canopy for at least a few more weeks.

Devv · Oct 27, 2014

Hi Paul,

The coldest day we've had here (in the 25 years I've been here) was Christmas Eve. 1989, it hit a high of 15°. A typical winter here has a few freezes where it gets to the 20's; last winter we had a few times when it was 21-22° in town. Being the cold fronts usually last 3-4 days and we're 200' above Devine we don't see the cold like they get in town. Many times it's 33-34° here when it's 22-23° in town. Now two cold fronts back to back can make it get just as cold here.

My son just built a home on 1 acre, and we visited a few weeks ago. My oldest G-kid took me in the woods and showed me the Chile Pequin's they have. It's a 10' to 15' circle of plants growing wild, and it gets a few degrees colder where he's at. So I would say you'll be fine

PaulG · Oct 28, 2014

That sounds totally awesome, Scott.

I guess as long as it doesn't get too wet, it should be okay.
Our lowest temps have been in the upper teens and 20's for
a period of days to a week or two. The latter are killers.
Lose stuff in the yard when that happens.

romy6 · Oct 28, 2014

My Tepin plants loved the heat . It would shut down all winter and bounce back from spring until late fall. It just passed away a few weeks okay after 4 years of giving tasty treats :tear:

. But I started another one so all is well . :fireball:

Keep your awesome glog going Paul. It is a great place to visit .

PaulG · Oct 28, 2014

romy6 said:
My Tepin plants loved the heat . It would shut down all winter and bounce back from spring until late fall. It just passed away a few weeks okay after 4 years of giving tasty treats . But I started another one so all is well .

Keep your awesome glog going Paul. It is a great place to visit .

The pleasure is all mine, buddy - thanks for dropping in for a look.

I'm going to try to keep the Tepin growing over the winter.
Don't know exactly how, yet.

PIC 1 · Oct 28, 2014

Hey Paul..I'm glad to see you've given the cloning process a shot. The amount of leaves you trimmed is fine. I've done both in the past, trimmed all the large leaves off and left fruit and small new growth intact..and have also trimmed all but the top most leaves.
Both procedures work... you may get some leaf droppage so don't be discouraged. The main concern is to keep the cuttings in a humid environment. Until the roots form you'll need to hydrate the cutting with a misting bottle. A micro amount of epsom salts or foliar feed can be added to the water. You could probably fit all three solo cups in a 5 gal bucket with saran wrap over the top to trap moisture.

That would be nice getting a steady supply of Tepins throughout the winter. Will you use window light or the flouros ?