• Blog your pepper progress. The first image in your first post will be used to represent your Glog.

Stupid Jerk's stupid grow log for jerks

I think it is safe to say that my girlfriend now regrets bringing home a cayenne plant this July. It sparked an interest in me that has lead me to spend countless hours reading about gardening, filling the windows and balcony with plants and seedlings, purchasing a grow light, and ultimately joining a community garden. I've decided it is time I start documenting my journey.

Grow list:
7 Pot Congo Yellow (Denniz)
7 Pot Douglah
7 Pot Jonah (Denniz)
7 Pot Primo (socalchilehead)
7 Pot Red (Denniz)
7 Pot SR Congo (socalchilehead)
7 Pot Yellow
Bahamian Goat Pepper (socalchilehead)
Biker Billy Jalapeno (ajijoe)
Black Pearl
Black Cobra (smokemaster)
Bhut Jolokia
Butch T (Denniz)
Butch T x Douglah (Denniz)
Carolina Reaper
Cherry
Chile Tepin (socalchilehead)
Chocolate Bhut Jolokia
Chocolate Bhut x Yellow 7 pot (socalchilehead)
Chocolate Habanero (ajijoe)
Datil
Fatalii
Fresno (Grocery Store Pod)
Jamaican Hot Chocolate (Pogeys)
Morouga Scorpion (Denniz)
Purple Jalapeno
Red Habanero
Scotch Bonnet (Turns out to be an Anuum, so we'll call these Notch Bonnets)
Scotch Bonnet Foodorama (socalchilehead)
Scotch Bonnet Tobago Yellow (socalchilehead)
Scotch Bonnet Tobago Red (socalchilehead)
Surprise Hot Mix (ajijoe)
Thai (Grocery Store Pod)
White Bullet
Yellow Brainstrain (Denniz)



These are plants that I have obtained as adults:

Aji Yellow (smokemaster)
Habanero (home depot)
Peach Bhut (smokemaster)
White Pearl (smokemaster)
Yellow 7 Pot (smokemaster)

I have a limited amount of space, so most varieties will only have one plant in the ground.

Here is a before picture of the garden:
pwhDt.jpg

It's a 400 sq foot plot and over half of it was filled with nutsedge. I have since pulled out the nutsedge and hopefully most of the roots. Filled a massive wheelbarrow with all that I pulled out. I tried eating one of the tubers because I read they were edible, but I wouldn't recommend it. It was the consistancy of an almond, but the taste of a dirty pine needle. Maybe they are good roasted.


Growing in the ground is going to be a new adventure that I am no way prepared for. I suppose I need to do a soil test before I attempt to amend the soil. Completely organic is the plan, but I've seen a few tiny green balls in the soil, and as far as I know that means slow release Miracle Gro. On the positive side(I think?) there is a bark mulch that is mixed through the entire garden that has started breaking down throughout. You can see some of it near the pavement in the first picture. Not sure what kind of wood it is.

If anyone has any advice, feel free to chime in. I built a fence with 2x8's around the bottom. I plan on having a 2' wide 8" raised bed around the perimeter along with 3 raised beds in the center. The ones in the center may have to wait a while unless I find someone getting rid of some wood. In the mean time I plan on just mounding the ground up in those areas. I see a lot of my neighbors still have chili plants with ripe or ripening pods on them, but I think I'm waiting until mid January to early February to plant them out.(edit: planted out in March) It hasn't frosted since I moved here, but I supposed it is possible.(edit: It happened this year)
 
Click to expand...
Don't worry about threadjacking, this is a serious issue! did some of your leaves turn yellow and fall off? A couple of them on one of these plants did. The first thing I noticed was the leaves being 2 different colors, like streaks of lighter green on them.

Here is another shot of one of the effected ones from yesterday:
J7GdHwJ.jpg


I think I know where I could have gotten it from. Plants I should have thrown away about 8 months ago.
 
I pulled up the very suspect plants just in case. They are varieties that I had extra of or didn't care too much about. I'm starting the think that it is actually a combination of spidermites and high PH. I tested the areas of the soil with the issues and they were definitely on the high end. I had added a LOT of peat to bring down the PH, but apparently it was not enough. Now to figure out how to bring it down to a reasonable level...
 
Sulfur...test your water too. I use Espoma Soil Acidifier it works very well. Same stuff they use to turn Hydrangeas blue. There are also some ferts for acid loving plants that have sulfur in them...Good luck, I know other folks are more on the test, wait and see side, but after last year's woes I am quick to pull. My problems started from some seeds I ordered from a less than reputable vendor. One sprouted looking funky and I should have tossed it, but I tried to save it. 
 
Everything continues to grow well. Anuums are producing and ripening, chinense are growing big. The chinense seem to be growing outward more than upward, but getting big fast. I don't have any looking rough any more, so that's a good thing. You can see where I pulled the suspect plants out here:
YVyQiAR.jpg

I'll probably plant something non-pepper there just to be safe, but I think they were just having issues with spidermites and ph. I planted basil all around and between my peppers and it seems to have perked them up. Not sure if that is a coincidence or not. I also put another layer of mulch over everything. I seem to be the only one there garden using the free mulch they provide, sadly. Lots of people are out there every day watering while I never do. The automatic water once a week seems to be enough.

I think they have some strange ways of doing things, but they probably think the same about me. One of my neighbors barely utilizes their garden at all other than to spray pesticide and herbicide. They put a tarp down with and laid a few cement blocks on it, then placed about 8 containers in the 400 sq ft area. I have a feeling they are the ones that sprayed some herbicide on the arugula that seeded itself in front of my garden and took out a few of my fiance's poppies with collateral damage. They pay over $200 a year to grow 8 plants in containers.

I guess I shouldn't make fun of them on the internet, but I'm genuinely curious as to what the hell they are doing and why they decided to make a patio out of their garden plot. It has been in pretty much that same state since I acquired my plot 6 months ago.

By the way, if you are having a problem with lack of bees, plant some sunflowers. Every time I look at them I see at least half a dozen bees. Every since they started blooming I haven't had a single gourd abort. I have more zucchini and yellow squash than I know what to do with. I only have one plant each and I end up pulling this much every day(this is after I gave away 2 zuchinni):

ImVV0QW.jpg


Thanks for reading!
 
Nice Sunflowers! 
Everyone has odd neighbors I guess, and sometimes we are one. :D
I do like their use of the poly-barrels as planters.
I bought 20 such barrels for projects for 10 bucks a pop which makes 25+gal containers for $5 each. 
Just hate having to cut the poor things in half.
 
Those are bushy looking peppers, but I've never grown chinenis. 
You have made remarkable progress for a first-year gardener. ^5 ,dude
 
Nice harvest!
 
I told you those squash get crazy, we only plant one hill now and still have crazy production.
 
I really liked the slideshow. You've done a heck of a job this year, especially for a first year!
 
Keep on comin' on there!
 
JJJessee said:
Nice Sunflowers! 
Everyone has odd neighbors I guess, and sometimes we are one. :D
I do like their use of the poly-barrels as planters.
I bought 20 such barrels for projects for 10 bucks a pop which makes 25+gal containers for $5 each. 
Just hate having to cut the poor things in half.
 
Those are bushy looking peppers, but I've never grown chinenis. 
You have made remarkable progress for a first-year gardener. ^5 ,dude
Click to expand...
Yeah, I like their use of the planters.  It's just sad to see the plot go to waste when there are a lot of people who could be growing food for their families there. They have a tomato plant, a few pepper, and a little tree.  Even if they won't use the food they could at least throw a couple plants in the ground and donate the harvest to a food bank.  Land isn't easy to come by around here.
 
Devv said:
Nice harvest!
 
I told you those squash get crazy, we only plant one hill now and still have crazy production.
 
I really liked the slideshow. You've done a heck of a job this year, especially for a first year!
 
Keep on comin' on there!
Click to expand...
 
Thanks!  It's been quite a journey.
Yellow 7 Pot x Chocolate Bhut is podding up.
9kjfqZj.jpg

 
Datil starting to pod up as well.
lWUUi8R.jpg

 
JJJ mentioned the plants being bushy.  That's definitely true.  The ones on my balcony are getting tall, but the chinense in the garden are mostly growing out.  Here is one of the Chocolate Bhuts:
roq5QJM.jpg

Top view.  Lots of sun damaged leaves, but I guess I'll just have to deal with it.  Next year I'll plant something to help shade them a bit more.
G4ztA49.jpg

 
Lots of weird shaped pods on the "Scotch Bonnet".  I think it's just some kind of accidental hybrid from the seed distributor.
q1qNWOw.jpg

 
Garden group shot!
u9nRrjZ.jpg

 
Balcony group shot!
MFiDXgJ.jpg

 
Out of focus ladybug porn:
[media]http://youtu.be/w63ut7J2ekw[/media]
 
Thanks for looking!
 
KiNGDeNNiZ said:
Glad to see things are doing well. How's the seeds I have you. :). How's the other plants. Any signs of viral on your other plants
Click to expand...
Everything is good. I think it was a false alarm on the virus. That particular spot was really alkaline, and I noticed spidermites on the plants after I pulled them. I'm still taking precautions. Better safe than sorry. It's really hard not to put 2 more plants in the ground where I pulled out the others.

All the seeds you gave are making good plants, thanks again. I've given quite a few away to other people as well. I think Desert Chris has some, along with a bunch of non-THP people I know IRL.
 
You're kicking A** up there! Maybe your neighbor just enjoys sitting in there with their few plants and watching them grow??? You're using all your space well for sure...and soon it'll be so packed in there you'll have to belly crawl to get through it. Good to see things all podding up for you too. Workin it like a pro!!!
 
Your garden plot looks fantastic, Carson.  Loved the slide show.  I really got a sense of everything filling in.  Its funny, we see our grows everyday and don't see the small changes.  But over time they obviously become big changes.  Those sunflowers grew like weeds!  You've got me thinking about growing a few of those, too...must resist...no more space...
 
I was looking for some info on why my 3.5 foot tall goats weed/black cobra wasn't flowering yet, and it reminded me of how much horrible information there is on the Internet when it comes to peppers.

Check out this ridiculously inaccurate page: http://myfolia.com/plants/5-chili-pepper-capsicum-annuum-longum-group/varieties/11644-goats-weed

"This variety is an Vegetable that typically grows as an Annual, which is defined as a plant that matures and completes its lifecycle over the course of a single year. Goat's Weed normally grows to a max height of 1.49 feet (45.72 cm metric)." It also recommends a soil ph between 7.0 and 8.5. What the hell? You have to be trying to get a goats weed to be only 1.5 ft tall.
 
Mine was taller than that before it even made it outside! Lol...I'd guess maybe too heavy on the nitrogen. Too much makes them wanna grow and not fruit. It'll find its zone and start to fruit.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top