Pulpiteer's grow log 2012

Pulpiteer · Jul 18, 2012

Alright, lots of pics and growth.

First, my second shot at compost tea. This one worked a lot better. My mistakes from last time: I didn't use a 'tea bag' and thus did not have the bubbles stirring up the compost. Also, I got a larger bubbler. It cracked me up seeing the size of the air pumps a lot of guys were using. I've kept a 90 gallon aquarium for about 10 years now, so I've done the fish thing for awhile and it looked like overkill. However, since you need agitation and oxygenation, the larger ended up helping.

Here's another wide shot of the whole garden set up. It's huge now.

Someone commented early on in the process that they wanted to see how the rows of 4 went. This shot shows that a little. I sat down for the picture and you can see how tall the back rows of peppers are getting as well as what the aisles in between my rows of 4 look like. I just let the clover grow and it's a nice cover.

Here's a picture of my middle child in front of my tomatoes. It gives some perspective as to their size.

Next, an African horned cucumber vine. I'm hoping for some flowers, but not getting any. It is climbing high and full though.

The garden has plenty of beneficial insects buzzing about. They are wonderful and busy. Here's a shot of one of my guardians.

A couple of weeks ago a bad storm snapped the main stem of my chocolate congo hab. It had a few secondary stems and they just took off. Here it is today:

Hooda sent me some Yellow Manzano seeds and I planted them even though it was late. Here they are in their root pouches in the tomato section of the garden.

Here is one of my red rocoto pods blushing (These are from totally tomatoes btw)

Another shot of my Chinese 5 colors. Very nice plant - Aji Joe

And I'll have tons of pod shots after a bump or sufficient time passes...

ajijoe · Jul 18, 2012

yeah i finally stopped in yes that Chin looks great, im happy you grew it

i love seeing the plants on here from my seed, it makes me very happy to know i helped

everything is looking great

i actually like the aji pineapple better than the lemon drop, the flavor is super, sadly i only have one plant this year but next season im going to grow between 6 and 8 and will most likely have some at my friends place too

thanks your friend Joe

Pulpiteer · Jul 18, 2012

ajijoe said:
yeah i finally stopped in yes that Chin looks great, im happy you grew it

i love seeing the plants on here from my seed, it makes me very happy to know i helped

everything is looking great

i actually like the aji pineapple better than the lemon drop, the flavor is super, sadly i only have one plant this year but next season im going to grow between 6 and 8 and will most likely have some at my friends place too

thanks your friend Joe

Glad you stopped in Joe! Your seeds are producing great peppers thus far!
Do the peach scorpions have the same sort of shape as the reds or are they a little more unstable? They are some that I'm a little unsure as to how they've turned out, but it's early yet.

Ok, more pod pics

7 pot Jonah's from Aji Joe

These are Scotch Bonnets from Pepper Joe - not the shape I was expecting, but their stem tells me they are chinense, so I'm hopeful. We'll see. They're putting out a ton of pods

Here is a Bishop's Crown from pepperlover - wonderful shape, large plants, I really love these.

I showed a few of these before, but here are my yellow 7 pots - they are really producing. They're from masschilehead. He wasn't sure if his seed saving would work since it's the first time he tried, these are turning out awesome.

Here are some brain strains from pepperlover. These are throwing out more pods now and they look scary.

Next up are some more from Judy at pepperlover - some Trinidad Scotch Bonnets, Yellow ones, I believe. Very different shape. Will be interested how they turn out. Do these look right for you scotch bonnet experts?

Up next from Aji Joe is a ripening douglah. It scares me.

Also from Aji Joe, some red scorpions. They look 7-potish and mean. Very curious how these develop. These pods were some of the last to begin, but they look great now!

This is the little peach bhut that could from earlier in the glog. It's really throwing out pods now. Awesome. From Aji Joe

Finally, a bunch of Harold St. Bart pods from Aji Joe. Again, can't wait for these. Heard they were great. This plant is doing well.

Ok, so there you go. Tons of pods in the garden now. Soon I'll be overrun by ripe ones. Fun to watch.

Thanks for checking out the glog!

Spicegeist · Jul 18, 2012

Nice pics, is the Rocoto going to turn red? I'm growing Rocotos for the first time this year and can't wait for them to turn too...

Pulpiteer · Jul 18, 2012

Spicegeist said:
Nice pics, is the Rocoto going to turn red? I'm growing Rocotos for the first time this year and can't wait for them to turn too...

Yeah they are. My first year with them too, so I'm pretty excited as well. They are a bit smaller than I expected, but the heat has been pretty intense this summer so that could affect them. They are branching out like crazy - are yours? I'm going to have to try to over winter a couple of them.

Spicegeist · Jul 18, 2012

I started mine pretty early, not knowing what to expect, and was able to get them on the patio in the spring where they flowered and started forming pods. One plant in particular put out a few big pods and should just be working towards ripening...

ajijoe · Jul 19, 2012

they all look great!!

coming along very nicely!!

wow again you made my night, im at work doing stupid crap that means absolutly nothing, there a big walk by the bigs wigs in the morning and where getting the place "Shipshape"

but any way back to the original thought, those pods ar going to look even better when there ripe, you have been greatly blessed and im happy i could be a part of it, this is one of the biggest reason i do what i do!! :dance:

also the peach scorps im not sure about there stability, my friend lost them after the 2009 season and i helped him get it back, you see last season 2011 i had a mystery plant from seeds a few friends of mine harvested at my friends farm during the 2009 chilefest and i ended up with some of them mixed with a bunch of my own, the peppers are supposed to look like a jamaican mushroom pepper, as the ones i had from the 2011 season did, what do yours look like??, i have one coming in that looks like a bhut thus far, my other two plants only have flowers so i dont know what will become of them yet

thanks your friend Joe

Sethsquatch · Jul 19, 2012

Hey Pulp! Been a while since I have caught up on the GLOGs. Trying to make some rounds this morning. Fataliis are wild. They hit you right away (I get a little citrus flavor initially) and ratchet up to a hard burn and stay there for quite a while. From what I understand there is another chemical other than capsaicin in them that prolongs the burn. So they are long and strong. I hear people say they aren't superhots but man, if they aren't, they are certainly knocking at the door!

Nice grow happening up there. Your daughter is a cutie and very gracious for posing with the tomatoes. She must be the one you are leaving everything too.

Digging your tea brew as well. Keep it up my friend!

compmodder26 · Jul 19, 2012

Great pod pics Andy. Looks like you're really in the swing of things. Keep up the good work my friend!

Pulpiteer · Jul 19, 2012

ajijoe said:
they all look great!!

coming along very nicely!!

wow again you made my night, im at work doing stupid crap that means absolutly nothing, there a big walk by the bigs wigs in the morning and where getting the place "Shipshape"

but any way back to the original thought, those pods ar going to look even better when there ripe, you have been greatly blessed and im happy i could be a part of it, this is one of the biggest reason i do what i do!! also the peach scorps im not sure about there stability, my friend lost them after the 2009 season and i helped him get it back, you see last season 2011 i had a mystery plant from seeds a few friends of mine harvested at my friends farm during the 2009 chilefest and i ended up with some of them mixed with a bunch of my own, the peppers are supposed to look like a jamaican mushroom pepper, as the ones i had from the 2011 season did, what do yours look like??, i have one coming in that looks like a bhut thus far, my other two plants only have flowers so i dont know what will become of them yet

thanks your friend Joe

Thanks Joe! I really appreciate the seeds - some were part of the free pack you sent - like the Chinese 5 colors, others at your very affordable prices. Thank you. It's been awesome to grow them out. Tons of fun. That's helpful to know about the peach scorpions. I've got a lot of different shapes on my 6 plants. One plant seems pretty clearly to be a hybrid - small oblong pods that are a deeper green. Of the others I have various shapes, some that look like a bhut, some that are more round some with a stinger, some not. A large variety. I also have read that sometimes scorpions produce better pod shapes later in the season, so I'm going to watch to see how they do. I also will probably try the best shaped ones to save seeds for. I'll have to take pictures and post the different shapes. Thanks for the feedback though.

Sethsquatch said:
Hey Pulp! Been a while since I have caught up on the GLOGs. Trying to make some rounds this morning. Fataliis are wild. They hit you right away (I get a little citrus flavor initially) and ratchet up to a hard burn and stay there for quite a while. From what I understand there is another chemical other than capsaicin in them that prolongs the burn. So they are long and strong. I hear people say they aren't superhots but man, if they aren't, they are certainly knocking at the door!

Nice grow happening up there. Your daughter is a cutie and very gracious for posing with the tomatoes. She must be the one you are leaving everything too. Digging your tea brew as well. Keep it up my friend!

That's interesting about the fataliis. The burn hit my stomach pretty good. It definitely was not as bad as the brain strain, but it was pretty intense. I love the shape and color, I know I've said that before, but it's just such a cool plant.

And thanks, yeah that is my daughter that's in the will :lol:

she still is concerned when I put powder or flakes on stuff or when I eat a raw pepper. It's pretty cute. My son couldn't care less. He's more interested in the video and wanting to sneak on them. Thanks for stopping by - good to hear from ya!

compmodder26 said:
Great pod pics Andy. Looks like you're really in the swing of things. Keep up the good work my friend!

Thank you! Yep, it's rockin and rollin and we even got more rain today, so the garden should really react to that in the next few days. I love watching it grow. Good to hear from you!

AlphaHydroponics · Jul 19, 2012

Fewww... made it through the whole thing Andy.
Extremely nice work (and a lot of it). Everything is very impressive... all that AND 3 kids too...
Looking forward to keeping up with your future updates...

Regards, Chris

ajijoe · Jul 19, 2012

thanks and stay in touch your friend Joe

mjdiamond83 · Jul 19, 2012

Your plants look great Andy! What have you been feeding your tomatoes to keep them so happy? Let me know how those Harold St. Bart peppers taste, they were one of the few varieties I wanted to try that didn't make it into the garden this year. Good luck when the time comes to eat that Douglah, it looks ridiculously mean!

MGOLD86 · Jul 19, 2012

Now this is the kinda update I have been waiting for!! You definitely have some sick poddage coming through. Gonna be awesome to watch everything ripen!

stc3248 · Jul 19, 2012

After your Brain episode I am worried about you with all these very mean looking pods! You're in for a pretty good ride if you try most of these! Great looking plants and pods Andy! You worked hard for the harvests at hand...but you don't deserve what they are about to do to you! :flamethrower:

Pr0digal_son · Jul 20, 2012

Very nice work! Uniform pods,nice coloration on the leaves,you can tell those plants are getting exactly what they need. My only suggestion would be to take the garden out to the sidewalk next year and sell the lawn mower. Phheewww... Remember the song "The Message" Grand Master Flash? Huh huh huh huh huh? I always think of that song when I view some of these glogs. So many of us wanted a good jump on the season,and we got it! Haha I can't wait to see some of these gardens in a couple months. Howler monkeys,and other jungle dwellers taking up residence. Folks... Don't worry about saving the rain forests,my man Andy has everything under control.

Pulpiteer · Jul 21, 2012

AlphaHydroponics said:
Fewww... made it through the whole thing Andy.
Extremely nice work (and a lot of it). Everything is very impressive... all that AND 3 kids too...
Looking forward to keeping up with your future updates...

Regards, Chris

Thanks Chris! Glad you stopped by, I appreciate the kind words!

ajijoe said:
thanks and stay in touch your friend Joe

Thanks Joe!

mjdiamond83 said:
Your plants look great Andy! What have you been feeding your tomatoes to keep them so happy? Let me know how those Harold St. Bart peppers taste, they were one of the few varieties I wanted to try that didn't make it into the garden this year. Good luck when the time comes to eat that Douglah, it looks ridiculously mean!

I put down a layer of cow manure last fall that had been composted for awhile. I'm thinking that's really helped out my soil. I'm very curious about the St. Barts as well, I'll have to do a review if I can. That douglah does look mean :onfire:

MGOLD86 said:
Now this is the kinda update I have been waiting for!! You definitely have some sick poddage coming through. Gonna be awesome to watch everything ripen!

Always glad to please! Yep, the ripening part is coming soon. I'm going to have to read up on making hot sauces soon, I think. Plus I've got to get some jelly recipes around...

stc3248 said:
After your Brain episode I am worried about you with all these very mean looking pods! You're in for a pretty good ride if you try most of these! Great looking plants and pods Andy! You worked hard for the harvests at hand...but you don't deserve what they are about to do to you!

I'm worried too, to be honest. I took a bite of an unripe peach hab today on an empty stomach and it hurt a bit and I thought, "I'm an idiot for growing all these..." But geeze they're cool. And fun to try.

Pr0digal_son said:
Very nice work! Uniform pods,nice coloration on the leaves,you can tell those plants are getting exactly what they need. My only suggestion would be to take the garden out to the sidewalk next year and sell the lawn mower. Phheewww... Remember the song "The Message" Grand Master Flash? Huh huh huh huh huh? I always think of that song when I view some of these glogs. So many of us wanted a good jump on the season,and we got it! Haha I can't wait to see some of these gardens in a couple months. Howler monkeys,and other jungle dwellers taking up residence. Folks... Don't worry about saving the rain forests,my man Andy has everything under control.

Thanks Pr0digal! Maybe I could talk the city into just pulling out the sidewalk, we've got a perfectly good street to walk on :lol:

. I'm going to have to check out that Grand Master Flash song - I'm ashamed to say I don't know it. I know you said it a little tongue in cheek, but it is surprising what sorts of wildlife come into your yard when you get a garden and some flowers and what not growing.

Pulpiteer · Jul 31, 2012

I've had a few weeks of pure busyness at work, it's really come in spurts this summer, so I've been away from the THP for the most part. It's taken forever to catch up on my glog reading, but I'm almost there. So I thought I'd give a quick update with a few pictures.

First, I brought some fresh peppers to a church picnic a week ago. Dares were made. Some fellows had their manhood challenged. Hot peppers were tried, and people were in pain. It was so much fun. The word is spreading and people are interested in what the heck I'm doing in my yard. So it's been good times along those lines.

Here I am working in my tomato section. Just to give you an idea of how they are growing (I'm 6'1"). The vine that is taking over the roof is an African horned cucumber. No flowers yet though.

Things are just beginning to turn, so I get small harvests here and there. Here is one of them. The aji lemons and aji pineapples are coming in. They'll explode soon, I think. The thai's both orange and dragons carry a ton of peppers. When those start to really ripen, I'm not sure what I'll do...

Here are three I got in the last few days: a red rocoto (they are coming in small right now, but very tasty), scotch bonnet, and I think a Jamaican hot yellow, or ufo

Next: two pictures of a fatalii that I picked on Sunday. It was an absolutely beautiful pod - perfect, I think. I ate most of a half and gave a small sliver to a friend who was visiting. He got hit pretty hard by it, and the half hurt me pretty good. Potent peppers, they feel just a little below a superhot, and definitely hotter than a habanero.

Finally, I was very excited to pick a Harold St. Bart Habanero tonight. I tried it and will put the video up later when I have time. It did taste very good, and had a thicker flesh than I expected. It was also pretty hot, but the heat did not last as long as a fatalii. All in all, a wonderful pepper. Here it is pictured by my first ripe douglah, so I'll have the two together, then pics of their insides. Oil and placenta...

I should mention - and I will in the video - that when I was removing the seeds from the harold st. bart, I used a knife to pick them out onto a piece of paper. When I was finished, I looked at the paper and it had droplets of liquid that were on it. More oil in this than I expected.

So there we go, thanks for stopping by!

stc3248 · Jul 31, 2012

Great looking pods Andy! I was really bummed my Fatalii's turned out to be a cross. They are Orange/red instead of yellow and I am guessing a bit hotter. They get rave reviews and are one of the most commonly referred to as a "favorite" by the more experienced growers on here. Your jungle is looking amazing! You must be pulling bushels of tomatoes off them babies every day! Have you sampled the Jamaican hot yellow yet? One of my favorites so far. Really great in a cucumber salsa or stuffed to the gills with something terrible for you and wrapped in bacon...mmmmmm.

Pulpiteer · Jul 31, 2012

stc3248 said:
Great looking pods Andy! I was really bummed my Fatalii's turned out to be a cross. They are Orange/red instead of yellow and I am guessing a bit hotter. They get rave reviews and are one of the most commonly referred to as a "favorite" by the more experienced growers on here. Your jungle is looking amazing! You must be pulling bushels of tomatoes off them babies every day! Have you sampled the Jamaican hot yellow yet? One of my favorites so far. Really great in a cucumber salsa or stuffed to the gills with something terrible for you and wrapped in bacon...mmmmmm.

Thanks Shane,
I like the Fatalii's taste, but they are not my favorite. However, the plants are awesome and the pod shape and color is amazing. Part of growing all these crazy hot things for me is the growing part - just seeing the bushy plants and how cool the pod looks. Also, I haven't cooked with a Fatalii, so that could change everything. I've only got 2 ripe tomatoes, but tons of green fruit on the plants. It won't be long and I'll be in over my head. Lots of salsa, sauce, and canned tomatoes in the future. The work will be worth it. I'll remember that with the Jamaican yellow, this one is only my second one. I've got red ones that look the same, and I have stuffed them with cream cheese and wrapped them in bacon... just yesterday in fact... and they were wonderful. The cucumber salsa sounds good too...

Oh, and I forgot to mention in my post that I sliced up some cucumbers, added garlic, vinegar, and dill, then a bunch of random hot peppers. Amazing. I've always been lukewarm on cucumbers in vinegar, but wow, these were great.

Thanks for stopping in!

Oh, I pulled the seeds from the fatalii that I pictured if you're interested. Just let me know.