stc3248, 2013 Grow log, Season's Greetings and Season's End

Well here we go again! Those that saw my grow last year know that I was plagued by virus issues and many other problems, but I was still able to pull off the most amazing grow of my life. By season's end every plant was infected. Some keeled over, but others just kept right on trucking. I learned a ton, and hope to use it to pull off a season without that virus making a repeat appearance. It will be tough. I had huge numbers of pods, and many hit the ground and rotted, so there are sure to be some infected volunteers that show up. My grow this year will be MUCH smaller and focused on the varieties I liked best along with a couple new ones I really wanna try out.


First a couple of my money shots from last year...

I plan to use a similar grow setup to start with...here are a couple pics of how it looked...

My setup evolved as the season began. I started with a single t8 shoplight...the two shoplights and ended up with a single row of CFL's down the center hooked into a 4' power strip the the two shoplights angled in from the sides. The light from the sides really seemed to promote growth at the lower nodes...so for this year...

I bought some more CFL's Mix of 100w and 75w equivalents. The 100w eq were around $10 for 4 at HD and the 75w were $3 for 6 at COSTCO!!! Also bought some splitters for the sockets and here's what the power strip looks like now...

This thing feels like its giving you a sunburn from 6' away...I alternated 100/75 on each side all the way down...Instead of the mylar I am going with foil sided foam sheathing...

My "plan" with this stuff is to make the Shelf unit more of a grow tent type setup. Hoping I can use the lights and a small space heater to maintain a constant temp in the mid 80s. I am also going to "try" to use magnetic tape to attach this stuff so access will be easy. We shall see. May get too warm...but easy enough to vent if need be. I am going to try to keep them indoors much longer this year. I put them out to early last year, and some of the late starts that stayed inside until the night time temps were higher passed many of my early starts that were already in the ground.

My final dilemma is the wife says 20 plants...and I have all these awesome seeds! So I am going to see if the wife's # is sort of like the over the counter dosage...the full prescription strength is double, so I am aiming for 40. I will start almost twice that # though so if you're near SD be watching this glog around plant out, I will be getting rid of some plants...

Well here is the list for now...If something you sent didn't make it I still have them, and will get to them some day. Momma is already pissed!

Wilds
Tepin 15 (seed train 2012)
Pequin Chiapas (Griff87)
Bird Aji (Seed Train 2012)
Cumari (Romy6)
PI 438638 (Romy6)

Annuum
Jamaican Hot Yellow (My Seed)
Goat's Weed (My seed)
Explosive Ember (My seed)
Tri-color Variagata (Seed Train 2012)
Numex Centennial (the next seed train)

Pubescens
Ultra Pube PI 585266 (SocalChilehead)
Manzano (farmer's market)

Baccatum
Yellow Aji from Peru (Paul G)

Chinense
Giant Twisted Chocolate Hab (CMPMAN 1974 Via Pr0digal_son)
St Marteen Marigot Mkt Yellow Scotch Bonnet (Pic1)
Jamaica Scotch Bonnet (Pic1)
Belize City Scotch Bonnet (Pic1)
Fatalii (Pulpiteer)

The Supers
Yellow Billy Boy Douglah (SilverSurfer via Coheed via Romy6)
Yellow Cardi Scorpion (Romy6)
Yellow 7 Pot Brain Strain (Unknown Source probably the next seed train???)
Yellow 7 Pot (Pr0digal_son)
7 Pot Brain Strain (Romy6 Had some from Jamie and got some more from PaulG)
7 Pot Congo SR (CMPMAN 1974 via Pr0digal_son)
7 Pot White (SocalChilehead)
7 Pot Monster Infinity (gnslngr)
7 Pot Primo (MGold via PaulG)
Douglah (Pr0digal_son)
Trinidad Scorpion Moruga (Bakers Peppers)
Bhut Jolokia Indian Carbon (Pr0digal_son)

7 Pot Barrackpore (soon to arrive from DocNrock )
HP22B aka Carolina Reaper (soon to arrive from DocNrock )

Ummm...I count 32ish varieties. May scrub a couple off, but may not!!! Thinking I can get by with the Ornamentals and Wilds as long as I keep them small and Bonchi them to look perdy for Momma???

I think I will skip most all of the grocery store available varieties this year so I can grow more of the good stuff...That's if for now everybody! Hope you all have a great season!!!

Shane

 

[stc3248]

Looking great! So much production!! Imgur is definitely the way to go, so user friendly and free. Another nice thing is their respect for privacy, they scrub all of the exif data on your pictures. You don't have to worry about some weirdo looking up your GPS coordinates on all of your pictures.

I really like it thus far...they only keep your 250 most recent up for you to see and limit file size a little. I went ahead and paid for a year of unlimited access. Lol, which was the reason I left the bucket...felt forced, and didn't like they're constant changes that made using the pics more difficult. Imgur got my money because I didn't feel like I HAD to pay it!
 
 

Wow, nice update! The wife's a jewel, lucky you!
 
My brother was on the JFK in the late '70's and early '80's, did three Med tours. Hopefully this won't take you away from all that you love for too long. We all appreciate your service!
 
I use our own domain for uploading, when we had the ISP our domain was devtex.net, we still have enough people that want to have their old email addresses so they cover our expense (10 bucks a month).
 
Soooo, think about this we could easily set something up so a ton of people could upload and pay very little. AND it would be mas secure, just a thought..
 
Have a great weekend!

We'll see, its what I am asking for. No guarantees I'll actually get it. Cool you got your own domain. We still use our first email account too. Easier than changing for sure!
 
 

19 years is a beautiful thing. I had my 17 yr this past May. The 10th. So yeah give it up for the pretty girls keeping their men. Woooot woooottt. Vegas is a great idea my friend. We are going to Florida in July when the youngest is officially out of school. She's 15 and the oldes is 21. Will be 22 July 11. So killing two birds with one stone plus they don't want to be bothered with us anyway. Rent them a car and we won't see em. Just the way I like it.

Yup...19 years seems like 19 minutes...UNDER WATER! That makes me what 32 now? Mama definitely outclasses me, and for putting up with my craziness she deserves a medal. Have fun in Vegas lady!
 
 

nice lookin plants shane...been busy year for me hardly enough time to check THP, glad everythin is doin great on ur part

Glad you could stop by Pinoy!!! I know you're busy...you and Fernando are scarce this season. I hope things relax at least long enough for you to enjoy your garden.
 
 

Whoa a breathtaking number of pods on your CARDI \o/

That CARDI is a rock star! I hope the pod shape starts to stabilize into something more Scorpion-like...the pods are delicious though. I think they'll shift after this first round. Still an almost non-existent seed count. Pulled almost a dozen pods so far and only one seed, heat is lacking a little too from last year...but it won't be for long.
 
 
 

Just catching up here. Plants look super healthy. You are in that first stage where you get a random pod here and there and the pods take a whole month to ripen.Pretty soon you are gonna get slammed.

I love that manzano picture with the blue Cali sky.They are a great plant. I just put two of them in 15 gallon pots,hoping for the best.Have a good week Shane.

Could take a week to catch up on here! I know I update way too much, but I CAN'T HELP IT!!!   You're on point with your assessment in a month or so I will be knee deep in picking. The small podded ones are starting to set their first now...once those start to produce I may as well set aside 3 hours each weekend just to pull. 
 
 

The Yellow Douglah doesn't look too stable, pod looks more like a Faria. Your Yellow Scorp musta slept with a grape. Nice!

Yeah...first few pods are small and smooth...but looks like they're turning a little meaner. Here are a few up and coming Yellow Billy Boy Pods...

They look much better now, We'll have to wait and see...I also tried an experiment today, I took a couple flowers off it over to the Charapita Yellow and tried a cross...both Chinense and yellow, so could be interesting!
 
 
 
More gnarly pods...

Yellow Brain Plant 1...
 

Yellow Brain Plant 2
 

7 Pot White...
 
Reapers:

All looking pretty Reaper-ish so far!!! I like it thanks Doc!
 

Today's modest pull...a few Belize City Scotch Bonnets, some Goat's Weed, Spoon Tomatoes (they're getting smaller!) and a few Cherries off the Red Robin.
 

I took the time to seed this batch too...don't think I really need to seed any more Goat's Weeds I already have over 500 seeds! Only 100 or so of the Belize City Bonnets put away...all OP. I may try to isolate some pods off this one for a special reserve stock.
 
Another weekend behind us! Ughhhh, back to the salt mines in the morning. Went on another hike with the wife and my younger daughter. Climbed Iron Mountain, good times. That was enough of a down payment for my to go ahead with one beer today...ahhhhh. I also took Sic's advice and hopped in the pool for a bit this afternoon. I sure had a great weekend! Burnt some steak for dinner...even had me an extra ounce or two! The steak was topped with some grilled onions, tomatoes, bonnets and goat's weeds. Sauteed with olive oil and garlic. Mmmmmm...
 
I also sampled the Red Zebra tomatoes....big upcheck there. Juicy yet meaty with a nice blend of sweet and acidic flavors. Ate them sliced with a dusting of sea salt and pepper. They're a medium/small tomato though, only gripe is I wish they were bigger. Got more pics...I will save them for a possible mid week update to kill time in my Barracks room. 
 
Hope y'all's weekends were as amazing as mine!
Shane

 

[StupidJerk]

Wow. You have pods forming everywhere! You are going to have a crazy amount of pods this summer!

 

[KiNGDeNNiZ]

updates look great... your photos look a lot better on a desktop than an iphone

btw heres the brain i received from you.. never had any issues since plant out that day.. cept leaf loss due to earwigs
and snails... i think one flower has set


7 pot white is a great tasting pepper with nice heat.. (pod compliments of Nick and Melissa)


hows the indigo..?

 

[poypoyking]

If I had a vote for gnarliest pods you would get it.  Looking great

 

[koskorgul]

Pods are looking good. Will heopfully start to see some on mine here soon, started getting flower buds on some of the plants.

 

[WalkGood]

… More gnarly pods …

Brethren is there such a thing as pod envy, lols. Things are looking out of dis world pod wise at tu casa ^_^
 
 
Edit: Didn't mean to exclude da matoes, dem looking awesome too

 

[Devv]

LOL pod envy, we all have it!
 
You're definitely rockin'&rolling over there @ Shane's World!

 

[Sanarda]

YUP pod envy for sure. 

 

[megamoo]

 

 
Nice pods !  Had to quote this one, looks like the elephant man smoking a cigarette   
 
Nice info on the photo site.  The bucket has been bugging me to upgrade cos I'm at 94% of my limit and was going to have to delete some old ones but you've given me the simple solution, just get a new account on another one
 
Is it just me or are your plants going through a growth spurt?   They look huge all of a sudden!

 

[newhoppyguy]

Those are some great looking plant/pod congratz on the grow!!!!

 

[DocNrock]

Looking fantastic, Shane!  Happy to see that Reaper podding up for you with those little stingers.  Yours look much closer to the expected phenotype than mine.  Mine still look hab-ish.  Oh well, time will tell.  Those 7 Pot Whites look great!  How white do they get, anyway?  I ask because mine have been pale green for a long time and I'm wondering if that is as white as they get.  I'm going to post a pic of one of mine on my glog.  Still looks a bit greenish to me, but I'll admit, I'm blue-green color blind.  Great seeing a little pull from the yard and the seed stock beginning. 
 
Gonna have to look into Imgur as Photobucket makes me grrrr! 
 
Keep it green!

 

[Dshlogg]

Thems some purdy pods ya got there! That Cardi is goin off. Does the 7 pot white stay green? I've been wanting to grow it but I wondered if there were any true white ones out there.

 

[stc3248]

I will get to all the mail later...thanks for all the kind comments. Mega, I just started my feeding schedule, and there has been a definite boost in their growth. Here are a few more pics I took last weekend...
 

Here is Porter peeking over the Fatalii...
 

and here I am peeking under the Fatalii!!! Woot!
 

Yellow Aji Podding up...Thanks Paul!
 

Big Jim!!!
 

It ain't all peaches and cream...a couple plants with some insect damage. 
 

This Monster Infinity was one another one that I tried planting in the Garden Soil vice Potting Soil my wife accidentally picked up for me...was doing OK, but struggling compared to the others. I added some peat and a ton of perlite to it to see if that'll make it work...
 

Here is my first cross attempt of the season...Charapita Yellow X Yellow Billy Boy Douglah...we shall see??? Both Chinense, should make for a cool pod if it takes!
 

Here are the Red Zebras I sampled...very nice meaty tomato...
 

Tallboys...Jamie's Mystery Crosses are still shooting up...tallest approaching 6'...still very cool plants, but damn when will they ripen!!!
 

On the flip side...here is a small guy...this one of the Charapita Yellows very small, very cool little shrub! No detectable "main growth" ...just bushing out all over and only measuring a bit over a foot tall...
 
All for now...gotta get to work!!! Can't wait to get home tomorrow and see what's up! I think it's about to be ON!!! Hope all you Florida growers stay outta trouble with this storm, followed by the east coast...
 
 
Shane

 

[cool98010]

Can't Help To Say But Your Dogs Are Just Too CUTE  

 

[KiNGDeNNiZ]

very nice updates... i see you have a little upskirt with that fatalii... crosses??? u trying to be a mad scientist now are ya?

 

[RocketMan]

Dang Shane between you and Jamie there's no lack for poddage on here. Was that a shot of Porter during a Doggie Play Day?
 
Ok, adding Red Zebras to the list for next year, maybe this fall.
 
We're keeping a weather eye out for sure Shane. Couldn't even see the Red this morning it was so cloud covered but at least its been a nice soaking rain so far. I know the hard stuff is coming. Hoping I don't have to pull the plants into the garage.

 

[Devv]

Wow! The mystery's are tall!
 
The Charapita Yellows plant is a stocky son of a gun..
 
All looks well

 

[GA Growhead]

Had to switch browsers on my phone to view your glog here. I think your changing in the host of the images is crashing my mobile firefox, started at that time anyway. So im back in the stock browser so i can finally get an update.
Still trucking along! With pods everywhere!

 

[Trippa]

Yum those Tomatoes look delicious!! Everything is looking great shane.  Well done.
 
Hey with your cross attempt have you pulled the anthers off that flower??  If you haven't you won't be able to guarantee a cross.
 
http://fatalii.net/growing/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=35&Itemid=54

 

[coheed196]

Yea your yellow douglah's are getting to be the right shape...but they shouldn't be red...you may have yourself a Not Yellow Douglah

Trippa is correct as well, if you didn't make the flower on the mother plant a purely female flower, then there's no way of knowing if you have a cross or not.