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glog Simple Arizona 2025 Grow

Keeping it simple for 2025. Last year I started in early to mid March and the faster growing plants got out of hand. First seeds went in today March 25th. We can get a surprise freeze through the end of June even though it's 85 today. These are my first 12 varieties but many more to come plus tomatoes, herbs, etc. Germination trays will move to a repurposed stand up freezer with a controlled heat mat and basic led panel. Then grown under stronger lights and likely transplanted before being moved to small unheated greenhouse when nighttime temps stay 45F and above. A larger, heated or at least somewhat insulated greenhouse would make this much easier. Can't go cheap on the greenhouse though because we see regular strong winds and dust devils.

Ultimately most plants will be grown in the ground under plastic mulch with drip tape but I will keep some safety stock in #7 grow bags on drip. We also have to watch for hail here, sometimes enough to end a season before it starts. Usually I start in a nice mix such as FF Happy Frog but decided to begin with a tray of Jiffys this year. They are clean and hold the water nicely.

First 12 are all hot chilies. First nine are saved seeds and three are the cheap seeds from Dollar Tree.

2025 List:
--Started 3/25/25
1. White Thai
2. Bahamian Goat
3. Thai Hot Bangkok
4. Purple Thai
5. Yavapai Habanero
6. Orange Thai
7. Orange Manzano
8. Bleeding Rawit White
9. Scotch Bonnet Red
10 Long Slim Cayenne
11. Habanero
12. Serrano

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Had fast germination from a few of the first round so I moved the tray to a garage spot under lights after 3 or 4 days. The garage stays cold so not much else has come up but I see the hooks. Starting another tray in the bigger 42mm pellets (25 count) in a 1010.

Seeded 4/11:
Orange Manzano
Thai Bangkok Hot - Reimer 2024
Maule's Red Hot - SSE 2024
Hot Lemon - Burpee 2024
Fatalii - SSE 2024

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Thanks for checking out my garden. I'm heading out of town for a few days so I had to move the latest tray (some germination already) to the cold garage and dim the lights to preserve moisture. Once I get back I'll get things set up on automatic watering and brighter light. If I get the feeding and lighting dialed in the transplants should be ready to go in the ground in early June.
 
Jiffy pellets have disappointed so far. It probably would have been better if I had good grow lights with my heat mat. In this year's setup I move from a dedicated germination spot to a cooler brightly lit area. Some seeds just pop early and I move to lights so they wont get leggy. The rest of the seeds don't want to wake up in that cold so I'm left with ~25% germination. When you mix varieties in a tray this is a big waste. I'm going back to six packs since I can move one cell pack at a time when a couple are ready.

In other news I've picked a new spot and have been irrigating for the past couple months. Had a chance on Friday to begin cultivation. The initial results were promising:

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Irrigated a bit and got out early on Saturday and measured the area. I was looking for 40x60 or 35x70 but was short on dimensions for either so I tilled out to a little over 40x80. I found the massive gopher run and took that out. Was still happy until I hooked up the drag and began running Zamboni patterns to level things out. The drag harrow lifted up rocks, caliche clods and other debris. Irrigated it again with impacts and called it a day.

Today (Sunday) we had heavy winds and thunderstorms. In the windy weather I measured out 40x80 and hooked up 2 zone manifold and ran 3/4 poly pipe to an above ground Rainbird 5004 rotor setup. The charts show the #3 nozzle will hit 40 feet but it was too windy to say for sure with my well pump and topology. The lawn sprinkler setup is both temporary and a proof of concept since 40 foot spacing would be ideal for my back yard.

My plan for this space is to run drip tape and plastic mulch for peppers, etc. but also overhead irrigation so I can have grass pathways. My neighbor to the west has horehound, pigweed, kochia and puncturevine so I want to minimize any overspray. Planning to do Senninger wobblers that should barely touch the west fence while also keeping the soil around my main 40x80 garden alive and happy.

Test run with the Rainbird 5004s showed promise but I will also test Hunter PGP Ultras with the blue #3 and #6. We've got a couple days rain in the forecast so final irrigation setup and bed prep is a few days out. A few hours with the landscape rake too if I'm going to do this right. Here's where things stand today. Yes I have kochia too but it's never going to go to seed or blow away before I clear it out.

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