seanw first glog (2013) - Racing the End of the Season...

Hello and greetings My first post here, and I'm prepping for my first major season growing. I've done a few small pepper plants here or there, and two summers ago I tried for some variety of ghost chili or other (the pop top cans you can get from thinkgeek), which turned out to look like ghost chilis, but were super mild (may have also been the fact that they were getting almost no sun in the apartment we lived in at the time, and by the time we got the house, they got outdoors just in time for the frost to hit).

I've got a heat mat and a 50 hole rapid rooter en route, and I'll be grabbing some cheapo work lights to give me some light. I also need to rig some sort of container to keep in the heat, they'll be going in my insulated-but-unheated garage until I move them into the garden, thinking either a styrofoam cooler or just putting that silver bubblewrap insulation stuff on a box.

In addition to some herbs and other garden veggies, here's my pepper list for the year:

HP22B
Yatsufusa
Tabasco
Paprika
Firecracker
Early Jalapeno
Moruga Trinidad Scorpion
NuMex Suave Orange Habanero
Chiltepin
Orange Hab
Bhut Jolokia
Red Savina Hab
Hot Cherry Pepper
Butch T Trinidad
Scotch Bonnet

I may have gone a bit gonzo on ordering. We haven't built our garden yet. This will be the second garden, the first is dedicated to berries, and got mauled by rabbits and chipmunks, even with fencing. The vegetable garden is going to be 6'x30', in three sections. Gonna stick peppers and some tomatos in one of the 10x6 section, the other two will be for the other veggies. I'm gonna have to break out some pots for the rest of the peppers. We'll see what happens once we get the garden together, though My current plan is to build a frame around the garden and cover it with 1" or 2" fencing, big enough for the bugs, too small for the critters.

Here's hoping all goes well!

 

[SeanW]

Alright! +1 on that!... GrowGrowGrowGrowGrow....

Your Butch T. and Scotch Bonnet peppers got planted out under my hoophouse a couple of weeks ago, and unfortunately they were looking pretty stressed... mostly because they were so dry. I was carrying water a hundred yards by hand from the tap on my house because our condo association hadn't gotten their collective thumb out and set up the garden hose we use to water with. It finally got set up this past weekend and I made sure they got a good drink. They're much happier now. The Chiero went in the mini hoophouse next to our house so I was watering it when it needed it, and it's much happier.

Sounds good!

My indoor plants are holding on. I did lose that gochu, unfortunately the break was too bad for it to survive. Kind of irritating.

We got most of the dirt in, maybe 2 yards left.

The plan for today is to get a few more wheelbarrows full into the main body, then fill the cells of the blocks. Any soil left over is going into my pots. Gonna need to buy some bags, anyway I'll also be picking up some bags of composted this and that, and mixing that in. We're hoping to have the dirt all moved by tonight, and then tomorrow I can get the amendments in before the rain comes through. It might not be the bestest and greatest soil this year, but I'll keep working it over subsequent years and we'll eventually end up with some awesome stuff.

I'll be putting a fence around it, and rigging something to cover it. I plan on putting marigolds, garlic, chives, and a few other things in the brick cells, to discourage critters. I've utterly failed at alliums, this year - my chives didn't sprout, nor did the onions, and I think my potted garlic got killed by the winter. I have some onion sets, so I'll just plant those and get some already grown chives et. al from the store. No idea why the chives and onions failed, I think I had close to 200 onion seeds in a tray, and got all of 2 to sprout. Bummer. I need to tweak my setup for next year, anyway, so I'll do some more research.

 

[SeanW]

Have most of the garden ready, a couple more grow bags to fill. Ran out of daylight.

Weather report still has us down into the 30's on the 10 day, but dirt day is coming soon...

 

[PIC 1]

Good luck with the plant out. Your bed looks rich with top soil Just a thought, you might want to add some perlite and amend the planting holes with compost. No need to spend must on either . Just the area you're planting in. Next season and each one after the bed will get turned or tilled and will become even richer with added amendents.

 

[SeanW]

Good luck with the plant out. Your bed looks rich with top soil Just a thought, you might want to add some perlite and amend the planting holes with compost. No need to spend must on either . Just the area you're planting in. Next season and each one after the bed will get turned or tilled and will become even richer with added amendents.

I have a pile of sacks of compost, I'll be adding them in during planting. How much perlite would you suggest? There's probably...oh, 5.5-6 yards of soil in there. I also intend on planting out winter rye at the end of the season, for some green manure.

 

[irishmaverick]

That soil looks nice.... like black gold!

 

[annie57]

Sean, gorgeous bed, cinder-block, always great idea, can add all sorts of pretty and functional repellents in the holes--and I'm with Greg--add perlite--I'd go 5 gals for every 5 gals of--if that's straight compost--compost. Because perlite is gonna help keep soil aerated, keep it from soggy-bottoming. If you need more, add more. Want it to drain well. Also, as Greg (I should just +1 his post), if you add amendments to hole, eventually, over time, the entire garden will be amended. When we had the rains/flood last weekend, this week, I found sand--in clay soil??--on the downslope of mine. Why? Flooding washed the horse manure etc. compost--had sand, stable-stuff in it--to lower end. So, I know to EXTRA amend the top but proof the stuff stays in planting holes. (Or doesn't depending on 6 inches rain in 24 hours.) Cute little turtle too! You're gonna grow some beauties in that bed!

 

[SeanW]

That soil looks nice.... like black gold!

Thanks, can't claim much credit for it, it was delivered that way Now, to make it even better!

Sean, gorgeous bed, cinder-block, always great idea, can add all sorts of pretty and functional repellents in the holes--and I'm with Greg--add perlite--I'd go 5 gals for every 5 gals of--if that's straight compost--compost. Because perlite is gonna help keep soil aerated, keep it from soggy-bottoming. If you need more, add more. Want it to drain well. Also, as Greg (I should just +1 his post), if you add amendments to hole, eventually, over time, the entire garden will be amended. When we had the rains/flood last weekend, this week, I found sand--in clay soil??--on the downslope of mine. Why? Flooding washed the horse manure etc. compost--had sand, stable-stuff in it--to lower end. So, I know to EXTRA amend the top but proof the stuff stays in planting holes. (Or doesn't depending on 6 inches rain in 24 hours.) Cute little turtle too! You're gonna grow some beauties in that bed!

Got ya, perlite added to the planting holes, not raked through the whole thing. That makes it a bit easier. Buying enough to rake into the whole garden would be...pricey.

10 day has us into no lower than the high 40's at night, if the forecast holds, I'll finally get stuff out of my garage this Friday. Looking forward to it, my setup is getting really tight indoors, and watering is becoming a real pain. I also managed to cook a bunch of baby herbs, still had the heat mat on them for germination, and temps in the garage got too high. Ah well...one or two things I'm irritated about, the rest I can replace from the local garden market easily. In particular, my wormwood and all but one of my purple tomatillos. I may have lost that one, too. Next year...crazy amounts of learning, this year.

 

[stickman]

I hear ya on running out of space bro'! That's why I transplanted outside under the hoophouse. I checked on them about sundown, and it was warmer than ambient inside, so I hope they'll be in good shape tomorrow morning.  Your cinder block raised bed looks great... it'll be really cool when you get planted out. Cheers!

 

[SeanW]

I hear ya on running out of space bro'! That's why I transplanted outside under the hoophouse. I checked on them about sundown, and it was warmer than ambient inside, so I hope they'll be in good shape tomorrow morning.  Your cinder block raised bed looks great... it'll be really cool when you get planted out. Cheers!

I'm hoping to do something similar, and cover the garden in poly, next season, or the end of this one.
 
Bought a couple herb plants to replace the ones I cooked, I'll be grabbing a few more as the season progresses. I'm trying to support the local nurseries as I can, but they often are quite a bit more expensive than the box stores :/ Hard to buy an herb plant for 4 bucks when I can get the same plant for 2 elsewhere.
 
With the exception of a couple plants that were a bit fragile, everyone got a chance to play in the sun, yesterday!

 
Wishing for dirt day...

 
Don't mind the ugly next to it, my tulips didn't really take off, this year, and I haven't mulched that, yet.

 

[stc3248]

I tried to post up here yesterday, but I suppose the barracks connection failed me! Your plants are almost ready for their first day of Cindergarden!  That soil looks prime! A little good compost to add not only nutes but some of those beneficial microbes is right on target! Gonna be a banner year! 

 

[Dshlogg]

Your raised bed looks sweeeeeettttt! You must of dropped a pretty penny on all that soil. It will pay off for years so that's money well spent. Is it all topsoil?

This cold weather just won't quit. We had temps in the mid 30s last night. Too close for comfort man. Plus it slows growth. I hope warm temps finally takeover.

Good luck with your plant out. The cinder blocks will look amazing with the cells planted. Can't wait to see it.

 

[BrooklynXpat]

With the exception of a couple plants that were a bit fragile, everyone got a chance to play in the sun, yesterday!

 
Wishing for dirt day...

 
Don't mind the ugly next to it, my tulips didn't really take off, this year, and I haven't mulched that, yet.

Those plants are looking really good and that soil makes me really jealous

 

[SeanW]

I tried to post up here yesterday, but I suppose the barracks connection failed me! Your plants are almost ready for their first day of Cindergarden!  That soil looks prime! A little good compost to add not only nutes but some of those beneficial microbes is right on target! Gonna be a banner year! 

 
 
I've got some compost on hand. Perlite in bulk might be difficult for me to source around here, I need to check a few other places, the couple spots I checked just have the little 8qt bags. The compost I have contains some peat, so that should also help with soil compaction. Pondering grabbing some mycos to add in, as well...thoughts, anyone?
 

Your raised bed looks sweeeeeettttt! You must of dropped a pretty penny on all that soil. It will pay off for years so that's money well spent. Is it all topsoil?

This cold weather just won't quit. We had temps in the mid 30s last night. Too close for comfort man. Plus it slows growth. I hope warm temps finally takeover.

Good luck with your plant out. The cinder blocks will look amazing with the cells planted. Can't wait to see it.

 
 
Yeah, it's all "composted top soil" that I got from Agway. A little over 30 bucks a yard, delivered. 7 yards, total, a little over a yard of which is going into the pots that I have. I bought compost to add, this year, but next year I'll be hopefully using home grown stuff, it was a bit raw still to use, this season. I need to get a second composter, so that I can cycle. The soil looks great, it wasn't sterilized, though, got some little greens poking up - they must like it, too! I'll just have to keep an eye on it, and mulch.
 
I hear you about the cold, there was some light frost on part of my windshield, this morning. Everything I have outdoors can take it, but still...with plantout planned for this weekend, it's scary. 10 day has us in the high 40s to low 50s at night, so it should be fine. No frost, but I might hold off on the littler guys another few days.
 

Those plants are looking really good and that soil makes me really jealous

 
Thanks! They are a little beat up, but they'll survive.

 

[SeanW]

Well, didn't get peppers planted out, but a bunch of herbs are. I also got the "border guards" planted in the garden, alternating marigolds and onions around in the cinder block holes. I'll be putting fencing up, too, but the more I can discourage...
 
Planning on getting the fencing, tonight. Had to wait for plant out because no one had bulk perlite in stock, Agway is getting it in tomorrow, so I'll be there. Didn't feel like spending 8 bucks a bag for tiny bags that I'd need a million of.
 
Since I nuked most all of my herbs when temperatures spiked and I still had the heat mat on, I bought a few plants. Stevia, rosemary, oregano, marjoram, basil, parsley, cilantro. I have some tarragon, thyme and oregano from last year, growing in the ground. I'm also trying to choke out weeds in an area with mint, so I bought a few more mint plants. I still have garlic chives, onion chives, and a few more onions and garlic to get in the ground.
 
It's going to rain all week, so I'll to play it by ear getting the garden ready. I'm thinking of using the chives and garlic to help block the door, but I haven't figure out how I'm working the door, so that might not matter. Thinking possibly some snow fencing on the shady end of the garden. I don't think the critters will bother the peppers, too much, but I do have plans for lettuce, spinach, and other leafy greens...

 

[stickman]

Hey Sean
   Sorry to hear you nuked your herbs, but at least it means you're not needing to get your peppers planted out prematurely to be able to have room to move inside your house/apartment...
 
Sounds like you've put a lot of thought into your raised bed garden design, I'll be curious to see how it works out for you. Make sure to tuck a few attractor plants into the mix to draw ladybugs and lacewings in so they can patrol your garden. Some examples would be dill, coriander, fennel, caraway or yarrow.
 
If you have garlic chives planted already, make sure you give them a shot of humus and fertilizer to keep them healthy... they'll put out an amazing amount of early-season greenery. I've got a 4 foot row in the garden that's about a foot wide after 2 years. I give it a haircut every week and get about 4 cups of chopped chives for one of my personal favorites... Puchu Jeon  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vSBiieEonm4&list=PL3EC3F8B555328D27

 

[SeanW]

Thanks for the attractor tip - maybe I'll snag a few more herbs while I'm out. Dill and Fennel were some of the casualties of the Great Herb Nuking of 2013 (only survivors were lavender, chamomile and, oddly, cinnamon basil), so getting some more in the garden won't be terrible. Herbs are pricey around here - 2.99 for 6 cukes, but 4 bucks for a single herb plant. Hmph. I have some cilantro in a pot out front - we'll see how it works for me, I'm apparently terrible at growing it. It always looks like crap, then bolts out of the blue. I think I need to cut it more. If it bolts, guess I'll just give up and have coriander
 
I haven't planted my chives, yet, though the perennial thing slightly concerns me, might make turning over the garden difficult. I could grow them as annuals, I suppose. Guess we'll see. Perhaps once I get the "jungle" area more clear in my backyard, I'll create a dedicated spot for perennial veggies like chives and asparagus...and places to put half barrels for horseradish.
 
Peppers are chugging along - the overwatering issues I had before caused a lot of them to drop leaves (or, I pulled the crappy leaves off) which has the advantage that now I'm getting leaves lower on the stems. My oops might give me nice, bushy pepper plants I've got a few buds forming, at this point I might just leave them on, particularly on the chinense. Gotta get my fencing up and this rain to clear up to let me get stuff in the dirt. Soon!

 

[SeanW]

Dammit...just got back from Agway. Bought what I thought were two bags of perlite - the guy even fetched them from the back special for me, but what I got instead were two bags of vermiculite. Guess I gotta go back later today and see what's up.

 

[SeanW]

Dammit...just got back from Agway. Bought what I thought were two bags of perlite - the guy even fetched them from the back special for me, but what I got instead were two bags of vermiculite. Guess I gotta go back later today and see what's up.

 
Sounds like the local Agway had the wrong thing delivered :/ They also had no other perlite in stock. The other nearby agway only had 1 cu ft bags (the 4 cu ft bags I was going for were 30, the 1 cu ft bags were 20...blech), and I wasn't going to make it there before they closed. Ordered the perlite online, I'll have it Thursday. Bought netting and poles to build the walls of the garden, yesterday, from Lowes. Assuming the weather is clear, plant out should be Friday! Still working on some basic ideas of where things will end up in the dirt, but I have the general idea. Fine tuning can happen as I'm working.
 
I need to move the birdfeeders, and I'll probably get some silver ribbon to tie to the netting to keep the birds out of it, or at least from smacking into it.

 

[SeanW]

Finally some nice sun, yesterday. Sunday night was down it the mid/low 30's, but the weatherman promises nice, warm temps here on out.
 
After about 30 minutes of hauling crap out of my garage and shed, we had this...
 

 
And after a few hours of planting, we got this:

 

 
The shade is deceptive, this is later in the day, it gets pretty much full sun most of the day. The corner in the first picture has some shade, but I chopped off some branches to give it more sun.
 
Garden currently contains a couple leaf lettuce plants, red iceberg lettuce seeds, red romaine lettuce seeds, 3 pickling cukes, 2 zucchini (in the upside down tomato cages - I've heard that you can train them to grow up inside of the cage, rather than sprawling, so we're giving it a shot), 10 or so calabrese broccoli plants, carrot seeds, spinach seeds, mustard seeds, 3 mini yellow bell plants, 3 almapaprika plants, 2 cheiro recife plants, 2 numex suave hab plants, and a handful of san marzano tomato plants (with the green stakes). Tomatillos might be going in, at some point, I waited a bit long to separate them, so I have to see if they survive. If I get at least 2, they'll go in next to the toms, along with the purple tomatillo that's getting bigger inside.
 
I mixed up some soil amendments, a 2:1 ratio of compost (it was a commercial peat/lobster/blueberry one, from Coast of Maine) and perlite. Dug a big hole for each plant, mixed in my amendments with the existing soil and refilled the hole, then (with my hands, this stuff is LOOSE) dug a hole for the plant and stuck it in. The hills for the greens and carrots were made by making a small hill, dumping the amendment on it, and then mixing it up by hand. I have a path down the center that has gotten somewhat compact, I need to rake that loose again and put down some boards. I also need to get the fencing up, I covered the plants in red and black pepper and garlic powder, hoping to get the fence up after work, today.
 
I also put in 26 various peppers into my pots, I need to fill up some more pots and get more plants in, but I ran out of time. I have around 30-40 varieties of pepper, I'll get at least one of each variety in, and multiples of ones that I'm working on saving seed for, or ones that I really want pods from. I probably won't plant every single plant that I have, because...well, that's a lot more peppers than I'll really be able to do anything with.
 
Checked the babies, this morning, everything seemed to survive their first night outdoors, just fine.
 
Huzzah! Dirt day!
 
 
 


Oh, I also have chives, garlic chives, fennel and dill in there, with onions and marigolds around the outside.

 

[stickman]

Hey Sean, good on ya man! Glad to see you finally got your babies in the dirt. Nice mix o' veggies in the garden too, now we just need summer to pull the pin!