Stefan_W's 2013 Pods A-Ripenin'! Glog

I am going to start the new glog for my upcoming growing season on a bit of a personal note. One year ago tomorrow (January 3rd) is the one year anniversary of the day that my daughter was diagnosed with a tumour that is lodged in the middle of her brain. The past year has involved treatments and hospital stays, and there were at least three different points when we were pretty sure she was not going to make it. But she is a fighter, and nothing could keep her down for long.

Sofia has personally planted every pepper and tomato seed that I have started in the past three growing seasons. She beat the odds last year to help me, and once again she is defying what medicine has to say to help me out this year.

We started a jalapeno plant about a week ago just for the sake of watching it grow, because we both love it so much. One of the jalapenos grew to the point that it had its firt couple of leaves, so we transplanted him into a bigger pot. While we were at it I decided to put in some aji lemondrops, partly because they take a long time to fruit up and I wanted to give them a huge head start.

This is the jalapeno plant. I pulled the second one out because we did not need it, and discovered that the roots had grown all of the way down to the bottom of the cell.

My daughter personally doing the transplant.

Her aim is better than mine, and so it turned out perfectly.

Next up was taking out the lemondrop seeds from peppermania.

I need a few extras of this type, so I asked Sofia to plant two seeds in each of the four cells. Two plants will be for us, and whatever else grows will be given away to good friends.

Two of the three tiers in my lighting stand are currently being used as toy shelves, which is cool for now. The lights are adjustable, and moved down to get close to the seedling.

The heating pad works extremely well, and once the cells are covered the top clouds up in no time.

A happy early jalapeno seedling in his new home. I thought I heard "feeeeeed meeeeee" coming from that direction, but I'm not sure.

That's it for today, folks! Welcome to my new glog

 

[roper2008]

Everything is looking good. I like your lights. I'm going to check if Lowe's has some like that. Your little pug is
so cute. I have a chihuahua mix 13.5 years old. Lots of grey, and poor thing has heart failure. Giving him 4
different meds. Every time he coughs I jump because sometimes it causes his heart to stop. Hopefully he
will make it until spring or maybe longer.

 

[Stefan_W]

Everything is looking good. I like your lights. I'm going to check if Lowe's has some like that. Your little pug is
so cute. I have a chihuahua mix 13.5 years old. Lots of grey, and poor thing has heart failure. Giving him 4
different meds. Every time he coughs I jump because sometimes it causes his heart to stop. Hopefully he
will make it until spring or maybe longer.

I hope your dog is ok for a long while to come.

This type of light stand is specific to Lee Valley, but you may be able to get something similar in other places. The best part of the design is that the lights on all three tiers adjust up and down as needed, so you can keep them pretty close to seedlings while still being able to move them upwards while the plant gets taller.

 

[Stefan_W]

Thanks again to King Denniz for the Biker Billy seeds! They were planted last Monday and transplanted today.

 

[Stefan_W]

A major snowstorm is hitting the area at the moment. It normally takes me 20-25 mins to get home from work, and today it took 1:15! Absolutely brutal.

In order to make room for all of the seedlings, the giant jalapeno has moved out from under the grow lights and in front of the window. He is very happy to be on the right side of the glass, considering what is going on outside behind him!

 

[WalkGood]

Stefan that Jalapeño picture in front of the snow storm is very cool! I have a good feeling about that one, I’m betting it will be a great producer … possibly all due to the active pixie dust in dat soil

 

[PeriPeri]

Great looking plants and I just love those labels - Great job!

 

[Stefan_W]

Stefan that Jalapeño picture in front of the snow storm is very cool! I have a good feeling about that one, I’m betting it will be a great producer … possibly all due to the active pixie dust in dat soil

Thank you! I really wanted to take that shot once it started to snow. I agree that it is looking like a good producer in the works, and I can see some small buds already starting to form.

Great looking plants and I just love those labels - Great job!

Thank you! I'll pass along the compliment to Sofia, who wrote out all of the names for me.

 

[Stefan_W]

After the snowstorm a couple of days ago, the snow in our yard is piled up about 6 feet high. When I came home from the grocery store this evening I spotted a bunny eating fruit off of the tree in the front yard. He is cute, mostly because it is the wrong time of year for him to be eating my garden.

I'll be posting an update this weekend to show you all how the seedlings are doing.

By the way, this photo is taken at eye level with me standing straight up, and I am 6'1.

 

[Sawyer]

Wow, where's the "don't like" button? That's a lot of snow. It's snowing here in AR as I type, but it's just a few pretty flakes in the night lights; there's unlikely to be any accumulation at all.

 

[stickman]

Man, that's got to be frustrating to still have so much snow in March! We got plenty a few weeks ago, but it's melted down to 15 cm or so now. The ice on the ponds is that slushy, gray stuff that softens in the sun... the ice fishermen out our way have pretty much given up fishing until it melts, unless they switch to the rivers.

 

[Stefan_W]

Wow, where's the "don't like" button? That's a lot of snow. It's snowing here in AR as I type, but it's just a few pretty flakes in the night lights; there's unlikely to be any accumulation at all.

Man, that's got to be frustrating to still have so much snow in March! We got plenty a few weeks ago, but it's melted down to 15 cm or so now. The ice on the ponds is that slushy, gray stuff that softens in the sun... the ice fishermen out our way have pretty much given up fishing until it melts, unless they switch to the rivers.

The worst part of it all is that the snow was melting off like crazy earlier in the week. A big snowstorm hit us on Wed, and if the temps were 2 degrees warmer it would have been a rainstorm and there would be no snow left on the gorund right now. But as it turns out it is like we were living in tunnels, because the snow is piled up so high on the sides of people's driveways and at the side of the road you can't even see cars in the driveways. And the snow is heavy as a brick, so shovelling is a nightmare.

This is a setback for the thaw, but things will be warming up and the snow will be mostly gone wtihin 4-6 weeks. We can usually set out plants out in the first half of May, and I'm sure this year wil be no diferent (*crosses fingers*).

 

[WalkGood]

Stefan my friend, how quickly you forget … you have a secret weapon in Casa de Stefan. Just throw a little pixie dust on dat snow instead of crossing your fingers. Geez what little faith you have

 

[Stefan_W]

My daughter has had a cold this past week, so I haven't been around much. Unlike the flu, she experiences a cold just like any other kid which is a refreshing change for all of us.

It is time for an update.

The plants are continuing to sprout and grow, and I ran out of room under the grow lights. Two trays of plants are now living by the window, and they include the first giant jalapeno we planted in Jan, the lemondrops, tabascos, and assorted others that seemed to be doing well enough to move.

I am watering the plants from below today. Here is my Butch T. I was not planing on keeping him, but he's doing so well he may earn a place in the garden this year.

The giant jalapeno taking in some water.

I have four new tabasco plants and one overwintered one. I am thinking of running an experiment this summer. I was going to put the largest of the tabascos in its own container, and put the other three into a shared pot. Then I would compare the production of the overwinter versus the one in a single pot and the three in the shared pot. Inquiring minds want to know how best to use the space available for next year.

Even though the white habs and the makos popped only a week ago they are doing exceptionally well and growing fast.

The aji lemondrops are beautiful plants.

So this is the situation on the grow stand. All three row are filled, with some more sprouts coming.

Some of the plants still on the grow stand, like the giant 7 pod congo SR red, are getting to be a decent size, so they will need even more room shortly.

My photography is getting better. I adjusted the f-stop to keep the sticks in the background in focus. Anyway, this is the bottom rom of seedlings.

And here are some of the ones that are popping and looking for a new home in a four inch pot.

I have an arrangement to sell some of the seedlings through the local hot sauce store, but I can't start doing it until next weekend. This means that I have to find to take some seedlings off of the stand to make way for others, which in turn means finding room in front of a window somewhere.

I think I am going to change the name of this glog to "What was I thinking????" Selling off a few seedlings for a tiny profit is causing huge amount of pain in my backside, and I am not sure it is worth it.

 

[WalkGood]

Looking great Stefan

 

[DocNrock]

Looks like things are coming up Stefan. Sorry to see all the snow. I didn't have it to that degree, but I lived in Cleveland for 7 years while going to med school and grad school. Couldn't wait to get back to California! Hopefully the thaw will come soon.

Sounds like musical chairs going on with your plants and seedlings. It may be tough now, but once springtime rolls around and you're planted outside with some $$$ in your pocket, maybe it will all have been worth it.

 

[Stefan_W]

Looking great Stefan

Looks like things are coming up Stefan. Sorry to see all the snow. I didn't have it to that degree, but I lived in Cleveland for 7 years while going to med school and grad school. Couldn't wait to get back to California! Hopefully the thaw will come soon.

Sounds like musical chairs going on with your plants and seedlings. It may be tough now, but once springtime rolls around and you're planted outside with some $$$ in your pocket, maybe it will all have been worth it.

Thanks for the kind words! If I sell off enough I may lose some of this feeling of regret, but I doubt I will take the same approach next year. I have always kept an extra one or two beyond what I needed, just in case and to give away to friends, and that's it. Having said that, I found lots of people who want superhot seedlings so I may keep grownig extras of those. As you say though, a lot can change between now and summer, and even more between now and a year from now.

 

[roper2008]

I planted too many also stefan. I told myself I wasn't going to do that. I'm going to squeeze them anywhere I
can find an extra space, even going to squeeze some in the flower pots. I think they will be happy with the
flowers. ... Your plants are looking great. Tabasco looks really nice.

 

[Sanarda]

Tell Sophie I hope she feels better. Your plants look terrific. They are ready for plant out. Thats always a plus come spring and they really take off from a good place. Now its on to budding flowering and peppers. woohoooo!!!!!! Oh I am glad to see im not the only one still putting seeds in the soil. aaaahahhaa I thought I was becoming obsessive/compulsive. Now I see its normal I feel much better.

 

[Stefan_W]

I planted too many also stefan. I told myself I wasn't going to do that. I'm going to squeeze them anywhere I
can find an extra space, even going to squeeze some in the flower pots. I think they will be happy with the
flowers. ... Your plants are looking great. Tabasco looks really nice.

Yeah, it is always a challenge because we dont want to let any of our babies go. The tabasco is the most versatile pepper that I grow. Every sauce I used it in turned out amazing, and home made tabasco sauce is to die for. I highly recommend tabascos to everyone. The only issue is that they can be a tough germinator, so plant lots of extras. They are also very very long season, and I had loads of red bhut jolokias a month before any of the tabascos were ripening.

Tell Sophie I hope she feels better. Your plants look terrific. They are ready for plant out. Thats always a plus come spring and they really take off from a good place. Now its on to budding flowering and peppers. woohoooo!!!!!! Oh I am glad to see im not the only one still putting seeds in the soil. aaaahahhaa I thought I was becoming obsessive/compulsive. Now I see its normal I feel much better.

I pass along the message The seeds I'm dealing with now are sweet peppers, which don't take very long. I'll be glad when the last of the peppers are transplanted into pots some time this week. The goal for tomorrow is to start the tomato seeds, which are the last things I am starting indoors this year. I used to always do herbs from seed as well, but I think I'd rather pay someone else a few bucks and just buy seedlings when I'm ready for them.

Thanks for stopping by!

 

[WalkGood]

Stefan every ting looks great except the snow BTW don't show Sofia this post And if you do, tell her I was only joking as we all know that pixie dust is far better than seaweed mist