Siv's second time lucky? 2020 Glog

And so it begins:

 
From left to right:

1. Growdown Fatalii - Seed Savers Exchange
2. Kang Starr Lemon Starburst - Pepper Donkey [new for 2020]
3. Bahamian Goat - Pepper Donkey
4. Sugar Rush Peach - Pepper Donkey
5. Dorset Naga - Pepper Donkey [new for 2020]
6. Piri Piri - All Good Things [new for 2020]
7. Peppadew - THP seed train (I think) [new for 2020]
8. Turbo Pube - fataliiseeds.net [new for 2020]
9. Datil - THP Seed Train
10. White Ghost - Pepper Donkey
11. Purple Thunder - PaulG [new for 2020]
12. Leviathan Gnarly Scorpion - WHP (I think) [new for 2020]
13. Solid Gold But - saiias [new for 2020]

All the seeds look pretty good other than the piri piri which seem small and darker than expected. We'll see how it does. Overall, I think I have a good mix of heat and colour. Maybe I need to add something yellow as the growdown fatalii looks orange.
 
I'll put together another tray next weekend. Last year was easy as I had limited seeds, this year has been near impossible to choose what to grow as I have so many seeds thanks to the kindness of PaulG and the THP seed train.
 
I'm debating if I should do an Aji this year. Last year I got a ton of Aji Limo so perhaps I should try crystal, mango or pineapple - any recommendations?

 

[Siv]

My Piri-piri has employed some protection. Other than some fattening, no noticeable pod growth though.
 

 
 
And the wheel bug seems to have taken up residence on a LGS. This is the third time I've found him on this plant:
 

 

[PaulG]

Looks like you have all the bases
covered, Siv.  Beautiful little lizard.

 

[Siv]

It's been two weeks so another look at the hydros.
 
White Ghost and Dorset Naga. A couple of pods on the Naga but nothing on this white ghost.

 
Fatalii (growdown seed), Piri piri and Datil. Plenty of flowers on the fatalii but no fruit set yet. The piri-piri continues to grow straight up!

 
Purple Thunder (from Paul), KSLSB & Bahamian Goat. A few pods on the purple thunder, no sign of any flowers on the KSLSB and a few pods set on the Bahamian goat.

 
White Ghost, Aji Amarillo (from Harry D) and SRP. A few pods on this white ghost.

 
LGS (from WHP), Aji Cristal, Peppadew and Datil. The Peppadew is nearly touching the roof now. Tons of pods. The Datil also has a ton of pods but they're hidden. 

 
Orange Ribbon (WHP), Solid Gold & White Ghost. The Orange Ribbon has a few fruit now - I'm excited to try this one!

 
SRP, Peppadew and LGS. Lots of pods on all these guys which is surprising since they were the last to be set out. Smaller plants but way more production.

 

[Siv]

And some pod pics:
 
White ghost

 
Orange ribbon

 
Peppadew - I'm gonna have a ton of these - it's probably the most productive plant I have.

 
 
Aji Cristal with one pod nearly ready for picking - I hear they're better orange than red?

 
Lots of Datil - I really liked the tomato based sauces I made with this last year
 

 
 
Aji Amarillo

 
Purple Thunder - these pods look more stunted when compared to the plants in soil

 
Bahamian Goat hiding

 
Sugar Rush Peach - I'm thinking this year it'll be a competition between the Peppadew and SRP on who puts out the most pods

 

[PaulG]

Outstanding grow, Siv! Not much to find fault with there.
Nice, healthy plants with beautiful pods coming along!

 

[HeatMiser]

That's a nice jungle you got going on there Siv!  Seems like you're going to have quite the harvest pretty soon...
 
I noticed your NFT setup looks empty, did you harvest the herbs?

 

[Siv]

That's a nice jungle you got going on there Siv!  Seems like you're going to have quite the harvest pretty soon...
 
I noticed your NFT setup looks empty, did you harvest the herbs?

 
Eagle eyed! Yeah, yesterday I dragged the kids out and we removed the parsley, mint and basil. The parsley on the bottom row was't getting any sun but we still managed to get three bags in the freezer. The mint was looking scraggly and a huge tangle so I wanted to remove it before it got worse - also have a ton in the freezer. The basil was flowering and also a ton of green caterpillars so I thought it best to remove also. I've left the chives there for now.
 
My daughter was not happy when she found caterpillars crawling all over her!

 

[Siv]

How could I forget about the pubes!
 
The decapitated one seems to have grown back to about where he was when he started. You can see he's had plenty of near misses from more avocados dropping.

 
And the indoor hydro keeps teasing me. Lots of growth and flowers but they keep dropping. No sign of pods yet. The yellowing leaf margins indicate some problem - potassium deficiency? I just topped up the nutes - I'm guessing I'll have to do a changeout at some point.

 
Oh and y'all are a bad influence. I ordered another 10 buckets. I think I'm gonna start some pubes soon so that they can go outside in September to put on some growth before October when the nightly temps will finally get below 75.

 

[Siv]

I pulled a few SRP pods and one ripe LGS from the soil side. I forgot that those little snails like to eat holes in the peppers. I've been spreading bait but there are just too many of them. Anyway, these went straight into the dehydrator since they're the first pods set so will be effectively isolated seeds. I'm very impressed with the SRP - the one I grew last year was definitely different with a similar look but much smaller pods. 
 

 

[CaneDog]

So that's what ripe SRP's look like.  The few I have from the first wave have been hanging for a good while at full size, but haven't gotten around to showing me.
 
I thought that LGS pods were bigger than that one looks next to the SRP.  They're great looking bumpy pods.  How big are you finding a typical one?  Are you a fan of the taste?

 

[Siv]

I thought that LGS pods were bigger than that one looks next to the SRP.  They're great looking bumpy pods.  How big are you finding a typical one?  Are you a fan of the taste?

 
You know, I didn't really think that the LGS were missing the "L"! I would say that pod is a little smaller than the average on that plant but they're not as large as I've seen in pictures.
 
However I did spot this guy on one of the hydro plants which is more true to size:

 
I haven't tasted it yet - I'm waiting until I have a bunch. And I'm probably a little scared!

 

[CaneDog]

That looks awesome.  I really like the texture on those and the pod shape works well with it too.  If they have a good flavor for a sauce or powder or whatever then even better.

 

[Siv]

Pulled a few pods of the hydros today. I was a little sad to see several immature pods on the ground but I guess that's to be expected now with temps hitting the 100s this weekend.
 

 
I'm liking these huge SRP and Aji Cristal pods! But the Datil are red - they were from the seed train and I assumed they would be orange as I guess that's the standard colour. Anyway, I'll be eating one tonight to see how they stack up.

 

[Tybo]

Just my .02 cents but those red pods don't look like datil to me.  At least none that I've grown.  All of mine have been yellow/orange.  I did grow some "sweet datil" that were red but they tasted nothing like the "true" datil's.
Have you tried them yet?  The sweet datil's I grew weren't hot at all.  My real datil's were hot, hot, hot!

 

[Siv]

Just my .02 cents but those red pods don't look like datil to me.  At least none that I've grown.  All of mine have been yellow/orange.  I did grow some "sweet datil" that were red but they tasted nothing like the "true" datil's.
Have you tried them yet?  The sweet datil's I grew weren't hot at all.  My real datil's were hot, hot, hot!

 
They do look like Datil on the plant and many have that characteristic "bum" at the tip. But these aren't nearly as hot as the orange Datils I grew last year and they have more of a bell pepper flavour but definitely some heat. I have a few more so now we wait and see if they turn red or orange.

 

[Siv]

Seeing a lot of flower drop at the moment - we're firmly into the scorching heat hitting heat indexes of 110. I just hope that the pods that are large but still green stay there and ripen. Along with the flowers on the ground, a lot of immature pods dropping too
 
And I found a ton of whiteflies on my indoor turbo pube. Sprayed the hell out of it with need along with all the other indoor plants just in case.
 
 
In other news, these arrived today...

 

[boutros]

Not liking the flower pod drop of course...  Have the same thing here, maybe a bit less hot.
 
Cool seed hookup, had to google Thunder Mtn. Longhorn.  This is my first year doing African Bird Orange and they are big, seems like it is taking them years to set pods though.

 

[HeatMiser]

Hope you don't lose that many pods to the heat Siv... 
 
Whitefly are a vector for broad mites too - spraying with neem was a good approach, but I'd check a few young leaves for mites to see if they hitched a ride on one of those whiteflies. 

 

[Siv]

Two weeks and another hydro update!
 
We'll start with some plumbing. The plants are now going through both 30 gallon trash cans in a week. It seems to be highly temperature dependent and I'm not sure if it's evaporation from the buckets or transpiration from the plants that's using all the water. But one thing for sure, I don't want to be caught out with the plants drying up so I've installed a float valve filler on one of the nute reservoirs which also makes refilling a breeze (instead of having to sit there watching it). I'm gonna dose nutes as normal and then see how the EC drops over time.
 

 
 
White Ghost and Dorset Naga. Lovely looking plants now with a few pods. Not a huge amount but a good start at least.

 
Fatalii (growdown), Piri piri and Datil. Finally my first pod on the Fatalii. The piri-piri is way over my head and about a foot from the roof - I'm surprised that it grows straight up with little sideways spread. The datil seems content at it's height and is focusing on fruit now.

 
Purple Thunder, KSLSB & Bahamian Goat. A lot of pods on the purple thunder, a couple flowers on the KSLSB and some giant looking pods set on the Bahamian goat. The purple thunder is dominating proceedings though.

 
White Ghost, Aji Amarillo and SRP. Not much going on with this white ghost - there are a few pods there. The Aji Amarillo is growing but had relatively few pods for its size. The SRP is just pumping out the pods - I'm filling up a tray in the dehydrator every few days.

 
LGS, Aji Cristal, Peppadew and Datil. The Peppadew is touching the roof now. Tons of pods. The Datil also has a ton of pods that are ripening. This has really become a jungle now - all the plants are seriously intertwined and there's no separating them.

 
Orange Ribbon, Solid Gold & White Ghost. The Orange Ribbon has a few pods ripening - they should be ready in a few days. The solid gold has plenty of pods now but I hear they take forever to ripen. Lots of pods on the white ghost but still waiting to see a ripe one.

 
SRP, Peppadew and LGS. Still plenty of pods on all these guys but waiting for my first harvest. Some of the Peppadew are finally turning.

 

[Uncle Eckley]

Wow, Siv, you're killing it this year! 
 
That lizard at the top of the page is a handsome fellow.  Is it an anole?
 
You've got that same weird spotting I get!!  Post #111.  What is it, do you think?  I see it to some extent on all my outdoor 5g Kratkys.  It got so bad on one of my plants last week I cut it down.
 
Also, my lone rocoto is showing very much the same yellowing as your indoor guy, except far worse.  I think mine doesn't like my version of Kratky - he's seemed off since almost the very beginning.
 
BTW, it looks like your buckets are all tilted back with a piece of lumber under their near edges.  Tell us about that?