Trent's 2014 Grow Log - COLD COLD COLD

TrentL · May 29, 2014

Ok doubt it was the farmers (although I hope to find out). Everything upwind of me is corn.

BUT - my son's ex-girlfriends house is directly upwind of us AND it is the *only* yard in the subdivision which doesn't have weeds. Like... ANY weeds. No clover... no dandelions.. nothing...

TrentL · May 30, 2014

2,4-D is evil, evil stuff.

Since I pruned this Habanero 36 hours ago, 22 new flower buds have formed off this ONE node.

I went around pruning again today; but I think 4 more of these overwinters are going to die. Leaves are yellowing and starting to drop off; the plant just can't stop trying to produce.
On the bright side... MATERS!

Devv · May 30, 2014

That budding is just crazy!

TrentL · May 30, 2014

Yeah I'm used to seeing one or two flowers per node... not 22 of the damn things. I think that plant is toast. It's dropping leaves like crazy now; they're turning yellow and falling off.

Jeff H · May 30, 2014

Sorry to read about that damage, but it is interesting to see the overnight growth. Just amazing.

How far away are the neighbors spraying that crap? You would think in that nanny state (well just really one city, but I digress) they would have legislated everything harmful out of the state including 32 ounce Cokes.

TrentL · May 31, 2014

Oh their yard ends about 100 yards from mine, give or take. There's a bit of forest between us and them.
yet another damn problem... aphid infestation. I haven't seen many beneficial bugs outside. But flipped over some random leaves and there's hundreds of the buggers hiding on each plant...

Tonight I sprayed some beneficial bug food (smells like thrown up baby formula.. yuck).

Hoping to draw in some predators.

Devv · May 31, 2014

What do you use?

Although it sounds a might nasty

TrentL · May 31, 2014

Not sure what's in the bag of brown stuff, but it looks like powdered fish emulsion. It's labeled "Bug Food" lol.

I mix it 50/50 with fine granulated sugar, then dump 1 cup of the mix per gallon.

maximumcapsicum · May 31, 2014

Keep on pruning and good luck with the rooting hormone. Hoping the signals balance out for you. So it was a neighbor and not the farmers?

TrentL · Jun 1, 2014

Not sure Maximum. There's one freshly planted field west of me, dunno what they are doing there until it sprouts.

It was more than likely a neighbor upwind who had their yard professionally treated.The plants on the leading edge of the yard got hit worst, so it was definitely something carried on the wind. The way I had my pots arranged while hardening off, they went in alphabetical order (I'm a little odd that way lol). The 7-pots, bhut jolokia, and carolina reapers got hit the worst. As you go down the line, the symptoms fade away to nothing.

The overwinters got hit the worst, by far, but they were taller and had more surface area.

The rate of new growth appears to be slowing quite a lot the last day, so I'm hopeful they'll snap out of it soon.

Runescape · Jun 1, 2014

TrentL said:
The way I had my pots arranged while hardening off, they went in alphabetical order (I'm a little odd that way lol).

The rate of new growth appears to be slowing quite a lot the last day, so I'm hopeful they'll snap out of it soon.

Thats actually a neat idea...

And, nice to hear stuff is wearin off...

Devv · Jun 1, 2014

Glad to read the effects seem to be tapering off.

TrentL · Jun 1, 2014

This one is growing like crazy now - but at least the massive bloom & crazy shaped leaves are gone. While there's a LOT of them, they are growing in normal;

The Cumari that I topped & pruned a few days ago is going nuts.

As is the Datil

Hard to believe this Orange Habanero was on the verge of dying three days ago. Leaves were all wilted and yellow before I lopped them off and topped it.

This Bhut Jolokia had a BIG whiff of that crap; it was all sorts of twisted a few days ago.

Now... ? Jeez.

Here's how the plants looked which were clean of damage, after topping them. Topped & pruned at the same time as the others.

TrentL · Jun 2, 2014

The 2,4-D caused the tomato plants to grow too fast. The root systems are still developing and they're having a hard time keeping up.

I pruned some extraneous branches from them, trying not to hurt their development too much (these Romas are determinate).

Random Cilantro plant growing in the flower bed... leaving it alone and hoping that I'll have ripe tomatoes before it goes to seed... mmmmm Salsa..

Peppers look about the same today as they did yesterday, so no updates there. I *did* give the entire garden today a dose of fertilizer - my beans were looking a little anemic and onions were yellowing on the tips, so figured it was about time, probably a little low on nitrogen (Half of that garden was lawn last year...so it's almost certainly nitrogen deprived). Haven't added any nutrients to the soil since last July, so it's probably due for something. Skipping the test kit this time... will do a few soil tests in a few weeks and see how it's doing.

TrentL · Jun 2, 2014

random double post removed

TrentL · Jun 2, 2014

OK all is NOT the same on the peppers.

Devv · Jun 3, 2014

Glad to see everything is coming back around Trent!

Good job on handling the damage for sure.

TrentL · Jun 3, 2014

Well shit. Tonight is going to be interesting for the peppers. I just can't seem to catch a break this year.

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF CENTRAL
ILLINOIS.

.DAY ONE...TONIGHT

A LARGE COMPLEX OF THUNDERSTORMS CURRENTLY OVER NEBRASKA AND
WESTERN IOWA WILL TRACK SOUTHEASTWARD INTO CENTRAL ILLINOIS
TONIGHT. THE STORMS WILL ARRIVE IN THE ILLINOIS RIVER VALLEY
AROUND MIDNIGHT...THEN WILL SPREAD TO THE INDIANA BORDER
TOWARD DAYBREAK. DAMAGING WINDS IN EXCESS OF 70 MPH AND HEAVY
RAINFALL WILL BE LIKELY. FLASH FLOODING WILL BE POSSIBLE IN
LOW-LYING AND POOR DRAINAGE AREAS.

TrentL · Jun 4, 2014

I realized tonight I've never posted a food picture to my Glog before.

Which might make people wonder "what does he use peppers on?"

It's a 50/50 mix of dehydrated Bhut Jolokia and 7-pot reds. Nasty business. A heaping teaspoon is good for a frozen pizza; in this case a nice cheese & Canadian bacon pie.

With some pods starting to grow on the plants, I'm trying to build up my tolerance again.

I also use flake on beef jerky.

In this case a tray of Moruga Scorpion jerky, along with two trays of "black pepper jerky" (for the kids).

By the end of last growing season I'd ended up with 14 pints of flake. (that's a LOT of dehydrating, BTW... lol)

I also maintain a secret stash of pods out in the garage in the "Upright Deep Freeze of Death" (good for chops of Deer carcass as well as pods)

My favorite time of the year..

(I also make a couple flavors of Habanero sauce for me and my buddies)

MMMMMMMmmm.. this is not baby food.

And you sure can't buy salsa like this in the store.

That salsa had "8 black jalapenos, one Tasmanian habanero, one Trinidad moruga scorpion, one naga morich, and two 7 pot promos" (according to the facebook post I took at the time lol)

It was made using 100% fresh ingredients from the garden... which is the way I like it best.

jcw10tc · Jun 4, 2014

TrentL said:
Well shit. Tonight is going to be interesting for the peppers. I just can't seem to catch a break this year.

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF CENTRAL
ILLINOIS.

.DAY ONE...TONIGHT

A LARGE COMPLEX OF THUNDERSTORMS CURRENTLY OVER NEBRASKA AND
WESTERN IOWA WILL TRACK SOUTHEASTWARD INTO CENTRAL ILLINOIS
TONIGHT. THE STORMS WILL ARRIVE IN THE ILLINOIS RIVER VALLEY
AROUND MIDNIGHT...THEN WILL SPREAD TO THE INDIANA BORDER
TOWARD DAYBREAK. DAMAGING WINDS IN EXCESS OF 70 MPH AND HEAVY
RAINFALL WILL BE LIKELY. FLASH FLOODING WILL BE POSSIBLE IN
LOW-LYING AND POOR DRAINAGE AREAS.

I saw that too. Put 22 in pots and spares in the shed. My main plot is pretty well protected by a 6ft solid privacy fence, hopefully would survive a good wind storm as long as the fence doesn't blow down and smash them all.

Liked your food pictures. I will be making salsa several days a week once the time arrives, thats my main thing. Also plan on tons of dehydrating and making a ton of powder. Probably will have enough for the rest of my life unless i can find some people to take some of it off my hands or I just get tired of it all and give up and don't process everything.