Stickman's 2013 Glog - Time To Pull The Plug on 2013

I'm pulling things together to get ready for my next growing season. I bought NuMex variety seeds from Sandia Seed company in New Mexico, Hot Paper Lantern Habaneros and Antohi Romanians from Johnny's Select Seeds in Maine and Korean varieties from Evergreen Seeds in California. Due to the unbelievable generosity of a number of THP members I've also gotten seeds to a wide variety of chiles from around the world. Special thanks to BootsieB, stc3248, romy6, PaulG, SoCalChilehead, joynershotpeppers, highalt, cmpman1974, smokemaster, mygrassisblue, Mister No, chewi, KingDenniz, orrozconleche and most recently and spectacularly, Habanerohead with a great selection of superhots and peppers from Hungary!

There are eleven varieties of Hungarian peppers in here, mostly the early, thick-fleshed, sweet ones that range from white through yellow to purple and red.., plus Aji Lemon Drop, BJ Indian Carbon, Naga Morich, Bishop's Crown and TS CARDI Yellow! Now I just have to go through my seed bank and match the space available to what I want to grow. Thanks Balázs!

 

[meatfreak]

Thanks for the input Stefan! This is my first year growing them from seed so it's much appreciated. Guess I'll have to put them in a large air pruning pot until conditions are right for planting them outside... Hope you and your family have a good Easter yourselves!

This is only my second season growing them, but if you think a tomato grows fast, wait till you see the tomatillo in action It has a really vigorous growth, big leaves and a thick stem but I learned from last year that you have to keep it in line. Otherwise it branches out big time and can not carry all the weight of the fruits. Sure you can support it but I think it's better to have less branches. That's way I'm going to do it this season. It doesn't require a lot of warmth since it did pretty well and we had an awful summer with lot's of rain and not much sun. Everyone loved the salsa verde, it's something you can not get over here.

A selection of herbs, tomatoes, and garlic is definitely the way to go. It is sort of like having a salsa factory in your back yard.

Yeah, what's better then getting those produce out of your own garden

 

[HillBilly Jeff]

Your non peppers are looking good. Just started mine last week too.

 

[stickman]

This is only my second season growing them, but if you think a tomato grows fast, wait till you see the tomatillo in action It has a really vigorous growth, big leaves and a thick stem but I learned from last year that you have to keep it in line. Otherwise it branches out big time and can not carry all the weight of the fruits. Sure you can support it but I think it's better to have less branches. That's way I'm going to do it this season. It doesn't require a lot of warmth since it did pretty well and we had an awful summer with lot's of rain and not much sun. Everyone loved the salsa verde, it's something you can not get over here.



Yeah, what's better then getting those produce out of your own garden

I know Stefan! The guy with the plot next to mine had a volunteer Tomatillo pop up in his garden. He left it there to grow, and it got huge, and covered with fruit, but it germinated so late in the season that it didn't produce much in the way of ripe fruit... covered with flowers and unripe fruit by the time it frosted here though. I bought a Tomatillo seedling from a local greenhouse as an afterthought and planted it in a pot about mid-June. It got an earlier start so I was able to get enough fruit for a couple of batches of salsa, but it never produced like the one in the garden, so I figured to plant it along with my other Tomatoes to let it get established earlier. Love that Salsa Verde!

A selection of herbs, tomatoes, and garlic is definitely the way to go. It is sort of like having a salsa factory in your back yard.

You betcha Stefan! Unfortunately, my wife has issues with Tomatoes, but I eat a lot of salsa in the summer!

Your non peppers are looking good. Just started mine last week too.

Thanks BD, it looks like you'll be planting outside before I do... Good luck with your Truck Garden and fishing! The only place around here we can go fishing for Walleye is the Connecticut River, and I wouldn't eat anything that comes out of it... When I was a Boy Scout in the early 70s it was one of the filthiest rivers in New England. Since then they've cleaned it up enough to be able to swim in it, but the sediments are tainted, and will be for the foreseeable future.

 

[SeanW]

Now you guys got me wanting tomatillos...thanks

Also, page 42. It seems you've found the meaning to life, the universe, and everything

 

[stickman]

Now you guys got me wanting tomatillos...thanks

Also, page 42. It seems you've found the meaning to life, the universe, and everything

Thanks Sean... Now what was the question?

 

[poypoyking]

Now you guys got me wanting tomatillos...thanks

Me too now. I have the seeds already just wasn't planning on starting them. I guess they are getting started tonight with my tomatoes.

 

[stickman]

Me too now. I have the seeds already just wasn't planning on starting them. I guess they are getting started tonight with my tomatoes.

Hi Ben, welcome to the zoo. Good luck with your season this year!

Came home for lunch and found that 4 out of 6 varieties of Tomatoes have sprouted. There are Cherokee Purple, Brandywine Red and Sungold Cherry Tomatoes for me (along with the Green Tomatillos), and Beefsteak and San Marzano for my Mom. Still waiting for the Black from Tula and Japanese Black Trifele, but I'm sure they'll be along any day now.

The Kurtovska Kapia peppers I planted back in January are blooming...

Things had better warm up soon so I can get them in the ground!

 

[SeanW]

Are you going to remove the blooms for now, or let 'em run?

 

[poypoyking]

Cherokee Purple is still one of my favorites, and thanks for the welcome

 

[stickman]

Are you going to remove the blooms for now, or let 'em run?

I'm gonna pinch them off... The plants are all between 5 and 8 inches tall, and I want 'em at least a foot high before I let them begin setting pods. The pods are big and meaty, and 9 or so inches long, and I don't want 'em trailing on the ground.

 

[MisterNo]

Hi Rick, glad it's getting better up there

1+ for the tomatillos
I've grown Purple ones last season, they were great in salsas and sauces. This years I'm growing them again, along with Verde. Heavy producers, got a lot of pods from two plants.

Be careful with the space, if you plant them in the ground they can get very big, tall and very wide. Or you can cut lower branches that get wide.

 

[stickman]

Hi Rick, glad it's getting better up there

1+ for the tomatillos
I've grown Purple ones last season, they were great in salsas and sauces. This years I'm growing them again, along with Verde. Heavy producers, got a lot of pods from two plants.

Be careful with the space, if you plant them in the ground they can get very big, tall and very wide. Or you can cut lower branches that get wide.

Hey Robert! Glad to have you stop by, and thanks for the info... Are you still in the UK?

I love the sweet and tangy flavor of the Tomatillos. I even eat them raw! One of the best salsas is made with Tomatillos, Garlic and Onions that have been roasted, finely chopped or crushed in a Molcajete and flavored with chiles and cilantro. I don't have a Molcajete, so I just chop them up in a blender when I make salsa. It comes out with a little more watery consistency but it tastes the same.

I saw how big the plant can get by watching the volunteer in the garden last year... nobody staked it and it sprawled on the ground taking up about a 2 foot circle and reaching up from that about a foot or so. I plan on putting them in pots this year, but if I planted them in the ground, I'd be sure to mulch well with straw so the fruit on the ground would be dry and clean.

 

[stc3248]

Makes your heart sink pinching them off...but the right thing to do and will pay off in pods later on. They'll really hit the ground running at plant out!

 

[Dshlogg]

Both your peppers and nons are looking awesome man. Sorry about your Douglah though. It may end up bushing out more than its sister plant once it recovers. I like that you did a comparison grow with the Air Pots. I couldn't see much difference but I think the plants hadn't grown into the pots enough to prune the roots. I think there would be a big difference if both plants were in equal sized containers and allowed to get somewhat rootbound. Keep up the good work. Good luck!

 

[Trippa]

All this talk of tomatillos has made me incredibly curious about them.
I had never even heard of them before I came on this site.
Might have to look into getting myself some

 

[SeanW]

I'm gonna pinch them off... The plants are all between 5 and 8 inches tall, and I want 'em at least a foot high before I let them begin setting pods. The pods are big and meaty, and 9 or so inches long, and I don't want 'em trailing on the ground.

Makes sense, you might also lose a bunch of blooms when you plant out, so probably just as well doing it intentionally

All this talk of tomatillos has made me incredibly curious about them.
I had never even heard of them before I came on this site.
Might have to look into getting myself some

They make tasty salsa verde. Look like an unripe tomato, wrapped in a husk. Apparently they have difficulty self-pollinating, so they'll need more than one plant to do the deed.

I'm ordering some seeds from SSE as we speak. THP - sharing not only the pepper madness, but gardening in general!

 

[stickman]

Makes your heart sink pinching them off...but the right thing to do and will pay off in pods later on. They'll really hit the ground running at plant out!

Yup, that's the plan!

Both your peppers and nons are looking awesome man. Sorry about your Douglah though. It may end up bushing out more than its sister plant once it recovers. I like that you did a comparison grow with the Air Pots. I couldn't see much difference but I think the plants hadn't grown into the pots enough to prune the roots. I think there would be a big difference if both plants were in equal sized containers and allowed to get somewhat rootbound. Keep up the good work. Good luck!

Thanks Dan! I think you're right about the rootbound issue. I've been steadily moving up on the new shoes for the chiles in the airpots while the ones in the solo cups are gonna stay in them until plant-out. It's the ones in the cups that are beginning to elongate.

All this talk of tomatillos has made me incredibly curious about them.
I had never even heard of them before I came on this site.
Might have to look into getting myself some

With the warm climate you live in, I think they'd do very well for you Trippa. I have lots of seeds left over. Pm me if you'd like some.

 

[stickman]

Still no sign of sprouts from the Black from Tula tomatoes, but the rest are up! I planted many more than I needed in the hopes of selling the overage.

 

[Devv]

Things are looking good!

And dirt day is a comin'!

Geeze, I read through these glogs and find varieties I've never heard of, I think the corns gone next year and some of these new found varieties will fill the space.

BTW your recommendations for ferts perked my babies up, thanks!

Scott

 

[Sanarda]

Beautiful seedlings. Things still popping for you too I see. I had some of those little round seedling things that I tried that did not sprout one seedling I had set to the side. I looked last night and after about 3 weeks I had about 5 seedlings. I have no idea what one is but two were White Bhuts, one was Brain Strain "Original" from Pepperlover and one Naga Morich. I forgot what the other one was. This is the time in the germ/seedling stage where the trays that you have had no luck with and set to the side start to pop like crazy. I must remember that for next year so I dont remove the labels.