Potawie's Pepper Progress 2008

[Pam]

Potawie...I have a question for you...my grow box will hold comfortably 8 5 gallon containers...do you think it possible to keep plants (that have been grown outside) producing in the box year round?...if the environment is controlled would the peppers continue to produce as long as you pick the pods? I know in the summer here, I will get an early crop, a second crop and almost a third crop...just wondering..

You can keep them producing. You may get smaller, less hot pods, but they'll keep producing. I put a few plants in pots in the cat room to over winter,a Grenada Seasoning, an Australian Lantern,, and a C chacoense. No extra lighting, no fertilizer, no direct sun, just lots of bright, indirect sunlight, and the Grenada Seasoning and Australian Lantern were still putting out pods when I moved them back out to the hoop house a couple of weeks ago.

A few of the varieties I overwintered in the hoop house are still producing despite the cool to cold temperatures. The Pilange, Cherry Chocolate, Hatch, Criolla Sella, and Hinklehatz are still putting out peppers. I chopped up two Hatch peppers last night to have with some kielbasa.

So, yeah, you can do it. Pest management is more intense, and the peppers might not be of the same quality as those grown in your yard.

 

[POTAWIE]

AJ, I think your best bet is to go with a metal halide or HPS if you want winter production. Fluorescents eventually become inefficient (or uneconomical) especially when it comes to big plants.

 

[AlabamaJack]

Roger on the MH or HPS. I know I have spent enough money on lighting so far that I could have had MH or HPS but I am to the point it would be almost cost prohibitive to go to MH or HPS now...if I had started with the MH or HPS it would have been great but I have 20 T12 40 watt shop fixtures, all the bulbs and the light strip with the 150W equivalent CFLs...I am kinda stuck with the option I chose to begin with and that may have been a mistake...hind sight is 20/20...

 

[POTAWIE]

Here's my favorite mystery plant "vulture" F1

This one was overwintered and was a clone/cutting off my original plant in 2006

This is a clone/cutting from the above plant that is growing crazy. Since they are F1's I think they may have some heterosis going on.

 

[AlabamaJack]

the stem on the original vulture is huge...huge...how big a plant will it make?

 

[POTAWIE]

The original plant(2006) was never kept once I had successful cuttings. I don't know how big the big one(year+ old) will get but it was a good size last year, and at this time(March/April) was about the same size as the plant in the second pic above.

The big one is the plant on the left, summer 2007

 

[AlabamaJack]

that's one heck of a fine looking plant Potawie...both of them are or as we say down south "bofum"

 

[POTAWIE]

Well I've been heating my greenhouse now for the past 3 nights and bringing more of my bigger plants out everyday. I just hope this sun keeps up and we don't get any more really cold nights.



The one in the front/left is little sick but most are doing really well

 

[AlabamaJack]

you may have said but how warm are you trying to keep your g-house and aren't you using wood for heat?

 

[POTAWIE]

I try to keep it above 10C at night but it has gotten a few degrees colder. I have a woodstove and section the greenhouse off with tarps so I don't have to heat as much area. You can also see a propane heater(bottom left) and an electric heater(bottom center) which are for back-up. I'll post some more pics soon, gotta go stoke the fire.

 

[Pam]

Dang, they look great. Are these plants that you overwintered?

 

[POTAWIE]

The bigger ones were overwintered, some were started early and some are tomatoes and some are eggplant

 

[POTAWIE]

I had some spare time today, so I did some re-potting. Now I have 30 or 40 more plants to find room for on the night-time side of the greenhouse.

 

[Pam]

The night-time side?

 

[POTAWIE]

The one end that's heated at night is the night-time side. I section it off with tarps so I only have to heat a small area.

 

[POTAWIE]

Ok this should explain the night-time side a little better

 

[imaguitargod]

Hmmmm...what's behind the tarp?

 

[Pam]

Hmmmm...what's behind the tarp?

The bodies of his victims!!!



Muhuhahahahaha!

 

[Pam]

The one end that's heated at night is the night-time side. I section it off with tarps so I only have to heat a small area.

I can understand that. I considered hanging tarps in the hoop house to make it easier to keep some of the plants alive when we had that spat of temperatures in the teens.

 

[Sorellina]

Ciao Potawie-

When did you start your seeds? Your plants are really large for April. Also, what tomatoes and eggplants are you growing? How do you propagate peppers from cuttings? I've cloned tomatoes and eggplants, but had never considered peppers.