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Siv's 2019 first time glog

I have never grown anything intentionally before but I wanted to try. Last year I bought some seeds from a local supplier here and tried to germinate them and failed. Not a single sprout. I kinda gave up. But around May I saw a sorry looking ghost pepper plant (at least that's what it was labeled as) sitting at Lowes so I bought it and put it in a small pot. Despite my neglect (and being away for a month during summer), the thing grew and put out a good set of pods. So this year, I'm highly motivated to give some serious pepper growing a go.
 
Determined to succeed this time, I educated myself and learned about the need for heat mats etc. I also watched a ton of Peter Stanley and Kangstar's videos which were hugely helpful.
 
I started with the leftover seeds from last year and here's the status:
  • Kraken - 10 started, 6 sprouted
  • Douglah - 10 started, 2 sprouted
  • Chocolate Moruga - 10 started, 0 sprouted
Then I placed an order with Sandia seeds on 4th Feb:
  • Ring of Fire - 10 started
  • Aji Limo - 10 started
  • White Ghost - 10 started
  • Fatalii - 10 started
  • Rocoto - 10 started
Of this lot, most of the seeds have sprouted so I have transplanted around four of each into wicking cups (half in soil and half in hydroton) to see what happens:
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Then Sandia seeds sent a coupon for 25% off and I'm a sucker for a sale so my second order was placed on 19th Feb:

  • Bhut Jolokia Yellow - 10 started
  • Bulgarian Carrot - 10 started
  • Devil's Tongue - 10 started
  • Yellow Jalapeño Lemon Spice - 10 started
  • Mulato Isleño Chile - Chocolate Poblano - 10 started
  • Bell Purple Beauty Sweet - 20+ started
The yellow jalapeno and bulgarian carrot have already sprung up, as well as lots of the purple bell. The first yellow ghost just popped up this morning:
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I probably shouldn't have done this but after seeing the love for these varieties, I made a third seed order yesterday:
  • Bahamian Goat
  • Sugar Rush Peach
So my first lesson learned: Now that I know the importance of heat, humidity and light, I don't need to put so many seeds in. I have way too many seedlings now! I'm only gonna attempt 2 or 3 of the new seeds this time!


 
Now I'm debating how to grow these on. I have plenty of room in my garden so I'm thinking about a whole bunch of 5 gal buckets with one lot as self watering in compost and another as a drip watered hydro. I may do dutch bucket or I may try a venturi style nute injection, not sure.
 
Anyway, I look forward to seeing what happens to all these plants over this year!
 
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Siv said:
Plenty of wine in my house as we seem to buy more than we drink. I'm using the wine storage to store my sauce bottles also :)
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From what I could see of the label,
it looks like a Campo Viejo Rioja.
The only one of those I've seen with
the wire netting is a gran reserva.
 
If that's the case, it's a nice bottle of vino!
 
 
duckling.jpg

 
 
 
Finally got my stir plate done. I gave up on the full custom approach and just used a PC fan and a little variable power supply from Amazon. The only "woodwork" was to make a little stand to mount the fan. I'll be improving upon it when I'm done with this batch of sauces.
 
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Now I just have to wait for 2 weeks while the damn stuff stirs. Being impatient, I've ordered the parts to make another one so I can have two on the go at the same time.
 
While in the wood shop, I also made some stands for all my powder bottles:
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Before leaving for work this morning, I peeked out at my hydro plants, most of which are dead and saw a splash of yellow. A closer look and it seems my Fatalii has come back to life and is putting out its last lot of pods despite having hardly any leaves left!
 
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And, of course, the Rocoto has finally set some pods. I wonder if these will make it...
 
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PaulG said:
Awesome flush of yellow pods!
The season ain't over yet!
 
I notice a few small reds on the side,
what are those? And the Rocoto looks
like it's liking the cooler temps.
 
Full speed ahead, Siv!
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Thanks Paul, it's a nice surprise. I'd almost forgotten about the hydros and I haven't filled the reservoirs in a month and the last time I did, I only filled with water!
 
The reds are Fish peppers. I knew it was still alive since it has plenty of leaves but the pods are only really noticeable when ripe since the whole plant is a mess of colour. I have no idea what to do with them though - I wasn't too impressed with the taste the first time around.
 
Siv said:
A small harvest this week. We've had pretty cold temps in Houston so the plants are all on their way out. Still a few peppers to pick (more damn Aji Limo) which I will get around to this weekend.
 
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I've been busy drying and making sauces
 
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Finally, my stir plate adventure has turned into shenanigans. I was spinning the plate against the sander to get it balanced and even when one of the magnets flung off and hit my window. It would have been cheaper to buy one!
 
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Playing catchup here...the heck with the window. That could have been your face. I see you do wood, so you know about the evil table saw :shh: :rolleyes:
 
Glad you're OK ;)
 
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Siv said:
 
Sadly I didn't get a single yellow bhut to germinate this year. I don't have any seeds for 2020 yet but there are so many varieties I want to try, I'm not sure if I can. I'm definitely doing more white ghost - they're definitely one of my top peppers this year.
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If you're interested... I have an old strain of the white bhut from 6 years ago. I've somehow managed to keep it true (unless this season??)  The pods IMHO are bhut-hab kind of shaped, great flavor.
 
Siv said:
 
Thanks Paul, it's a nice surprise. I'd almost forgotten about the hydros and I haven't filled the reservoirs in a month and the last time I did, I only filled with water!
 
The reds are Fish peppers. I knew it was still alive since it has plenty of leaves but the pods are only really noticeable when ripe since the whole plant is a mess of colour. I have no idea what to do with them though - I wasn't too impressed with the taste the first time around.
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 Those peppers love this time of the year, until a "real" frost or cold snap.
 
Congrats on a stellar year Siv!
 
Devv said:
If you're interested... I have an old strain of the white bhut from 6 years ago. I've somehow managed to keep it true (unless this season??)  The pods IMHO are bhut-hab kind of shaped, great flavor.
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Very interested Devv - how's the productivity? My white ghost produced a ton:
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Devv said:
 Those peppers love this time of the year, until a "real" frost or cold snap.
 
Congrats on a stellar year Siv!
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Thanks! I'm really happy with how this year has gone, especially as I was learning everything from scratch - thanks to all of you here.
 
Devv said:
Playing catchup here...the heck with the window. That could have been your face. I see you do wood, so you know about the evil table saw :shh: :rolleyes:
 
Glad you're OK ;)
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This was a bit stupid of me - I didn't have good control of the motor so a small tap and it went far too fast. It was way overpowered for its needs.
 
That plant you posted has very similar pods, although the pods on mine are a tad bit more elongated.
 
The production is great and I'm sure they will do well for you.
Send the PM and I'll get things going.
 
Scott
 
After three weeks of stirring, I decided to bottle the first sauce that was on the sir plate. I strained through a coarse then fine mesh strainer - surprisingly very little seeds or skin left behind.
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Very tasty, definitely a whole lot hotter than Tabasco and a nice garlic flavour too. My only disappointment is that it's still separating a little. I think this is partly due to me using too much vinegar and partly the strength of the stirring. I don't think this stir plate is getting enough power so I'm gonna change the power supply tonight to a higher current one so that there's more emulsification happening.
 
I'm now stirring the Brazilian Starfish mash - definitely need more power to get this stirring well - it's barely moving.
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The cayenne mash on the right will be ready for bottling next week but I may let it go an extra week to see if that helps.
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That will be a great set-up when you
get the machinery dialed in, Siv.
 
Did  you have fun with the seed train?
 
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PaulG said:
That will be a great set-up when you
get the machinery dialed in, Siv.
 
Did  you have fun with the seed train?
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I can see myself stirring lots of sauces in the future - is just leaves a much more homogeneous liquid than if you just blend (despite having a Blendtec super blender).
 
Seed train was a lot of fun - I picked out 5-10 seeds from about 20 different varieties. I'm gonna have to make room for a ton more plants next year!
 
I'm gonna call this my last update for 2019 although it seems that the season isn't yet over. My soil rocotto has managed to ripen a couple of pods after 8 months of teasing:
 
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But the plant is basically dead. I need to get to clearing out all the pots - this weekend sounds like it will be warm and dry.
 
The hydro rocotto, despite looking a shadow of its former self, it holding on and setting a bunch of pods. We've had a few sub zero days but the plant seems to be surviving.
 
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I definitely want to try a rocotto in 2020 and will likely go with the turbo pube seeds I got from fatalii.net. I may start them in June/July so that they grow big over summer and then can set pods when temps drop...
 
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