synclinorium's Grow Log 2011

Otherwise known as my first attempt at growing hot peppers; probably a good reason to keep track of my plants' progress. My list isn't quite as hot as the others I see on here, but I'm still at the point where most of the hotter chinense varieties are beyond my appreciation. Hopefully this season will begin to change that.

I didn't properly research before buying my seeds/plants, so forgive my naivety with some of my supplier choices; I don't exactly have high expectations when it comes to most of these plants being true to type. Seeds were started intermittently between the first week of February and the second week of March (save the giant Datil plants seen in the photo below, those just recently arrived).

Current list:

Aji Cristal (Reimer seeds)
Aji Amarillo (Hirt's Gardens)
Cayenne (Hirt's Gardens)
Tabasco (Reimer seeds)
Unknown Thai variety (Livingston seeds, if I recall)
Rocoto (Reimer seeds)
Datil (from ebay)
White Lightning Habanero (Hirt's Gardens)

Soon to be arriving from Local Harvest growers:

Fatalii
Aji Limon
Bulgarian Carrot
Jalapeno

Here's my current setup. I've been using the LEDs for tomatoes, but it seems to be working fairly well for the peppers too.

 

[synclinorium]

wow
nice plants!! so much colors!!!
this year I'm sowing some aji amarillos too... what do you do with your pods?? any special Peruan recipe? >D

Ha, my housemate is probably the one to ask about that... she's an archaeologist that did most of her research in Peru. I made Papa a la Huancaina the other day, didn't come out quite right, and last night she made... what was it called, Aji de Gallina? Delicious.

Looks like no shortage of Tabasco's at your house

Very true...

 

[synclinorium]

Just a shot of Rocoto blossoms. The plants are going nuts now that the temps have dropped below 90 consistently.

Thought I'd also show off my 2 and a half year old Makrut (Kaffir/Thai) Lime. Thing grows like a weed, I probably need to prune it again as it's looking a bit scraggly...

 

[synclinorium]

Ha, I haven't been on top of my harvesting. I think next year I'm going to devote more space to Datils...

 

[synclinorium]

I've been horribly distracted by school, so I haven't been staying on top of things... garden is kind of a mess, but there are a few positive notes.

First being, what's that, could it be, a ripening Rocoto? 1 pod for 5 plants...

Tepin has been going too

And my damn giant Rocoto plant is finally flowering, almost 6 feet tall now.

 

[kibaumm]

Wow
Nice rocoto fruit and plant!!!! rocoto is hard to produce!

 

[synclinorium]

Probably one of my last updates for this year... plants seem to be winding down and it's quickly cooling off at night, so I'll probably only get a sporadic harvest until the first frost. I'll start a new thread whenever I decide which plants I'm going to overwinter.

Anyway, a few shots.

Fully ripened Rocoto:

A few wilds as an early start for next year... though silly me, I forgot to label them. There are only six options, so I'll figure out which is which later.

An overall shot... leaves are yellow on some of the plants because I haven't been on top of my fertilizer the past few weeks. New growth looks okay.

And on a related note, I might actually get a few eggplant before the end of the season... flea beetles destroyed most of my plants, but this Thai Purple Egg is doing alright.

 

[Spicegeist]

Ha, I haven't been on top of my harvesting. I think next year I'm going to devote more space to Datils...

Are these orange peppers Datils? They look kind of like Bonda ma Jacques...

 

[synclinorium]

They are indeed Datils... at least, they're supposed to be.

Season is quickly winding down... still waiting to see if the Rocoto fruits will grow and ripen before frost on my largest plant. It's about six feet tall now (plant on the left is a Peruvian Black Mint).