Siliman's 2011 Grow

[Siliman]

This will be a lame 'nothing to report' report. Weather has teased and then turned cool again. Raised beds are mostly empty forts. Most everyone else in Boise has planted and now one more big cool down is coming. Not sure if it is better to plant and endure the cold or let the plants getting rootbound. Looks like it will be Memorial Day planting for me, approximately 3 weeks behind normal schedule last frost, etc.

I sure can't complain compared to many who have endured much tougher conditions.

The waiting fortress:

Some life showing on the over-wintered plants, after I thought I croaked them:

Is it better to overwinter, or just start fresh with seeds? This is a rookie Biker Billy born in February vs. the old salt overwinter generic Jal from last year. Will update this battle of the jalapenos later...

Bonus non-pepper image showing at least something is growing okay in my virgin beds...

 

[Siliman]

Note on La Nina year in Idaho. It has been cool, wet, but not storms. From what I can tell, the growing season is 3 or 4 weeks late because of the weather. But at least I'm finally planting! Last frost hit just 3 days ago.

Looking WAY ahead, and after being influenced by the Aussies, I'm going with tighter grow for peppers. In a very sunny location, put a wall of tomatoes next to the peppers on the sunny side. I'm not sure if it qualifies as 'clumping' but after this cool silliness passes it will get hot around here and usually my peppers suffer given direct blasts of sun.

More pix later, but this set shows my overall theme this year. These are 5 jalapeno Jalmundos up front with 3 tomato plants in the back that will eventually shade them on the south side. Note the spacing of the ruler is less than 1-foot for the peppers and not much more over to the maters.

Another angle. The idea is for the tomatoes to grow at least 5-ft tall and provide some shade, and the jalapenos grow tighter than usual to create a cooler ground surface when it finally does get to 100 F around here in August. I never have planted this 'tight' before and not associated with tomatoes nearby.

Here's a couple of chili de Arbol that will be shielded on the west side by some grape tomatoes:

Not sure if this is tight enough to meet the definition of 'clumping' but this group and a couple others will be tight in these beds....

P.S. These plants look pathetic after being held rootbound and other grow factors. But I hope they can grow through it. Plus, dang, it is hard to take good garden photos...

 

[Siliman]

Cool weather continued here in Idaho while most of you other guys were getting blistering high temps. Finally got things planted, even though still faced 60s and 40s. Could only imagine 100+ in Minnesota. I think we are finally in the clear as 70s and 50s forecast this week. Still cool, but will take it.

Overview day: I got about 70 peppers in the ground and in a few containers. Here they are, my first year pepper seeds now out in the world. Not very exotic, will try to up my game next year....

Numex Jalmundo x 5
Early Jalapeno x 4
Biker Billy Jalapeno X 5
Jalapeno M X 6 (2 overwintered)
can you tell I like Jalapenos?
Numex Bailey Pequin X 4
Thai Hot X 1
Siling Labuyo x 5 (last to grow, very small, 7 still waiting)
Scotch Bonnett x 4 (also late starts, pretty small)
Aji Rojo x 2
Hungarian hot wax x 2
de Arbol x 2
Long red slim Cayenne x 2
Chimayo x 5
Numex Twilight x 1
Poblano x 2
unknown Habanero x 2
Anaheim x 4 (2 overwintered)
Super Chili x 1 (overwintered)
Super Serrano x 2 (1 overwintered)

Sweets:
Cal Wonder x 4 (1 overwintered)
Blushing Beauty x 2
Sonoma red x 1
Purple Beauty x 1 (overwintered)

I also gave away about half my plants, trying to infect my friends and neighbors with chili fever. About 50 plants at a garage sale fund raiser sold out--except for a few Jalmundo. People were crying to get Jalapenos, but they wouldn't buy off on the Jalmundos, I guess. Knuckleheads.

The new raised beds look a little better now, but growth has been slow. More pix later, here is the overview:

Here is an additional bed I added this year, reclaiming about 70-sq ft of worthless lawn. Mostly corn, and squash go here, but a few peppers up front. The big containers are potatoes that LOVE Pro-Mix BX and compost!

 

[Siliman]

Mid-term results of my first overwinter trials. Doubt I will OW C. Annuums again, but it will be interesting to see if they produce pods before their seed-grown counterparts.

clockwise, upper left Super Chili (still in a pot), then Serrano, Jalapeno, Purple Beauty.

It's nice to see them in the ground again. Poor bastids been through hell after being yanked from the ground last November. Fungus gnats, aphids, spider mites. A mess to have in the house. Moved to the garage, big fluctuations in temps, even after "Spring" supposedly came to Idaho. The wooden trunks are cool.

 

[Siliman]

Here's my fav plant--Biker Billy. Thanks for the seeds, DownRiver! Planted in early February, I thought it was too soon but came out better than most. I should have potted up a lot more plants than I did, and everything endured a long cold spell.

Here's a view from the south side. What you see are 2 Mortgage Lifter tomatoes will eventualy grow tall and shield the 5 Biker Billy's behind. I hope. This area gets max sun.

My Numex Pequins are all curly. I have used Cal/Mag on them, and so far everything gets Botanicare ProGro, Karma and Cal/Mag at ratio of 1 tsp per gallon each. I did some foliar feeding with ratio cut in half, didn't help much. It might be an overwatering issue. Only the Pequins, Cayennes and Siling Labuyo have this curling feature, and I hope they grow thru it.

Pequin in a pot, Growing in Pro-Mix / Roots Organics mix. Similar curl:

These Chimayo are doing great! Gotta figure if they grow at 8000-ft they can thrive in cool spring at 2700-ft. I hope.

Early Chimayo poddage....

Okay, not much, but it slays me to see all the folks who got the "heat wave" posting their amazing results so I cheated with the Chimayo. Us folks in the northern tier are hanging in there. And I think they need to change my zone 6A/B to 7 or 8, at least this year....

 

[Siliman]

I guess the server ate my homework, so catching up some August grow pix. My chilis are common, and they have to compete with a lot of other food in my garden, so this might be more of interest to those that do companion planting.

Overview:

Kalabasa filipino squash shielding some jalapeno and anaheim on the south fence. Cat patrolling for moles.

Jalmundos shielded by tomatoes to the south:

Biker Billy's shielded by Mortgage Lifters to the south and Aji Rojo to the right:

So the theme so far is I went overboard with the companion tomatoes. This might have worked in a more normal year or in a really hot place, but Idaho was absurdly cool until August, barely cracking a 100F from time to time.

Overall food production was excellent. Just some peppers wishing they had more sun. I also think I may have stunted them prior to plant out by not potting up and having an extra cold month hammering the root systems while in their little pots. Plant out was delayed by 6 weeks.

Here are some habaneros on the south end of the box. Shorter sub-arctic tomatoes on the west. The habs were a late start, but this prime location paid off later.

More in a minute...

 

[Siliman]

Once again, this is a catch up for August grow. Overall I was quite happy how it played out--main goal around here is salsa, and we got a boat load--eventually.

These de Arbols were prolific, but kind of small.

NuMex Bailey Pequins. These are in a pot, a great producer, they are hot, tasty and right at the top of my heat tolerance level. The ones growing in the ground are still kickin it.

Some other experiments

I had high expectations that my over-wintered stuff (jalapenos, anaheims, and bells) would benefit immensely from being overwintered. But instead they poked along with the cold weather for the most part. Here is an example of a Super Chili, it never grew much, but it did its best to kick out some fruit. This is pretty much the same for those I put in the ground also. Will try again with some things next year.

Twisted jalapeno. It actually produced really well! I wish I'd given it a bigger pot.

I'll see if I can over-winter this trunk or do the bonchi thing.

Pesky neighbor overflight....

 

[BigCedar]

Awesome backyard man! I love all the raised beds. I wish I had the room for all that. Your plants look great. Interesting to see your overwinters.. It's making me a bit nervous about mine this year lol.. I hope I have good results. My Dad spent most of his life where you live. Very cool to see how stuff grows in Idaho. My best of luck to ya neighbor

Brandon.

 

[cmpman1974]

Really beautiful garden. I love it. It looks like you have this down already. Many would kill for that layout in the garden. Keep up the great work.

Chris

 

[RaelThomas]

+1 great looking garden man! All the best this season!

 

[Indiana_Jesse]

Who/what were your source for the De arbol seeds?

 

[Siliman]

Really beautiful garden. I love it. It looks like you have this down already. Many would kill for that layout in the garden. Keep up the great work.
Chris

Thanks, Chris. I've grown stuff for maybe 20 years off and on, and definitely do not have it all down. Growing most everything from seed for the first time this year really made me realize how little I knew. It does gives me a feeling of more control, but also discovered some more ways to screw up! I'm happy with the garden layout even though it has tighter row spacing than most recommend. It's just wide enough for the wheel barrow to get through. It is quite a game to try to max out production with a wide row companion philosphy.

+1 great looking garden man! All the best this season!

Thanks, the main thing is the wife unit approved of the raised beds, as she felt I was growing in complete chaos before. Our season here may take a big cold hit soon but have been lucky with the warmest September on record, (71.5F aggregate) following the coldest April and a cool May, June and July. Tough season! I have quite a bit of confidence in growing the other veggies, but to me, the peppers are the most difficult.

Who/what were your source for the De arbol seeds?

Tomato Growers Supply Company in FL. The seeds germinated well, but I think I subjected the seedling plants to too much cold back in May, and this really delayed their production and possibly their size. I also got my NuMex pequins from Tomato Growers, which were my best producers.

 

[Siliman]

Awesome backyard man! I love all the raised beds. I wish I had the room for all that. Your plants look great. Interesting to see your overwinters.. It's making me a bit nervous about mine this year lol.. I hope I have good results. My Dad spent most of his life where you live. Very cool to see how stuff grows in Idaho. My best of luck to ya neighbor

Brandon.

Hey, thanks Brandon. The raised beds definitely worked out in one regard: the water bill. Cut it pretty much in half.

I'm looking forward to seeing your overwinters. It may be somewhat easier for you to pull off in W. Washington than here, but every locale has its challenges. After looking at your posts, I'm thinking of growing more stuff in containers next year in general. You saved our credibility here in the PNW... Given 'cool' growing conditions, there seems to be advantages in moving pots around to max their warmth.

Here are some Siling Labuyo that I started really late, no chance for pods, so they will be my experimental overwinters. Will try some different things, including putting some in the house and some in the garage, a bonsai or two. I may do a full immersion in a Neem solution prior to bringing them in. One thing for sure, any sign of fungus gnats, and they are hitting the garage. And none will share the same room as the seedlings. Hopefully I can get these through the transition next Spring better than those I tried this year!

 

[PIC 1]

Wow super garden, it shows your an avid gardener.

Its good to see a well balanced plot that has a wide variety of vege's

I like the fact that you get sun from dawn to dusk....thats great

Does the wind cause havoc early in the season?

in any case good luck with the rest of the season...

 

[Siliman]

Wow super garden, it shows your an avid gardener.

Its good to see a well balanced plot that has a wide variety of vege's

I like the fact that you get sun from dawn to dusk....thats great

Does the wind cause havoc early in the season?

in any case good luck with the rest of the season...

Hey, thanks PIC 1. Kind of you to say, since this is pretty small scale compared to many on this forum. Yea, I do love the variety and have pretty good confidence in growing most veggies--except peppers! I feel like I'm right on the verge of getting them right, with what I have learned from others here. As I've tried to improve my pepper grow, its helped everything else.

Yep, lots of sun in this garden, so I think the wide row technique helps a lot. Little micro-climates for all. We get the occasional wind storm, but rarely anything sustained. The house usually provides the protection for predominant storms out of the NW. The staked tomatoes also provide some small scale protection. Next year, I think I'll try the 'Florida weave' that Synclinorium uses, which would make the tomotoes even more wind resistant and help any plants nearby. I'm thinking of a tomato hedge row across the middle, but not in a position to shade the peppers.

End of season weather has been very kind so far...

 

[chileaddict]

Hey Ken. I think you are doing a great job considering your growing conditions. I love your farming spirit. Like you, I also have grown many other kinds of veggies with no problems and the superhots were quite a challenge. I think the most important thing I learned from this site that really helped me was to start a worm farm. It is really easy and the benefits from the worm tea and castings is extremely noticeable. This is the perfect time to start one and I think you won't regret it. Keep it up man.

 

[Siliman]

Hey Ken. I think you are doing a great job considering your growing conditions. I love your farming spirit. Like you, I also have grown many other kinds of veggies with no problems and the superhots were quite a challenge. I think the most important thing I learned from this site that really helped me was to start a worm farm. It is really easy and the benefits from the worm tea and castings is extremely noticeable. This is the perfect time to start one and I think you won't regret it. Keep it up man.

Hey, thanks! I guess there is a spirit farmers have. Dealing with the whims of nature while attempting to grow peppers sure makes you pay attention to it...

As for worm farming, I don't know if I can take on any additional pets right now! It sounds like a primo source of plant nutrition, fo sho. I've been able to greatly improve my soil this year, but there is more work to do. Worm castings would be awesome.

 

[Siliman]

Okay, time to wrap up my pepper grow for the year. It is a tough act to follow the big guns here, but I did get some pods!
I did a lot of new things thanks to you folks here, and I hope to keep expanding as I learn more stuff.

So this is a curtain call for 2011 for my little grow. Here's my October pix before the big chill did it in.
Overview pix just to compare to the empty boxes back in May:

Tomatoes dominated, but the peppers put up a good fight. I'll adjust next year to give the peppers home field advantage.

My favorite pepper choice was Pequins. These are NuMex Bailey, awesome little pods. Great for cooking and pack a nice punch.
I grew one in a container (on the right) and 3 in the ground:

Sorry hard to tell from photo, but the container in the foreground produced ripe pods rapidly while the ground guys got mo' bigger. It really has me thinking to do more containers next year.
After reading Patrick and BigCedar's posts, I think peppers in containers have a big edge in the northern climates. If I had given it a bigger container, it would have done much better, but still gave me a ton of pods.

One of my experiments was to compare overwintered plants with those I grew from seeds. The seed-grown won in all cases. Keep in mind these were all C. Annuums and I battled some bug issues during the o.w. process. The o.w. Bell is on the right, seed guy on the left.

Here is a seed-born Bell kicking it. I do plan to try some o.w. next year, but only a couple c. annuums.

I got some good production out of these Jalapeno Early. They are kind of Ugly, but tasty enough to powder well.

Now here is a classy Jalapeno--Biker Billy. Thanks to the forum for bring them to my attention and to DownRiver for the seeds.
Since I shaded them too much, they were slow growing. But sometimes I think the long wait makes them meaner and hotter.

Back with the money shots in a bit....

 

[Siliman]

The tastiest thing I got from all this growing came thanks to HighAlt. Here is a link to her Luscious Lindsey peppered relish.

Scroll down to relish recipe! Thanks again, HightAlt.

I used these Pequins, de Arbol, Hung Wax, mixed Jalapeno, and some token Anaheim and Aji Rojo to make up the pepper component. In other words, what was ripe at the moment.
This relish has become an instant classic around the house and among my pepper-beggin friends:

My second to the last pick:

First time growing habs! I lucked out--didn't start them till mid-April and still got some pods. Hey, these hotter peppers are baby steps for me.
In the Jal mix are M, Early and Biker Bills. First time growing de Arbols also:

Last pick of the season with lots more still ripening in bags, baskets, hanging and scattered around the kitchen.
From left clockwise: de Arbol mixed with Thai Hots and Twilight, Chimayo, LSR Cayenne, Aji Rojo, Anaheim, token Scotch Bonnet, Jalmundo, unripe Habs, unripe Pequins, Serrannos, ripe Pequins.
In the jars, HighAlts relish, pickeled Jalapenos, powdered Jalapeno, flaked Habs, and Super Salsa.
I was able to freeze some stuff and capture a boatload of various products in the jars!

This garden is history. To paraphrase from Mad Max: "It now exists only in my memory." Well, also in those jars....