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!

 

[Bigoledude]

Hey Rick

It's not hard to find rock like that down here. There are a few stone-yards around. For the cheapest stones in that size range we'd have to pay .40 cents a POUND! The only other rock we see around here are the ones along railroad tracks and the ones they use to stop the Mississippi River from easing it's way through the levees and down our streets. Just get caught taking some of those!

Your gardens are way neat and look ready to me. The production on those tomatoes and the peppers is fabulous. What variety of tomatoes are those?

 

[stickman]

Thanks Rick.

Nice pix! That is the stuff I am using also. I think I got it from Harris Seed. I'm in sunny California, but in kind of an intense coastal meso-climate with daily fog and howling wind. It is rare for it to get over 85F here...ever. And we've been dipping into the 37-39 range at night for the last week.

I'm really happy to see somebody else using this mulch with good results on peppers. I installed mine under row covers and kind of freaked out when I saw the soil temps in the first inch under the mulch spike to >100F. None of the half dozen peppers I planted out melted or anything, so between that and your results maybe I can stop holding my breath and do some more planting.

Do you leave it in all season? And do you have drip irrigation installed under that?

Stephen

Hi Stephen
I used the Solar mulch for the whole growing season here. I asked some folks in Texas about the kinds of temps that would fry the chiles, and they said that as long as the plants got enough water, they'll take temps over 100 degrees just fine. I don't know why they use shade cloth for the chiles there but suspect they use it to keep the plants from drying out too quickly. It would be a good question to ask.

I top-watered all my veggies because it's not practical to rig a soaker hose or drip line in my community garden plot. I just used a shower wand on the end of a garden hose. If it's your own land and you can control access, I think that drip irrigation would be much easier.

Hey Rick

It's not hard to find rock like that down here. There are a few stone-yards around. For the cheapest stones in that size range we'd have to pay .40 cents a POUND! The only other rock we see around here are the ones along railroad tracks and the ones they use to stop the Mississippi River from easing it's way through the levees and down our streets. Just get caught taking some of those!

Your gardens are way neat and look ready to me. The production on those tomatoes and the peppers is fabulous. What variety of tomatoes are those?

Hi Ray
This is New England... we've got no shortage of rocks! In fact, most gardens here harvest at least a few bushels of them every year when the frost heaves bring them up. That's where all the stone walls here came from. My garden soil is unusual for this area in being all sandy loam. I'll probably collect my flat stones from a road cut nearby... winter always scales some of them off the rock face, and I collect them in the spring after the thaw.

 

[stickman]

Hi All
Got some lettuce and Shungiku seeds planted today. It may be a bit early, but they'll stay in the ground and sprout when conditions are right. We're supposed to get some showers tonight and tomorrow, so that'll water them in well.

My Wife's first Tulip is out today...

 

[WalkGood]

Rick, beautiful Tulip she has there

 

[Devv]

Rick, The soil looks very healthy!

You certainly have it down for growing in your climate.

I'm impressed!

 

[stickman]

Rick, beautiful Tulip she has there

You bet Ramon

I had an Andean kinda riff going through my head today while I was working in my garden and thinking about the peppers, and I thought you might enjoy this... It's a Canadian Flamenco guitarist named Jesse Cook playing with some South and Central American musicians that collectively go by the name of the Rumba Foundation... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7QqOkfv9kk&list=AL94UKMTqg-9DlqKUY1q1YEYLKiGdJSq0q

Rick, The soil looks very healthy!

You certainly have it down for growing in your climate.

I'm impressed!

I've gotta say the same for you Scott... I like the way you improvised a windbreak against the frame of your shade cloth enclosure. If I had to grow in the dry conditions of the southwest I'd be talking to you about it!

 

[WalkGood]

“Improv 2,” nice tune ♪ ♫ ♪ ♫ ♪ the start reminds me of a Gypsy Kings tune but quickly goes in a different direction. As an instrumental tune it doesn’t remind me of the traditional Cuban Rumba but that’s entirely different than the incorporated Columbian music flare it does have. Not sure if you’ve ever listen to Cuban Rumba or even if you like but if you do, a perfect example of our "Rumba" with some of the stars from the Buena Vista Club you should give Afro-Cuban All Stars “A Toda Cuba le Gusta” a spin. Thanks for the heads up on the album

Hope you had a boom box in da garden today, the plants would love dat kind of music ^_^

 

[stickman]

Yeah, I have the album "The Buena Vista Social Club" and I love it. I'm glad to hear what else they've recorded... my taste in music is as varied as the foods I like.

 

[stickman]

Hi All
Checking in on my plants this morning I see a pod set on the Yellow 7 in the solo cup...

The larger of the 2 Aji Omnicolors is also blossoming. Sorry for the blurry pic... camera's batteries are almost kaput...

 

[WalkGood]

What a way to start the day, pods & blossms \o/

 

[meatfreak]

Nice one, Rick. The stem of your 7 Yellow is very dark, is this a common thing among this variety?

 

[stickman]

Nice one, Rick. The stem of your 7 Yellow is very dark, is this a common thing among this variety?

I couldn't say Stefan... I've never grown them before. I suspect it might be a combination of the type and amount of nutes and light they're getting. Light conditions last year gave them streaked purple stems, but not the nearly solid dark purple they have this year.

 

[PeriPeri]

Awesome progress Rick! Not long now... can't wait. Like reading all your thorough preparations for getting them in the soil... exciting stuff!

Cutworm GGggrrrr must die!

 

[stickman]

Awesome progress Rick! Not long now... can't wait. Like reading all your thorough preparations for getting them in the soil... exciting stuff!

Cutworm GGggrrrr must die!

You bet Lourens! The weather so far isn't cooperating, but I've seen comments from people as far south as Texas saying the same thing, so I'm far from alone! It's nice to feel secure from the cutworms using a chemical-free method.

I thought I'd experiment with some of Jeff's (Spicychicken) methods, and clipped the lower leaves of the plants in 2 flats to see what would happen. Some of the plants had already started to branch out, we'll see if this accelerates the process.

Some of the other chiles from the 3rd wave...
My lone Red Rocoto...

Shane's Manzano... as you predicted buddy, it branched for the second time and the buds started to appear.

Vesena Piperke... the yellowish leaves at the top are due to the lighting...

Ochsenhorn...

Have a great weekend prepping your outdoor gardens all!

 

[sicman]

everything looks great

 

[stickman]

everything looks great

Thanks Sic!
I took a look in on my Criolla Sella that's podding up, and it's looking like this...

 

[DocNrock]

That garden plot looks great! Must have taken some smooth sweet talk to con get that out of the condo owners.

That reflective mulch is brilliant! Not only would it hold in the warmth, but probably also keeps the weeds from taking over.

A pod on a super in a solo cup. Seriously? That is some serious green-thumbing, my friend! A couple of my supers are still dropping flowers, lol!

The weather forecast looks promising. Two more weeks, you say? Time to take this party outdoors!

And that Criola Sella look mahvelous!

 

[stc3248]

Looking great buddy!!! Only thing is that's no longer "Shane's" Manzano...its Rick's! How's the weather holding for you?

 

[stickman]

Thanks for the kind words Doc! Yup, the plastic mulch does a great job of keeping down weeds and helping warm the soil. To a lesser extent it also reduces evaporation of water from the soil, which is only fair because rain just rolls off of it. I find that I can trap the water before it runs off by making a depression in the soil around the stems of the plants under the mulch. Then when it rains, it runs down to the bottom of the "trap" and soaks in where I cut the plastic to transplant.

Looking great buddy!!! Only thing is that's no longer "Shane's" Manzano...its Rick's! How's the weather holding for you?

Hi Shane! Thanks for the vote of confidence... you're a wise man to get clear now that the plant's my responsibility, eh?

The weather here is seasonal for this time of year. I think I got an earlier start than usual last year, and now it's back to the status quo...
We're close though, and I'm used to walking the edge...

Forecast for Greenfield (01301)
Saturday

Rain Showers
H 57° / L 28°
( Click for Details ) Sunday

Clear
H 50° / L 27°
( Click for Details ) Monday

Partly Cloudy
H 55° / L 30°
( Click for Details ) Tuesday

Partly Cloudy
H 54° / L 34°
( Click for Details ) Wednesday

Mostly Cloudy
H 61° / L 36°
( Click for Details )

 

[highalt]

Wow, can't believe you already have podage!!!

Your forecast looks very similar to mine. Woke up to a dusting of snow, but it has switched over to rain now.

I still refer to my Fatalii plant as Shane's Fatalii too! I think I'll keep calling it that. Makes me feel connected to my THP bro's!