Stickman's 2012 Gochu Pepper Glog

Well, here we go... Started about 35 Korean Gochu Peppers and a few Korean salad peppers, jalapenos and orange habs. All are mostly up today but the habs. I started them early last week in my heated grow tent down in my cellar on top of a grow mat, but didn't have the thermostat quite dialed in. When I left it it was 70 degrees f. in the tent. When I checked again the next morning it was 85 degrees, and I was afraid I'd cooked the seeds, so I moved them onto my kitchen windowsill on the grow mat and awaited developments. Looking much better now. I'll give the Habs until the weekend to pop, then move the flat down to the grow tent.

 

[stickman]

Ain't that like New England for ya.,.. It's sleeting outside this morning!

 

[stickman]

I like the convenience of the snap clamps I use to hold the plastic over the ends of the hoophouse.

They're 4 inches long and snap right around the PVC pipe with a really tight grip. I don't really need that many... just 3 or 4 for each end and one at the top of each arch to keep the plastic from sagging when I remove the sandbags. To unbutton the ends I just take off the snap clamps, roll up the plastic, and snap the clamps back down on the pipe to hold the top plastic in place. When I button up again I unroll the plastic pieces I took off, remove the snap clamps from the ends and lay the end plastic piece over the top plastic piece and snap the clamps down over both where they wrap around the pipe. Pretty easy.
Looks like we're back to sunny, windy and cold for the rest of the week. The babies in the hoophouse are lovin' it though. Temps. inside are around 90 degrees and steamy. The rain was good to the outside crops that can take a little cold.

Mache and Claytonia

Green Onions planted last spring

Yellow Onions started inside in January

 

[stickman]

More Pics...

Sort of the gamut of sizes of Gochu Peppers

Andy F1

Chimayo

Orange Habs

I think that's pretty good growth for the being planted outside here at this time of year. I'll take it!

 

[stc3248]

Walking that winter/spring tightrope well my friend! Can be tricky and takes some attention to detail...too hot open it...now too cool close it. I walked that rope through the socal winter...about the same as what you're getting now. A ton of extra work watching and maintaining the temp in there, but the hard work for your head start will pay off in the harvest. Keep them going a few more weeks...and you should be golden!

 

[stickman]

Walking that winter/spring tightrope well my friend! Can be tricky and takes some attention to detail...too hot open it...now too cool close it. I walked that rope through the socal winter...about the same as what you're getting now. A ton of extra work watching and maintaining the temp in there, but the hard work for your head start will pay off in the harvest. Keep them going a few more weeks...and you should be golden!

Thanks Shane
Always nice to hear that I'm on the right track from someone who has more experience. Overnight temps. per this week's forecast to climb from the low to mid forties up to the low fifties. If the forecast for next week looks like it'll stay that way, I'll replace the 6 mil poly sheeting with Agribon 19 fabric. If a cold snap comes up i can just put the poly sheeting over the fabric overnight.
The cold weather we had last week didn't affect the chiles much, but I did get one plant at the north end of the hoophouse that got some of the leaves near the top frosted. They turned black the day before yesterday, but the primary node looks unaffected and there's more than enough side branching to carry the plant through. About a third of the chiles are budding, and by the end of next week I should have some blossom pics to post. Cheers all

 

[stc3248]

If you can keep them in the 50's or above most of those blooms will set fruit! My nighttime temps have finally climbed into the 50's and I am noticing a HUGE difference in fruit set. When nighttime temps were in the mid 40's I was only getting maybe 10% of my pods to set on several varieties...now maybe 75%. The only ones I have that are still being picky are the tepins and pequins...only a couple fruits out of hundreds of blooms on those guys. For you point is...don't be disappointed if some or most drop to start with. Completely normal and you'll have more peppers than you know what to do with before long. I keep reminding myself that everything until mid June is about growth and pods are just a bonus!

 

[stickman]

Opened up the hoophouse to water and took a few pics...

Poblanos

Orange Habs

Korean Annuums

Jalapenos

Legacy Big Jims

Andy F1

The weather is still changeable... I'll wait until it steadies down to at least overnight temps. in the mid forties before I swap out the poly sheeting for Agribon fabric. The Korean Annuums are up to about a foot and the rest are coming along.

 

[stc3248]

Lookin good brother! Shouldn't be too long before you can pull off that plastic for good!

 

[PaulG]

Hey, Rick, your hoop house is working great. It's amazing how much warmth
can build up in a closed space like that. You can really see the difference in
size of your plants from the first plant out pics to the last - good work! Your weather
is a little ahead of our curve - we're at 41F last night with the next seven days
looking at overnight temps ranging from 38-46. In looking at my records for the
last two years, not that unusual. This year I put everything in i gallon pots with
the idea that they would just grow in them until end of May; tired of planting out
and watching my best plants just sit in the ground doing nothing while the seconds
in small pots in the greenhouse kick 'em in the rear!

You are holding up your end of the bargain quite well, my man - peppers are alive
and well in MA! Good growing to you, friend! BTW the 'like' I put on your page
today was for the gochu info that I couldn't mark before.

 

[stickman]

Hey, Rick, your hoop house is working great. It's amazing how much warmth
can build up in a closed space like that. You can really see the difference in
size of your plants from the first plant out pics to the last - good work!

Hi Paul, Thanks for the shout out.

Your weather
is a little ahead of our curve - we're at 41F last night with the next seven days
looking at overnight temps ranging from 38-46. In looking at my records for the
last two years, not that unusual.

Actually, it sounds like your weather is about the same as ours. Up until this week the overnight temps. could be anywhere from the upper twenties to the low forties. This week it seems to be pretty solidly in the low to mid forties, and should climb up into the low fifties in a week or two. I'm going to replace the plastic film on the hoophouse with heat-retaining fabric today and leave it on until the end of June so the plants can be nice and warm, and get the best head start I can give them. The fabric won't retain as much heat, but it won't be needed as much now and it'll be easier to water since the fabric will let it through.

This year I put everything in i gallon pots with
the idea that they would just grow in them until end of May; tired of planting out
and watching my best plants just sit in the ground doing nothing while the seconds
in small pots in the greenhouse kick 'em in the rear!

You're good at innovation and tinkering. I'm sure you'll think of something...

You are holding up your end of the bargain quite well, my man - peppers are alive
and well in MA! Good growing to you, friend! BTW the 'like' I put on your page
today was for the gochu info that I couldn't mark before.

Cheers

 

[stickman]

Got the Agribon fabric on the hoophouse today. Some pics...

Group shot

First flower. On a Korean Annuum

Tallest Annuum

The hoophouse with agribon 19 fabric in place.

We'll have to see if it makes a difference in heat retention when put up against ambient temps.

 

[stickman]

A little walk through Stickmanland...

http://s1166.photobucket.com/albums/q611/heebner/Me/2012%20Garden/?action=view&current=SANY0396.mp4

 

[SocalChilehead]

Great video Rick they look great with all different varieties.

 

[stickman]

Thanks Fernando
Your babies look like they're loving the SoCal sun now that it finally came out... Did you do anything special for Cinco de Mayo? I got out my bag of dried chiles and made chicken enchiladas with some anchos and pasillas, and a few tepins to kick it up a little. Cheers

 

[SocalChilehead]

Thanks Fernando
Your babies look like they're loving the SoCal sun now that it finally came out... Did you do anything special for Cinco de Mayo? I got out my bag of dried chiles and made chicken enchiladas with some anchos and pasillas, and a few tepins to kick it up a little. Cheers

My family got together celebrated until 4 am, but I got stuck at home working on a project for my business class. I was able to pick up tray of leftovers because we don't believe that plate leftovers are enough share the love. Everything is doing great I was excited to start seeing the green trinidad scorpion producing pods. Hopefully this weather will maintain for the rest of my plants to follow with pod production.

 

[stickman]

My family got together celebrated until 4 am, but I got stuck at home working on a project for my business class. I was able to pick up tray of leftovers because we don't believe that plate leftovers are enough share the love.

Glad to hear your family takes care of you. It must have been quite a feed!

Everything is doing great I was excited to start seeing the green trinidad scorpion producing pods. Hopefully this weather will maintain for the rest of my plants to follow with pod production.

Good on yer mate. Good luck with your grow this year...We're pulling for you out here.

 

[stc3248]

Loving stickmanland! Just like Disneyland...but with peppers! You got a lot going on there. How's the cloth working for you?

 

[MilkStud]

Everything looks great keep it up.

 

[Pinoy83]

your hoophouse is cool as hell....and nice plants

 

[stickman]

Loving stickmanland! Just like Disneyland...but with peppers! You got a lot going on there. How's the cloth working for you?

Hi Shane
Glad you liked the video. I have to admit that there's only one ride, it's awfully short and getting down on your hands and knees to crawl through it kinda sucks, but the chiles are definitely worth it.
The cloth seems to be working well. It doesn't hold the heat like the poly sheeting, but overnight temps. are in at least the forties now, so I don't need it. With the cloth on, the daytime highs inside the hoophouse on sunny days are in the eighties. Light transmission is about the same, but now I don't have to unbutton the ends on sunny days to let out excess heat and the rain gets through the fabric so I don't have to water the chiles on rainy days.
I'm loving the pics you SoCal folks are posting. Your weather is at least a month ahead of ours and your pods have me drooling. Hang brother!

Everything looks great keep it up.

Thanks for looking in Ed, will do.

your hoophouse is cool as hell....and nice plants

Thanks guy, it looks like you have your own backyard jungle going in chiles. Good on yer mate. Are you getting any pods yet like the folks in SoCal?