Shlogg's Glog 2013... Long overdue update.

Hey THP. Well 2013 is upon us, time to start growing!

I picked 27 varieties to take up the bulk of my garden space. Mostly supers but also a couple cool varieties that aren't so hot. Anyway, I soaked my seeds in a weak herbal tea blend for 24 hours, rinsed them and they are now resting comfortably in my germination tank. I'm trying cotton make-up removal pads to keep them moist instead of paper towels. They seem to work great!

My tank consists of a plastic storage bin filled with water and a fish tank heater. The heater can take a little playing with to get the temps just right but once I find the sweet spot its perfectly constant. I then float my seeds in condiment cups on the warm water. It's really works.

I did have a few hiccups in the process though. I was a bit hasty and put my seeds in the germ tank before getting the temp just right. It reached 86 degrees for a couple hours before I caught it but they should be fine. I've got them at 82 degrees now which I think is perfect. Now I'm just excitedly waiting for tap roots so I can get them all into my seedlings trays.

Here what I have going:
20 TS Moruga Blend
20 7 Pot Brainstrain
20 TS Butch T
20 Bhut Jolokia
10 TS Moruga Blend Yellow
10 7 Pot Brainstrain Yellow
10 7 Pot Primo
10 Bhut Jolokia Chocolate
10 Bhut Jolokia Peach
10 TS Chocolate
10 Douglah
10 Bhut Jolokia Yellow
8 7 Pot Jonah
8 7 Pot Congo SR
8 Billy Boy Douglah Red
4 7 Pot Burgundy
4 TS Orange
4 Devil's Tongue
4 7 Pot Chaguanas
4 Bahamian Goat
4 7 Pot Barrackpore
4 7 Pot Savannah
4 Douglah Yellow
4 Billy Boy Douglah
4 Douglah X Butch T
4 Naga Jolokia
4 Jalabanero

I believe that's it for now. I'll be adding more varieties when I have room in the grow box.

Here's a low quality shot of the boys in their bath:

Thanks for looking!

 

[stc3248]

Yeah...what Ramon said!

 

[Devv]

LOl, I'm on that "what he said" train!

 

[Dshlogg]

"Happy Shloggs Forest Floor" just as tasty as the real thing with the satisfaction of self creation sprinkled in there! Ha! I bet it's gonna rock for you! Super jealous of your proximity to a real deal forest! I got kelp going for me though! Looks killer, and I still maintain that with their well developed roots and some new greenery to harvest some sunshine...plus the warmer temps that I see you're getting, they are about to do you proud!

So far my PDN that I used it on is growing pretty slow. Could be do to my north facing backyard amount other things so its still to early to blame it on my mix. I give it some more time before I decide if I like the soil or not.

 
What I have learned most from my gardening experience is that sometimes the best fertilizer for plants is a nice healthy dose of "Leave It The Hell Alone".  Unfortunately it seems that far too often I don't keep much of that around.

I've used plenty of "leave it alone" with great results. Being behind now, I need to maximize growth as much as I can to catch back up. Careful feeding beats out letting them be anyday.

 I'll take a few bags of "Happy Shloggs Forest Floor," where can I find it locally as shipping would kill me, heheh Another awesome update, keep dem coming brethren!

I'm surprised some big company isn't raping the forest floor as we speak to sell as soil. With the popularity of gardening these days, that's may happen eventually.

Daniel how are your plants getting along? Last pictures I seen were from May 31st Im guessing theyre doing much better now, any new pics?
 
Have a great Friday & weekend mon!

Most of my plants are coming back pretty good. I haven't taken any pics save for my birgits since I've been rushed my last few times in the garden. Hopefully I'll get over there tonight and shoot a few. We had a "derecho" aka badass thunderstorms yesterday so I need to check on them ASAP. I did end up losing 2 inground peppers that I initially thought would make it. The constant heavy rain we keep getting was too much for them in their condition. That's a small price to pay considering how many I have though.

Yeah...what Ramon said!

LOl, I'm on that "what he said" train!

I'm on it boys. Stay tuned for pending update.

 

[WalkGood]

… …
I'm surprised some big company isn't raping the forest floor as we speak to sell as soil. …

Quick mask your IP and blank out your location … big brother is watching :0

 

[stickman]

I'm on it boys. Stay tuned for pending update.

 
Looking forward to it Dan'l...

 

[Dshlogg]

Quick mask your IP and blank out your location big brother is watching :0

It wouldn't surprise me. This is a grow forum afterall.

 
Looking forward to it Dan'l...

Sorry to keep you waiting brother.
Hey hey I'm back. Had a little hiatus there. I was lurking in the shadows but haven't been active posting lately. Well I guess I'm way overdue for an update.

Things are looking pretty good in the garden. I'm still a long way off from ripe pods but I can see the light. Most of my plants are flowering and a few have their first pods. They do look a bit more squat than usual. It's still early, but I see signs that they will be very productive. Most of them have 4 or more main stems none of which are dominant. There are an impressive number of buds too. Though I'm behind where I should be in my grow at this point, I'm still glad the plants pulled through.

Here a few shots from yesterday:

Overall shot of the bottom half of the garden.

I've got some more shots coming in a few.

 

[stickman]

It wouldn't surprise me. This is a grow forum afterall.

Sorry to keep you waiting brother.
Hey hey I'm back. Had a little hiatus there. I was lurking in the shadows but haven't been active posting lately. Well I guess I'm way overdue for an update.

Things are looking pretty good in the garden. I'm still a long way off from ripe pods but I can see the light. Most of my plants are flowering and a few have their first pods. They do look a bit more squat than usual. It's still early, but I see signs that they will be very productive. Most of them have 4 or more main stems none of which are dominant. There are an impressive number of buds too. Though I'm behind where I should be in my grow at this point, I'm still glad the plants pulled through.

Here a few shots from yesterday:

Overall shot of the bottom half of the garden.

I've got some more shots coming in a few.

Like this! Way to go brother!

 

[Devv]

Nice rebound there!

 

[Dshlogg]

Thanks fellas. It's was tough to keep my head up for a minute there.

Douglah

Butch T

Bhut

Moruga Yellow

BJ Chocolate

BJ Yellow

Jonah

Thai Black

There you have it. My Birgits put on a few more inches too but being the end of a long day, it wasn't feeling up to a photoshoot. Dang pre-madonna.

 

[Devv]

Well all I have to say is despite what Ma Nature handed you, you prevailed.
 
Plants look great!

 

[GA Growhead]

Coming back strong!

 

[Pr0digal_son]

Awesome,glad you didn't give up on them. Still a long season left.

 

[armac]

i think you will be surprised, those plants have been severely "pruned", they will be shorter, stockier, and thicker than they would have been. i think their productivity will be better, just set you back a few weeks.

plants doing real well

 

[stc3248]

Dang man...I see a bunch of 2...3...4...and 5 headed monsters in there! Haha! You'll have trouble getting in to pick between all the branches! Great problem to have! I love a come back story...ummm, except when it comes to Birgits! I think you should do what's right and sacrifice that one to the pepper gods!

 

[AMG4heat]

Beautiful leaves on all your plants.

 

[Pepperhead]

Great comeback!  I had a Reaper that hit the deck in its peat pot, then dried out for a few days.  After I found it and watered it all the leaves fell off and looked like yours were looking.  It's coming back strong, though, just like yours.  Keep on Truckin'!

 

[WalkGood]

Daniel you aren’t posting much these days mon … so dis one’s for you
 
Daniel is traveling tonight on a plane
I can see the red pods heading for Spain
Oh and I can see Daniel waving goodbye
God it looks like Daniel, must be the capsicum in my eyes

They say Spain has huge pods, though I've never been
Well Daniel says it's the best pods that he's ever seen
Oh and he should know, his grow is back from death
Lord I miss Daniel, oh I miss his posts so much

Daniel my brother you are older than me (hahahaha)
Do you still feel the pain of the scars the grow had
Your eyes had died, but you see more than I
And now you rejoice for all dem pods
Daniel you're a star now in da face of pepper Jah ♪ ♫ ♪ ♫ ♪
 
Way to go mon, awesome! I never had any doubts
 
 
 

 

[Dshlogg]

Hey hey hey. Back in action! Thanks guys for all the kind words. I've been checking in but too busy to post lately. My garden/ mini farm is doing great! I been harvesting 10lbs or more every week for the last 6 weeks or so. Today I picked around 30lbs and still have half the garden to go. My freezer is packed out and my dehydrator has been cranking too. I even whipped up a couple batches of sauce and still have a major surplus of pods.
 
I have been supplying a few area restaurants with pods too. One is a classic American bar type restaurant that makes a Fire Burger with "Ghost Chilli Sauce and Scotch Bonnet relish". The owner was very excited to get fresh, locally grown, organic peppers from me. He promised to buy several pounds a week but after two weeks he found he was over stocked. Turned out my peppers were much hotter than what he had been getting and he uses far less now. I also sold to a small sushi restaurant that makes the best rolls. The chef doesn't even eat spicy food but loved the look of Bhuts and bought 2lbs from me. Then I sold to a local bartender that uses them to make infused liquor of some kind. He bought a mixed 1lb bag. Besides that I just been handing them out to anyone interested and using as many as I can myself. It has been an awesome year.
 
I got a bunch of pods right now advertised in the classified forum. Here's the link if you want to check it out.
http://thehotpepper.com/topic/42724-fall-harvest-super-sale-sfrb-starting-at-just-10-ship-free/
 
I'll update with some garden, pod and even foodie pics soon.
 
See ya.

Daniel you aren’t posting much these days mon … so dis one’s for you
 
Daniel is traveling tonight on a plane
I can see the red pods heading for Spain
Oh and I can see Daniel waving goodbye
God it looks like Daniel, must be the capsicum in my eyes

They say Spain has huge pods, though I've never been
Well Daniel says it's the best pods that he's ever seen
Oh and he should know, his grow is back from death
Lord I miss Daniel, oh I miss his posts so much

Daniel my brother you are older than me (hahahaha)
Do you still feel the pain of the scars the grow had
Your eyes had died, but you see more than I
And now you rejoice for all dem pods
Daniel you're a star now in da face of pepper Jah ♪ ♫ ♪ ♫ ♪
 
Way to go mon, awesome! I never had any doubts
 
 
 
 

Set this to music so I can buy the track. Lol, you the man Mon, you da man.
 

Dang man...I see a bunch of 2...3...4...and 5 headed monsters in there! Haha! You'll have trouble getting in to pick between all the branches! Great problem to have! I love a come back story...ummm, except when it comes to Birgits! I think you should do what's right and sacrifice that one to the pepper gods!

Thanks Shane! My Birgits fizzeled out at about 5'. It cranked out a ton of pods though. I been bragging about your plant to anyone that will listen though. That thing is insane!

Great comeback!  I had a Reaper that hit the deck in its peat pot, then dried out for a few days.  After I found it and watered it all the leaves fell off and looked like yours were looking.  It's coming back strong, though, just like yours.  Keep on Truckin'!

Thanks bro! Looks like we both had pretty good seasons. Cold weather on the way now. Only a few weeks left.

 

[Sm1nts2escape]

Wow awesome grow log. I like the water heater seed germination idea. Looks like it worked great. I'm sure it's main advantage is that it eliminates hot spots. The sight of those frost burnt plants must have really made your heart sink. But I know you got some awesome peppers off of them eventually. Hopefully you do better next year now that you know about the temps over there.