Stupid Jerk's stupid grow log for jerks

StupidJerk · Apr 12, 2013

Thanks Dot Com! I hope I put everything I need in there. I think I put enough varied types of compost and amendments that they should be good. I guess I'll find out in the next few months. I'm relying on what's in the ground and liquid kelp for now, and I think I'm going to make a batch of compost tea for a soil drench in not too long. I'm waiting for my worms to make a decent amount of casting to add. We'll see how it goes!

Dot Com · Apr 12, 2013

and just keep them sufficiently watered/moist. I notice that you over-watered in the beginning. I also over-watered when I started growing. At least you know that you shouldn't get carried away w/ watering now

I'm still known to get a little overzealous w/ the watering myself :confused:

but less so now :surprised:

DocNrock · Apr 13, 2013

Man, you completely transformed that garden plot. Hard to believe it is the same piece of land. Love the thick, stocky leaves on the Carolina Reaper. They all are coming up very well and look extremely healthy. I too have a not-scotch bonnet. Just had a pod off of the plant yesterday and it indeed is tasty. Hotter than a Jalapeno but not quite as hot as a hab, and excellent flavor. Speaking of flavor, I'd let that Chocolate Bhut pod up...it looks ready! Regarding the leaves on your Fatalii, a lot of my chinenses look like that. If it's green and produces, that is good enough for me. The OW's look great. Didn't know that ladybugs would eat spider mites, too. That is great information!

Nutsedge is a tough one. Once it gets established I think all you can do is to keep it in control by pulling up what you can see. Weeding is so much fun! Not! I had no idea Tomatillo plants were such heavy producers. They look great! Get ready for a lot of salsa verde! Looks like that Black Krim is flowering up...nice!

Great update!

StupidJerk · Apr 15, 2013

This poor neglected Purple Jalapeno is producing some pods. This thing was in terrible shape. I had left it in a window for months in nutrientless seed starting mix before I noticed it and repotted. It was almost translucent, then eventually started getting some color back. I put it in the ground and it seems to like it there.

Looks like this Fatalii is going to pod up as well:

The Thai is producing and growing at a crazy rate. I'll have plenty of these to go around. Glad I only have the 2 plants. I already have about at least a dozen pods on this one.

Over a dozen on the Hot Cherry as well. Also, I think that ladybud larvae is entering its pupae stage, but I'm just guessing.

I'm not sure what this plant is going to be. I have it labeled as Yatzy, but all of the Yatzys I've grown have turned out to be Cherries. When I ordered them with my first ever batch of seeds from Pepper Joe, they sent me two labels with the Yatzy on them and none with Hot Cherry, so I assumed I had forgotten to order Cherries. So I'm assuming I really did order them and that they accidentally printed the Yatzy label twice and put one of the Cherry packet. The thing is, I'm not sure if this plant is from the Yatzy pack or the Cherry pack, or if they are both Cherry packs. Either way, it looks like it will produce big soon. It looks like a Cherry to me, I would assume the Yatzy would look more like a Thai plant.

I repotted the Yellow Brain with the split at the cotelydons. It was overwatered by my housesitter while on vacation, so it lost a little color.

I'd say it was a bit overdue for the pot up.

White Bullet is happy and didn't drop any pods. It's also showing new growth everywhere since the pot up:

The dresser Black Pearl is staying classy:

buddy · Apr 15, 2013

[sup][sub]Very nice! Good luck with your 2013 season.[/sub][/sup]

Devv · Apr 15, 2013

Nice update, all the plants are thriving, glad you're in the pods

Just love the purple guys!

StupidJerk · Apr 15, 2013

DocNrock said:
Man, you completely transformed that garden plot. Hard to believe it is the same piece of land. Love the thick, stocky leaves on the Carolina Reaper. They all are coming up very well and look extremely healthy. I too have a not-scotch bonnet. Just had a pod off of the plant yesterday and it indeed is tasty. Hotter than a Jalapeno but not quite as hot as a hab, and excellent flavor. Speaking of flavor, I'd let that Chocolate Bhut pod up...it looks ready! Regarding the leaves on your Fatalii, a lot of my chinenses look like that. If it's green and produces, that is good enough for me. The OW's look great. Didn't know that ladybugs would eat spider mites, too. That is great information!

Nutsedge is a tough one. Once it gets established I think all you can do is to keep it in control by pulling up what you can see. Weeding is so much fun! Not! I had no idea Tomatillo plants were such heavy producers. They look great! Get ready for a lot of salsa verde! Looks like that Black Krim is flowering up...nice!

Great update!

If you like Salsa Verde just plant a couple Tomatillos, they will give you more than enough to last for a while. My Fiance also likes just eating them like apples. Lady bugs do eat spider mites, but they prefer aphids. I think the real trick was that I placed some of their larvae on the plants. Those are the really hungry ones. I've also seen lacewings and baby praying mantises. I have an intense bug war going on in my garden.

On your recommendation I'm going to let everything pod up. I haven't seen any extra growth on plants I've let pod up vs those I'm pinching buds on. I suppose my canopy is going to be so unmanageable that I shouldn't worry about making the plants bigger anyway. Thanks for the kind words!

buddy said:
[sup][sub]Very nice! Good luck with your 2013 season.[/sub][/sup]

Thank you! You as well.

Devv said:
Nice update, all the plants are thriving, glad you're in the pods

Just love the purple guys!

Thanks. I think I'm going to have a good first year. It's been a lot of work, so I can't wait to harvest some rewards.

DesertChris · Apr 15, 2013

Your plants are looking awesome!
Good stuff you have going on over the hill from me!

KiNGDeNNiZ · Apr 15, 2013

Don't worry about the pinching too
Much. Mother nature will take its course. Nice to see you podding up. I'll share with you some scotch bonnets when mine come around. A nice nursery too is sunset nursery in sunset. Should check it out. Let me know if you need anything. How's your adult plants from MR X?

StupidJerk · Apr 16, 2013

KiNGDeNNiZ said:
Don't worry about the pinching too
Much. Mother nature will take its course. Nice to see you podding up. I'll share with you some scotch bonnets when mine come around. A nice nursery too is sunset nursery in sunset. Should check it out. Let me know if you need anything. How's your adult plants from MR X?

Overloaded on plants as it is, so I'm no too worried. I think I have everything I need other than space. Thanks for all you've done with seeds and knowledge already.

The adult plants I keep thinking are coming back, then they get taken over by spidermites again. I know I should have thrown them away by now, but I've put so much work into them. I took them in their containers in the garden. I made sure to spray them off with really high water pressure when I brought them. After that, something must have finished off the rest (ladybugs, lacewings, or something)because they seem to be fine now.

I think pinching may be more important in places with less sun than I get in my plot. Mine get full SoCal sun through almost the entire day(which may be a liability in the summer) so they aren't lacking energy at all.

Devv · Apr 16, 2013

I'm starting to think organic gardening is not for the faint of heart, but you seem to be doing quite well.

I always enjoy your updates.

Dot Com · Apr 16, 2013

DesertChris said:
Your plants are looking awesome!
Good stuff you have going on over the hill from me!

thats what i was thinking too.

that purple jalapeno looks picture perfect too. Looks like you prepped your plot very well.

DocNrock · Apr 17, 2013

That last set of pics was outstanding. I had to laugh when I saw the Yellow Brain pic as quite a few of my plants have roots like that by the time I get around to up-potting them.

Looking great, Carson!

StupidJerk · Apr 17, 2013

At a point that was way too early, I don't remember when, I planted a Manzano, a Thai, and an unknown anuum in the garden. Not only was the outside too cold, but none of the plants were hardened off to the sun along with being too small in general. The Manzano and unknown anuum died. The Thai ended up sunburned and endured near freezing temperatures, yet somehow survived. Here it is today, thinking it is a bush:

Speaking of bushy comebacks, I have a feeling that this Reaper is going to be one of my biggest plants when all is said and done:

I really like how these Black Pearls look:

Another Choc Bhut that is flowering:

Not sure what this is, some kind of anuum:

Zucchini is flowering and producing:

For this bed I dug the top 6" of dirt/mulch/weed and sifted it into my compost and amendment mixture which consisted of peat, mushroom compost, manure, bone meal, and Jobe's Organic Fast Start. I haven't heard of it before, but I thought blending in some beneficials couldn't be a bad thing. Then I dug another foot or so and work some manure, bonemeal, and that Jobe's Fast Starter stuff. Afterwards I piled the compost mixture on top.

I'm not sure why I'm doing this to myself. I keep telling myself it is good exercise. The section I'm going through now has some kind of weed cloth or something buried right below the surface and I'm not please with how that has effected drainage. Try sifting this:

I think I'll be able to do the rest tomorrow.

These guys are counting on me to finish building their new home:

Devv said:
I'm starting to think organic gardening is not for the faint of heart, but you seem to be doing quite well.

I always enjoy your updates.

I'm just doing what seems to make sense to me. My gut has lead me in the right direction so far, let's hope that keeps up.

Dot Com said:
thats what i was thinking too.

that purple jalapeno looks picture perfect too. Looks like you prepped your plot very well.

Thanks! I've spent a lot of time reading and like I said before it makes sense to me, so we'll see if I'm crazy or not.

DocNrock said:
That last set of pics was outstanding. I had to laugh when I saw the Yellow Brain pic as quite a few of my plants have roots like that by the time I get around to up-potting them.

Looking great, Carson!

My phone does a hell of a lot better with outdoor pics, that's for sure.

Thanks everyone for stopping by. I really love all of the encouragement I've gotten from this site.

JJJessee · Apr 17, 2013

Your plot is coming along nicely.
Exercise is good for you and the soil.
We won't have zuchinni flowers for 60 days or more!

DocNrock · Apr 17, 2013

Wow man, I continue to be amazed at in-ground grows in general. Yours is coming along great! That Thai is Darwinism in action -- strong genes. Save the seed from that one! Everything else looks fantastic. Love the Reaper.

Glad to hear you're just going to let the plants flower. As you know, if the plant isn't ready to set pods, the flowers will just fall off until it is. Personally, I just think its too much work to cut or pinch off every bud while the plant is growing. I think it was Nee who said the plants are pretty capable of sorting things out for themselves. Except the weed cloth. Too bad they can't take care of that, too.

Continued success to you!

Devv · Apr 17, 2013

I sure hope you have continued use of the plot after all the work you've put into it his year..

Once again, thangs looking good!

StupidJerk · Apr 18, 2013

JJJessee said:
Your plot is coming along nicely.
Exercise is good for you and the soil.
We won't have zuchinni flowers for 60 days or more!

I finally finished it today, on the 10th anniversary of my 21st birthday.

My fiance asked what I wanted to do today. I said finish my garden and eat meat.

I finished my garden, then I went out for the best burger of my life and drank bourbon. I just turned 31 and I think I'm becoming Ron Swanson.

Behold the completed plot:

All that is left to do is adding a little top mulch, putting the last plants in the ground, and endless weeding. I'm going to feed the bed some seaweed extract and let it rest for as long as I can stand. In the meantime I'll harden off the rest of my dudes and begin the brutal elimination process where I decide which plants deserve a spot in the final 48 square feet of bed. The losers will be given away to friends and fellow gardeners who will never appreciate them the way I could have if I had only a few more feet of space.

DocNrock said:
Wow man, I continue to be amazed at in-ground grows in general. Yours is coming along great! That Thai is Darwinism in action -- strong genes. Save the seed from that one! Everything else looks fantastic. Love the Reaper.

I'll send you some dried pods from the Thai if you want some seeds, I'm sure I'll have too many to deal with.

In the ground seems to be the way to go if you can. I am very pleased so far. Once you find a permanent home you'll have learned enough from all of our mistakes to amend a perfect garden.

Devv said:
I sure hope you have continued use of the plot after all the work you've put into it his year..

Once again, thangs looking good!

As long as the program doesn't shut down and I keep paying my dues, I'll have access to the plot. Once I have a yard of my own to grow in it might be nice to just use this plot as a place to grow higher yielding crops to give to charity. I've put enough work in to it to not ever want to give it up, but I could see it being a burden to keep growing things like chiles that require a little extra attention if I move across the hill.

Thanks to everyone stopping by and reading. Feel free to ask questions or give suggestions.

DesertChris · Apr 18, 2013

The garden is looking Freaking Awesome!!

And HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!

And whatever you do, don't move over the hill to here! The soil is awful, and is actually more like plain ole dusty dirt.
I can't wait to hightail it outta here to "greener pastures"..lol

Property here is much cheaper though, compared to anywhere south of here.

StupidJerk · Apr 18, 2013

I was actually talking about the hill to the south. Down there it never freezes and rarely gets over 100f. Unfortunately it's even more expensive than up here in the San Fernando Valley. It really depends on job transfers and things like that. Anyway, we aren't tough enough to live anywhere like the high desert. We moved here because we were done with ice storms forever.

In case anyone is wondering, my hot pepper plant total will be cut down to 40, tomato plants about 15, various squash/cucumber about 10, okra 2, tomatillo 3, eggplant 2, and an orange tree. That's all I can think of off of the top of my head. There are herbs and flowers planted around as well for aesthetics and to attract good insects.