PIC 1's......Pod Pornage.............2012

Here's the start on my grow log. Well no pods yet but I have to start somewhere, and away we go!

The seeds in the containers are all c.chinense. They were dunked in a germinating solution for an over-nighter on December 1st.
This was the first phase of the germination process with plantings happening every 2 weeks through the month of January.
The annum species and the mild/medium strains will get planted late Jan through early Feb.

Most of these are "Super-hots.

Here's a shot from today, things are looking up and up.

Here's a unique looking seedling. It has 3 cotyledon's and a set of 3 true leaves. The seedling is a Trinidad Scorpion Green, seeds are from Chris (cc). I've seen the triple cotyledon with my Coronong's but not the triple set of true leaves at the same time

Here's another seedling that caught my eye. The leaves are as dark purple as my Dutch.Hot's. This one's the Purple Bhut Jolokia seeds were also from Chris. I know the leaves will eventually turn green.....but right now they look pretty...

Did somebody say "Purple"......Here's one of my overwinters. The Maui Purple. The flowers have set and soon the chili's will form...........yea

And finally another overwinter and was an over-achiever/producer last season. That's why its here. It's's the TS Butch T

More to follow, soon

Greg

 

[Pr0digal_son]

Thank you Greg.... I would not expect anything less from you. Most times I opt for the regular "Nice plants" when I'm viewing glogs so I don't drive people crazy. Some lucky folks like yourself, get the questions!

 

[KiNGDeNNiZ]

nice update.... my wife was asking if you lived in a farm!!... enjoy your vacay.. i would rather go with you to where you're going than anything.. i have buddies family there...ill ask them to care for your plants... *wink* awesome looking plants.. and great tips for overwintering...

 

[KiNGDeNNiZ]

hope your trip is well and are accumulating more new strains... just another update....week after

 

[stc3248]

Happy Birthday Greg!!!

 

[PaulG]

Happy Birthday, Brother! Hope your vacation is just too good to come home
except to check on peppers! Your forest is pretty impressive - how much
more growing season do you have left there? I hope you will post an update
when you prep an overwinter plant; something I want to try this Fall.

Keep up the good work, my friend. You are a role model and inspiration to us all!
Have a great weekend. We're having a spate of sprinkly cool weather here, but
hoping for more sunny skies in a few days.

 

[KiNGDeNNiZ]

welcome back Greg.. hope the plants did well on autopilot....

 

[Sanarda]

Happy bday.

 

[Arenal Botanical Garden]

Here's the weekend update......photos taken early morning after a well appreciated night of rain...

The overwinters are flowering robustly and the small pods are starting to appear

some more buckets of green flanked by some tomato plants

Here's the 1st "Naga Viper" starting to form......compared to some miniture "Spoon" tomatoes.........a nice snack at any time of the day!

"Maui Purple"

Some "West Indian Orange"

Here's some "Jamaican Scotch Bonnets"

A couple of "Pimiento Morron"......not a hot pepper............just thru this in for the heck of it

more photos shortly...

Nice ! BUMP ! Let's see them now.

 

[megahot]

Wow! Awesome looking pods Greg! You never cease to amaze me!!!

 

[Stefan_W]

Great looking pods! The Maui purple look almost identicle to my flourescent purples from this past growing season.

 

[PIC 1]

Howdy Folks !...........Sorry for the lack of updates, there hasn't been much happening outdoors with the garden as of late...
Although I've been busy "Jammin, Saucing, Smoking, Powdering"......and processing peppers...................Ha, The pepper patch
is coming to an end for the season . So, I'll share some closing photos....

Heres a final harvest shot taking last weekend. I ended up with a couple bushels full. I still have some plants with semi and unripe holding on to the nice
weather we've been having. Today hit the 70's and the next week looks pretty mild.

Just a shout out to any Chicagoland chileheads that are able to view ABC 7 190 North, which airs Sunday evenings at 11pm. One of this weekends
segments include our "Pepperology" get togethers Thursday evenings at the "An Seanachi Irish Pub".........pretty exciting! ...............Check it out....

Part of closing the garden for the year involves preparing it for the upcoming year. Each of my containers get sifted to separate the plant material,
wood chips and soil medium. It does take some time but easily saves me the excess work of doing this in the spring.

The stem and rootball get trashed, the woodchips get reused in the bottom of the pots and the fine screened soil gets added to my raised beds as
a topping. The beds also get a mix of garden lime and some manure from the stables. In the spring the beds get ammended with compost and the
planting holes get an application of bone and blood meals, worm castings, compost and a handful of 10-10-10

This is whats left of my garden as of today. About 20 plants ...some that will get overwintered, some cloned. Last year I OW'ed 25 plants.
This years starting to look like a half dozen or so.........they do require space...and ample lighting...........they will get big...

Hey, ...Whaddaya Know... speaking of overwintering heres an example. This is a "Nagabon" a THSC exclusive. Its a cross between a
Bih Jolokia and a Scotch Bonnet. Its got both heat and flavor. For those who grow it you know what I'm talking about. I hope to get some
ripe pods while indoors...

The key to the OW process is to first pick a healthy plant, no fungal, bacterial or mite issues. Use a clean pair shears and gradually strip
all the pods off, then the leaves. Shape the plant to the desireable size. Bonchi plants require an extensive cutback while the typical plant
only needs to be branch pruned into a crown shape. Try to cut into the "new green" wood. Avoid going as low as the "old wood" or bark.
There's a slim chance to produce foliage out of old wood. It can happen but the growth will be sub par. Its a better focus for the plant to
direct its energy to vigorous healthy upper growth. I'll cut the excess growth about an inch above the leaf node. The area at the cut will
suffer some mild damage and slightly dry up. Leaving an additional space above the node will insure a healthy start to the new foliage.

Dig the plant up. Whether from the ground or a container, you need to get the majority of the rootball. The root system needs to be cleaned
of all dirt and other materials. I use a forceful spray with the garden hose until the roots are completely clear. The rule of thumb is to have a
root system of equal length to the crown size. This plants roots are shy of that since I took the aggressive approach with the shovel....Ouch! The plant will survive.

Prior to potting up I'll dunk the plant in a container filled with diluted dish soap.....for abot 30 sec..........yep thats what I said. Then the plant gets
dunked breifly in a container with a diluted amount of bleach. Then rinse the plant off thoroughly with the garden hose. We do like our plants
clean before bringing them indoors..........ha

Ok, the finals steps....Pot up the plant. I decided to mix some Dr Earth with an equal part of Happy Frog. The container Is a 7 gal nursery pot.
I added a diluted root stimulator to the watering can to aid with any transplant shock. Drench the soil until the liquid comes out the bottom.
Lightly pack the soil to shore up the plant. My last step is to place the container into a large bag, and spray the entire plant with your choice
of insecticide. Close the bag up and leave in the garage for 3 days..................overkill?........Not really, I can't remember the last time we had a
"bug" problem in the grow rooms.....I will be updating this part of the glog with the OW process through the winter...

I want to say thanks to all who have shared their thoughts here.........................and the guests for taking an occasional look,
Grow on...

Greg

 

[stc3248]

Nice play by play on the OW process Greg! Your spot has been fun to watch. The attention to detail you take is amazing. Always a clever and fun read topped off with Pic1's signature pics! Thanks again for the care package brother and all your input throughout this year. Hopefully I can do you proud next season! You and a few others are making the grow list for next year hard to sort out!

 

[KiNGDeNNiZ]

hmmmm washing them... will have to incorporate that into the OW.... again like shane said .. thanks for the care package and seeds.. =D,,,

 

[SocalChilehead]

Wow now that is great final shot harvest your weather is still nice how are the nights. I enjoyed reading the step by step process for the overwintering can not wait to see your new season list and grow room start up always amazing.

 

[Pr0digal_son]

Thanks again for your help,insight,and banter Greg!! I spent many of mornings this past year with coffee dribbling out of my nose! I have come to expect epic updates,this one is just another in a long list! You have a way of being extremely detailed and keeping it very basic at the same time. A lot of us newer growers have "paralysis by analysis" as I say, and a lot of the "true gospel" and "chest puffing" going on here makes it hard to filter out the gibberish. It is very easy growing when you keep it simple.

I have a couple questions about the recycling,and overwinters. Will you be using any of the "screened" soil in your containers next season? Just adding it to your raised beds? I am considering it to keep costs down a bit next season.

A lot of these plants have different growth structures. I am noticing the main stem and fork on my indian varieties
stays short and throws out a lot of side branching at about 2" from the ground. Those were easy to cut because the branching is green.
I have a couple other chinense canidates that have a more annuum structure. No side branching.... Just 2 1/2" feet of bark and then the branching. I don't want a 3' overwinter....can I cut it back to the main fork and hope for the best?

 

[romy6]

Just wanted to say thank you as well. You are an inspirtation to many of us and your willingness to share your many years of experience is second to none.

Please keep us posted through out the winter of your overwinters and such

Thank you again.

 

[RocketMan]

Greg, by golly I go looking for information about transplanting from nursary pots to root pouches and I find it right here in your OWing guide. Awesome information, thanks for taking the time to post it up.

 

[allaKAZAAM]

Heres a final harvest shot taking last weekend. I ended up with a couple bushels full. I still have some plants with semi and unripe holding on to the nice
weather we've been having. Today hit the 70's and the next week looks pretty mild.

WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!
One suggestion and 1 only...!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This should be a 2000 OR a 5000 piece puzzle.
Would piss off a lot of puzzel people.

Mark

 

[PIC 1]

hmmmm washing them... will have to incorporate that into the OW.... again like shane said .. thanks for the care package and seeds.. =D,,,

You're welcome King D....I hope you get some production out of the seeds.I got a bit lazy or perhaps just a bit busy through the summer so I only Focused on one cross...a "Yellow Scotch Bonnet x Yellow Brain Strain"...We'll have to see what kind of bumpy road those pods will take.

 

[PaulG]

Hey, Greg! Thanks for the OW guide - very nice. I think I'll do 2 or 3
as a trial run this year just to see how it goes. there are so many I'd
like to do, but I have no room, and I'm not sure if they will survive in
the greenhouse all winter. The low temps are 40 or so with the space
heater running a little every now and then. We'll see.

Great season, Greg, but it looks like you've done that before! It has
been an informative and interesting experience reading your glog this
year, and I look forward to your postings throughout the Fall and Winter.
That last harvest pic would make an insane puzzle, for sure!

I'll visit again, soon, brother!