Sawyer's 2013 Glog - Last Harvest/First Sauce

WalkGood · Jul 17, 2013

Sawyer not sure if you’re tried Bacillus thuringiensis? As you know I had horn worm issues as well, after hand picking loads of worms, squishing and killing well over 50 eggs I gave it a shot as I had an inexpensive bag from last year. Well they dropped off the plants like flies and haven’t seen any in weeks. This beats all the time consuming close inspections I had to do daily … now if I can find something organic like this to rid the mites and aphids I’ll be a happy camper, lolz.

~~Nice~~ Awesome updates with great pictures mon, love seeing you have pods \o/ and I’m guessing you’ll soon be harvesting plenty! Keep up dis great ting mon!

Edit: BTW I origionally purchased it for nematodes but Rick suggested using it for hornworms so I give him credit. Didn't work for nematodes last year but never tossed it and it's cheap IIRC

Devv · Jul 17, 2013

Sawyer said:
Oh, yeah! Got about another 1/4" of rain today! I think in just about every direction from here, they got more. There's something weird about the lay of the land here. I've seen typical storms coming from the West split in two and go North and South of me. Lately weather has not been typical, but the bulk of the rain has been missing me. That also means, the tornadoes miss me and the worst of the winter weather, too, so I'm not complaining (too much). As long as my well holds out, I'm happy. (Ecstatic, even, with the low temperatures we've been having.

We're up over 1" for the last three days, and I'm waiting for it to stop right now so I can go pick.

We have here what LB and I call the Devine split...and so do a lot of the locals, it does just as you describe except they go East and West. This usually happens when a nice cell is headed straight for us.

Trippa · Jul 17, 2013

Nice to hear you are getting some much needed rain ... Enjoy!!

chsy83 · Jul 19, 2013

WalkGood said:
Sawyer not sure if you’re tried Bacillus thuringiensis? As you know I had horn worm issues as well, after hand picking loads of worms, squishing and killing well over 50 eggs I gave it a shot as I had an inexpensive bag from last year. Well they dropped off the plants like flies and haven’t seen any in weeks. This beats all the time consuming close inspections I had to do daily … now if I can find something organic like this to rid the mites and aphids I’ll be a happy camper, lolz.

~~Nice~~ Awesome updates with great pictures mon, love seeing you have pods \o/ and I’m guessing you’ll soon be harvesting plenty! Keep up dis great ting mon!

Edit: BTW I origionally purchased it for nematodes but Rick suggested using it for hornworms so I give him credit. Didn't work for nematodes last year but never tossed it and it's cheap IIRC

Studied BT in college. Does a bag have a mix of strains, or is it single strain? Reason I ask, the reason it was a hotly researched topic was the specificity of organisms that it attacked. Each strain only attacked a single type of organism, so it was viewed as a good way to target the bads. Then I heard that they were trying to develop chimeric strains that could attack more than one type of organism . . .

Sawyer · Jul 19, 2013

WalkGood said:
Sawyer not sure if you’re tried Bacillus thuringiensis? As you know I had horn worm issues as well, after hand picking loads of worms, squishing and killing well over 50 eggs I gave it a shot as I had an inexpensive bag from last year. Well they dropped off the plants like flies and haven’t seen any in weeks. This beats all the time consuming close inspections I had to do daily … now if I can find something organic like this to rid the mites and aphids I’ll be a happy camper, lolz.

~~Nice~~ Awesome updates with great pictures mon, love seeing you have pods \o/ and I’m guessing you’ll soon be harvesting plenty! Keep up dis great ting mon!

Edit: BTW I origionally purchased it for nematodes but Rick suggested using it for hornworms so I give him credit. Didn't work for nematodes last year but never tossed it and it's cheap IIRC

Thanks, Ramon. I've not tried Bt, not recently anyway. I have spread milky spore (Bacillus popilliae) around a few times to combat the Japanese beetles that used to ravage my blackberries (among other things). Apparently it is now established in my soil, because I've seen very few of the beetles for the last couple of years. I only had the one bout of hornworms, so now I'm just trying to keep a sharp eye on things. I hear you about the mites and aphids. I saw a brachonid wasp flying around a plant that has a few aphids, so maybe that will help there and with any future hornworm issues.

Devv said:
We're up over 1" for the last three days, and I'm waiting for it to stop right now so I can go pick.

We have here what LB and I call the Devine split...and so do a lot of the locals, it does just as you describe except they go East and West. This usually happens when a nice cell is headed straight for us.

Hi, Scott. What moisture I got the other day is mostly gone now. I'm hopeful we'll get some more soon; here's the forecast for the coming week:

Trippa said:
Nice to hear you are getting some much needed rain ... Enjoy!!

Hey, Trippa, thanks for stopping in. The rain was nice while it lasted. Hoping for more.

chsy83 said:
Studied BT in college. Does a bag have a mix of strains, or is it single strain? Reason I ask, the reason it was a hotly researched topic was the specificity of organisms that it attacked. Each strain only attacked a single type of organism, so it was viewed as a good way to target the bads. Then I heard that they were trying to develop chimeric strains that could attack more than one type of organism . . .

Hi, Charles, thanks for visiting. I think the kurstaki strain is effective against hornworms, though I'm not certain of that. I wish I knew how to grow?/produce?/whatever Bt. It seems like a good business to get into.

I posted some pictures of my Reapers over in the community grow glog, so I thought I might as well post them here, too. They are young plants, yet, but pretty healthy. These are from seed from PuckerButt:

These are from Refining Fire Chiles:

And these are from Pepper Joe:

I have one of these in a #1 pot, but I've temporarily misplaced it amongst all the other pots.

HillBilly Jeff · Jul 19, 2013

Nice looking plants

wahlee76 · Jul 19, 2013

Reapers are looking good. Will be interesting to see these growing.

Sawyer · Jul 19, 2013

Thanks, guys. Here's a (blurry) picture from today of the 7P Congo SR Gigantic shown back in post #429. It will be ready soon.

I put more plants in the dirt today. In addition to the 27 that have been there awhile, I now have about 85 more. Some of them are literally green sticks with no leaves (water-logging and/or sow bugs) and most went straight from germination flats to the ground, so it's going to be awhile before they stand for a group photo. About 15 or so are considerably bigger so they may show up on here sooner. I have at least as many more yet to set out and the weather is cooperating. It turned cloudy this afternoon around 4:00, cooled off a bit (less than 90ºF/32ºC), and sprinkled just a few drops.

I haven't counted all the ones in pots, but it's a bunch. I'll post a photo of them before the weekend is over.

Jamison · Jul 19, 2013

Awesome pics Sawyer! Your weather is beautiful for growing chiles bro! The Reapers are coming along nicely along with your eaten up OW's. Damn pests! The pod shots look awesome! Glad I checked in, things look good!

Sanarda · Jul 20, 2013

Looking good Sawyer. I know you can't wait for those reapers to show up.

BrooklynXpat · Jul 20, 2013

Nice grow sawyer. That 7pot Congo looks mean and a bit drunk

. Hoping reapers grow quick for you.

stickman · Jul 20, 2013

Hi Buzz
Awesome that you got some rain for a few days, but never enough, eh? Things are coloring up nicely for you. I guess the hot, dry weather has to be good for something. Cheers!

Sawyer · Jul 21, 2013

Thanks, guys and gals. I took some pictures today, but it was drizzling and since the camera had been in A/C, the lens fogged up when I took it outside. The pictures didn't show much detail. I'll try again tomorrow.

Yesterday I isolated a row of about 5 or 6 Moruga Scorpion plants (seed source RFC) with row cover. The plants are loaded up with buds. Hopefully the row cover doesn't interfere with them going ahead and openings up. I also fabricated some bags out of row cover and bagged one limb each of brown Douglah, burgundy Douglah, giant white Habanero, and either a TS yellow original or a Brainstrain yellow, I forget which at the moment.

We had a steady, light drizzle here for a few hours today. I don't think it added up to much, but it made for a perfect transplanting day. I set out, into the garden, 6 each white and orange Bhut Jolokia, 4 Alma Paprika, 2 Dorset Naga, 2 Primo, and 3 King Naga. Except for the orange BJ, which were still in the germination flat, all the rest were in 3.5" pots and so had at least a little size to them. With the moderate temperatures and partly cloudy conditions predicted for the next few days, I think they'll take to the ground quite readily.

I'll try to get some pictures up tomorrow.

Sawyer · Jul 22, 2013

I should add to yesterday's post, I also set out 7 TS Yellow Original plants into the garden. The weather has been so mild here, and I'm so late with things, I'm putting more into dirt and fewer into pots than I had originally planned. Anyway, here are some pictures from today:

A group shot of most of the potted plants:

They are an assortment of several varieties. The bagged plant on the right is a TS Yellow Original, I think (maybe Yellow BS, just can't remember to check the tag), and the bagged plant on the left is a Giant White Habanero. I chose this spot in anticipation of triple digit temperatures and drought conditions, but the way things have been, this location is too shady. They could stand way more sun than they get here. The shot is toward the WSW and the plants get morning sun 'til about noon, then mostly shade the rest of the day. I've got another spot picked out that will give them more sun, but I need to mow it first. The pots in the back right of the frame are mostly a variety of hops plus one ginger plant. The clay pots in front are shallots that just keep going and going.

This is a shot of the original 27 plants set out back in May:

The tent is covering a row of 5 or 6 Moruga Scorpion (RFC). The bagged plant on the right is a 7P Brown (I mistakenly called this a Douglah somewhere up-thread. It's the one showing purple coloration and that got eaten by a deer.) The bagged plant on the left is a 7P Burgundy. There are also Douglah, RBJ, RBS, and maybe something else in that "pepper hedge" on the left. The small plants in front of the tent are TS CARDI that were set out after I harvested the shallots. The alliums in the foreground are shallots and potato onions that are taking a long time to mature. The stalks are starting to fall over, so it won't be long now.

I have very few pods from the early crop, but I found this on one of the RBJ plants:

Me likey.

This is a close up of the 7P Brown mentioned above, showing some of the purple coloration in the stems:

And finally, this is a shot down into a 7P Burgundy. This is typical of what I'm seeing on the bigger plants. Pretty good pod set, I think.

stickman · Jul 22, 2013

Looking good Buzz... how much longer do you have until frost is an issue?

Sawyer · Jul 22, 2013

Thanks, Rick. First frost is usually somewhere around the middle of October. Last year it was a little earlier on Oct 7. That's for first light frost. Average first hard freeze (28ºF) is Nov 1, and last year it was Oct 27. According to NOAA. So I should have at least more than 60 days to go and possibly as many as 90. Plenty of time, other conditions cooperating.

stc3248 · Jul 22, 2013

Nice! Really like your ISO projects! Great stuff man! Plants all looking happy and healthy, hope those little Reapers do well for you!

Sawyer · Jul 22, 2013

Thanks, Shane. The Creapers are the next to go in the garden, 3 each of the PB, PJ, and RFC. I'll keep two each of the PB and RFC in the pots. I found the missing #1 pot PJ Reaper and it is not a happy camper. I remember, it had a massive root system for such a small plant, but above ground it just looks drowned (and in this instance anyway, that's not the case). The other three PJs are less healthy than the other two sources, too. I don't know if there was some difference in conditions or a difference in seed quality or what. I thought I was giving them all the same conditions.

I'll have a few more of those whole-row isolation tents before it's over. Once the row cover is removed, I'll leave the frames in place to cover with plastic when the cold weather gets here. That should buy me another couple of weeks of grow time, at least, if I'm lucky.

poypoyking · Jul 23, 2013

Looking good Sawyer. It will be interesting to see how your Creapers turn out. My one plant ended up being the Bhut style, though very gnarly looking. And nice pod on that RBJ

Sawyer · Jul 23, 2013

Correction - the TS Yellow Original plants I mentioned above are, in fact, Red Bhut Jolokia. I had a brain cramp.

poypoyking said:
Looking good Sawyer. It will be interesting to see how your Creapers turn out. My one plant ended up being the Bhut style, though very gnarly looking. And nice pod on that RBJ

Thanks, Ben. I'm looking forward to seeing what the CRs produce. I set out three each from PB, PJ, and RFC seeds today. They were just starting to get root bound in 3.5" square pots, so it might be pushing it to get production from those this year, but I have two each from PB and RFC in #1 pots that are already a good bit bigger.

I harvested that 7PCSRG pictured above and took a tiny nibble out of the end. Holy hell, how do you people eat those things?!? It's way hotter than the RBJ pod I picked earlier. I did notice the flavor was different than the BJ. In fact, my first impression was that it was somewhat similar to an over ripe habanero, but then the heat hit me before I could refine that impression. I took another nibble later, but was so freaked out anticipating the coming blast of heat I forgot to pay attention to the flavor. Maybe I'll try again tomorrow.

While I was planting the Creapers in the garden, I heard a noise behind me and looked over my shoulder to see a red fox no more than 12 feet away, sizing me up. As soon as I looked, it turned tail and high-tailed it back into the bamboo thicket. Not a chance of getting a picture, sorry. I'm happy to see it there, though. That probably explains the absence of rabbits (I've seen one all season) and rogue chickens from the neighbors (I've seen three piles of feathers). I'm trying, but not having pets or livestock, I can't really see a downside to having a fox hanging out. Can any of you?