Stickman's 2014 Glog- That's all folks!

stickman · Feb 20, 2014

Looking in on the seeds in the Horticubes, I see the Hungarian Tomato peppers and Cascabels have broken dormancy, so the only one I'm still waiting for is the Poblano. I'll have to start a few more seeds as an insurance policy because I really want a couple of those in the garden this year. I go through a lot of Anchos in the course of a year...

PaulG · Feb 20, 2014

Great looking plants, Rick. I know you are antsy for plant out, just
like we are here. Hard to be patient in the northern climes!

stickman · Feb 20, 2014

PaulG said:
Great looking plants, Rick. I know you are antsy for plant out, just
like we are here. Hard to be patient in the northern climes!

You got that right brother!

I'm ready to put some of these babies in the dirt today!!

Got an extremely nice surprise in the mail today... a package of Hungarian pepper seeds from HabaneroHead... Thank you Balasz!
There were 2 packets of Tomato Pepper seeds...

A packet of hot Paprika seeds on the left of this pic, and a packet of "Pointed Hot" seeds on the right.

I wasn't able to get seeds germed from the Pointed Hot variety he sent last year, but DocNrock had great things to say about it last year, so I'm glad to get more seeds. I notice corking on the Fuszerpaprika pods in the picture, so I wonder if stressing them like Jalapenos brings out the corking and increases the heat produced. Do you know Balasz?

ronniedeb · Feb 21, 2014

stickman said:
A big shout out to ronniedeb and you Scott! I got Ronan's seeds and your Doe tail in the mail yesterday.

Ronan, your package is in the post is all I can tell you. Please let me know if it hasn't gotten to you in the next week or so. Cheers all!

You're very welcome. Hope they work out for you. Look forward to your seeds!

stickman · Feb 21, 2014

ronniedeb said:
You're very welcome. Hope they work out for you. Look forward to your seeds!

And I'm definitely looking forward to growing out yours next year too!... especially the Pubes.

Still a few holdouts in the germination tray... no sign of life from the Poblanos, and I only got one Improved Espanola Anaheim to pop, so I re-sowed them and sowed some flat-leafed Italian Parsley too. The old saying about Parsley is that "It goes to the Devil three times before it finally germinates." We'll see if the Horticubes help it along any...

Third round of seedlings...

Here's what the upcurling leaves on the MoAs look like... is this correctable? My best guess on what's happening is that they just don't like the cold and/or slight overwatering.

Also from round 2, the two Pimenta Lisa seedlings don't look very much alike in the F2 generation, but at least they've finally started putting out primary leaves.

The monsker Naga King has already managed to sink roots the length of the 1-liter airpot... this racehorse is really hot to trot!

TGIF, and have a great Friday all!

Sawyer · Feb 21, 2014

Great root penetration. And that Pimenta Lisa is one of the darkest seedlings I've seen.

PaulG · Feb 21, 2014

Everything looks good, Rick. I see lots of sprouts in the round three tray!
That Naga King looks like a winner, all right.

Pinoy83 · Feb 21, 2014

looking great bruhhhh...3rd round babies.....7 more rounds to go :fireball:

meatfreak · Feb 21, 2014

Wow, that's indeed a very big difference, Rick. They never looked that dark as yours on the picture over here, I got seedlings going. One that looks like your lighter one and one that's completely green, think it's safe to say it's very very unstable at this stage but that means a lot of interesting possibilities

Flat leafed parsley is the best! Much better/stronger taste then the curled version.

stickman · Feb 22, 2014

Sawyer said:
Great root penetration. And that Pimenta Lisa is one of the darkest seedlings I've seen.

I know... I used the Airpots last year and got similar results with root growth... I was charmed!

The Pimenta Lisa is a Ghost x Pimenta de Neyde cross from Meatfreak. I guess that one seedling is showing more of its PdN genes than the other one. The very tips of the cotys are a dark green rather than purple... I'm curious to see what comes of it down the road.

PaulG said:
Everything looks good, Rick. I see lots of sprouts in the round three tray!
That Naga King looks like a winner, all right.

Pinoy83 said:
looking great bruhhhh...3rd round babies.....7 more rounds to go

Thanks guys... it's starting to come together.

The first three rounds are almost all peppers Jericson, but the rest will all be veggies, herbs and flowers. Round 4 will be Eggplants, round 5 will be tomatoes, herbs, flowers for companion planting and early greens. After that it'll all be directly seeded outside. The weather this week was warm and rainy for February... a lot of the snow we got last week melted, and I've been seeing a few early bird returnees from their wintering grounds in the south. We're poised on the edge of Maple sugaring season and it feels like things are starting to stir... just have to deal with the back and forth dance and big temperature swings we get during the unsettled weather of late winter into early spring. Anything can happen from now to the middle of April, and usually does...

meatfreak said:
Wow, that's indeed a very big difference, Rick. They never looked that dark as yours on the picture over here, I got seedlings going. One that looks like your lighter one and one that's completely green, think it's safe to say it's very very unstable at this stage but that means a lot of interesting possibilities

Flat leafed parsley is the best! Much better/stronger taste then the curled version.

You said it Stefan... it's kinda funny that between us we've pretty much covered the range of likely outcomes.

I hope we both get something really good from it.

I tried to get my Parsley started from seed last year, but no luck... I hope this year is different.

Devv · Feb 22, 2014

Plants are looking good Rick!

Not sure about the MoA leaves, I guess it won't hurt to let the pots get light and see if they straighten out. They have a really cool growth pattern of more rounded leaves and dense foliage, with very little space between the nodes. So far mine are Aphid magnets. I've been thinning them some so I can better treat them.

Glad the tail made it, hope it's helps land a big one!

maximumcapsicum · Feb 22, 2014

Love the airpot results! Great update! How long you think you'll be able to leave it in there?

PeriPeri · Feb 22, 2014

Hey Rick, plants are looking great... into raising race horses are you now? I really can't wait for you to try the flavour of them pods

GA Growhead · Feb 22, 2014

Rick, Stefan's Pimenta Lisa is Maldivian Orange x Pimenta de Neyde.
I have a few too, but none that purple. She is a beaut!

stickman · Feb 22, 2014

Devv said:
Plants are looking good Rick!

Not sure about the MoA leaves, I guess it won't hurt to let the pots get light and see if they straighten out. They have a really cool growth pattern of more rounded leaves and dense foliage, with very little space between the nodes. So far mine are Aphid magnets. I've been thinning them some so I can better treat them.

Glad the tail made it, hope it's helps land a big one!

I gave them a little drink of fish emulsion and water this morning, but I'll be letting them dry out a bit now and we'll see how it goes. I should probably turn on the fan for a bit today to help things along.

I reckon I'll catch some big ones with your Deer tail if I manage to wet a line this spring... they're hungry then and ready to slam the "groceries"...

maximumcapsicum said:
Love the airpot results! Great update! How long you think you'll be able to leave it in there?

The way it's growing, I don't know Adam... I can raise up the grow lights inside the enclosure a bit, but there's only so far they can go, so if it outgrows the enclosure I'll have to put it in with the OW plants.

PeriPeri said:
Hey Rick, plants are looking great... into raising race horses are you now? I really can't wait for you to try the flavour of them pods

S'right brother... what odds will you give me on an early harvest from that plant?

From your experience... how many days from transplant outside to ripe pods for the variety?

GA Growhead said:
Rick, Stefan's Pimenta Lisa is Maldivian Orange x Pimenta de Neyde.
I have a few too, but none that purple. She is a beaut!

I stand corrected... d@#&... another senior moment...

Whatever her parentage, we're expecting great things from her!

I needed the space in the grow enclosure...

So I set up my overflow grow shelves for the onions, and the Eggplants, Tomatoes, herbs and flowers later on.

The far end of the germinating tray upstairs is for the Ailsa Craig exhibition onions... I have 10 of those germinated. The rest are for the seeds that I'm waiting on to either germinate or hook up. The varieties that have broken dormancy are Hungarian Tomato Peppers, Hungarian "Pointed Hots" and Smokemaster's Pequins. I'm still waiting for Poblanos, some more of the Espanola Improved Anaheims, and Vesena peppers to pop. Also Black Beauty Eggplants, small green Thai Eggplants, Cuban Oregano and the Italian Parsley.

Lunch today is a Spanish soup made with Lentils, Paprika, Red Bell Peppers, Onions and Garlic. First I sauteed 2 med. Onions and 8 cloves of garlic in Olive oil. When the Onions had softened I added 2 tablespoons of Spanish Paprika and cooked another minute. Then I added 2 Red Bell peppers and sauteed another 3 minutes until softened. You can add the heat of your choice along with the Paprika powder... I added a teaspoon of Manzano powder.

Next, I stirred in 2 cups of Lentils and 10 cups of water or chicken stock, simmered until the Lentils were well-cooked... about an hour and a half to two hours, seasoned with salt and pepper to taste and stirred in 3 tablespoons of red wine vinegar, or to taste. Serve with crusty bread.

PeriPeri · Feb 22, 2014

stickman said:
S'right brother... what odds will you give me on an early harvest from that plant? From your experience... how many days from transplant outside to ripe pods for the variety?

Hey Rick - hard to say, the way your green fingers are ushering the plant along, you may have pods before he even gets into the soil

stc3248 · Feb 23, 2014

Sweet...pepper and fishing love flowing back and forth! I wouldn't sweat the MOA's leaves too much. I think you're on point with the temps being the cause. I think they'll be fine once they get some warmer weather. All those crazy cool pepper varieties from all over the world!!! Can't wait to see them under their tent out in the great big world.

maximumcapsicum · Feb 23, 2014

Great update Rick! How many different kinds of paprika do you use? Do you have a favorite paprika pepper? What kind of powder did you use to heat the soup? Is the manzano powder hot? Also how many onions are you going for total?

Question barrage!

Sawyer · Feb 23, 2014

Speaking of parsley, I've grown Hamburg root parsley before, probably will again this year. I'm not a connoisseur of parsley, so I can't speak to the flavor of the leaves; they just taste like parsley to me. But the roots make a great soup and are alleged to be good roasted or in mashed potatoes. I like the dual purpose aspect.

Nulle · Feb 23, 2014

Sawyer said:
Speaking of parsley, I've grown Hamburg root parsley before, probably will again this year. I'm not a connoisseur of parsley, so I can't speak to the flavor of the leaves; they just taste like parsley to me. But the roots make a great soup and are alleged to be good roasted or in mashed potatoes. I like the dual purpose aspect.

We use them a lot during winter time here in Denmark and we call them persillerod (Parsleyroot). They are especially good in chicken or beef soup with carrots, potatoes, celeriac, leeks, meat balls and 'melboller' (a sort of dumplings).