Sawyer '14 - Seed Offer

stc3248 · Feb 13, 2014

Wow...you gotta a lotta crap planted!!! Hahaha...whatcha gonna do when they get more growed up? :shocked:

Judy is a keeper fo-sho! Nice score and some very nice bonus seeds, those ain't your average bonus varieties and I think there are more seeds in the bonus packs than the original order!!!

meatfreak · Feb 14, 2014

Sawyer said:
Can't beat 100% germination. If you can find room to grow all four of them, you'll increase your chances of having one that actually produces peach pods. Or maybe you can give the extras to a friend.

Was thinking the exact same thing, although I did made a promise to myself not to have more plants then I initially planned :lol:

I do have the space for it and keep 2 plants at 1 spot so won't be an huge impact on the total grow.

Penny · Feb 14, 2014

Your seeds are in the mail...enjoy

Jeff H · Feb 14, 2014

Man that is a lot of pepper plants. Fantastic.

Let's see 9 flats x 72 plants per flat = 648 and you're not done yet? :eh:

Sawyer · Feb 14, 2014

Portuge said:
Wow Sawyer your going to be swimming in pods come harvest time...

More like drowning, but yeah, that's the idea.

stc3248 said:
Wow...you gotta a lotta crap planted!!! Hahaha...whatcha gonna do when they get more growed up?

Judy is a keeper fo-sho! Nice score and some very nice bonus seeds, those ain't your average bonus varieties and I think there are more seeds in the bonus packs than the original order!!!

Hah, yeah, that remains to be seen. I think I can rearrange things to make enough room inside for everything in 3.5" square pots. If not, I have the materials to throw up a temporary, plastic-covered lean-to structure on the south side of the house. As windy as it's been, though, keeping that stable will be a challenge.

Absolutely agree about Judy, always my first stop when looking for seeds (after THP, of course). And you're right, the quantities of seeds in those packs is astounding.

meatfreak said:
Was thinking the exact same thing, although I did made a promise to myself not to have more plants then I initially planned I do have the space for it and keep 2 plants at 1 spot so won't be an huge impact on the total grow.

Glad to hear it. I live by the creed that there is always room for one more.

Penny said:
Your seeds are in the mail...enjoy

Thanks, Penny! I'll be watching for them.

Jeff H said:
Man that is a lot of pepper plants. Fantastic.

Let's see 9 flats x 72 plants per flat = 648 and you're not done yet?

It's actually worse than that, Jeff. A lot of cells have more than one plant, some as many as six. Of course a few have none, but still the total numbers are way up there. I haven't done a tally yet, kind of afraid to. I hope to limit things to about 1000 plants. I have room for more than that, but would have to till up some new ground. In any case, I realize this is going to be a semi-full-time job this year.

JJJessee · Feb 14, 2014

Hitting the 1K mark :dance:

meatfreak · Feb 14, 2014

What?! 1000 plant :surprised:

What are you plans with the huge harvests your gonna have for sure?

Jeff H · Feb 14, 2014

ROFL. 1000 plants. Not sure how you have enough daylight to pick them all. This will be fun to follow.

stc3248 · Feb 14, 2014

Hmmm...only 1000? Lets see...peak harvest time, conservative estimate 20 pods per plant per weekly harvest...ummm good luck on keeping your back intact! Spicy Chicken claims about a million pods per season off of around 6k plants. That is just over 166 per plant...I have had some plants go well over 300 easily. So...between 150 and 250 thousand pods. :shocked:

Most of the big growers just clean the plant 2-3 times for the season, but that limits numbers, I think if you pull more often as they ripen you may clear 300 thousand!!! :crazy:

maximumcapsicum · Feb 14, 2014

Hey man, 1000 plants is going to keep you very active. Wonderful. Love your grow setup and operation. Happy growin!

Devv · Feb 14, 2014

I'm amazed 1,000? I love it! You're gonna be swamped this season.

But it's all good!

Plants are looking good!

Spicegeist · Feb 14, 2014

I'd love to grow 1,000 plants of just one variety.

Portuge · Feb 14, 2014

Sfrbs will be all over the market from Sawyer... Buy two get two free...

Sawyer · Feb 15, 2014

JJJessee said:
Hitting the 1K mark

Yeah, buddy. :dance:

meatfreak said:
What?! 1000 plant What are you plans with the huge harvests your gonna have for sure?

Well, there are all the usual apps, sauces, powders, etc., then there are repellents, dietary supplements, medical research, etc. In my opinion, capsaicin is one of the wonder drugs of the 21st century.

Jeff H said:
ROFL. 1000 plants. Not sure how you have enough daylight to pick them all. This will be fun to follow.

Not sure I will, Jeff. I may be eating crow, my hat, and a lot of peppers before it's all over.

stc3248 said:
Hmmm...only 1000? Lets see...peak harvest time, conservative estimate 20 pods per plant per weekly harvest...ummm good luck on keeping your back intact! Spicy Chicken claims about a million pods per season off of around 6k plants. That is just over 166 per plant...I have had some plants go well over 300 easily. So...between 150 and 250 thousand pods. Most of the big growers just clean the plant 2-3 times for the season, but that limits numbers, I think if you pull more often as they ripen you may clear 300 thousand!!!

I've been drinking tonight, but those numbers seem roughly accurate. I have in the back of my mind a dehydrator a la ~~megamoo~~ Mezo last year. At the very least, I can dump all the pods in some sort of reactor, since I'm primarily interested in the capsaicin. Plus, Springdale, just north of here, has one of the highest concentrations of undocumented labor in the country. (Wait, I didn't say that. Never mind.) Plus, even legitimate farm labor is much less than minimum wage... (Yeah, that's the ticket.)

maximumcapsicum said:
Hey man, 1000 plants is going to keep you very active. Wonderful. Love your grow setup and operation. Happy growin!

Thank you, Max. I'll be continuing to watch your grow, too.

Devv said:
I'm amazed 1,000? I love it! You're gonna be swamped this season.

But it's all good!

Plants are looking good!

Yep.

Spicegeist said:
I'd love to grow 1,000 plants of just one variety.

Now that's a whole 'nother perspective on matters. You should do it!

Portuge said:
Sfrbs will be all over the market from Sawyer... Buy two get two free...

As long as folks are willing to pay postage...

Edit: D'oh. I was thinking of Mezo's big solar dehydrator, not megamoo.

GA Growhead · Feb 15, 2014

I was starting to feel like my numbers were on the high side, but you will have me beat!
Looking/sounding good John!

capsidadburn · Feb 15, 2014

Charge full steam into the fury John! Love it.

stickman · Feb 16, 2014

+1 on #181!... Sheet bro'... I hope you've got a large enough spread to handle them all, or is your plan to sell off the extras to defray your starting costs? I'm gonna be asking around among the folks that sell seedlings this spring and see if I can find a market for my extras.

PIC 1 · Feb 16, 2014

John, with that many plants that's alot of pepper picking with many harvests. Heck, I'd find some help with that and trade whats picked with some home made salsa's.........just a thought.

Sawyer · Feb 16, 2014

GA Growhead said:
I was starting to feel like my numbers were on the high side, but you will have me beat!
Looking/sounding good John!

Thanks, Jason. I once would have said, "Never too many", but I'm testing that position now.

capsidadburn said:
Charge full steam into the fury John! Love it.

Hah! Yep.

stickman said:
+1 on #181!... Sheet bro'... I hope you've got a large enough spread to handle them all, or is your plan to sell off the extras to defray your starting costs? I'm gonna be asking around among the folks that sell seedlings this spring and see if I can find a market for my extras.

Yeah, I've got plenty of room for even three or four times that many plants. A thousand is only about 3x what I had last year, so I can imagine what I'm in for. Granted many of last year's plants were only starting to produce when the season ended, so there is that to consider. Definitely going to try selling some plants, though. Wholesale through some of the local nurseries. I just don't have what it takes to do retail.

PIC 1 said:
John, with that many plants that's alot of pepper picking with many harvests. Heck, I'd find some help with that and trade whats picked with some home made salsa's.........just a thought.

That's a good suggestion, Greg. I have considered a "pick your own" operation. My dad did that with his muscadine vineyard back in the day. For a few years, didn't see them last year, an Asian family would stop by wanting some bamboo shoots. I generally said go for it. One year the matriarch brought containers of two different dishes she prepared using the shoots. Best asian food I've ever had. On the other hand, harvesting the shoots myself and selling them to local asian restaurants can be pretty lucrative for the short time they are in season.

Potting up begins today.

Sawyer · Feb 16, 2014

I received another care package this weekend, this one from Shane (stc3248):

Thank you, Shane! Will you help me out with identifying the pods? Are the longer, skinnier ones the Goat's Weed and the others the cross? That's interesting you included the charapita seeds. I had made an entry in last year's notes about wanting to try that one, but then it didn't make this year's list and, well, out of sight, out of mind. Thanks for the reminder. I haven't sampled the powders, yet, but they sure look nice.

Temperatures got up to the lower 60s today, so I potted up 1 flat of 18 3.5" square pots of Orange Locoto (PF1-6) and 1 flat of 9 pots each of Brown Moruga (PF1-2) and Jigsaw (PF1-4). (All of this and I emptied just three 6-packs of one seedling flat.) For the most part, just one plant per pot, but I put a couple of plants in a couple of pots, just to keep things even. Then it started cooling off outside and I didn't want to shock the seedlings, so I stopped for the day. More tomorrow, weather willing. No pictures of these, yet, but the Orange Locotos are growing the best of all the new starts. But they are all growing much more slowly than some of your plants. That's fine by me, because it's a long time to plant out yet. As long as they're healthy, I'm happy.

Before potting up the peppers, I planted a whole bunch of shallots and elephant garlic. The garden has finally thawed out enough that I can dig in it. These next three pictures were all taken after the 0ºF freeze we had here back in January. It's been colder than that once since then. Tops have been frozen, but stems, bulbs, and roots are all in good shape. Point being these are some really cold hardy alliums.

These bare shallot cloves have been exposed on the (uninsulated) front stoop since last fall. Every single one was still firm (which could just mean any dried out husks blew away) and seemingly ready to grow.

I had two of these flat terra cotta pots with shallots:

Each pot was planted early last fall with 9 shallot cloves. One of them produced 21 plants and one produced 39 plants, looking sort of like scallions, that I planted in the garden today. All had healthy roots.

These elephant garlic cloves have just laid on top of the ground since the end of last summer, on a thin piece of foam:

I didn't count how many there were, at least two dozen, maybe three. All but four of five were firm with very vigorous roots growing.

This experience has me beginning to believe the best way to overwinter alliums for spring planting is to just toss them in a corner of the garden and forget them.