Sulsa's 2022 grow log

As already stated in my welcome thread i'm fairly new to growing peppers. This is gonna be my second year of growing them.
Last year was quite a succes, started out with ten variaties that i could find locally and ended up with a garden full of lush plants and dito harvests. The climate here is not ideal for growing peppers, especially the 2021 season was quite wet arround here. Hoping this year will be a bit more favourable.

The plan for upcoming season is all about diversity in varieties. I'm trying to find the peppers i like the most and find good use for in the kitchen. Also cutting down on the number of plants per variety so i will not have to proces tons of peppers wich i don't really like.

Below my growlist for upcoming season:

Capsicum Pubescens (sowed 1-7-2022)

5x Rio Hualaga
5x Mini choco

Capsicum Chinense (sowed 1-15-2022)

5x Bonda ma Jacques
5x Bahamian goat
5x Habanero red
30x Adjuma yellow

Capsicum Frutescens

20x Chabai green

Capsicum Baccatum (sowed 1-15-2022)

5x Lemon drop
5x Aji mango
5x Sugar rush peach
5x Rainforrest

Capsicum annuum

5x Jalapeno el Jefe
5x Greek pepperoni
10x Cayenne
10x Cayenne #1 (big and beautyfull off pheno that popped up last year, giving it a try...)
5x Rawit
20x Piquillo de Lodosa
20x Kapia
20x Dulce de Espagna
5x Ancho negro

Most of this plants will be grown in containers in my backyard. I also have about 300 square meters of vegetable garden in wich i will grow a few varieties in open field. Did this last year with sweet peppers and this turned out pretty good.

First hook for this season... Rocoto mini choco (7 days after it hit the dirt )

 

[Sulsa]

Yes, unfortunately there are a few disadvantages. We do have lots of bugs, above and below ground.

I HATE BUGS!!!

 

[Sulsa]

Made the potting mix today!

On the left about 100 liters compost, in the middle 300 liters of fresh potting soil and on the right about 600 liters of reused potting mix from last year.

After first mix up added some perlite, sand, lavameal and fertilizer

After half an hour

Bagged it in 750 liter bags, got 1 1/3 bag so should be around 1000 liters (264 gallons)

Ready to do some serious potting!

 

[JJJessee]

Looks tasty.
Do you use about the same recipe every year?

I'd never heard of lavameel.
Sounds like good stuff. I'd like like to try that on a hanging tomato variety I've tilted with for years that comes from Mt Vesuvius.
It has never performed properly for me.
I've always suspected it needed more volcano in it's diet.

I do use glacial rock dust, but don't think it is as rich in trace elements as volcano guts would be.
It's mainly a texturizer for biota.
j

 

[Sulsa]

Looks tasty.
Do you use about the same recipe every year?

Pretty much the same as i've been doing for years, used to use a lot of coco before but found myself a potting soil wich is peat and woodfiber based wich i like a lot. Nice texture and adds more to the microbes then the almost sterile coco. The addition of perlite and a more pepper specific nutrient composition is the only change i made to the recipe since i started growing peppers.

Lavameal is awesome! It holds over 80 minerals and trace elements wich is beneficial for the plants but also for the microbes making it a living soil. The high ammounts of silica makes the plants tough and resistent to a lot of plagues.
I use the finest grid wich is like ultra fine powder, you can also dust it on the leaves to prevent or heal several pests.
Downside to this fine powder is when it contacts moisture it becomes very sticky. I always mix it with the crushersand till all the sandparticles are coated in lava. This makes for a good distribution through the soilmix.

 

[Sulsa]

Baccatum update:

The SRP is starting to flower

The Aji mango is forking

Lemon drop growing some undergrowth

First time growing Baccatums for me. They grow quite lanky, but have some sturdy stems unlike the Annuums.
Bigger leaves too. Also lots of undergrowth. Probably will remove all undergrowth up to the first fork.

 

[Sulsa]

Also first flowers on the Chinense.

Bahamian goat

Adjuma

 

[Alex_K]

1000L of soil? This is a lot of work!
Your plants look very health I think you will have a lot of peppers in the future!

 

[Sulsa]

Noticed some yellow spots on the older leaves of the bonda ma Jacques

The new growth is looking fine and overall plants look great

Plants are starting to outgrow their pots so could be some deficiency.
Thought of potassium, but it lacks the affected edges and affected newgrowth.
Manganese would be strange since the potting soil was fresh 8 weeks ago, it was mixed with compost, organic fertilizers and even lavameal... so trace element deficiency should be highly unlikely.
Doesn't look like mineral build up due to tapwater compared to pics of that on the internet.
Somebody had similar spots or any clue to what might be happening here?

 

[thoroughburro]

I don’t have any definite knowledge, but my experience with Bacterial Leaf Spot last year would make me err on the side of caution and isolate that plant as much as space allows.

You’ve caught whatever it is quite early. Keep observing it closely… do the bottom of the leaves show anything more?

 

[Sulsa]

I don’t have any definite knowledge, but my experience with Bacterial Leaf Spot last year would make me err on the side of caution and isolate that plant as much as space allows.

You’ve caught whatever it is quite early. Keep observing it closely… do the bottom of the leaves show anything more?

Nothing on the underside of the leaves, just the same spots. Looked at it under a microscope and other than some form of chlorosis, nothing is to be seen. I gave them some liquid fertilizer today, so hoping this will stop whatever is happening!

 

[Sulsa]

Some early flowers

 

[Sulsa]

spring appears to come early around here

I shouldn't have said that.... snow forecast, temps dropping to freezing!

 

[Sulsa]

The sweet peppers and Cayenne are forced inside, they couldn't handle the current daytime temps.
No more room under the light, so they have to settle with a window spot.

The Rocotos don't seem to care at all, they are just happy outside.

 

[PaulG]

Rococos looking very happy, @Sulsa.
They usually look nice and perky in cool
weather in our neck of the woods.

The plants in the tray of annuums look
like they are ready to take off!

 

[Wiriwiri]

Ah such great looking seedlings...whatever you're doing it's working...nice.

 

[SineNomine]

Your seedlings are amazing! I would like to have such uniformity. Good job!

 

[Sulsa]

The plants in the tray of annuums look
like they are ready to take off!

They do... next year i must restrain myself and start sowing at least four weeks later!

Ah such great looking seedlings...whatever you're doing it's working...nice.

Your seedlings are amazing! I would like to have such uniformity. Good job!

Most of them are from my own seed collecting, so i'm quite happy they turned out the way they did!
Other than that i try to provide a good base and show them some love every day, the rest is up to them!

 

[Sulsa]

Some more Annuums that are forced out under the lights.... must have more grow space!
On the left ancho negro, in the middle greek pepperoni and on the right Jalapeno el Jefe.

Some miscellaneous Chinense
In the front habanero red including the double stemmed freak on the right. Sadly they grow slow and weak.
The plants in the middle and back came from the habanero mix. The 2 in the back are probably Jamaican hots and the 2 in the middle are unknown.

 

[Downriver]

Beautiful plants @Sulsa

 

[Sulsa]

Where there is success there is failure!
Should never have planted the Piquillo de Lodosa and Frutescens in 5 cm. square pots.
They have outgrown them rather fast! They also suffered some sun burn judging by the white edges and spots.
Since i took them back inside and under the lights, they developed a lot of edema being packed together so closely.
The Frutescens in the front are completely shaded by the bigger Piquillos.

Decided i had to do something about it, so i repotted them to 9cm. square pots and removed all sun burned leaves.
This way they should be able to make it till plant out!
Here are the Piquillos after their make over!