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PIC 1's............Pod-ography.............2013

  Good Eve-ning, and Welcome to my bog...glog !

Hey folks sorry for the late glog-up I'm a month behind last years startup,...... :rolleyes: ...... I still have 12+ weeks (plenty of time) before I can start think about hardening off the plants outdoors.

First off I'd like to give a shout out to those who followed my grow last season. Thanks for all the comments, thoughts and ideas. The chuckles we shared......there were some good laughs...(and especially all the criticisms........ :liar: .......hah)

To those who are new, I try to follow a "weekend update" format with photos and captions. Although if anyone has questions or replies that needs and answer or response I'll get back during the week. I hope to keep this interesting and entertaining...

and away we go!


Garden Rewind


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Here's my 1st garden (1986)...it was modest but what we grew we used in our kitchen. I had a couple of dual bulb 4ft T12 fixtures in my basement. A couple grow-lux and daylight color temp bulbs. The indoor grow was far superior to the vegetable starts sold at the local nurseries.
My Italian neighbor couldn't understand why his bell pepper starts only had flowers while mine had golfball size peppers very early in the season.....The hot varieties I grew back then were the cayennes, orange habaneros, and a few different type or thai-birds. Things have changed but I still grow those varities.

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Here's a shot from last season. I grew around 150+ pepper plants in two different sections of the garden. Plants were grown in raised beds and containers from 5 gal up to 20 gal

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A typical weekend harvest shot from later in the season when the gardens at full swing.

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This is one of my seed catalogs, the c.chinense....the seeds that invade our gardens every year...
This book and other seed catalogs are kept in a tupperware container container on a shelve in the corner of the basement.
No elaborate system needed, The seeds are kept in 1.5" zip backs. I have seeds that are as far back as 2007, and still germinating without a hitch....theres no need to pitch. Speaking of pitching theres some old baseball card to display the size of the pages used.

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These are what I use to get the seeds on their way. I take 1/4 bag of each, mix that into a 5 gal bucket and moisten with water. The spagnum peat give fluff to the texture also helps indicate when the mix need to be re-moistened but the lighter color it displays. The vermiclite helps with water retension while letting the air and moisture through. The seed starting mix also has fine grain perlite to keep drainage and airflow moving.

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Ha..........I knew this chop stick would come in handy someday. Once the seed medium is moistened I'll make a hole with the stick 1/4" down .
The seeds will be planted at the same depth. That helps when misting the top with water. Seeds that are planted too high may dry out or seeds planted to deep may rot.

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I use two 2ft x 4ft germinating mats. Enough area to warm 8 seed flats at once...

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I don't bother with a thermostat for the mats. I run them through a timer, 2 hrs on, 1 hr off...continous. The average temp of the soil stays at +/-85 deg

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This is the main grow room. I built the 2 tier shelving units 8ft long x 2ft wide. 8 flats fit underneath the lighting units. Here we have four narrow spaced T8 4 bulb fixtures with 6500k bulbs and one 8ft TF twin bulb tight spaced fixture with 4100k bulbs. I have 4 identical systems in the room with an addition of three 400w mh fixtures with 7200k lamps. The room has 2- 20a dedicated circuits and 1-15a to split the current draw..

more photos in a few minutes....thanks for looking!
PIC 1's......Pod Pornage.............2012

















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Long overdue update...
 
Howdy chiliheads, sorry for the lack of info. Things are getting back to normal, plant sales have wound down, most of my pepper plants and other vege have been planted so time for some photos. 
 
Oh by the way anybody need rain ? We've been getting hit for the last 2 weeks. I heavy weighted my containers with perlite and the drainage is good but the medium just doesn't have a chance to dry out. Some of the new growth has a bit of curl but that will seize once the weather calms down.
 
 
 

 
Starting out here with something different...here are some tomato grafts. Three of my favorite tomatoes, San Marzano, Cherokee Purple and the Brandywine Pink. I grafted all three varieties and grew three non grafts to compare.Heirloom tomatoes are not diesease resistant. Grafting with rootstock from the identical variety not only promotes higher yields but also helps protect from soil borne wilts.
 

 
A Cherokee Purple with the clip removed. Looking good so far more on these plants later in the photos...
 

 
Aha.........no, not from my garden in the background but some West Indian Reds from a wholesale produce market. Just couldn't pass these up for 2 bucks a pound. I'll have to use a few of these for a foodie shot.
 

 
Ok, now for some garden shots......a Jamaican Mushroom and a Chiltepin Peru
 

 
Goat's Weed and Avenir
 

 
Bahamian Goat and Safi Red Scotch Bonnet
 

 
 
MoA Scotch Bonnet and Congo Trinidad
 

 
 
Under the hood of the MoA.
 

 
 
St Martin Red Habanero and Jamaican Scotch Bonnet (mine)
 
more photos on yer way...
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Thanks....
 
 

 
A group of Jamican Red Habs in the back and a couple of Scotch Bonnets in the front
 

 
I'm calling this the "Hot Corner" (3rd base). Here's some Scotch Bonnets and Jamaican Red Habs that I cut back. My intentions are to produce a dense wrap around of the plants. Hopefully by August this will look like a continous shrub......that's with a little pruning though.....hehe
Oh...I also have extra's that weren't cut back...........just in case
 

 
  Bahamian Goat (cappy) and a Jamaican Annuum
 

 
 
Top of a Bahamian Goat...........just a warning, I planted around 15 of these from four different sources. But lucky for y'all they're not all getting photographed......just a few more.......... :D
 

 
 
What did I tell ya's.....Here's a Goat with a baby Goat...
 

 
 
Aha..for your eyes only a couple more Goats, I have 7 in this area. These plants only get about 2 hrs of direct sunlight but also receive strong reflected light throughout the day. They are growing just as well as the plants that get over 6hrs full sun..
Ok, I'll hide the rest..........of the Goats (cowbell's clanging). :woohoo:
 

 
 
The main grow area, my "Bucket List". These in the photo and some around the corner on the left total around 90 plants. I counted around 3 times, who knows (+/-)   1 or 2............. :rolleyes:
 

 
 
The black pots have some White Fatalii's Jay's Bhut Scorpion and some Spikey Douglahs.
 

 
 
Some non superhots. The back row has a Chicuacle Rojo flanked by 2 Zapotec Jalapenos. All 3 are producing pods. Seeds were from Gary (windchicken).....thanks man! In the front row I doubled up on some other Jalapenos. Since the annuums grow upright theres enough space. The tubs are around 18 gal. Bring on the jalapeno's !
 
More shots heading this away...
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
Some small early pods and a "Fat Red" (cmpman)
 

 
Chocolate Bhut Jolokia and a Mourga Yellow. The Bhut will fast grower, always has been.
 

 
 
Back row: Scotch Bonnet Long, Douglah, Guatemalen Chiltepin. Front: Hot Thai and Orange Blob
 

 
 
Guatemalen Yellow Rocoto
 

 
 
Cumari Pollux
 

 
 
Fatalii, Antillais Caribbean and a West Indian Yellow
 

 
 
Top of a Purple Bhut Jolokia x Naga Viper (Big Cedar)
 
 

 
 
Jamaican Red Hab #1 (Walkgood)
 

 
 
Back garden .....on a dry day
 
more photos with der bump...
 
 
  
 
Red Bhut Jolokia starting to show some small poddage
 

 
A mix of Brains, Primos, Bhuts and Carbons,
 

 
 
A group by the back end....Heck, I can't see that far. Let's just say that they're superhots..............lol
 

 
 
The grafed tomatoes are planted side by side with the nons. This should be an even comparison
 

 
 
Here's the Cherokee Purple. I put a twist tie at the graft. Only the root stock gets planted in the dirt...no deeper or that would defeat the purpose as the upper part of the plant would take root
 

 
 
Mourga Red............Ouch !
 
 

 
A Yellow Congo......a little Fish Emulsion and a lot of rain has made this girl shy some new leaves.
 

 
 
another Guat pube this one  was planted in an area that gets minimal sun
 

 
 
Hawaiian Habanero . The pot is surrounded by ground cover.................time to prune !
 
A few more shortly...
 
 
 
 
WOW Greg, nice update brother!
 
Take a look at your Photobucket settings though. They changed how they link and it now takes you to your Photobucket page when you click on a picture and if your settings aren't right someone could post bad pics or delete/steal some yours. I wish they'd leave good enough alone :(
 
PIC 1 said:
Long overdue update...
Welcome back mon, hope all is normalizing at the PIC1 Pepper, Rum & Veggie Estates ^_^
 


PIC 1 said:
Oh by the way anybody need rain ? We've been getting hit for the last 2 weeks. …
Keep dat rain, it’s back on here none stop, lost a nice branch off my White Bhut (ya seed), looks like I’ll be forced into attempting a clone. Fortunately the main plant is still in great shape.
 


PIC 1 said:
Starting out here with something different...here are some tomato grafts. Three of my favorite tomatoes, San Marzano, Cherokee Purple and the Brandywine Pink. I grafted all three varieties and grew three non grafts to compare.Heirloom tomatoes are not diesease resistant. Grafting with rootstock from the identical variety not only promotes higher yields but also helps protect from soil borne wilts. …
Awesome mad scientist skills Greg they look remarkable & amazing!!! Do you use any special clips or do you have a DIY better way?
 


PIC 1 said:
Aha.........no, not from my garden in the background but some West Indian Reds from a wholesale produce market. Just couldn't pass these up for 2 bucks a pound. …
They look great and bet they’ll taste great too, @ $2/pound they are a steal! Here they would set you back $5.00 to $6.00+ range. I love how you captured the background of your grow, excellent photoging mon ^_^ and wow those blue pots are huge, bigga den my 15s for sure. I do have four 25s but I’m only using one.
 


PIC 1 said:
Ok, now for some garden shots. … …
Fantastic job on everything, super impressive and I have no doubt that you’ll be swimming in huge pods soon! Keep up your awesome grow and posts, thank you for sharing mon! Hope you have a great week!
 
PS: I love your attention to detail, excellent!
 

 
A Red Scotch Bonnet.
Now for...."What did I do with the Red Habs...
 
 
 

 
Ingredients...West Indian Red Habs, Thyme, Anise Seed, Oregano, Basil, Celery Seed, Basil, Red Onion, Garlic, Aged Provolone, Parmigiano Reggiano, and Teleggio Cheeses, Pepperoni, "00" Flour, Yeast, Sea Salt, Pepper, Italian Olive Oil, Anchovy Paste, San Marzano Tomatoes, Tomato Paste. 
 

 
Chop up 6 Red Habs, Red Onion, and 4 Garlic Cloves. Saute for 5 min in 2 tbls of oil. Add Tomato and Anchovy  Pastes. Saute a few minutes to take the "rawness" out of the TP. Meanwhile place all herbs and seeds into a mortar and pulverize.
 

 
Pour 2 cans of Tomatoes in pan along with the seeds/herbs and salt and pepper. Simmer on low for 2 hrs stirring occasionally.
 

 
I use a shallow pan for all my sauces. The surface area is larger and the sauce cooks quicker without the need to constantly stir in fear of scorching. Larger stock pots work well when freezing , canning or having the "Italian Goons" over for Sunday grub....heh
Season with additional salt and pepper to taste.
 

 
I run the pizza sauce through the food mill to remove any missed seeds, tomato cores or other fiborous pulp.
 

 
Forgot to mention I made the pizza dough and let rest in fridge for 2 days. 1000gr Flour 37% hydration 1 tbl Salt , 2 packs of yeast.
Here's the premade pie. I chose to use a rimmed pan. No need for the "cracker crust" here since I'm loading up on the ingredients.
Roll dough out 1/8" thick...no docking. Add sauce in a thin coat followed by Pepperoni, 3 cheeses and topped with 8 sliced Habanero's. Grate some Parm over that.
Bake 15 min in a preheated 425 deg oven.
 

 
"Pie's Done".......Top with ribboned Basil and grate some more Parm
 

 
Just the right amount of heat....not too much nor too little..
 
Thanks for checking this out....see you next week !.....promise !
 
No doubt they make the best pies in Chicago but I doubt Chicagoan’s know about how great they are at the PIC1 Pepper, Rum & Veggie Estates ^_^
 
Wicked work there brethren, now I have to run off to eat … I’m starving!
 
Edit: well no surprise I’m all out of “like this” again, this
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will have to do till I can come back and press the button a few thousand times, hehehe
 
 
I can't even look at you right now Greg....there's just too much awesome and it's blinding me..

Where to start...2 dollars a LB for those west Indy red Habs!!?!?!? And they are monstrous to boot. That garlic bulb is a perfect specimen too. What an amazing looking pie. >>jealous<<

Holy ---- ! Your garden reminds me of what the streets looked like in the movie "I Am Legend"....so much badass going on there. It's like a pepper museum or a sanctuary...probably both but no one has come out alive to tell the tail..

Perfect update buddy.

GOAT!!!....yeah, it needed to be yelled.
 
So, next update I want a Helo fly over...Always seems you're pressed for space, then we get here is this garden, my other garden, my back garden, my front garden, my corner area, my deck area...what you working with 30 acres??? Oh...your attempt at "my plants look really crappy due to the weather" is absolute crap!!! Just amazing brother Greg, I can't comment on everything that deserves it so I will just throw in the customary...WOW and BRAVO!
 
Wow! I'm kinda agreeing with the above post...I what, saw one or two damaged leaves...NPF in my book. They look great and are gonna kick some azz!
 
Love the pizza! Coming from WOP background (only half assed), yeah I fit the "Italian goons" remark and am proud of it :D, I could come by with my son's family and clean you out!..LOL
 
Anyways, they really do look great!
 
I'd love some more info on the grafting, cool idea to beat the disease issues. Can you build a super pepper plant too? Get a Chinense to have the Annuum thick leaves and early pods...OK just rambling/dreaming ;)
 
Take care and keep up the great posts!
 
Great looking pizza. It will be interesting to see if the pube growing in a shadier spot will do as well... some say they thrive in part shade, in which case I should be good...
 
RocketMan said:
WOW Greg, nice update brother!
 
Take a look at your Photobucket settings though. They changed how they link and it now takes you to your Photobucket page when you click on a picture and if your settings aren't right someone could post bad pics or delete/steal some yours. I wish they'd leave good enough alone :(
Thanks Bill.....gee, I had no idea. Some things just need to be private. Hopefully I made the right corrections.

WalkGood said:
Welcome back mon, hope all is normalizing at the PIC1 Pepper, Rum & Veggie Estates ^_^
 
 
 
Keep dat rain, it’s back on here none stop, lost a nice branch off my White Bhut (ya seed), looks like I’ll be forced into attempting a clone. Fortunately the main plant is still in great shape.
 
 
 
Awesome mad scientist skills Greg they look remarkable & amazing!!! Do you use any special clips or do you have a DIY better way?
 
 
 
They look great and bet they’ll taste great too, @ $2/pound they are a steal! Here they would set you back $5.00 to $6.00+ range. I love how you captured the background of your grow, excellent photoging mon ^_^ and wow those blue pots are huge, bigga den my 15s for sure. I do have four 25s but I’m only using one.
 
 
 
Fantastic job on everything, super impressive and I have no doubt that you’ll be swimming in huge pods soon! Keep up your awesome grow and posts, thank you for sharing mon! Hope you have a great week!
 
PS: I love your attention to detail, excellent!
Thanks Ramon,
You are very thorough in the replies.
I have a box of grafting clips, more than I'll ever use. I grafted before and even though I grew over 200 tomato plants, most for sale I still felt compelled to do something different. This year I might go back to air layering pepper plants for clones....who knows.
 
thanks again for stopping over and checking this glog out...

WalkGood said:
No doubt they make the best pies in Chicago but I doubt Chicagoan’s know about how great they are at the PIC1 Pepper, Rum & Veggie Estates ^_^
 
Wicked work there brethren, now I have to run off to eat … I’m starving!
 
Edit: well no surprise I’m all out of “like this” again, this
209rc.jpg
will have to do till I can come back and press the button a few thousand times, hehehe
 
Ha,
You're like me always having food on the mind..........well that's at least one of our thoughts....... :D
 Chicago has some good pie joints, from stuffed to deep dish but my favorite is the charred thin cracker crust. I make those alot. Hardly any ingredients and the pie is cut into rectangles not wedges.

romy6 said:
 Wow just superb Greg. Gotta get my butt to the windy city to enjoy your chili extravaganza. Simply amazing  :party: Pizza looks mouth watering at 9:30am  :lol:
Thanks Jamie..........if you ever make it up this way just avoid the winter or you'll be eating chili's just to stay warm.......... :lol:

3/5King said:
I can't even look at you right now Greg....there's just too much awesome and it's blinding me..

Where to start...2 dollars a LB for those west Indy red Habs!!?!?!? And they are monstrous to boot. That garlic bulb is a perfect specimen too. What an amazing looking pie. >>jealous<<

Holy ---- ! Your garden reminds me of what the streets looked like in the movie "I Am Legend"....so much badass going on there. It's like a pepper museum or a sanctuary...probably both but no one has come out alive to tell the tail..

Perfect update buddy.

GOAT!!!....yeah, it needed to be yelled.
Cool !
You're garden should be starting to rock, although you're further North the Summer is on its way. You're inground plants will surpass mine, without a dought.

stc3248 said:
So, next update I want a Helo fly over...Always seems you're pressed for space, then we get here is this garden, my other garden, my back garden, my front garden, my corner area, my deck area...what you working with 30 acres??? Oh...your attempt at "my plants look really crappy due to the weather" is absolute crap!!! Just amazing brother Greg, I can't comment on everything that deserves it so I will just throw in the customary...WOW and BRAVO!
Ha, I can laugh about the choppers they do make an occasional pass but theres probably a ton of them making their runs in Cali.
My yard is small but I utilize it to the best of my advantage. I still send plants elsewhere for some inground sandy soil growth.
Thanks for the "WB"

Silver_Surfer said:
Beautiful plants in some huge pots! Just how large are those biggest containers?
Hey Ken,
I've got a few 20 gal black nursery containers but most are either the 18 gal utility tubs and aldof 15 and 12 gal nursery stock and smaller. If I had the room in my yard and proper soil I'd grow primarily in ground but my wife likes the flower beds.........oh well

Devv said:
Wow! I'm kinda agreeing with the above post...I what, saw one or two damaged leaves...NPF in my book. They look great and are gonna kick some azz!
 
Love the pizza! Coming from WOP background (only half assed), yeah I fit the "Italian goons" remark and am proud of it :D, I could come by with my son's family and clean you out!..LOL
 
Anyways, they really do look great!
 
I'd love some more info on the grafting, cool idea to beat the disease issues. Can you build a super pepper plant too? Get a Chinense to have the Annuum thick leaves and early pods...OK just rambling/dreaming ;)
 
Take care and keep up the great posts!
The bad leaves get removed before the photos........lol, well sometimes. We had some pea size hail that shot right through the thinner c.chinense leaves. Most tend to tear from the wind after that fact and look like sheet. I leave most on if we're expecting alot of rain or the new leaves will surfer instead from the saturation.
 
Been to many of the "Dago Red" get togethers either in the resturant or at someones home. Wear loose clothing cause it will be tight when you leave. I just never liked someone putting more food on my plate w/hen I'm done....can't say no out of respect.
 
Never had luck with grafting pepper plants, the joints need to stay moist. Cloning gel nor powder worked for me. I have had look air layering a "v" cut below the node using 50/50 vermiculite and fine perlite. Moisten the mix , dust joint with cloning gel, place it in cheese cloth and in saran wrap with twist ties. The roots appear pretty fast as the plant is still producing growth with no interuption. Great way to clone "on the run"

Spicegeist said:
Great looking pizza. It will be interesting to see if the pube growing in a shadier spot will do as well... some say they thrive in part shade, in which case I should be good...
Thanks Charles,
The pubes I've grown in the past have always lost their flowers on the hot sunny days. They've perked up latter in the year but it becomes too late for a round of ripened pods. I have too plants that are in part sun locations. We will see.

Sanarda said:
Wooowwwwwwwweewwwwweewwwwewwwwwwwwwwww
:rofl:
 
Is it easy to graft maters ?! Just grow a NON heirloom mater. Cut at the base then attach heirloom with tape to graft ?! And that's all?!

What do u mean air layering peppers. ?! You can do that with peppers too?! Do you had to skin it first to expose ? And then add rooting hormone ?!

I love air layering maters. You get roots and also have it grow at the same time.
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The is a bad shot but I got this to work. ( my first time )
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Very nice updates. Greg. Very nice legion of peppers. In a couple months you'll be updating that pepper wallpaper in you're desktop.


Suppose to be FDA bonnets. First pod had four lobes. But fell shortly after. Now the pods are like this. Is it still FDA?
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