Sawyer '16 - Memorial Day update

Sawyer · Apr 10, 2016

Plantguy76 said:
Hi John been house setting for mom but checked my plants before I left .
I've been getting good tomato germination an had one lemon Drop pepper up as well
I need to do a figure of my pepper germination results but I have a good balance of scotch bonnet varieties and different Baccatums .
Your 2 Arkansas Peach ( seed stock form you was form Paul he sent you 2014) are doing well with some variation.
I have one that will be a huge plant full & stocky the other is little compared to it's sibling .
It still a good size any ideal what gen these will be ?
I plan to make a jelly called River Styx form the pods an copper river tomatoes this fall.
Anyway hope your grow is going Well an you get lots of pods

Hey, Jason, thanks! Sounds like things are going well for you. I've got my tomato seeds all lined up for planting. Hopefully I can get to that this afternoon. The AR Peach seeds you have are either F3 or F4. I haven't done a very good job keeping up with that info for the random variations I've been growing out. If I ever do any intentional crosses, I'll keep better records. I like the name River Styx. Look forward to seeing how it turns out. Good luck with your grow!

Did a quick germination check this morning. Don't have to time to post the tables, but here's a quick rundown. No significant changes in PFs 1-3, as expected. PF1 plants are starting to get some size on them and need to be potted up soon. Lots of 0% germination for the 2013 seeds, mostly in PF2. For a lot of those varieties, I have newer seeds started, but I'll still have a "wanted to get" list this fall. PF4 produced a single Malaysian Goronong. I'm disappointed with the failure of some of the different habs and bhuts (PF5), but it's not like I don't have enough to keep me business otherwise.

PFs 5-7 have shown increased germination, but are mostly tapering off now. The only new variety to germinate in PF5 is a single Reaper, for '13 seed. I did have a hurtful loss there, losing 2 of 3 NuMex Heritage Big Jim. Apparently there's a hot spot under that flat and those cells dry out much faster than the rest. All three stems perked back up after watering, but the apical bud was too far gone for two of them. The third is iffy, but I think it'll pull through. New additions to PF6 include a single Goat's Weed and a single Mulato Isleno. Still no Urfa Biber or Bull's Heart and that's disappointing. The biggest action has been in PF7 where I have at least some of all the ornamentals started now, except for Prairie Fire. Nothing for the Early, Orange, or Pinata Jals or Jaloro. Of those, the orange and jaloro are the most missed. I love the color concept of the Pinata, but it has proved to be a weak plant for me in the past. Overall, the Jal germination rates have been very low, but I have enough to work with. A single Tepin has joined the crowd, so that's a good thing.

I have my annual trip to D.C. coming up this week and I'm worried about keeping the plants alive while I'm gone. I'll soak them with water before I leave, turn off the heater mats, reduce the photoperiod a couple of hours and likely unplug 1 of 3 light fixtures on each shelf. And hope for the best. They'll go for almost 3 full days without any attention.

Have been taking pics of some of the wildflowers around here. Also planted a bunch of ginger, galangal, and turmeric rhizomes. The hops are starting to do their thing. When I get back, I'll probably start a separate thread in the "Growing Other" forum, to include all this, the tomatoes, and whatever else I wind up growing this year.

Devv · Apr 10, 2016

Good luck while you're gone. I hope everything hangs for you.

stickman · Apr 13, 2016

Hi John! I've been away for a while, but just checking in now. Glad to see you got some Kapijas to sprout... hope they're doing well for you now. Did the El Nino weather system give you a better spring this year?

Sawyer · Apr 13, 2016

Devv said:
Good luck while you're gone. I hope everything hangs for you.

Thanks, Scott. I just soaked all the seedling flats, turned off the heater mats, and disconnected 1/3 of the lighting. Heading out in about a half hour. Should be back in the wee hours of Saturday morning. Fingers crossed.

stickman said:
Hi John! I've been away for a while, but just checking in now. Glad to see you got some Kapijas to sprout... hope they're doing well for you now. Did the El Nino weather system give you a better spring this year?

Hey, Rick, thanks for stopping by. Yes, the Kapijas are doing well. I was disappointed none of the Urfa Bibers germinated, but I think I still have some seed and will replant them (and a bunch of others) when I get back from this current trip. Actually, the rain has been barely adequate here this spring. I haven't watered any in-ground plants, but have had to water outdoor potted plants a few times. No rain in the forecast for the rest of the week, either, but I think (hope) everything outside is wet enough to carry over. In hindsight it seems our last frost was a couple of weeks ago. There have been some high-30s mornings, though, so I'm not sweating being so far behind. I hope things are going well for you, too.

Last check in until the weekend. Hope everyone has a great pepper-growing week!

Devv · Apr 15, 2016

Wishing you a safe trip! And happy results when you return.

Essegi · Apr 17, 2016

Happy trip!

Sawyer · Apr 17, 2016

Devv said:
Wishing you a safe trip! And happy results when you return.

Essegi said:
Happy trip!

Thanks, guys. The trip itself was good, informative and productive. But I managed to pick up some sort of bug there that really kicked in on the last leg of the flight home. I got home in the early, early hours of Saturday morning and have pretty much just slept for the intervening 36 hours. Still running a fever of ~101º F. Just ate a little, a yogurt cup and a tangerine, the first food in about 48 hours. (Maybe I'll lose some weight out of this.)

On the plus side, my strategy for putting the plants in a holding pattern worked. The plants look like they've grown hardly at all while I was away, but they are healthy-looking and at least they didn't die. I've turned the heater mats back on and increased the light intensity. I'll kick up the nutes and light duration as soon as I don't have to willfully drag my @$$ out of bed.

Devv · Apr 18, 2016

Hope you are feeling better!

Although this is not related, some good advise from a doc:

I always get sinus trauma when I fly. A doctor I went to a few years ago was in the Air Force as a Doc and said many fighter pilots get the sinus trauma, and if left untreated develops into an infection. He said to use Neo Synephrine for 2-3 days prior to flight and during the vacation, and 3-4 days after. Works like a charm! Symtom's are just like a sinus infection.

Sawyer · Apr 18, 2016

Never heard of sinus trauma; I'll have to look into it. I'm pretty sure what I have is the real-deal flu. Dry cough, achy all over, fatigue, headache, gastrointestinal distress, but absolutely no sinus or other head symptoms (at least not yet). Fever has been consistently running 101ºF +/- a half degree. Initially I alternated between shivering and sweating. (Was worried I'd get escorted out of the airport at one point.) The last time my body ached like this was when I wrecked a motorcycle at age 18. Makes me think all the other times I thought I had the flu were just bad colds. Hopefully this doesn't keep me down too long, because I've got lots of potting up to do. Some of the girls are looking pretty flirty. Need to get some pictures up.

Again, unrelated, but I saw an article the other day touting the potential benefit of ginger powder in alleviating symptoms of seasonal allergies.

http://www.foxnews.com/health/2015/09/22/powdered-ginger-may-ease-seasonal-allergy-symptoms.html

Devv · Apr 20, 2016

Does sound like the flu. Oh, that's no fun! Get well soon!

Read up on the ginger, worth a try for me, the allergies are what started my pneumonia travels last spring.

I edited my post above, 23 was supposed to be 2-3 days...yeah, I didn't do the treatment on my last flight because I use stuff prescribed to me by the pulmonologist. And almost wound up at the docs, knocked it out in three days. You'll know if you ever suffer from flying, even you eyeballs hurt from the pressure :rolleyes:

Sawyer · Apr 22, 2016

Well, now I'm doubting my self-diagnosis of flu. My fever broke on Tuesday and by yesterday I felt more or less normal. I don't think you can get over the flu in 5 days. It all started with aspirating some water into my lungs, so who knows what opportunistic bug took advantage of the resulting irritation. DC seems like a pretty dirty place and a melting pot for bugs from all over.

I've got meetings today, but then I'm free to turn my attention to peppers and grounds work. I actually have a handful of OWs that survived this year, including a 3 y.o. orange bhut that is leafing out. Pics to follow.

Devv · Apr 22, 2016

Glad to hear you're feeling better!

Streetspirit · Apr 23, 2016

Amazing... how clean is your way to plan! I'm looking forward to following your glog!
I'm waiting more pictures to come!
Steve

OCD Chilehead · May 25, 2016

Hey John, I had to do some searching for this year's GLOG. I thought I would revive this glog and see how you and the plants are doing.
We're going to need some pics soon. LOL

Devv · May 25, 2016

Hope all is well John!

meatfreak · May 26, 2016

OCD Chilehead said:
Hey John, I had to do some searching for this year's GLOG. I thought I would revive this glog and see how you and the plants are doing.
We're going to need some pics soon. LOL

+1!

stickman · May 26, 2016

OCD Chilehead said:
Hey John, I had to do some searching for this year's GLOG. I thought I would revive this glog and see how you and the plants are doing.
We're going to need some pics soon. LOL

meatfreak said:
+1!

+2

Sawyer · May 30, 2016

Hey, guys and gals. I've been dropping the ball on keeping this glog up to date. I know pics are why you're here and sorry to disappoint; I'll work on getting some pics posted this week. I had a relapse of whatever bug I had back in April. Well, not really a relapse, just a much slower recovery than I expected. Although the fever never returned, it's taken a long time for the lungs to clear out. Been sleeping a lot and stamina has suffered. It probably didn't help any that two or three weeks ago I went hiking somewhere I hadn't hiked before. It was only about a mile long but there was no trail, just bushwhacking. It took almost 4 hours to complete and was easily the most difficult and stressful hike I've done in Arkansas. Only a couple of my Wyoming treks have been more extreme. More about that later, though; I did get some good pics I'll post.

In spite of all that, I have made some small progress with the grow. Most of the plants are still in flats, but I have been potting up some, a few to give away. Once potted, the plants remain outside and it's only been in the last week or so that nighttime temperatures have been consistently staying above 50ºF. Even with warmer daytime temps, the plants just don't seem to want to grow much when it's that cool at night. I think those days are finished for the season, finally.

The very first plants I potted were four P. Dreadie Select SB (along with enough others to fill a flat w/ 18 3.5" sq. pots.) Gary (windchicken) sent me 4 seeds back in January. All four germinated and grew well. However, the very first night after I potted them, something chewed most of one of them and it subsequently died. I've seen it before and think it was some sort of worm descending from the silver maple above on a silk thread, ninja jewel-thief style. (The plants were on a table, not the ground.) There's been no further loss and the three remaining PDS SB plants have finally started growing. I've got a total of 72 plants in 3.5" pots that are ready to go into bigger pots or in ground whenever.

Nothing in-ground, yet; the garden is still mostly covered in naturalized cover crop (sounds better than weeds, right?) and very wet. I have a couple of rows almost ready to accept plants, but with the cool nights and especially the recent excessive rain, I can't feel too bad about the situation. The first plants to hit dirt last year never did as well as those planted later, and spring conditions are similar this year. I'm thinking of tilling up a section of the front yard, or maybe digging holes, and putting some plants there. Even if I don't do that, that's were many potted plants will go. Same goes for the (west) side yard. I'm hoping to have about equal numbers of potted and in-ground plants.

I managed to successfully OW a few plants this past winter, in germination flats, 3.5" sq. pots and bigger pots. The biggest success there is a now-three-year-old orange ghost. It was in a #3 nursery pot last year and got potted up to a #5 a couple of days ago. It could use a much bigger pot, but needs to remain easily moveable. It goes to a friend in a few days; I'll snap and post a pic of it before then.

After my success in keeping everything alive when I was traveling for four or five days back in mid-April, I suppose it might qualify as ironic that I've lost some plants more recently. I had to go out of town unexpectedly for just a couple of days. I didn't have time to prepare the plants properly and forgot to turn off the heater mats. Came back to a bunch of shriveled plants. I haven't taken inventory, but for at least a few varieties, I lost every start I had. I may or may not have extra seed and may or may not restart them. It's getting pretty late for starting seeds, though I do have some annuums I plan to start. And a chef friend of mine recently gave me seeds from some yellow habs he got in a shipment of regular orange habs. I'll start those, too.

Stay tuned for pics. Hope everyone has a happy, thoughtful, and safe Memorial Day.

JoynersHotPeppers · May 30, 2016

Get better man!

Trident chilli · May 30, 2016

+1 on your health ..... looking forward to your pics when your up to it