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

stickman · Apr 28, 2013

Thanks Doc, and welcome to the top o' page 50! :cheers:

Devv · Apr 28, 2013

Looking good, I love the way you're pushing mother nature.

Heh, those rocks won't disintegrate!

stc3248 · Apr 28, 2013

Ahhh....all is right in the world now! Rick's Pepper Biosphere is in full operation! How did they look this morning? Any signs of shock to their systems?

KiNGDeNNiZ · Apr 28, 2013

stc3248 said:
Looking great buddy!!! Only thing is that's no longer "Shane's" Manzano...its Rick's! How's the weather holding for you?

. Yes Rick. Best be saying YOUR manzano or Shane will hunt you down.

How's that root starter working for you ?? Nice to see. Your plants have made it in ground.

Your hope house. How far apart are the PVC

Jamison · Apr 28, 2013

Thats exciting eh?! Glad you got everything inground already, fantastic deal for ya! Thangs be coming around up here to buddy! Cheers to spring :cheers:

stickman · Apr 28, 2013

Devv said:
Looking good, I love the way you're pushing mother nature.

Heh, those rocks won't disintegrate!

Thanks Scott... That's what I'm thinking... Also, the planks I've laid down for a walkway around my square foot garden won't last forever. They're already showing signs of fungus (bracket mushrooms). When they finally rot badly enough to replace, I'll already have flat stones on site to make the new walkway.

stc3248 said:
Ahhh....all is right in the world now! Rick's Pepper Biosphere is in full operation! How did they look this morning? Any signs of shock to their systems?

They looked fine this morning... standing up nice and straight! I didn't bother with the bamboo skewers on the thicker stems, but for the younger and more tender plants I put them in as a deterrent to cutworms. I really noticed a difference in soil temperature with the plastic mulch in place. I didn't actually measure with an instrument, but it was definitely quite warm to the touch. It was about 47 degrees this morning before I went to work. I opened up the ends of the poly-tunnel to let out excess heat so I didn't fry the plants inside. Last year I noticed that even with the ends open the temps inside were in the upper nineties. That should get things moving!

KiNGDeNNiZ said:
. Yes Rick. Best be saying YOUR manzano or Shane will hunt you down.

How's that root starter working for you ?? Nice to see. Your plants have made it in ground.

Your hope house. How far apart are the PVC

Hi DeNNiZ! plants are looking great! I have the hoops spaced about 2 feet apart, and have snap clamps set on the top of each hoop to lock down the plastic.so it doesn't slide around. There's about a foot of excess plastic on either side, and that's where I put the weights.

Jamison said:
Thats exciting eh?! Glad you got everything inground already, fantastic deal for ya! Thangs be coming around up here to buddy! Cheers to spring

You betcha Jay, You too! Got my various fingers, toes and other appendages crossed for ya!

stickman · Apr 29, 2013

Some pics of a few pod-bearing chiles... The Aji Omnicolor that got through the night outside with below freezing temps...

and the Aji Criolla Sella. This thing is a crazy producer! If I like the taste and heat, This one is going to be a mainstay here...

It's in a 1 gal. airpot, and the plant is only a foot high, but 2 foot wide.

Devv · Apr 29, 2013

Very nice! that Aji Criolla Sella is going to be quite a producer!

ColoradoRonin · Apr 29, 2013

Congrats! on the poddage Rick.
All my peppers in 1.5/2 gal airpots are the same.
Short and wide and full of pods.
Will you be moving up to a larger airpot or is it ground bound?

stickman · Apr 29, 2013

ColoradoRonin said:
Congrats! on the poddage Rick.
All my peppers in 1.5/2 gal airpots are the same.
Short and wide and full of pods.
Will you be moving up to a larger airpot or is it ground bound?

Excellent! Thanks for the info John! I already have the 5 gallon airpots on hand to up-pot to eventually, but I don't see root tips at the bottom yet, so I'll keep 'em where they are for now. Cheers!

PIC 1 · Apr 29, 2013

Looking good Rick......the cold didn't phase your plants one bit.

Spicegeist · Apr 29, 2013

stickman said:
It's in a 1 gal. airpot, and the plant is only a foot high, but 2 foot wide.

I think I'll also leave a few in 1-gallon pots this year too, mainly to select seed for next year...

stc3248 · Apr 29, 2013

Low zone #....phssst. Nice Rick! I really loved the Aji Omnicolor last year, and think you will too. The pods are OK in the yellow phase...better in the orange...and really good in the deep red phase. Just seems to take forever to get them there! Once they start to turn you'll have more than you know what to do with! Seems to be the pattern with Baccatum plants, famine then feast. I have 4 of the Birgits going for the biggest plant contest and I am certain to have gallons of pods...hope they're good!

MisterNo · Apr 30, 2013

WOW Rick, great results.

That Aji Criolla in 1 gallon air pot... amazing

I was thinking about 3 gallon air pots as final destination for potted plants, you're doing wonders with far less

stickman · Apr 30, 2013

PIC 1 said:
Looking good Rick......the cold didn't phase your plants one bit.

Thanks Greg, I wasn't really sure what to expect from the Aji's but it looks like they'll do well here. I hope they overwinter as well.

Spicegeist said:
I think I'll also leave a few in 1-gallon pots this year too, mainly to select seed for next year...

Cool! Have you grown in airpots? Is there a reason you grow plants in pots for seed?

stc3248 said:
Low zone #....phssst. Nice Rick! I really loved the Aji Omnicolor last year, and think you will too. The pods are OK in the yellow phase...better in the orange...and really good in the deep red phase. Just seems to take forever to get them there! Once they start to turn you'll have more than you know what to do with! Seems to be the pattern with Baccatum plants, famine then feast. I have 4 of the Birgits going for the biggest plant contest and I am certain to have gallons of pods...hope they're good!

Thanks for the info Shane! It does seem like the Omnicolors are growing more slowly. The Aji Panca were started later than the other Aji's, but they're already taller than the rest. It'll be interesting to see what the overall pod production will be for the different varieties. Good luck with the Birgit's... Have you tried the Aji Panca pods? Maybe later, we can swap ripe pods so we can try some of the ones we haven't sampled before. Cheers!

MisterNo said:
WOW Rick, great results.

That Aji Criolla in 1 gallon air pot... amazing

I was thinking about 3 gallon air pots as final destination for potted plants, you're doing wonders with far less

Thanks Robert
I'm definitely happy with the results of growing in them, but they're a little more work. I lost the Jamaican Hot Chocolate I had in the 1 liter airpot because I neglected it for a few days and it didn't get enough water. I shocked the plant then and it dropped all of its leaves. The side branching seemed to be growing for a month after that, but withered and died in the end. I planted the one in the solo cup outside, so it's not a total loss. The Douglah I shocked isn't doing well either, but it hasn't quit, so I'll keep it going in the hopes that it may perk up when I set it outside.

Stefan_W · Apr 30, 2013

Very nice! Your omnicolour looks a lot like my lemondrop right now, with pods stick up all over the place.

The Aji Criolla Sella looks fantastic! Is the heat level around jalapeno?

stc3248 · Apr 30, 2013

The Panca is actually a Chinense and not a Baccatum. I tried them last year...nice sweet "mole" type flavor. Very productive plant with nice long sweet pods. They're typically used to make a paste...never tried it, think they'd be good stuffed as well. That plant will continue to produce well, but will top out size wise as will the Omnicolor. Yellow Ajis, Birgits, Bishop's Crowns etc. will continue to grow until their roots are out of room and can get HUGE! Probably 6-8 feet with your season. My Bishop's Crown grew to nearly 12' before I pulled it up in december. My Yellow Aji (PaulG) is already at 5' in a 10#ish container. The other one you'll need to prepare for size wise is that Manzano, 4 or 5' tall and probably 6' wide with a root zone spanning that distance. If in a container, it'll need to be a BIG one. Mine is in 18 gallon and will fill that...

Jeff H · Apr 30, 2013

Looks great Rick, I love the hoop house. That lets you get them in the soil 3 weeks or so earlier than other northern climates.

stickman · Apr 30, 2013

Stefan_W said:
Very nice! Your omnicolour looks a lot like my lemondrop right now, with pods stick up all over the place.

The Aji Criolla Sella looks fantastic! Is the heat level around jalapeno?

Hi Stefan
Glad you are having success with your Aji's as well. I'm beginning to think they might be more suited to our northern climate than the Chinense varieties... Not that we can't grow them here if we just use our noggins...
I couldn't say what their taste or heat levels are because I haven't tried them yet. The chiliman.org website called them "very pungent with lemony overtones" http://www.thechileman.org/results.php?find=criolla+sella&heat=Any&origin=Any&genus=Any&chile=1&submit=Search+for+varieties Guess I'll find out soon enough.

stc3248 said:
The Panca is actually a Chinense and not a Baccatum. I tried them last year...nice sweet "mole" type flavor. Very productive plant with nice long sweet pods. They're typically used to make a paste...never tried it, think they'd be good stuffed as well. That plant will continue to produce well, but will top out size wise as will the Omnicolor. Yellow Ajis, Birgits, Bishop's Crowns etc. will continue to grow until their roots are out of room and can get HUGE! Probably 6-8 feet with your season. My Bishop's Crown grew to nearly 12' before I pulled it up in december. My Yellow Aji (PaulG) is already at 5' in a 10#ish container. The other one you'll need to prepare for size wise is that Manzano, 4 or 5' tall and probably 6' wide with a root zone spanning that distance. If in a container, it'll need to be a BIG one. Mine is in 18 gallon and will fill that...

Not a Baccatum, eh? Boy, there's a lot of difference of opinion then. I got some dried to try, and made a Peruvian-style chicken stew with them. They're quite similar to Guajillos in heat and berry-like flavor... I bet they'd make a very good Mexican chocolate ice cream with pepper powder and cinnamon in it.
From what I read about the Criolla Sella, it's self-limiting in size too, though prolific with the pods. Thanks for the heads-up on the space needed for the root balls on the Pubiscens. I may have to dig them up and transplant where they'll have more room to spread out. I just set up a 4x10 foot raised bed in the south-facing yard, and it would be very easy to set up a mini-hoophouse over them for warmth in the spring, and to hold up shade cloth during midsummer so they don't overheat.

Jeff H said:
Looks great Rick, I love the hoop house. That lets you get them in the soil 3 weeks or so earlier than other northern climates.

Thanks Jeff
3 weeks doesn't seem long to folks living in warmer areas, but it's huge up here. Canada's only a 2 hour drive away!