Sawyer '15 - Killing frost 11/22 + pics

wahlee76 · Apr 26, 2015

Beautful nature over there, reminds me a bit of Belgium (ardennen)

Plantguy76 · Apr 26, 2015

John I've been thinking about you lately may apples are growing everywhere & sweet Williams are in bloom & some kind of wild flower that like a mini daisy
All these wild flowers makes me think of you & the things you have written in your glog.
I bet your peppers and other garden stuff is really taking off now the only thing I planted was the pineapple rocoto
I did pic up 3 Red San Marzano & a black cherry tomato plant along with a red blackeye Susan never had one of those but might get another the red San Marzano are for salsa & sauce making as the golden San marzano hybrids died.
The funny thing is I had seed for the red heirloom variety but did not plant them so this must be meant to be lol
Enough glog hijacking just want to check in see how you are doing etc

Sawyer · Apr 29, 2015

wahlee76 said:
Beautful nature over there, reminds me a bit of Belgium (ardennen)

Hi, Wally, thanks for stopping by. I don't really have a favorite season, but this this is definitely a good time of year to get out and observe nature. I've never been to Belgium, but from what I've seen and heard it must be beautiful.

Just out of curiosity, I looked up the highest point in Belgium and found it is Signal de Botrange at 694 metres (2,277 ft). Interestingly enough, the highest point in Arkansas is Signal Hill on Mount Magazine at 839 m (2,753 ft).

Plantguy76 said:
John I've been thinking about you lately may apples are growing everywhere & sweet Williams are in bloom & some kind of wild flower that like a mini daisy
All these wild flowers makes me think of you & the things you have written in your glog.
I bet your peppers and other garden stuff is really taking off now the only thing I planted was the pineapple rocoto
I did pic up 3 Red San Marzano & a black cherry tomato plant along with a red blackeye Susan never had one of those but might get another the red San Marzano are for salsa & sauce making as the golden San marzano hybrids died.
The funny thing is I had seed for the red heirloom variety but did not plant them so this must be meant to be lol
Enough glog hijacking just want to check in see how you are doing etc

Hey, Jason. Yep, spring is in full swing finally. You've got some interesting things going; I look forward to watching them progress.

I have my fingers crossed that last night was the last of the too-cool nights. It got down to around 39º or 40ºF (about 4ºC), but we're supposed to have a strong warming trend for at least the next 10 days. Based on that, I'm going to move all the pepper plants outside later today to begin hardening off. They'll go under the shade of a silver maple and gradually get moved out to more and more sun.

Most of these will go straight from the (highly overcrowded) germination flats directly to their final location, be it pots or bags (#1s for some of the ornamentals up to 5 gal grow bag for supers, maybe a handful of larger pots) or dirt. I did pot up 18 to 3.5" square pots a week or so ago, but left them outside and subsequent cold rains have killed at least one of them. The others seem to be getting on okay. I have at least another 18 to pot up to 3.5" s.p. today or tomorrow for distribution.

Not that I've been all that present for the last week or two, but I'll be even less so until toward the end of next week. It's that time of year for my annual consulting gig and I've got a lot of work to do before the travel starts. I really wish they'd do these things in the dead of winter when the garden isn't calling.

jcw10tc · Apr 29, 2015

Good luck. Can't imagine doing what you need to do in the next few weeks. You have any helpers, would make it better but still a massive effort.

meatfreak · Apr 29, 2015

Good luck with the hardening off, John. Sorry to hear about the Tobago White but I got 6 plants going and 2 others are growing a couple as well. Should at least 1 showing the wanted phenotype again (I hope)

Sawyer · May 1, 2015

jcw10tc said:
Good luck. Can't imagine doing what you need to do in the next few weeks. You have any helpers, would make it better but still a massive effort.

Thanks, Justin. No helpers, yet, but I'm working on it. Definitely going to need help when the harvest starts coming in. (I hope.)

meatfreak said:
Good luck with the hardening off, John. Sorry to hear about the Tobago White but I got 6 plants going and 2 others are growing a couple as well. Should at least 1 showing the wanted phenotype again (I hope)

Thanks, Stefan. Yeah, it sucks about the Tobago, but 1 plant is better than none. Maybe this one will be the one. Hopefully someone will have one that is true.

I shut down the germination station yesterday and moved all the plants outdoors for good. And wouldn't you know it, the temperature got down to 37ºF last night. As of yesterday morning, it was supposed to get down only to the upper 40s. I guess the forecasters can claim they got it right, though, now that they continuously change the forecast every few minutes, right up until the weather is actually happening.

I know the plants will (mostly) survive, but I don't like shocking them like that. The first 18 3.5" sq. pots I potted up are struggling, I imagine due to the cool nights of the last week. I potted up another round of 18 yesterday, one more to go. These are mostly varieties I've promised to others (with plenty of extras).

I've read some interesting things lately about chayote. It seems to be a very useful and versatile crop. I doubt it will have time to produce fruit here, but I bought one at the grocery recently and left it on the counter top to see what would happen. Sure enough, it started sprouting. I potted it yesterday in a 10 gallon pot and we'll see what else happens.

gnslngr · May 2, 2015

Sawyer said:
I've updated the germination numbers in Post #56. I'm well over 1,000 plants now in seven 72-cell flats. Have one more pepper flat to plant. It seems late, but it's still close to a month until plant out. In case you are wondering what 1,000 plants crowded into such a small place look like, take a look at these photos. PF1,2,6,&7 are planted according the 24-section scheme shown in Post #41, while PF3,4,&5 are planted according to the 36-section scheme shown in Post #44. The specific varieties in each section can be seen in the aforementioned Post #56.

Pepper flat #1:

Pepper flat #2:

Pepper flat #3:

Pepper flat #4:

Pepper flat #5:

Pepper flat #6:

Pepper flat #7:

You do realize that with this many plants, you officially have minions.......

I will have a few trays after planting....and I will not throw them out either. You never know....
Of course , maybe 40-50 at the most.....many I will dig a few stray plots for(meaning groups of 3-6). Just in case....
Why are they so tough to toss?lol

My new excuse to go out and stare at them in the ground after I finish plant out this year , is bow practice from the roof-which I've been doing since I picked up a new bow in January.Now my wife just thinks I'm
practicing for hunting season, so I won't have to come back inside to "what are doing out there, just staring at your plants????"!!!

Plantguy76 · May 3, 2015

John form reading your glog looks like your going to be swamped what with work & your 1000+ garden
I hope the hardening off if going well for you.
I have had my first wave inside cause they was getting hammered to recuperate there back out on the front porch now cause I plan on planting out the first wave Monday.
Anyway best of luck hope all goes well for you.
How is the Arkansas Reaper doing?

moruga welder · May 3, 2015

FL Born said:
Your shotgun sounds NICE!!! I have always wanted a .22mag over .410 for backpacking... Springfield made a rifle that folded in half, they called it the M6 Scout... They are real hard to find these days...

Those photos are awesome! It looks like the weather is getting better there... Hopefully, it will warm up there soon and you can set your plants outside...
Nothing but thunderstorms here all this week... My outdoor peppers are about to sprout legs and run for cover!!!
I moved all of them, that I could, under the porch roof, but the wind blew the rain onto the porch and still drenched them....
At least the sun is coming out for a few hours a day to dry things out some... I can't wait to get a greenhouse...

I'm sorry to hear about the Tobago Treasure plants... I too hope the remaining plant will carry the genes...
I have lost a few of my indoor seedlings, but not sure why... I'm doing some testing to see if I can narrow it down...
I am sure that they were either too dry or too wet... I will soon know which...

Have a great day, my friend!!!

i've got a STEPHENS 22/410 over and under , used it all the time rabbit hunting with my pops when i was a kid . he gave it to me before he passed .ie was his older brothers whom died at 30 my dad was 27 , it meant a lot to my pops . r.i.p. . sweet gun tho ! :onfire:

Sawyer · May 3, 2015

gnslngr said:
You do realize that with this many plants, you officially have minions.......

I will have a few trays after planting....and I will not throw them out either. You never know....
Of course , maybe 40-50 at the most.....many I will dig a few stray plots for(meaning groups of 3-6). Just in case....
Why are they so tough to toss?lol

My new excuse to go out and stare at them in the ground after I finish plant out this year , is bow practice from the roof-which I've been doing since I picked up a new bow in January.Now my wife just thinks I'm
practicing for hunting season, so I won't have to come back inside to "what are doing out there, just staring at your plants????"!!!

Dave! Good to see you here. Ha, minions, I'm going to have to work with that. Maybe if we have a meteor shower they'll become mobile. Sort of a "Day of the Triffids" thing, except obeying my commands, of course. Pepper minions... I'll be happy if they just obey my wish to be productive.

Nothing wrong with staring at plants. I do it all the time. What kind of bow did you get? I haven't had one in decades, but would really like to get one to be able to quietly harvest the deer here on my place.

Plantguy76 said:
John form reading your glog looks like your going to be swamped what with work & your 1000+ garden
I hope the hardening off if going well for you.
I have had my first wave inside cause they was getting hammered to recuperate there back out on the front porch now cause I plan on planting out the first wave Monday.
Anyway best of luck hope all goes well for you.
How is the Arkansas Reaper doing?

Hey, Jason, yeah it's going to be a busy summer. So far, so good on hardening off. Something knocked over/dug up one of the hops I had just potted up, but so far the peppers have been left alone. It did get too cool the first couple of nights after I put them all outside, but they've survived and for the foreseeable future the lows should be in the 50s or higher. I forget the final count on the AR Reaper, but it's enough to continue evaluation and get some seeds.

Good luck to you, as well.

moruga welder said:
i've got a STEPHENS 22/410 over and under , used it all the time rabbit hunting with my pops when i was a kid . he gave it to me before he passed .ie was his older brothers whom died at 30 my dad was 27 , it meant a lot to my pops . r.i.p. . sweet gun tho !

Hey, Frank, that Stephens is a sweet gun. My most cherished possessions are guns inherited from my ancestors.

The plants are taking the full morning sun well. If it weren't for this project I'm working on, I'd be planting out today. As it is, I'm targeting the last part of the coming week. They'll go out in small batches, one variety at a time. First up, I think will be the Yellow Moruga and/or Yellow Scorpion.

moruga welder · May 3, 2015

Sawyer said:
Dave! Good to see you here. Ha, minions, I'm going to have to work with that. Maybe if we have a meteor shower they'll become mobile. Sort of a "Day of the Triffids" thing, except obeying my commands, of course. Pepper minions... I'll be happy if they just obey my wish to be productive.

Nothing wrong with staring at plants. I do it all the time. What kind of bow did you get? I haven't had one in decades, but would really like to get one to be able to quietly harvest the deer here on my place.

Hey, Jason, yeah it's going to be a busy summer. So far, so good on hardening off. Something knocked over/dug up one of the hops I had just potted up, but so far the peppers have been left alone. It did get too cool the first couple of nights after I put them all outside, but they've survived and for the foreseeable future the lows should be in the 50s or higher. I forget the final count on the AR Reaper, but it's enough to continue evaluation and get some seeds.

Good luck to you, as well.

Hey, Frank, that Stephens is a sweet gun. My most cherished possessions are guns inherited from my ancestors.

The plants are taking the full morning sun well. If it weren't for this project I'm working on, I'd be planting out today. As it is, I'm targeting the last part of the coming week. They'll go out in small batches, one variety at a time. First up, I think will be the Yellow Moruga and/or Yellow Scorpion.

was to be 80 partly cloudy today , but so far nothing but cloud no sun and 62 out . got all the plants under the shade cloth hardening off . seems like the ones ( extras ) in 18oz.solos hardened off easy but the big guys i had in 1 gal. pots aren't taken to it to well and their 2' tall ready to drop them in the garden but don't think they'll fair well to high winds and the 80 sun yet . the containers i can move to garage . ( 7 gal.) but thats getting old lol been moving plants in and out of the house for a month !

Sawyer · May 3, 2015

moruga welder said:
was to be 80 partly cloudy today , but so far nothing but cloud no sun and 62 out . got all the plants under the shade cloth hardening off . seems like the ones ( extras ) in 18oz.solos hardened off easy but the big guys i had in 1 gal. pots aren't taken to it to well and their 2' tall ready to drop them in the garden but don't think they'll fair well to high winds and the 80 sun yet . the containers i can move to garage . ( 7 gal.) but thats getting old lol been moving plant in and out of the house for a month !

Yeah, for the most part, mine are still in germination flats and even those, I don't want to be moving in and out.

capsidadburn · May 3, 2015

I know that I am ready to be done with germinating and I have so much less. Can't imagine the job you're taking on!

I started to early last year, and too late this year. Can't wait to shut down the germ area.

Good luck with your projects.

Sawyer · May 3, 2015

capsidadburn said:
I know that I am ready to be done with germinating and I have so much less. Can't imagine the job you're taking on!

I started to early last year, and too late this year. Can't wait to shut down the germ area.

Good luck with your projects.

Thanks, Mike; good luck to you, too. I guess I missed it somewhere, but what peppers are you growing this year? I've only seen your Native Observations thread. I've got some more pictures I've meant to post over there, but that will have to wait a few days.

I've still got a lot of (non-pepper) germinating to do once I get back from my trip. Stuff that should have already been started. I think I started the peppers at about the right time this year, but I really have to figure out something better for an intermediate stage between germination and putting them in the ground. My grow-out station just stayed too cold all through late winter/early spring. (I lost almost all of my OWs due to a sudden cold snap.)

capsidadburn · May 3, 2015

Sawyer said:
Thanks, Mike; good luck to you, too. I guess I missed it somewhere, but what peppers are you growing this year? I've only seen your Native Observations thread. I've got some more pictures I've meant to post over there, but that will have to wait a few days.

I've still got a lot of (non-pepper) germinating to do once I get back from my trip. Stuff that should have already been started. I think I started the peppers at about the right time this year, but I really have to figure out something better for an intermediate stage between germination and putting them in the ground. My grow-out station just stayed too cold all through late winter/early spring. (I lost almost all of my OWs due to a sudden cold snap.)

I've got half a dozen varieties or so along with some cross stuff I'm messing with. I will post some pics of them soon. A few ow's as well.

I made my first true cross last year. Not a natural accident I mean. I did not like the taste of the very bitter and hot pod. Tepin and Quintisho. I was going to abandon it but then realized I now have Tepin genes in a Chinense plant. One of these I left out for the winter has come back so that a good sign I think. My goal was to make a larger pod Chinense that can handle the Texas summer with better results. So I am sort of moving in the right direction. I thought that I would at least give another season, and taste, but also continue the cross result with another large pod variety that I like and grows well for me. That most likely will be the Yellow Tobogo Scotch bonnet.

I'll get some pepper pics in my Native glog soon.

Sawyer · May 3, 2015

capsidadburn said:
I've got half a dozen varieties or so along with some cross stuff I'm messing with. I will post some pics of them soon. A few ow's as well.

I made my first true cross last year. Not a natural accident I mean. I did not like the taste of the very bitter and hot pod. Tepin and Quintisho. I was going to abandon it but then realized I now have Tepin genes in a Chinense plant. One of these I left out for the winter has come back so that a good sign I think. My goal was to make a larger pod Chinense that can handle the Texas summer with better results. So I am sort of moving in the right direction. I thought that I would at least give another season, and taste, but also continue the cross result with another large pod variety that I like and grows well for me. That most likely will be the Yellow Tobogo Scotch bonnet.

I'll get some pepper pics in my Native glog soon.

That cross sounds interesting. I look forward to seeing how it does. A frost, heat and drought tolerant super-hot with good flavor would be my dream plant.

Okay, I just couldn't stand working on the computer all day on such a beautiful day. So I took a break and started planting out in the garden. I set out nine TS Yellow Originals and seven 7 Pod Long Browns. One of the latter is nothing more than a twig with a tiny bit of green leaf on the end. It's pretty clear something chewed the top off of it. It had some roots, so maybe it'll grow, but I'm not holding my breath. Pictures will have to wait until I return from travel. I hope I watered them well enough to tide them over.

gnslngr · May 3, 2015

Yes ,beware the meteor showers!

The bow is a Bow Tech Experience , considering my old bow was 12 years old(one of those I'm bro, you want this? deals) , this one is jump into "now". I will lighten the pull a bit, 70# takes a bit of getting used to.
Quite a bit quieter then the old Myles Keller compound I had, and about 50-75 fps faster. Got it used from my ROV Supt ,who wanted the newest model.......or I wouldn't have it.
First 3 arrows went completely through the target from 40 yds...welcome to the future!

KiNGDeNNiZ · May 5, 2015

Excited for your year....
I lI've chayote

Sawyer · May 7, 2015

gnslngr said:
Yes ,beware the meteor showers!

The bow is a Bow Tech Experience , considering my old bow was 12 years old(one of those I'm bro, you want this? deals) , this one is jump into "now". I will lighten the pull a bit, 70# takes a bit of getting used to.
Quite a bit quieter then the old Myles Keller compound I had, and about 50-75 fps faster. Got it used from my ROV Supt ,who wanted the newest model.......or I wouldn't have it.
First 3 arrows went completely through the target from 40 yds...welcome to the future!

Yeah, some of this new bow technology seems to be a little over the top for me. I may get a cross-bow, or even just a good old-fashioned recurve.

KiNGDeNNiZ said:
Excited for your year....
I lI've chayote

Hey, DeNNiZ, what's up? I just found your 2015 glog and will follow along and try to catch up when I can. What do you do with chayote? Have you ever used anything besides the fruit? Apparently they make a tuber, too. And are the leaves and shoots really edible?

After multiple travel delays and spending an uncomfortable night in a most inhospitable connecting air terminal (city to remain unnamed and also unvisited ever again... this was strike two), I finally made it home midday yesterday. Fortunately it rained here yesterday morning, so all the plants look pretty happy. The ones in ground haven't started growing yet, but they all look healthy and happy. Even the twig still looks green. The ones potted up to 3.5" sq. pots have started growing and are ready for delivery. All the rest are hanging in there, but impatient to get in the ground or larger pots. Pictures to follow after I get caught up from traveling.

KiNGDeNNiZ · May 8, 2015

usually cook it with chicken and broth...with ginger and other veggies.. forgot the dish name...

my glog is tehre..lol i do work here and there

good luck again