Another month in. Only what, five more until spring? The spare bedroom is getting pre-tty crowded and I'm worried I might not make it until then.
That having been said, all in all things are growing well. Despite moving the plants another 6" away from my lights, everyone has retained their color and the flowers are coming on strong. Pretty much everyone has at least a few small flower buds. There are a few stragglers but for the most part they are all ready to fruit.
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Plants in this batch are:
Aji Jobito x2
Aji Panca
Aji Pineapple
CAP1475
CGN21500
Elysium Oxide Scotch Bonnet
Habanada
Honeypeño
KS White Thai x3
Mini Piperka
Pimenta Luna Habanero
Pink Tiger X Bhut (dark leaf pheno)
Pink Tiger X Bhut (light leaf pheno)
Scotch Bonnet Foodarama
Scotch Bonnet MOA x2
Shishito x3
Sugar Rush Peach
Sweet Datil
THSC Black Scorpion x2
Thunder Mountain Longhorn
Trinidad Perfume
White Hot Lime x3
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A few of the farms I have worked with have grown shishitos but I don't remember the plants ever flowering this aggressively. So far I think maybe one or two flowers in total have dropped and the rest seem to be taking. I may be able to cut back to only one or two plants if they continue to be this prolific.
Similarly, the Mini Piperka has also been very doing well. While it isn't as prolific, it was one of the first two plants with flowers. I am hoping that this peppers stops growing soon. I really don't want to have to dig a hole in the pot to accommodate this thing. I might try gently bending it to the side with some strategically placed cardboard.
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Oddly enough, one of my neighbors is from Macedonia and is thrilled that I'll have mini and full sized Verzena Piperka later in the season. I don't know much about Macedonian wine or cuisine but I get the feeling that I will know quite a bit very soon haha.
A few others are coming along nicely like this Sugar Rush Peach. I wasn't expecting fruit this early but I'll take what I can get. From what I read they can take a while to mature so I might as well get them set early on.
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The THSC Black Scorpion Tongue is starting to send up some nice purple flowers as well.
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This next lot is going to be what does me in. I can feel it.
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My second planting has finally started picking up steam after their initial transplant shock and I figure I have a month, maybe two before they will need to be repotted. A few of the pots have multiple plants so I will likely have to make some tough calls sooner than I would like.
In this planting we have:
Aji Charapita
Aji Mango
Aji Pineapple
Aleppo
Bird's Eye Baby
Blended Lemon Yellow
Bonda Ma Jacques
Cap 270
Cheiro Refife
Clavo Peach
El Oro De Ecuador
Farmer's Market Jalapeno
Galapagos Habanero
Habanero Oxkutzcabian Orange
Hallow's Eve
Jamy
Korean Gochu (smaller pheno)
KS Lemon Starrburst
Lemon Drop
Peach Gum Tiger
Piazinho
Pimenta Da Dog
Pink Habanero
Pockmark Orange
Purple Cacho White Leaves
Sugar Rush Stripey
Testanera Choco
Tiger Jalapeno
Trepadeira Werner
White Habanero
We'll see how things progress. I am hoping that I can get some quick fruit off of this batch and the batch prior and then start culling varieties that aren't to our taste. I would like to isolate some seed from the large majority of these and try to kick some back to the community but growing space may dictate what can and can't be saved.
I'll check back in another month or so and let you know whether I've started using a machete as a second house key. Also I'll see what I can do about preventing the blurry washed out photos for next time. The new lighting has made photos a bit challenging.
They seem to proliferate in the running up to the rainy season. Also, I don't know what kind of vegetation you have at your locality, but here in the South there is currently is not much new growth and I often have the impression that a roof terrace full of young and lush plants acts like a magnet. I have ordered neem oil and hope this will help to keep their abundance low. So far a rub with the thumb has helped a lot, but this becomes increasingly impractical and time-consuming as the plants become bigger.