• Blog your pepper progress. The first image in your first post will be used to represent your Glog.

SeanW is back...and the hydro plants are all in!

What the heck, weather? 70 degrees one day, snow the next? 
 
Anyway, this year is going to be way stepped back from last year. We now have a 7 week old baby in the house, and between preparing for his arrival and actually having him here, I didn't get a chance to get any seeds started. They'll live happily in the fridge until next year, I guess. My garden prep also didn't really go where I wanted it, so there's that, too. It's okay, a scaled back year this year and spend what time I can this summer getting major work done on the garden and then next year will be rocking.
 
I think I'm just going to be planting peppers that I can find at the local shops, either Big Blue or Big Orange, or the local garden stores if they have some. I've started to see them crop up, I just need to give it another week or three to make sure we don't have yet another killing cold. It's only about 40 here today, but should be warming up next week. 
 
Anyway, I'm back! Any pepper season is a good pepper season, so I'm looking forward to seeing what I can get. 
 
Click to expand...
Hey Rick, I started germinating a few of the Urfa Biber seeds I got off of you last night - between the DWC and the shed I'm converting into a greenhouse, I should have plenty of time to get some pods going. If not, I made sure I had plenty for next year. I was really tempted to get some of the others going, but must...use...moderation...this...year  :whistle:  :surprised: It's also kinda late to start.
 
If the hydro stuff gets me good results and isn't too much of a pain in the highquarters, I'll look into expanding next year. My shed is an old pool shed, and has a 60A sub-panel in it - plenty of power to run a handful of pumps, and maybe a small heater or something. I'm just ripping off the existing walls and roof and putting corrugated plastic sheets over the existing frame. 
 
Yep, I'm probably just going to be removing the roof and upper half of the walls, but it still should be plenty. It's probably not going to happen until later this summer, my father is coming up to help me with some stuff and that's one of the goals. I should have it for the end of the season and next season. It'll be enough to get a few longer season plants out, and to get stuff started a bit earlier outdoors. The shed is probably only about 6x4, so it's not big, but it's already got a concrete base and existing frame, so it's just a matter of some work and the polycarb walls. Looking forward to it.
 
Had to go to Lowes yesterday for some other stuff, so I grabbed 4 buckets and some plants. Aside from some nons (a couple of different basils and a few strawberries), I got a "mucho nacho" jalapeno, serrano, tabasco, sandia hot pepper, gypsy sweet pepper, barker's hot pepper and a pimiento pepper (all Bonnies).  I'll be hitting up some of the local shops for a few others - looking for a hab, maybe another jap. Lowes also had some variety of thai or other, one might follow me home depending on what I find where.
 
My hydro kit should arrive today. Once I get it, I need to figure out what size hoses I need, and then get the hydroton washed off and such. I may flush some bleachy water over the stuff to kill off anything, before adding the plants. I haven't decided if I'll hold all 4 of these for the (hopefully germinating) Urfa Bibers, or if I'll throw one of the other peppers in there, and maybe a basil plant (I hear that basil LOVES DWC). I planted 8 urfa seeds in 4 rapid rooters, so if I aim for getting 2 of them into the DWC I probably won't be disappointed, and if I get more than 2 healthy plants, it'll be a bonus and I can put them in one of the other locations. 
 
Anyone know if I should cover outdoor dwc stuff to keep rainwater out? I'll just have the opening in the lid where the net pot is, so it shouldn't be too much that gets in. 
 
I have some mylar "space blankets" around somewhere that I'll be putting on the buckets to keep some more light out, and to reflect light up under the leaves. 
 
I've never grown anything in a hydro system, so this may not apply... you're probably not trying for a sterile growing medium, so the biggest problem I can see to letting in rainwater is that it might make the pH in the nute solution more acidic.
 
I probably should get a pH meter, and maybe a PPM meter. Peppers don't mind acid (to a point), so it shouldn't be a big deal, and the stuff in the ground will get the same amount of acid. I'll just have to watch the water level, I guess. It'll need to be changed periodically, anyway.
 
Flowers are blooming, it's all good :)

 
So, got some soilless pots set up.
 
First, I had to soak the coco

 
But...that ain't gonna fit.
 

 
Much better. This stuff is impressive. I hit it on the wide side with a splitting axe, and the damn thing bounced. I had to chip away at the edges until it broke up enough to fit.
 

 
I ended up dividing it into 2 buckets, then soaked in water. I had 2 blocks, and got probably 15 gallons or so of un-compressed coco coir.
 
I mixed it with about an equal amount of perlite, then added greensand, azomite, kelp meal, blood meal, bone meal, composted chicken manure and mykos. I used the totally scientific "ehh...that looks about right" for measuring the amendments.
 

 
I threw it into a grow bag, shook most of the soil off of a Lowes-sourced jalapeno, and into the mix it went. This was Friday, and it still looks pretty happy.
 

 
and here the jap is with a tabasco and serrano pepper. The smaller pot in the back is an oregano plant. The other two peppers had perlite from a different bag, it was much bigger and didn't seem to look as full, even though it should be about the same.
 
I still have to get the other plants into the ground/pots. They got a bit dry over the weekend (I was out of the state) and one of them got knocked over by some critter or other and half the soil dumped out. Jerks.
 
DWC equipment arrived last Friday, got the nutes today. Aquashield and the General Hydroponics Flora series. I have some cal-mag+ from last year that'll go in, as well.
 
I need to check my germinating seeds, got home late last night and basically just inhaled some food and passed out. 
 

 

 
Got some babies! Looks like just 2, plus a helmet head that'll probably get pinched off. 
 
I also hit a Home Depot yesterday in search of some nasty chemicals to handle my Creeping Charlie problem. In the process, I ended up with another pile of plants. On the nightshade front, I've added a hab (generic type, we'll see what we get) and a poblano, along with a Heinz tomato plant (I guess it grows ketchup bottles) and an eggplant (black beauty). Since I've got 2 of the Urfa biber plants going, and assuming they survive, I'll put the hab in the DWC with them and a basil plant. I also snagged a few more herbs.
 
Dry plants have recovered, they just needed a drink.
 
I don't even like eggplant, but my wife and I are trying to eat more veggies and there was a sale on plants :) I've tried it grilled, maybe I'll try marinating it and doing something else with it, or maybe eggplant parm or something. 
 
I'm hoping that planting only nightshades and herbs will cut down on the critter munching. Between the deer and the rabbits, I have problems with that. Until I can get some decent garden fencing up, lettuce and similar is probably out of the question. 
 
Nice that you've got some plants started from seed Sean! Our Tulips and Daffodils are out here too. I love Eggplant if it's properly prepared... it's kind of astringent otherwise. That's why I think some folks don't like it. Frying raw Eggplant in olive oil uses a heckuva lot of oil... expensive and too fattening. Grilling or steaming are good, but if you're gonna fry it in oil, first cut off half inch slices and rub each side of each slice with a sprinkling of salt and a few drops of lemon juice. Rub it in on both sides and let it sit for half an hour in a colander in the sink to drain. Rinse off, pat dry with paper towels and fry. After treating it this way the eggplant will soak up much less oil, and be meltingly tender. I like to serve it with a yogurt-garlic sauce and middle-eastern ground meat kebabs called koubideh. Keep 'em green!
 
Most of my stuff is in the dirt! I need to get some beans out, and the DWC stuff is still waiting for me to get around to it, but otherwise we're growin'.
 
Pulled out some compost and sifted the chunks out, mixed in the nutes I've been using elsewhere, along with some perlite, and planted in that. I took a picture, but apparently my hands aren't the steadiest at 5:30am, and it was so blurry that it was worthless.
 
In addition to the assorted stuff I mentioned before, I ended up with another eggplant (this one Japanese) and some cukes. I think I've been cooking the eggplant wrong, it's always been bitter. I've read that either removing the seeds, salting it for 30 minutes, or both will fix this. I've also read that fresher eggplant, and Japanese eggplant, is less bitter. We'll see how it goes.
 
We got some very light frost last night in places, night temps had been consistently in the mid-40's, so it was a bit of a surprise. Everybody seems to have survived without issue, and the frost was limited to the shady places in the yard, so it's not a big deal.
 
I've got, currently in the dirt, 5 peppers, 2 eggplant, 1 tomato, 4 or so "Boston Pickling" cukes, onion chives, garlic chives, onions  (sourced from my pantry :) ), greek oregano, potatoes (also sourced from my pantry), 4 different kinds of basil and tarragon. In soilless pots, 3 more peppers and a rosemary plant. In dirt in pots, italian oregano and strawberries. Intended for the DWC is another basil, a hab, and two urfa biber. I'm planning on putting more herbs into the main garden, we use a lot and hopefully the smell will make the garden less interesting for the critters. I'll get some red, white, and black beans in today. 
 
For getting such a late start, and the fact that this is a "small, easy" year...it's getting a bit large :)
 
Good job getting the garden in yesterday! We're well underway here too. The early greens I planted a couple of weeks ago are all up, transplanted onions are looking good, and this morning I see the beets and Korean radishes are coming up. The only holdout is the carrots, but I expect they're not far behind. We got frosted here too... the ground was frozen on the surface, but should thaw quickly once the sun goes to work. Taking a gander at the prices in the fresh produce aisle I'd say it would be a good idea to have as large a veggie garden as you can manage... especially now that you have a little one to feed as well. If you're interested, I have a Korean recipe for steamed, marinated eggplant that's exellent served cold during the summertime.  No heat to it, but that might mean your partner will eat it too. Cheers!
 
My veggies are limited at the moment due to the critters, I got mauled last year and I have even less protection up this year. The rabbits came through and ate the lettuce, carrots, broccoli, just about everything but the peppers and tomatoes. Once I get the greenhouse up, and fencing around the garden (All on my list to do...at some point...eventually...), I'll be able to keep the rabbits and deer out and actually get some other produce. I have to get someone to come in and clear out "the jungle" in the back, which will give me more growing space. 
 
Our frost wasn't bad, just a light coating on some of the grass. 
 
I'd be interested in seeing the recipe, worst case is it doesn't look like something we're interested in :)
 
Alright, probably done buying plants for now. I have another stack of herbs ready to go into the garden, and I'm apparently growing some squash this year. Acorn, spaghetti and pumpkin. I didn't run into any other peppers that struck my fancy, I was hoping to find a Fresno, but no dice. In the past couple of days I've hit 2 different home depots, a lowes, an Agway, and 3 or 4 local shops. Didn't buy plants at all of them, but did buy a bunch at some of them. I'm hoping to get them into the dirt this weekend, we'll see how stuff falls out.
 

 
Basically everything is in the ground, pots, or whatever except for the two urfa bibers.
 
The hydro plants above were still alive this morning, if they are still alive tomorrow I'll assume I did it right, I'm still expecting them to just drop over dead. I had to rinse the soil off of the roots, which may have stressed them, but..still green! The basil got full strength 3 part General Hydroponics nutes, with the 3-2-1 grow-micro-bloom. Hab got the same, but at half strength. I'll switch it up when I change the water out. I'm intending on wrapping the buckets with more mylar, but this will keep it a bit warmer until we get consistent heat. 
 
I planted 4 cilantro plants. They got eaten already. Apparently one of the critters likes cilantro. I'm going to litter it with cayenne powder and see if it'll come back. 
 
This weather is nuts. A week or so ago we were facing light frost, and the plants did fine through it. Yesterday we nearly hit 90 degrees, and I almost lost a couple from the heat. I don't think their root systems are really up to snuff to handle that kind of abuse. It looks like everything will pull through, there's one basil plant that's looking a bit sad, but I think it'll survive.
 
I hear ya 'bout the variable weather Sean, but it seems to have finally warmed up enough to plant most things outside. I think the past couple of warm springs spoiled us a little bit... this one seems back to more normal.
 
Do you have any problems with Deer eating your garden stuff, or is it just rodents? I see Jeff H is planting things around his pepper beds that Deer apparently can't stand the smell of... I wonder if there are plants that would work that way for Rabbits and Chipmunks.
 
Good luck with your hydro experiment with the Urfa Bibers. I'll be interested to see how that comes out for you.
 
I've been putting in all of my spare time on the veggie garden and hooking up drip irrigation for my wife's raised flower bed the last few days... I'll pm the steamed and marinated eggplant recipe when I get the time.
 
Keep 'em green buddy!
 
Last year I surrounded my garden with stuff that rabbits don't like to eat. Apparently I have some variety of super-bunny that eats that stuff anyway. We have deer, and they do tend to eat a lot of stuff (I had some black-eyed susans that literally didn't last 24 hours). The biggest killer is the rabbits though, so far this year they've eaten my parsley, fennel, dill and cilantro. Most herbs they don't like, I guess they eat those ones. So far everything else has been safe. I expect that once I start getting fruit on the non-peppers, I'll start to see issues from the squirrels, but for now no one is touching the nightshades. I need to get on top of littering the garden with pepper powder, garlic powder, etc. It's just been so rainy that the stuff just washes away. Also, the last time I put cayenne powder out, it was in my bird seed. It's claimed at 90k SHU, that may be optimistic, but it REALLY sucked when the wind shifted and blew it back into my face. Might have to make sure I have a face shield on, next time.
 
No frosting last night, I'm hoping that's the coldest it'll get from here on out. The hydro plants are still looking alive, so apparently that's going well.
 
My 2 urfa biber plants are starting to get true leaves. Once they are a bit stronger, I'll start some early hardening off. Maybe 10 or 15 minutes at a time for a bit. I'm way behind the curve on them, so here's to hoping the magic of hydro gets them rolling (they are still in cups). If not, next year I suppose. 
 
I'm considering setting up a squirrel feeder or two, hopefully to keep them off the stuff I want to eat myself. I don't know what the equivalent of rabbit deterrent is, my yard is loaded with clover, but they just like my plants better. Fencing is going to be my only option.
 
SeanW said:
the wind shifted and blew it back into my face.
Click to expand...
Ouch. Jeff seems to be having a deer problem as well, so he's planted a bunch of flowers that apparently deer cant stand, interested in seeing how that pans out...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top