synclinorium's Grow Log 2011

synclinorium · Apr 11, 2011

I bought mine on amazon because it was a little cheaper than buying direct. The company is Sunshine Systems, which is coincidentally somewhat local (at least, within the state).

I really want a GrowUFO, but it's a bit out of my price range for the moment. And besides, I mentioned I already had a problem with one of my units so I question the lights' longevity.

I should also mention purple light is really straining on the eyes, so you probably want it away from high-traffic areas of your house.

synclinorium · Apr 13, 2011

Right now I'm trying to figure out how many of my plants I actually want to grow... I figure at least one or two of each variety, but then again I have about four each of the tabasco, thai, rocoto, cayenne, jalapeno, and white lightning habanero. I hear things like thai and tabasco can be heavy producers, so I don't want to go overboard...

muskymojo · Apr 13, 2011

synclinorium said:
Right now I'm trying to figure out how many of my plants I actually want to grow... I figure at least one or two of each variety, but then again I have about four each of the tabasco, thai, rocoto, cayenne, jalapeno, and white lightning habanero. I hear things like thai and tabasco can be heavy producers, so I don't want to go overboard...

Nothing wrong with going a little overboard!

synclinorium · Apr 13, 2011

muskymojo said:
Nothing wrong with going a little overboard!

Keep in mind I'm only growing these for my own use, and my heat tolerance is rather undeveloped. I don't think I'll need triplicates of everything, especially my hottest varieties... can't imagine what I'd with with four habanero plants. Then again, I think most of what I'm growing, save maybe the Aji Cristal and Tabasco, are suitable for drying... hmm. Guess I could just fill the cupboards with chili powder.

synclinorium · Apr 16, 2011

We had a monster storm blow through here last night. Tornado warning came pretty much out of nowhere, so I didn't have time to go out and put anything on the plants. No tornado, and I went out this morning and most were fine, save the Datils who were absolutely shredded by hail. I pinched off most of the unsalvageable leaves. Hopefully the plant will start bushing out more to compensate.

Siliman · Apr 16, 2011

Glad to hear you mostly dodged the weather bullet. I find myself watching the weather back east thinking about you guys! Now I understand the logic behind your 'Florida Weave' strategy.... :cool:

synclinorium · Apr 16, 2011

That's the idea. And, of course, they're forecasting patchy frost tonight. I brought most of my peppers inside to be safe. More potentially severe weather in the forecast over the next week, so I'm just going to hope for minimal damage.

synclinorium · Apr 23, 2011

I figure an update is in order, even if I can't exactly go outside to take pictures with thunderstorms still being a concern...

Anyway, the final count:

1 Bulgarian Carrot
4 Jalapeno
4 Cayenne
2 Aji Cristal
1 Aji Limon
3 Aji Amarillo
1 Fatalii
2 White Lightning Habanero
2 Datil
2 Thai
2 Tabasco
2 Rocoto

... barring any further near-deaths due to weather. My Datils got pounded with hail last night and lost most of their leaves. They'll probably recover, but it's a stumbling block I could have done without. So far they all seem to be adjusting to their potted lives well, although it's hard with the weather being the way it is. I could do without the rain, but the plants don't seem to mind.

synclinorium · Apr 24, 2011

Alright, break in the weather (briefly) time for a few photos.

The plants are looking okay right now. I was planning on fertilizing them this week, but it's sort of pointless with all of the rain coming down.

I went ahead and removed the most damaged leaves from the Datils. Figure I don't want the plant wasting energy trying to heal things that probably won't make it anyway. They look kind of naked at the moment but there's new growth forming along the nodes so I'm hopeful.

Some of the younger leaves, especially on the smaller plants, are developing weird dark green splotches. I'm hoping this is just an overwatering issue. If so, they're going to have to deal for a few more days. Stupid rain.

At least my tomatoes seem to be enjoying themselves (don't ask about the cinder block pieces... I put a cardboard collar around the plants and I'm holding them down with those temporarily to discourage whatever is digging at them for bone meal).

synclinorium · Apr 30, 2011

Finally, a sunny day. My plants really needed it, they haven't really seen any in a couple weeks. Night temperatures are still in the 40s, so most of the plants haven't been doing much. I'm hoping that once we get into May they'll start taking off. I'll probably switch to a different fertilizer too, as my fish emulsion has been attracting raccoons, and I really don't like them digging up my plants.

An update on some of my plants:

My White Habs are actually starting to get a bit sun bleached since they haven't seen much sun since I potted them. The black spots concern me too:

My Aji Limon's leaves are curling, no idea why. I'm assuming it's a nutrient issue. Calcium, maybe?

My Amarillos are still rather squat but are finally starting to take off. I'll probably continue pinching off the flowers for at least a few more weeks to let them grow a bit:

The Thai peppers are really starting to grow out. They're starting to look like little balls of leaves:

I haven't planted my Cayennes yet because they were really looking sickly for a while. Most have made a recovery and are growing out like mad. I'll have to find a home for them next week:

Fatalii is coming along nicely:

Rocotos are taking their sweet time compared to the rest but are looking quite healthy compared to some (say, my hail-shredded Datils that are practically completely naked at this point):

Finally, one of my Aji Crystals are doing some sort of weird mirror image thing. I noticed it earlier, but now one of its leaves has actually bifurcated into two lobes:

synclinorium · May 1, 2011

Well, it seems like the aphids finally found my garden. A couple of the tomato plants are already quite infested, and a couple of the pepper plants have stray aphids. I've been pinching them if there's only a couple, neem oil if they've taken over. I have some ladybugs in the mail that I'll try to have settle down in my yard.

synclinorium · May 4, 2011

Just a shot of all of my peppers I currently have planted.

One thing I noticed, the foliage on many of my plants almost seems yellow-green as opposed to the deeper green I had before moving them outside and transplanting them. Is this normal?

wayright · May 4, 2011

Plants look great Sync! I think it is normal for your plants to look a lil yellowish right when they get outside!
You should notice all new growth from here on out will be a deeper green!
Great work and nice pics!!

Kevin

synclinorium · May 10, 2011

So, in the week since my last post, some sort of bacterial leaf spot cropped up on almost all of my plants, probably from the period of extended rain a couple weeks ago. I pinched off all the diseased tissue (since the leaves were starting to fall off anyway) and gave it a good spray of a neem oil/soap mixture to prevent more spores from taking root, so to speak. The plants were looking very naked for a while. Thankfully, they've finally put on some new growth, and for the time being it looks normal, healthy and green. Their growth has been heavily delayed because of this, but it's better than death. I'm going to keep an eye on it, and I've isolated the few healthy plants as a precaution.

I'll post photos later, for now I have my first final exam for the semester to be worrying about.

:eek:

SRBII · May 10, 2011

Good luck on finals, sorry to hear about the bacterial problem i hope they bounce back for you.

synclinorium · May 10, 2011

So, it seems like only the chinenses and baccatums were seriously affected by the leaf spot, most of the rest were either completely unaffected or only had isolated spots. In either case, I removed infected tissue, which meant pinching the tops on a lot of them, and most are showing new growth.

Datil:

Aji Amarillo:

Still going strong-

Rocoto:

Tabasco:

Thai (had a couple leaves infected, keeping an eye on it):

And my Cayennes are going crazy in spite of it all. I think I'll be able to let them start fruiting soon.

Hoping this week of 80 degree temperatures spurs some growth across the board.

synclinorium · May 15, 2011

The few positive notes in this ongoing saga-

Most of the pepper plants are recovering from their bout of leaf spot. I've been spraying them with neem oil every week or so, and that seems to have controlled the problem for the time being. The Datils are looking to be the success story in all of this. About a week ago, they lost nearly all of their leaves, and look at them now:

Similarly, my Aji Amarillos are looking much better, lots of new growth in the past few days. They're almost as tall as the Datils:

My White Habs are also slowly recovering. They were coming along nicely before the leaf spot, then they looked like twigs for a while. Currently:

The Thai peppers came out it mostly unphased, though I think I spy a couple spots in this photo that I'll need to pinch off:

Similarly, my Rocotos have been taking off and are outpacing most of my annums simply for the fact that the leaf spot never got to them:

The past week or so I've been trying to get ladybugs to stick around in my garden. I've been releasing a couple hundred or so every night after sprinkling the plants with water, but they were all gone by morning. A couple days ago, in a bout of frustration, I dumped about 1000 ladybugs all over my tomato plants. The next morning, I not only find ladybugs in my garden, but massive orgies:

A few even found their way onto my pepper plants across the yard:

I think I should be able to stop worrying about our aphid issue. As a side note, my tomatoes are doing very well in spite of the aphids. There's about a dozen plum-types on the vine and at least as many cherries, which should be ripe within the next few weeks:

synclinorium · May 17, 2011

Over the course of this afternoon all of my pepper plants started developing new, different spots than those I encountered before. Curiously, the spots match the sort of pattern I've been encountering on the dead leaves I've been finding scattered around my yard. Turns out one of my neighbor's trees is seriously infected with a fungus and is rapidly defoliating. Gave the plants another round of neem oil, but I have a feeling I'm going to have to resort to stronger fungicides soon. I'll be surprised if my plants have any foliage by June.

... I'm doomed, aren't I?

Siliman · May 17, 2011

Man, you have been through the wringer! I'd get on top of that fungus issue ASAP. Maybe call the county ag department and see what they recco to do for that fungus. Probably others having issues with all the excess rain bringing it on.

synclinorium · May 21, 2011

Well, at least I've learned my lesson for next year. Much as it pains me to think about how much space I'll need, I'll probably hold off on transplanting until mid-May, avoiding the unpredictable cold and wet earlier in the season. The plants are looking much better now that it has warmed up a bit... I think part of the problem was that the fungus was spreading so rapidly in relation to the growth rate of the plants that they just couldn't get out of their rut. As long as I keep spraying them periodically most should make a full recovery.

We had a nice rain last night and I came outside to an explosion of new growth. It's amazing how for all the pampering you try with plants a little rainwater is sometimes all it takes.

Hand for scale

Keep in mind, most of the plants I'm showing here were completely defoliated about a month ago.

Aji Amarillo 1 and 2. If they keep it up they should both be beastly by the end of the season. Definitely overwintering candidates.

Thai, which has grown at least two inches in the past week.

Cayenne. I'm getting to the point where I'm sick of picking off blossoms so I'm probably just going to let it fruit and see what happens.

Datil, struggling but definitely showing progress.

And my little experiment, a Rocoto planted in total shade. He seems to be doing alright for himself so far. My housemate had a tomato growing here last year, which was shockingly quite large and productive. It still gets plenty of ambient light from its surroundings.