Tonly's 2011 grow log

NorTexChiliJs · Feb 5, 2011

Wow T. I really like your raised beds. I have a few myself and have struggled with finding a good way to trellis them. Those tall pole supports look cool. My sungold tomato towered over a 7ft tall cage and then almost hit the ground again. Actually most my small maters did. Does that height work for you?? Are they able to spread sideways? Is that grey exterior conduit or pvc???

I can't wait to build a greenhouse. Yours looks like a nice size and obvoiusly works well.

Happy growing!!

Tonly · Feb 5, 2011

The poles are schedule 40 pvc electrical conduit. 2 wires overhead with nylon baler twine tied to 2 wires below. The only way it works is to keep the plants pruned back to one main growing point. The wires are nearly 10 ft high and the tomato plants will get there pretty fast. I just let them grow how they want after that. When that happens it is usually mid summer and hot and production has dropped way off anyway.

Tonly · Feb 13, 2011

Felt like Spring here today even with the remains of more than 2 feet of snow on the ground. Potted up most of the c. chinense plants. Now have around 150 plants in #1 size pots. They're called trade gallon but only hold about 3 quarts so, I'm gonna call them #1's. This will be the final pot size until they are planted in either raised beds or big containers. I just don't have the room to pot up any larger. I still need to start a few c. annuums, tomatoes, and other garden plants and that will use up the all the available space.

First pod on the DWC Yellow Scorpion.

The Deep Water Culture plants have grown very quickly. Now we'll see about pod production.

A few of the newly potted up plants.

These have been potted up a little while longer.

This Bhut Jolokia pod is a beauty.

A few more of today's pictures are here: Greenhouse Feb 13, 2011

woody3says · Feb 13, 2011

Very nice color on the Jolokia leaves. All your plants look exceptionally health =)

Siliman · Feb 13, 2011

Wow thanks for sharing your amazing production. I will not get to this level in my lifetime, but I can scale down some of it for my purposes--exponentially... :cool:

I do have a question regarding your garden pic that would be helpful for me:

Tonly said:

On the left side of this picture, is the PVC angled over the raised bed for row cover or 'cold frame' purposes? Is the row about 3-ft wide there? Is that 1/2" pvc? Stapled or u-bolted to the 2x12s?

Tonly · Feb 14, 2011

Siliman said:
On the left side of this picture, is the PVC angled over the raised bed for row cover or 'cold frame' purposes? Is the row about 3-ft wide there? Is that 1/2" pvc? Stapled or u-bolted to the 2x12s?

The bed is 4 feet wide. The 1/2" pvc is clamped to the board but the clamps broke and so I just pushed the pipes down into the dirt a bit. I put some plastic over it grew lettuce, broccoli, and such. It won't support any kind of a snow load but definitely extends the season several weeks.

Siliman · Feb 14, 2011

Thanks, Tonly! That is a simple but elegant solution for providing a structure for a cold frame on a raised bed.

Have another couple questions from earlier in your postings.

Tonly said:
... I tend to use whatever is on hand and cheap. The seedling mix is peat moss, some perlite I bought labeled as coarse but was actually almost powder, vermiculite, lime, epsom salt, and boron....

....The big plants I am over wintering are growing in the mix from the raised beds they were in. It is mostly sand, sawdust, and compost. Also have some growing in a mix that is peat, pine bark, sand and sawdust...

When I read the ingredients on "professional" potting mixes, I just can't bring myself to fork over the big bucks they sell for. I can buy a bale of peat moss which seems to be the main ingredient for about a fourth the price of the same amount of potting mix.
That is all of my "dirty" secrets. I promise.

Can you provide an approximate percentage of ingredients you mentioned for your seedling mix?

Also, when using sand in a raised bed, do you have a soil heavy in clay? What type of sand to use?

One final: for the mix that has peat, pine bark, sand and sawdust, could you also give some approx percentages there?

Once again, much obliged... :cool:

Tonly · Feb 15, 2011

Siliman said:
Can you provide an approximate percentage of ingredients you mentioned for your seedling mix?

Also, when using sand in a raised bed, do you have a soil heavy in clay? What type of sand to use?

One final: for the mix that has peat, pine bark, sand and sawdust, could you also give some approx percentages there?

Once again, much obliged...

Siliman, I mix up my soils about the same way I cook. I don't really follow a recipe and it is different every time.

The seed starting mix I'm using this year is mostly peat moss with some perlite and vermiculite mixed in. I use straight vermiculite to cover the seeds. I mix up 40 lbs lime, 2 lbs. epsom salt, and 1 cup of boron and use about 2 cups of this mix with 25 gallons of soil mix.
When sand is in the mix it is probably less than 20%. I get the stuff they use in concrete.
The potting mix I used this weekend for the #1 pots: 5 gallons peat, 5 gallons compost, 5 gallons pine bark, 2 gallons sand, and a dose of the lime mix.

The soil in my garden is rocky with clay and lots of tree roots. My plants have access to it but with the raised beds, I don't have to mess with it.

Siliman · Feb 15, 2011

Tonly said:
...I mix up my soils about the same way I cook. I don't really follow a recipe and it is different every time....

That's the way my wife-unit cooks and bakes and I never argue with success!

Much appreciated info, as I will be converting some of my existing garden to raised beds and 'fill' them by amending existing soil. Not to mention starting seeds indoors for the first time and also overwintering peppers on a small scale. Your 'recipes' and other posts are helpful in all regards... :cool:

lazienfat · Feb 18, 2011

The pic of the bhut is awesome!

Tonly · Feb 18, 2011

lazienfat said:
The pic of the bhut is awesome!

It looks even better in person. It is completely red right now. I'll let it ripen a bit more before I pick it.
That plant had some really wicked pods on it last summer. Can't wait to see what it does in year #2.

mascalzone · Feb 18, 2011

Very nice color on the Bhut Jolokia leaves, beautiful plants and also in perfect health.

Tonly · Feb 20, 2011

The weather started out partly cloudy this morning so I decided to put the plants outside for awhile. By the time I got them all out it had become overcast and really windy. They didn't stay out too long.

Placed the overwinter plants beside their future permanent home. I may need help planting these monsters.

The 3 smaller plants in the bed on the right are orange manzano from Zanderspice. These are the most vigorous plants I have right now. Sprouted mid-December.

I didn't put the overwintering pubescens outside. They're too big to move around and probably would have been battered by the wind today. 2 other things I'm trying to grow too.

This shows the size difference between summer time garden pods and greenhouse winter time container pods. The 2 big ones are frozen. :cool:

The rest of today's harvest. From top left clockwise: Yellow 7 pod, Big Sun Habanero, Cumari ou Passarinho, and Fatali.

Hot Pooper · Feb 20, 2011

Looks REALLY good man! I cant WAIT to buy my own house so I can go nuts on my yard/garden. Im thinking I may have to "upgrade" here a bit since I'll be here a few more years.
Dont know if I told you, but only 2 of my class mates ate some pepper. One girl had about a quarter of a yellow 7. She took it pretty well. It tore her up, she drank some milk, then was good to go. Another guy had a small piece of fatali. It didnt tear him up that much, but HE had a part of the bottom, and didnt chew a lot. lol

Tonly · Feb 20, 2011

Sean, the fatalis are hit and miss on heat but the flavor has been really nice lately. Did you get a chance to try the cumari ou passarinho? I had one the other night that was screamin' hot :mouthonfire:

. The ones I picked today were the biggest pods so far since last summer.

lazienfat · Feb 23, 2011

Wow those are amazing! Huge plants. Nice that you could get them out doors for a bit. Neat coin as well are you a coin collector at all? If you can raise kids like you do peppers their lucky to have you.

ZanderSpice · Feb 23, 2011

Wow! That greenhouse is really doing well, and the overwintered plants are beautiful and huge. Those Manzanos look great. I love the smell of the leaves.

I planted a bunch of yellow 7s from you and they sprouted up quickly, I'll probably end up with 8. Thanks again. I hope they produce that great shape. Cumari ou Passarinho looks like a very nice one too.

That is a fantastic garden you've got going there. I can't wait to see it in full swing.

capsidadburn · Feb 23, 2011

Tonly, Looks fantastic. Massive envy all around. I really like the looks of the Cumari ou Passarinho. I am originally from Joplin. Great stuff you have.

Mike

Tonly · Feb 23, 2011

lazienfat said:
Wow those are amazing! Huge plants. Nice that you could get them out doors for a bit. Neat coin as well are you a coin collector at all? If you can raise kids like you do peppers their lucky to have you.

That was their first trip outdoors. The 2nd year plants seem pretty sturdy even though all the growth has happened in the greenhouse. I hope they don't need too much hardening off. It's quite a bit of work moving them.
I don't collect coins but, I have had that one since I was 4 years old. I can't think of anything else I've owned that long.
Peppers are easy compared to teenagers.

ZanderSpice said:
Wow! That greenhouse is really doing well, and the overwintered plants are beautiful and huge. Those Manzanos look great. I love the smell of the leaves. I planted a bunch of yellow 7s from you and they sprouted up quickly, I'll probably end up with 8. Thanks again. I hope they produce that great shape. Cumari ou Passarinho looks like a very nice one too. That is a fantastic garden you've got going there. I can't wait to see it in full swing.

So that's what I've been smelling when I first open the door to the greenhouse. It is a really nice smell. Those manzanos of yours are winners.
I still have the Y7P plant growing that had the stinger pods and a couple others that produced "normal" 7 pod shapes. Looking forward to see what year 2 brings and also how the offspring do.

capsidadburn said:
Tonly, Looks fantastic. Massive envy all around. I really like the looks of the Cumari ou Passarinho. I am originally from Joplin. Great stuff you have.Mike

Thanks Mike. I'm headed to Joplin this weekend. Wife has lots of family there.
That Cumari ou Passarinho is nice. I need to isolate some blooms for seed to share.

millworkman · Feb 23, 2011

DUUUUUUUUDE. I love my FatMax. Ha ha. Those things are looking really awesome. The one on the left in the greenhouse with the kids looks like you decorated it with lights for Christmas.