SKULLBIKERS Fun with peppers in 2021 GLOG

And so it begins, another year of growing some peppers. This will be a sort of continuation of last year
 
http://thehotpepper.com/topic/73129-skullbikers-roaring-into-the-twenties-glog/page-1
 
as several of those plants are still going(and many got whacked and ended up on the burn pile). 
 
Anyway, I have 3 trays of peppers sown and many have germinated already(mostly annums). I wanted to compare several different jalapeños for taste in real time. This tray is all jalapeños, ten types from 7 different vendors. The seeds in block 3 are from 2014.
 

 
Another tray with annums at each end and mostly rocotos in the middle(and they're taking their sweet time).
 

 
 

 

[The Hot Pepper]

Unlike dehydrated things, freeze dryed things can be reconstituted to very near their original state/consistancy.

Peppers are very low in natural sugars though. Rehydrated from dehydrated seem to pop back to life pretty well, I have popped some in pickle jars. Unlike a raisin or sundried tomato. I think sugar has a lot to do with it. Sugars concentrate, and when rehydrated, are still concentrated.

But that's really cool! Freeze-dried mash!

 

[skullbiker]

Peppers are very low in natural sugars though. Rehydrated from dehydrated seem to pop back to life pretty well, I have popped some in pickle jars. Unlike a raisin or sundried tomato. I think sugar has a lot to do with it. Sugars concentrate, and when rehydrated, are still concentrated.

But that's really cool! Freeze-dried mash!

Here are some I did in 2018. I froze the mash in silicone molds and then freeze dried it and vacuum sealed it in jars. Madbalz Brown on the left, Scorpion/Butch T blend in the middle, and Jonahs Yellow Brain/Yellow Bhut on the right. They're ready to use just as the original mash. If you only want to use some you can just vacuum seal the jar again.

I also have a bunch done in larger molds and sealed in mylar bags.

 

[skullbiker]

This last week has been a real bug and pest fest around here. I started out by pulling 3 large hornworms off of my Brainstrain plants. Then leaves were eaten and "residue" left behind on one of my new pepper plants.

I believe that was done by this one that I found days later.

Then I found a bunch of the upper branches cleaned on my Sugar Rush Peach plant. Again, hornworm.

I was moving some containers around and underneath........ friggen SLUGS.

And, yesterday half of one of my new tomato plants was MISSING..........yep.....

Also, last week I saw some small, young rabbits in the garden but apparently something else dealt with them. This guy has been hanging around the back yard.

 

[Pr0digal_son]

The plant in post #348 with the small white flowers on trusses is from the Morelloid clade of Solanum. I'm going to leave it general like that because there are 4 of 5 species in the USA that are nearly identical and need to be seen in person to differentiate. Or numerous photos. 90% chance they turn black but could also turn orange. Research them first if you decide to eat.

 

[skullbiker]

I just put up an inexpensive carport frame and put shade cloth on it for my "new" plants.

And almost immediately the "guardians" arrived.

Another on new Billy Bomb plants.

 

[skullbiker]

Update pic of the Albanian Red Hot pod.

I'm thinking it will start to show some checking fairly soon.

 

[talas]

Everything looking great pity about the hornworms it seems a lot of growers everywhere are having pest problems as we speak it's a pain after all the hard work.
Slugs I don't suffer with anymore as I use a triple lock against them.
Firstly I grow marigolds and put them in containers,beds etc as a way of luring them away from my veg,Lavender again with my grow in pots but the best think is I spray seaweed on the leaves of my peppers which of course is a great fertilizer but also slugs hate the salt as do a number of pests and it all works well as a mixed defence.
As an alternative use nettles,comfry,seaweed tea or seaweed if it's available at the foot of your plants works wonders.

 

[PaulG]

Great ‘nature’ pix, ‘Biker!

 

[talas]

Just noticed the carport frame an inspired idea and lovely to see you using shadecloth which a lot of people forget after building large greenhouses until there plants get fried.

 

[skullbiker]

Just noticed the carport frame an inspired idea and lovely to see you using shadecloth which a lot of people forget after building large greenhouses until there plants get fried.

I should have put it up sooner and fewer mature plants would have been "cooked".

 

[talas]

I should have put it up sooner and fewer mature plants would have been "cooked".

It's an easy mistake we have all cooked our plants at some time.

 

[skullbiker]

I went out this afternoon to water my “new” pepper plants and saw a new pod on one of my Biker Bomb plants.

I was realy pleased until I looked about a foot above it and saw disaster at work!

 

[skullbiker]

The first pod on Scarlett's Chili X Poblano F3.

And, I might as well post another large bug. At least this is not a plant eating bug. It's about two inches long and is an "ant" eating bug called an Ant Lion.

 

[talas]

Scarlett's Chili X Poblano F3 sounds like a great cross and is the biker bomb a cross to?..i straight away thought of Biker billy jalapenos an old favourite thx to Chris and Albamajack but remembered your name is Skullbiker lol I'm getting old.

 

[Downriver]

Man SB! What's up with all the hornworms? Wow.

 

[skullbiker]

Man SB! What's up with all the hornworms? Wow.

The weather here has been much different here this summer as even when the hurricanes miss us they change our weather pattern. I've seen more bugs this season than I've ever seen no matter where I lived! They keep coming and I keep killing them. I haven't resorted to the chemicals yet this fall but it's close!
Anyway, hornworm of the day.

And now these have shown up too.

Then I moved the containers around and..............SLUG FEST!

And one of those slugs was pumping out the eggs(and I think I scared the shit out of it).

And then there's your good ol' run of the mill GRUB.

It's times like these that I just love hearing people say how easy gardening is....."just throw the seeds in the ground and wait to pick the stuff".

 

[skullbiker]

Okay, on a more positive note, here's some Sugar Rush Peach pods about ready to pluck.

The Brainstrain plants are still producing flowers and pods.

 

[talas]

The weather here has been much different here this summer as even when the hurricanes miss us they change our weather pattern. I've seen more bugs this season than I've ever seen no matter where I lived! They keep coming and I keep killing them. I haven't resorted to the chemicals yet this fall but it's close!
Anyway, hornworm of the day.

And now these have shown up too.

Then I moved the containers around and..............SLUG FEST!

And one of those slugs was pumping out the eggs(and I think I scared the shit out of it).

And then there's your good ol' run of the mill GRUB.

It's times like these that I just love hearing people say how easy gardening is....."just throw the seeds in the ground and wait to pick the stuff".

Gardenings easy when you have a good year..the reason Gardner's have friends I learned quickly from my peers is just that some years are just not worth putting the seeds in the ground but your friends who are having a good year can help you out when a bad one comes and you can do the same for them.

 

[skullbiker]

The first pods showing on a Labomba Jalapeno plant. These were from seeds I bought from Territorial Seed in 2018.

I picked the Sugar Rush Peach peppers this morning, it was quite a haul.

American weight!

I also picked a few Sugar Rush Red, Rocotos, an PeppaPeach.

And I could hardly leave without todays bug pic! A Leaf Notcher.

 

[PaulG]

Man, you got bugs I never even heard of.

Nice haul of sugar Rush. Have you grown
the cream variety? That was my favorite when
I grew out some SRs.