Siv's second time lucky? 2020 Glog

Siv · Aug 15, 2020

So it's been a bit of a battle with the hydros this month. Time for an update

White Ghost and Dorset Naga. The White Ghost has spread out quite a bit and looks OK but the Dorset Naga looks gone. Still green but no sign of life.

Fatalii (growdown seed), Piri piri and Datil. Fatalii is hanging in there with a few pods almost ready. Lots of aphids though. I'm spraying daily with need. The piri-piri has partially died and partially looks OK. Also has lots of aphids. The Datil is basically dead

Purple Thunder (from Paul), KSLSB & Bahamian Goat. PT has been putting out lots of pods and a lot more one the way. Some aphids but not as bad as the plants on the left. The KSLSB and BGoat are looking fine - pulled a few pods of these guys.

White Ghost, Aji Amarillo (from Harry D) and SRP. WHite ghost has the droopies. Aji Amarillo looks OK but very few pods. The SRP just keeps pumping out pods.

LGS (from WHP), Aji Cristal, Peppadew and Datil. Tons of pods from the LGS. The Aji Cristal probably needs a harvest soon.

Orange Ribbon (WHP), Solid Gold & White Ghost. So sad - bad case of the droopies on all three of these guys. Looks like I'll get a few pods as consolation.

SRP, Peppadew and LGS. And finally the ones on the end seem fine!

It's a bit sad seeing these guys take a turn for the worse after having had a stonking initial life. It's hard to know exactly what went wrong but I'll keep experimenting!

HeatMiser · Aug 15, 2020

Hmm,

That's weird Siv, sad to see some plants drooping like that. Does it happen all of a sudden, or is it a gradual droop? also, where in the system are the plants located (farther away from the master, closer to the master, all over)?

I don't know what is going on, but it would be interesting to compare ph/ec/temp between the plants closest to the master bucket and farthest away from it. Maybe, just maybe, the plants away from the master are having a harder time accessing fresh nutrients from the reservoir? hopefully we can narrow down what is going on there...

Other than that, the healthy plants look awesome!

Siv · Aug 17, 2020

I'm at a bit of a loss for a simple explanation as to why this is happening. It's in odd locations - the pics are from left to right so there are a mix of plants having problems, some far from the master and some close.

I think the Datils were the first to suffer, followed by the Dorset Naga. Two white ghost are having problems but one is fine. The other problem child is the Solid Gold and I think the Orange Ribbon is also going that way.

I think the plants are too big so I'm gonna move them back about a foot into the shade - this will help me provide better support also from the brick posts. It will also mean I'll have to reduce the number of buckets and maybe space them out a bit.

My primary thought right now is that they're getting too hot and there is a lot of water loss through evaporation so the nute concentration may be too high for some and not enough for others. So more shade will be good and I also may replace the 6" net pot lids are allowing too much evaporation. I may keep them in their 2" net pots and use regular bucket lids which provide a better seal. Who knows... experimentation is half the fun!

And my soil plants are doing great so I'll have plenty of peppers anyway.

PaulG · Aug 18, 2020

Quite a story behind your hydro system, Siv.
I hope you get a handle on those droopy plants.

Siv · Aug 19, 2020

I'm not seeing any recovery from the droopy plants although they seen to remain green. I went through yesterday and picked off as many ripe pods as I could find:

L-R: White ghost (some white, some more yellow), Solid Gold and then LGS with one plants putting out bright red pods, one brown and one maroon.

Siv · Aug 20, 2020

It's my first time growing them but very few of my KSLSB pods have the stinger. I guess this is to be expected with what is probably still a relatively recent cross and also a community spread seed. But the ones that do look great! I wish I could enclose one in resin or something - would make a great paperweight.

And to top it off, one of my Bahamian Goats also decided to join the party.

While it's been fun to grow the KSLSB I doubt I'd grow it again. My favourite is the Bahamian Goat with excellent aroma, taste and heat and will definitely be on the grow list for next year.

Downriver · Aug 20, 2020

Awesome looking pods Siv!

Siv · Sep 21, 2020

I need to do an update, it's been quite some time. We're now in the "annoying" phase where there are so many chillies to pick that it's more of a chore than a pleasure. I employed the kids for 30 minutes to grab as much as they could and this is what they managed:

A bunch of Bahamian Goat and KSLSB. Those fruit that got more sun exposure seemed to have bleached white. They're all in the dehydrator now.

A ton of Peppadew. I've put half in a jarred ferment and half ground with the LGS into a bag ferment.

Still not sure what to do with the orange ribbon. These are so damn tasty that I'm tempted to vacuum seal and freeze them.

HeatMiser · Sep 21, 2020

That's a really nice haul Siv! Good to see the results of a successful season.

Did you ever figure out what was causing the droopies?

PaulG · Sep 22, 2020

Totally awesome, Siv!

Looks like you are coming to
the close of a great season!

Siv · Nov 4, 2020

So it has been a little disheartening this last month with the failure of the majority of my hydro plants so I've not been as attentive to THP as I should have been. However, I'm over it now and have grand plans for 2021

So here's a small update on the hydro:

The majority of plants on the left side are kaput. These were the ones that bore the brunt of the aphid infestation and never really recovered:

In the middle, the cluster of bacatums seem to be doing fine but I'm not that enthused with the peppers so have been slack picking them. SRP, Aji Cristal, Peppadew etc

And a few more on the end that seem to be hanging on

But with the bad comes good! The soil plants are firmly into their second crop with a ton of immature pods on the go. Since we likely won't see frost until at least January, I'm pretty sure these will have time to ripen.

Lots of orange ribbon on the go - these are probably my favourite tasting pepper of my 2020 grow

And plenty of Solid Gold Bhuts

And the purple thunder keeps cranking out pods - they look larger this time around.

PaulG · Nov 4, 2020

That Purple Thunder plant looks like a winner.
I love how the pods are hanging all over the place!

Siv · Dec 2, 2020

We had a surprisingly early freeze a couple nights ago. Back to normal now but some of the plants will probably not make it. Here's a few pics I took the night before, still plenty of peppers on the go:

A reasonable harvest for a few minutes work:

And I've started making sauces...

It's been raining quite a bit so picking is a bit treacherous. Hopefully we'll have a couple days of dry weather so I can go and pick the remaining peppers.

HeatMiser · Dec 2, 2020

Still pumpin' pods in TX I see! That's great Siv - those sauces look awesome as well! Are they all fermented?

CaneDog · Dec 2, 2020

Bummer about the surprise freeze, Siv. Looks like a solid harvest, though. I hope the pods are staying firm.

Sauces and stir plates look great. I've been sitting on the gear for a couple new stir plates for I don't know how long. Maybe seeing yours will spur me to get on it. Maybe...

PaulG · Dec 2, 2020

Strong finish, Siv! And looks like you
still have more pods to pull!

Siv · Dec 3, 2020

HeatMiser said:
Still pumpin' pods in TX I see! That's great Siv - those sauces look awesome as well! Are they all fermented?

Only the funky ghost is fermented, as are the ones on the stir plates. The funky ghost is a bit weird, my recipe with fruit didn't really suit the funk of the ferment so I think I'll be doing more savory style sauces with the other ferments I have on the go.

CaneDog said:
Bummer about the surprise freeze, Siv. Looks like a solid harvest, though. I hope the pods are staying firm.

Sauces and stir plates look great. I've been sitting on the gear for a couple new stir plates for I don't know how long. Maybe seeing yours will spur me to get on it. Maybe...

Sadly it looks like none of the plants made it - they all have droopy browning leaves. I'll have to pull all the remaining pods over the next couple of days and either mash or dry them.

I do like the tabasco style sauce that the stir plate enables. The added benefit is that they're super shelf stable being 50% vinegar! I'm experimenting this year with more garlic and other flavourings to try and mix it up a little.

Siv · Dec 7, 2020

I pulled all the Solid Gold off the plants. Some were a bit soft so they're all in the dehydrator.

I also made a sauce using Purple Thunder and blueberries. It has a sharp up front heat and a very tasty mellow back end. Since it's so hot, I put it in 2oz bottles.

I now have to pull the rest of the PTs off the plants.

PaulG · Dec 9, 2020

That sauce sounds great! Glad to see the
Purple Thunder being put to good use.

Mildfruit · Dec 10, 2020

Wow.. Just wow. The pictures of your LSB KG and Goats are stunning! I hope to replicate your grow someday, so many cool varieties!
Are the bottles plastic? If so, how do you steriles them?