Trent's 2014 Grow Log - COLD COLD COLD

TrentL · Jun 30, 2014

Weed barrier + thin layer of mulch = no weeds

Starting to "jungle up"

That's one long assed Cayenne pepper!

This sweet cayenne has more pods than plant!

These ugly bastards moved in to my beans (asian beetles). So far they're leaving the peppers alone.

They seem to hatch, crawl up the stem, have a bite to eat, have sex, then fly off for better food.

So far they haven't caused too much damage. (These are also the reason I don't grow okra or broccoli anymore; they annihilate it)

Harvesting 5 pounds of beans every other day from those three rows now.

TrentL · Jun 30, 2014

Oh forgot to mention.... EVERY annuum and chinense variety has pods now.

Little ones, but they're growing....

I took pictures of every last plant (to document them at a given date), but I'll spare you endless pages of little green pods and just toss up a representative one.

TrentL · Jul 2, 2014

Habaneeeeeros!

Garden trolls

Purdy little thang.

"Why for art thou forsaken me, oh great ball of fire in the sky!!!"

(Tired of rain)

OCD Chilehead · Jul 2, 2014

Very nice plant growth glad to here your having pods. Love the Cayenne's. Cool garden shot.

Well done Trent.

randyp · Jul 3, 2014

Trent everything looks great.Like you I have had plenty of rain.Now it dropped to 49 for the overnight low.But heat is on the way.Happy 4rth.

TrentL · Jul 3, 2014

Thanks guys!

The cooler weather is definitely not a bad thing. I had a lot of flower drop last year because of heat; above a certain temp (90F or so) the pepper plants have real hard time getting pollinated.

Right now everything is flowering and the best damn thing that could have happened is for these 70-80F highs we're getting.

It's safe to say that it's been an ideal growing season so far. Maybe a little too wet. I lost my lettuce to rot. But everything else is going nuts!

Pretty soon the cucumber plants I have will consume the entirety of the garden.

The Chinense have grown up to the point they're starting to overlap in the rows. Won't be long before I can't walk down the rows anymore. In a few weeks that'll be one solid sea of green... with little flecks of red and yellow here and there.

randyp · Jul 3, 2014

Same with me,in SW Iowa the flowers are going into pods without lots of drop.My plants are twice as nice this year.We have only been over 90 once.Last year we were much hotter at this point.

Devv · Jul 3, 2014

Very nice Trent!

Your garden looks great! I would just love to have the mid 80's for summer temps. I think all living things enjoy the cooler days.

TrentL · Jul 3, 2014

Thanks devv.

If things keep going the way they are I'm going to be up to my eyebrows in superhots later this summer.

tsurrie · Jul 3, 2014

randyp said:
Same with me,in SW Iowa the flowers are going into pods without lots of drop.My plants are twice as nice this year.We have only been over 90 once.Last year we were much hotter at this point.

it's also cooler here in central europe, and we've had a lot of rain..... but this ain't bad at all .. all of the garden is growing wild ... I think that if the sun won't be too shy in the end of the season, all is gonna be ok ..... let's hope and think what to do with all the pods then

Trent .. your garden is like something I once dreamt about .... damn you have a nice place there. Wish you luck and success this season.

TrentL · Jul 4, 2014

tsurrie said:
it's also cooler here in central europe, and we've had a lot of rain..... but this ain't bad at all .. all of the garden is growing wild ... I think that if the sun won't be too shy in the end of the season, all is gonna be ok ..... let's hope and think what to do with all the pods then

Trent .. your garden is like something I once dreamt about .... damn you have a nice place there. Wish you luck and success this season.

Thanks tsurrie!

Glad I'm "over the hurdle" for a while. The plants are growing, the weeds are under control (for the time being), and there's not much to do until harvest as long as the rain keeps up.

I did notice tonight I have 4 pepper plants in one row showing some leaf drop. Fringes of the leaves were rust colored with patches of necrosis on the leaves. Plant dropped them off. Affected pubescens and chinense both. Could be a nutrient issue, I haven't added anything in weeks, and they're in unamended clay soil that's been fully saturated for WEEKS thanks to all the rain...

Another set of plants (overwinters) nearby are showing black (purplish/brown) dots on leaves and stem, but they are producing and growing fine.. so dunno. They've shown that since last winter, some sort of disease, but they keep growing and producing.. plus, they're potted up.. so ... letting them ride.

Annuums appear to be fully immune to any problems I've been having this year.

My tomato plants are now showing symptoms of blight. I've been taking branches off as the spots show up on the leaves.

At some point you just have to say "let nature take over". I don't have any serious pest issues, weeds are under control, rain has been taking care of the watering needs, dog isn't trampling any plants... got it pretty good this year.

Only have lost one plant since dirt day, and it was from this Locust tree branch;

It landed in the rock garden and took out a giant mexican rocoto I'd planted there, but managed to miss 8 other pepper plants (somehow!)

More importantly, missed the $50,000 SUV parked in the driveway... my wife's truck.. she would have been pissed.

TrentL · Jul 6, 2014

Too damn wet this year.

Been pruning off the tomatoes again. They've got septoria ....

Got a half of a row of pepper plants acting up too. Those ones that had rust colored spots on the leaves are dropping more leaves now. Dunno if it's a mineral uptake issue or what.

Took off all the damaged stuff, hoping they fill in.

Not too concerned if it's restricted to a few plants, but depending on what it is, might spread...

Got 5 frigging inches of rain this morning in a 60 minute timespan.

habsfan67 · Jul 7, 2014

Great garden Trent! Hope the weather dries up for you. I had the same issue with herbicide damage a few weeks ago & your glog has been very helpful.

TrentL · Jul 7, 2014

Glad it helped! New day, new problems.

First, I confirmed the tomato problem I was having was because of the bends I made in the main stem when I planted them sideways. I dug up two of them, one yesterday, and one today, which we'd pruned. They grew back a bit, then wilted again. When I pulled them out there was no signs of any darkening in the stem or roots. The main stem was "knotted" for lack of a better term, right below the soil line. The heaviness of the plant compressed the stem down and cut off water supply to the plant. If I'd caught it sooner (and knew what to look for) I *might* have been able to salvage them, but it's too late now.

So chalk that one as a learning experience to not repeat next year.

Second thing... I'm fighting about a half dozen different fungus and mold deseases now.

I've got septoria hitting the tomatoes - been pruning off leaves and stems wherever I find spots.

I've got septoria (or something similar) on a half of one row of peppers. so far the peppers have been responding to it by RAPIDLY dropping off leaves that get symptoms. I went out and cut off all the leaves I could find it on today. peppers regrow leaves so fast, I don't think it'll stall them much.

Five of the overwinters are showing signs of a disease - probably viral. Dark black, tiny spots on leaves, in clusters. Spots are very smooth and shiny, so I don't think it's a fungus. All of them are still in original soil, but they're WAY to big to transplant now.

I've got a white mold and some nasty fungus hitting my beans. The ground is 100% saturated under them still - planted them too tight so air isn't getting through. I thinned them out some today and removed all the yellowed parts I could find. So far hasn't hurt production at all, harvested damn near 20 pounds of beans tonight.

Cucumbers aren't setting fruit very well. Not enough bees this year - only seen a handful of them so far. I think more than a few of the local wild hives died off in this brutal winter we had.

I also planted too many of those cucumber plants in too small of an area - with all the rain, they've congealed in to one giant mess of a plant that's now starting to encroach on my pepper rows. It looks like something out of a movie, like a big green frigging blob. Next year ... plant less cucumbers lol.

Like the other plants, these are also suffering from some sort of malady. some of the shoots are turning yellow and dropping leaves. Meanwhile, the rest of the plant is vibrant, and all of the plants are growing at a rate of 6" to 1 foot a DAY. Massive.

So, I pruned out whatever mold/fungus/diseased growth I could find and we'll see what happens next....

In the meantime.. going to kick back and have a beer, celebrating the first "real" harvest this year.

The jungle is coming on strong....

Hard to believe the change from one month ago ...

kgetpeppers · Jul 7, 2014

Nature has saturated my garden as well, I came back from vaca blessed with some bacterial spotting on my plants and im like EEEEEEEEEEEEEP. tomorrow Im going to prune all affected leaves in hope for a recovery

TrentL · Jul 8, 2014

All of the bean fields around here must be full of mold and bacteria.

Went over to my neighbor's last night to borrow his battery charger, and checked out his garden. His potatoes, peppers, and tomatoes are all getting hit hard with the same stuff. Told him to prune off what he can find on the tomatoes before it wipes them out. He's got struck hard on those with septoria, same as I have, but I've got mine under control and his is being laid to waste...

Normally I wouldn't stick my nose in to other people's business but his garden is *directly* upwind of mine.

kgetpeppers · Jul 9, 2014

Yeah time will tell I guess. So much rain and moisture is perfect for these bacteria or w.e and sucks. Luckily only one annum has been removed so far by me from it. Hoping pruning and aact will help

kgetpeppers · Jul 9, 2014

TrentL said:
Too damn wet this year.

Been pruning off the tomatoes again. They've got septoria ....

Got a half of a row of pepper plants acting up too. Those ones that had rust colored spots on the leaves are dropping more leaves now. Dunno if it's a mineral uptake issue or what.

Took off all the damaged stuff, hoping they fill in.

Not too concerned if it's restricted to a few plants, but depending on what it is, might spread...

Got 5 frigging inches of rain this morning in a 60 minute timespan.

How did you go about controlling this? Im curious becuase as said im in a similar deal and scared lol

Devv · Jul 9, 2014

Sorry to read about the issues all that rain has caused. I'm on the opposite end of the spectrum. I guess the only thing you can do is add, add, and add more organic materials and perhaps till in some sand.

Good luck!

kgetpeppers · Jul 9, 2014

Devv said:
Sorry to read about the issues all that rain has caused. I'm on the opposite end of the spectrum. I guess the only thing you can do is add, add, and add more organic materials and perhaps till in some sand.

Good luck!

yeah idk anymore, The soil drains pretty well but super saturated from all the rain, will pray to have a harvest in a month if anything survives