Stickman's 2016 Gochu Glog- Transplanting is Finished

stickman · May 5, 2016

FreeportBum said:
Looking good Rick, garden coming along nicely. Hopefully the weather improves for both of us soon. Cheers

Heh... From your mouth to God's ear, eh?

I hope things warm up enough for you to plant out soon as well. Cheers!

randyp said:
I love it all Rick,The Com spot you have looks like it will get some good sunshine.

Cheers Randy! It sure does... the raised bed on the south side of the house where I plant my supers does too. One side benefit of the heat pump placement outside I notice, is that when we have it in cooling mode inside, it'll blow heat directly at the raised bed with the supers two feet away... :hell:

romy6 · May 5, 2016

Got your Gochu on Rickster . Looking splendid :dance:

stickman · May 5, 2016

romy6 said:
Got your Gochu on Rickster . Looking splendid

Hey, brother Jamie's in the house! Thanks for stopping by.

Thought I'd whip up a little Tex-Mex for Cinco de Mayo... Mojo shredded Pork for supper, and a fresh salsa made with Ramps instead of green Onions.

Plate shot... Springtime Tomato salsa fresca made with tomatoes, lime juice, cilantro, red bell pepper, white onion, ramps and about a tbsp of crushed Pequins... grated chipotle cheddar cheese, Pork Carnitas and brother Randy's Twister Sauce!

Have a great night all!

stickman · May 7, 2016

Hi Folks! A week has helped the Gochus in the grow-box down cellar get a little bit more established. All of them now have true leaves, and quite a few are starting on their 2nd or 3rd set.

The Chinense varieties, Jalapenos and Poblanos jammed into a single 1020 tray are looking like a jungle... the Jalapenos have forked and started to flower... They want to go outside real bad!

Tomatoes started together with the Gochus are ready to transplant outside now too.

Hope you all have a great Saturday night!

Devv · May 7, 2016

Nice update Rick!

Great to be back in the saddle eh?

Those plants are looking fantastic, and will serve you well!

Keep it green my friend!

stickman · May 8, 2016

Devv said:
Nice update Rick!

Great to be back in the saddle eh?

Those plants are looking fantastic, and will serve you well!

Keep it green my friend!

Thanks Guy! I ferried 2 loads of old planks home from my Mom's place to start knocking together the raised bed frames. Got one mostly done this morning before it started to rain again... Dang! At least the next few days are supposed to be sunny here, and maybe I can get some real work done when I get home from my paying gig...

Trident chilli · May 8, 2016

Great looking healthy plants Rick

Wiriwiri · May 8, 2016

Hi Rick,your gochus looking 'WICKED" good

...had it with the dismal weather...its our turn for sun...let it shine!
Happy growing!

randyp · May 8, 2016

Get your work in Rick,My dry days are over rain comes monday and should be at your house Thursday.Have a good week buddy.

stickman · May 8, 2016

Trident chilli said:
Great looking healthy plants Rick

Cheers John! I got off to such a late start this year that they're still very small by my usual standards about now, but thank God they're healthy and growing fairly quickly. I'm feeding them a dilute solution of ferts to help them get bigger more quickly... hope it makes a difference.

wiriwiri said:
Hi Rick,your gochus looking 'WICKED" good ...had it with the dismal weather...its our turn for sun...let it shine!
Happy growing!

Thanks Sandy, and I hear ya 'bout the weather! Looking forward to a few days of sun my own self...

randyp said:
Get your work in Rick,My dry days are over rain comes monday and should be at your house Thursday.Have a good week buddy.

Thanks Randy... we'll take it! Was your sun accompanied with cool temps. and fairly high winds like ours was today?

stickman · May 9, 2016

Hi Folks! I went out before breakfast and finished the first raised bed in the community garden... 4 more to go if the lumber holds out. I also transplanted the Garlic Chives to the end of the raised bed and the Horseradish a little ways outside it. Next is filling it the rest of the way full with compost and transplanting the OW Scallions.

Spring is definitely here now... the sun is finally out and a Bluebird is guarding his chosen nesting box in the back yard. Have a great week all!

OCD Chilehead · May 9, 2016

Looks good Rick.

Is the pvc for tunnel's?

stickman · May 9, 2016

OCD Chilehead said:
Looks good Rick.

Is the pvc for tunnel's?

Cheers Chuck!

Ya... the short pieces of PVC are anchors for the low row cover hoops. They're a bit over half an inch inside diameter, and I make the hoops out of 10-foot sections of half-inch PVC, so I pound the bigger pieces into the ground on either side of the raised beds and push the ends of the half inch inside and lock them down with self-tapping sheet metal screws. The sheet poly I keep in place with snap clamps. http://www.johnnyseeds.com/p-8321-snap-clamps-for-emt.aspx
If I roll the edges of the poly and staple them to the boards on the sides, the wind can't get underneath and blow it free of the hoops. Putting soaker hoses or drip tape on top of the soil in the raised bed means I don't have to take the row cover apart to water.

randyp · May 10, 2016

stickman said:
Cheers John! I got off to such a late start this year that they're still very small by my usual standards about now, but thank God they're healthy and growing fairly quickly. I'm feeding them a dilute solution of ferts to help them get bigger more quickly... hope it makes a difference.

Thanks Sandy, and I hear ya 'bout the weather! Looking forward to a few days of sun my own self...

Thanks Randy... we'll take it! Was your sun accompanied with cool temps. and fairly high winds like ours was today?

The temps were warm but will have 2 nights in the 40's this coming weekend.With me not mulching and still having cover on plants I should be fine,No winds,

stickman · May 10, 2016

randyp said:
The temps were warm but will have 2 nights in the 40's this coming weekend.With me not mulching and still having cover on plants I should be fine,No winds,

Verra nice! Now that I've got my first raised bed finished, I'll get it set up with the IRT plastic mulch and low row cover so I can start hardening off in it. We'll have to compare notes if you're interested.

Pequins are coming along nicely

My over-wintered Red Rocoto needs to stretch its roots and get a haircut

A last "non" pic... every year I try to grow something exotic. This year it's Pandan Grass. I was given the plant last winter by my Aunt from Indonesia. The leaves have a very nutty flavor and are used in Southeast Asian cooking to flavor rice (especially with coconut milk) and sweet cakes.

That's all for now. Have a great day all!

OCD Chilehead · May 10, 2016

Looking good Rick. Plants are going to reward you with all the hard work. This is my first year growing in the ground. Virgin soil. It's more like silt/clay. Looks nothing like your soil. I tilled the area, added some horse manure, tilled again. I'm going to use a top dressing fertilizer. I don't think I can use the plastic mulch and top dress. Maybe next year when my soil is a little better. I usually dump garden-tone in the hole when I transplant and top dress every month. I'm going to use a drip system. I could plastic mulch the planter boxes. What are your thoughts?

stickman · May 10, 2016

OCD Chilehead said:
Looking good Rick. Plants are going to reward you with all the hard work. This is my first year growing in the ground. Virgin soil. It's more like silt/clay. Looks nothing like your soil. I tilled the area, added some horse manure, tilled again. I'm going to use a top dressing fertilizer. I don't think I can use the plastic mulch and top dress. Maybe next year when my soil is a little better. I usually dump garden-tone in the hole when I transplant and top dress every month. I'm going to use a drip system. I could plastic mulch the planter boxes. What are your thoughts?

I hope the Horse manure was well-composted Chuck! Green Horse manure is loaded with Ammonia, and may burn the roots of the plants set too near it. I usually spread it on the surface in the fall and turn it under in spring so it gets a chance to mellow first. It's true that it would be difficult to top-dress with granulated ferts if you plant your peppers in plastic mulch, but it's easy to water in liquid ferts... I just cut the bottoms off of 1/2 liter water bottles, take the caps off and almost bury them neck-down next to the plants. When I want to feed, I just mix the ferts up in a 2 gallon watering can... maybe adding a half a cup or so of molasses or corn syrup to give the plants some sugar they didn't have to photosynthesize by themselves... and give each plant a cup or so. The ferts perk into the soil next to the roots, and voila! If there's anything that goes wrong with the drip irrigation system it's a handy backup too. A half liter of water per plant per day is plenty. That's how I did it through the plastic mulch before I had drip irrigation installed. I don't think it's necessary to mulch planter boxes because they're small and in full sun, and heat up much more than the soil in the ground anyway. I recall Shane in San Diego had to wrap his planters in reflective material because they would have overheated if he hadn't.

OCD Chilehead · May 10, 2016

Thanks for info Rick. I'm a bit worried now with the horse manure. It was a mixture of composted and green. I spread it out and let it sit for a week. I watered it down and covered with plastic for a week. I've tilled it now 4 times in the past month. And we've got 4-5 inches of rain. You think it might have diluted down? I used around 1 1/2 yards. My garden is 20x15.

Thanks for the watering tip. I might try that out. Yeah I have that problem already with the planters. They get direct sun all day. I think I need more of a conventional mulch to trap water.

stickman · May 10, 2016

OCD Chilehead said:
Thanks for info Rick. I'm a bit worried now with the horse manure. It was a mixture of composted and green. I spread it out and let it sit for a week. I watered it down and covered with plastic for a week. I've tilled it now 4 times in the past month. And we've got 4-5 inches of rain. You think it might have diluted down? I used around 1 1/2 yards. My garden is 20x15.

Thanks for the watering tip. I might try that out. Yeah I have that problem already with the planters. They get direct sun all day. I think I need more of a conventional mulch to trap water.

You're probably OK if it was a 50-50 mix Chuck... I'll bet it only spread out a couple of inches thick, if that, and that much rain should have leached it out enough if the soil perks well enough. You have sandy soil if I remember correctly?

stickman · May 11, 2016

Hi All! I got a load of compost from a local firm that makes their own, and used it to fill in the first raised bed in the community garden.

I set up the drip irrigation lines to the raised bed in the back yard, and laid on the IRT plastic mulch and set up the hoops for the agricultural fabric. This is where I'll harden off before transplanting outside, and it'll be the final home for the Chinense varieties and the Red Rocoto.

Water line setup... water pressure regulator, hose timer and receiver for the rain sensor.

... and the rain sensor set up in another flower bed about 10 feet from the hose timer. This checks the soil moisture, and will transmit a signal to the hose timer suspending the timer program until the soil dries out. That way the program doesn't run when it rains more than a few sprinkles.

Have a great hump day all!