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!

 

[WalkGood]

... ... I couldn't say for sure Ramon, but I suspect it's either a little bit of fungus or light damage due to the fungus gnats in the pot. There aren't enough FG bastiges in the pots downstairs to worry about I think... especially if I take the plants outside into the full sun. ... ...

On mine I doubt it's light damage but could be fungus, just don't know how cause they run very dry. So dry that sometimes the leaves are drooping so I know it's time to water. Maybe fungus from night rain or something like that but it's little specs as the leaf you pictured above. But like I said before since the new growth is clean I don't worry about it but it sure would be nice to be able to spray it with something natural that would clear up the teen pimples/blemishes hahaha
 
 
 

 

 

[stickman]

On mine I doubt it's light damage but could be fungus, just don't know how cause they run very dry. Like I said before since the new growth is clean I don't worry about it but it sure would be nice to be able to spray it with something natural that would clear up the teen pimples/blemishes hahaha
 

 
I guess I should have said minor damage, not light damage...   Boy, it sure would be nice to be able to shop for something to clear up the plants' complexion, eh?

 

[Devv]

I'm at the point when those older leaves get to looking not so pretty they go away. Those lower ones have been there awhile now...besides it gives the undergrowth room to shoot up..

 

[stickman]

I'm at the point when those older leaves get to looking not so pretty they go away. Those lower ones have been there awhile now...besides it gives the undergrowth room to shoot up..

Yeah... some of the lower leaves are so large and the leaf stems are so weak that the wind is twisting them all around. The side branching is ready to grow out at every node so I'm making a virtue of necessity and pinching them off to let the light in to the nodes so the plants can branch out.
 
The overnight temperatures are supposed to be in the mid 40's for the next 2 nights, then up into the 50's for the rest of the week. Memorial day is only a week and a half away so I decided to take the gloves off. It'll make it easier to water when I need to and will take full advantage of any rain we get.

 
Sean, the Chiero is starting to really grow out now.

 
Jalapeno Zapotec is beginning to really kick in with the flowers, now I just need it to stop dropping the pods...

 
Have a great weekend all!

 

[SeanW]

Nice looking cheiro! Mine are hoping to see dirt, probably tomorrow, and hopefully they'll take off, as well.

 

[meatfreak]

Looks great, Rick! Don't know about you guys over there, but here it's raining a lot. Tried to make an effort and put up the poly on my tunnel... only then it started to rain again

 

[Jamison]

Just cruising man! Far ahead of the game.

 

[RocketMan]

Looking good Rick. BTW, what kind of plastic sheeting are you using? In some it looks like just some smooth plastic sheeting and in others it looks like it a woven ground fabric.

 

[Devv]

Congratulations on being able to remove the hoops. Everything's looking good, I see the nons are taking off as well.
 
Here's to continued success!

 

[stc3248]

The gloves are off!

 

[stickman]

Looks great, Rick! Don't know about you guys over there, but here it's raining a lot. Tried to make an effort and put up the poly on my tunnel... only then it started to rain again

I hear ya bro'... fortunately life is usually one d@%& thing after another instead of everything at once...   I'm lookin' forward to seeing your chiles when you finally get them outside!

Just cruising man! Far ahead of the game.

Looking good Rick. BTW, what kind of plastic sheeting are you using? In some it looks like just some smooth plastic sheeting and in others it looks like it a woven ground fabric.

Hi Bill
   The mulch on the ground is a black sheet plastic I got from Johnny's Seeds in Maine. It's textured to trap as much sunlight as possible, so that's probably why it looks a bit like cloth in certain light.

Nice looking cheiro! Mine are hoping to see dirt, probably tomorrow, and hopefully they'll take off, as well.

Hi Sean
   What a relief to finally have it warming up outside! Hope your plants do well when you plant out. It's pretty windy up on our flat-topped hill, is it out your way as well?

Congratulations on being able to remove the hoops. Everything's looking good, I see the nons are taking off as well.
 
Here's to continued success!

Thanks Scott!

The gloves are off!

Thanks Shane!
 
As mentioned before, it's been pretty windy here lately. Maybe not as strong as what the folks who get Santa Ana winds get, but strong enough to beat the plants up if not staked. I've got to do that today. My other plan is to transplant the Tomatoes and Eggplants to their permanent homes and to bury uncapped water bottles with the bottoms cut off upside down next to each plant. All the chiles too. The wind, intense spring sun and sandy soil have been combining to really parch the plants and I want to do something to make sure each plant gets enough water in the right place without runoff.

 

[DocNrock]

Looking great there, Rick!  Very impressive the number of pods on your indoor Douglah!  I have an OW and a new plant (3 feet tall) that only has one pod on it.  Keep on keepin' on!

 

[stickman]

Looking great there, Rick!  Very impressive the number of pods on your indoor Douglah!  I have an OW and a new plant (3 feet tall) that only has one pod on it.  Keep on keepin' on!

 Thanks Doc...   The season's young yet... I'm sure you'll get more pods if your new Douglah is 3 feet tall.
 
I wanted to do something about making sure each pepper plant got at least a cup of water apiece when I water with the hose, without it running off of the plastic mulch where it won't do much good. The solution I came up with was to uncap half liter water bottles and mostly bury them next to the plants, then cut off the bottom of the bottle. I hope that when I fill the bottles, the water will seep into the soil without running off in the place where they'll do the plants the most good.

 
The plants that have the strongest root balls are doing the best right now, like the Chimayo'

 
Jalapeno Zapotec with flowers and pods

 
Criolla Sella with flowers and pods

 
and one of the nons... the Tomatillo Verde. Both of the ones I planted are going to be beasts and have already started blossoming.

 

[Devv]

Looking good Rick, it's hard to believe what I see going on so far up north!
 
You have a great start and will see production pretty soon I must say..

 

[meatfreak]

Nice update again, Rick. That Tomatillo is gonna be a beast indeed, I found out last season that it really grows as fast as weeds. It's a really strong plant. Are you gonna support it with a trellis of some kind? I did do that last year and all the branched dropped once they were loaded with fruits.

 

[WalkGood]

Nice idea with the bottle Rick, things looking very good mon ^_^

 

[stc3248]

I keep sayin it...but damn you got the right start this year!!! I can't believe the stage your plants are in at this point! Looking great! I like your inverted bottle idea too...I have used similar and it always works well.

 

[Sanarda]

Plants are beauties.  Nothing beats pods and flowers. 

 

[Trippa]

Nice idea with the bottles Rick. I used to use a similar idea when I went away and couldn't get anyone to water my plants. Except I kept the lid on either a 1.5 or 2.25 litre bottle, drilled a hole in the lid and filled the bottle with water, then simple invert the bottle into the soil like you have done and you have a budget drip feed setup. You can also chuck dilute nutes in which is another bonus and it won,t evaporate

 

[stickman]

Thanks for the good vibes folks!
 
Boy, I got a lot done today in the garden... transplanted almost everything outside, but will wait to set the vegetable amaranth and yard-long beans until it gets a little warmer.

 
I ended up putting down red plastic mulch to see if it works for tomatoes as well as advertised. Also set up my tomato cages around the tomatillos and half of the tomatoes before I ran out... I'll just have to get a few more tomorrow. The really tall tepee made of saplings I cut is for the yard-long beans. I'm told they need at least an 8 foot pole or trellis to climb. Tomorrow's project is to rig up the drip irrigation system for the potted plants and up-pot them into their new homes. Cheers!