Trent's 2014 Grow Log - COLD COLD COLD

Sawyer · Jul 19, 2014

I had to google "Dedo De Moca". Nice-looking plant.

I've got a deer I'll loan, to keep that tomato in check, and everything else.

When I was a kid, one of the neighbors would carefully skin and tan the hide from every mole he killed. And apparently he killed a lot of them because he eventually made a full length mole skin coat for his daughter. The stitching was a little arts&crafty, but it was something to behold.

TrentL · Jul 20, 2014

The only good mole is a dead mole. Damn nasty creatures. Not even the cats will eat the damn things. Our outdoor cat will eat everything *except* moles. Chipmunks, baby squirrels, rabbits, birds, etc all fair game. But not moles. Our cat just kills them dead and leaves them laying where they died. Doesn't even play with them. Just flat out kills them, to kill them.

Also, rabbits were bad this year, none of my neighbors could grow beans (except me!). They've avoided my yard ever since my wolfhound discovered that he enjoys chasing them. A wolfhound in full sprint is something to behold!

Only had one incursion of deer this year. Like the rabbits, they keep their distance from the wolfhound smell. I let him do his business around the edge of the garden. They fear that more than anything else. Even coyote piss wouldn't deter them before we got the wolfie.

They have good reason to fear him. He'd take them down in half a heartbeat.

Pics of him are buried sporadically in the thread but here's a couple:

(that's my 10 year old daughter standing next to him)

(I'm 6'1 185 lbs for scale...)
Deer would be a "no contest."

(He's such a big baby.. until he's outside, and something moves. Then he's on it. I swear that dog can outrun a horse.)

Sawyer · Jul 20, 2014

That should do it. I'll get a dog, if I ever get my place fenced. Not just the garden, but the whole 1.7 acres. I live right next to a highway, so a fence is necessary.

I haven't seen it this year, but last year I had at least one fox living here. Between it and the ~8' long black rat snake, I haven't had too much trouble with moles, voles, rats, and mice. Some, but not overwhelming.

TrentL · Jul 20, 2014

I don't think the red foxes we had made it through this last winter. It was brutal. I lived out here 7 years without ever seeing a single rabbit. This year, they are EVERYWHERE. And nary a fox to be seen.... also haven't heard a 'yote in a few months, which is unusual. We had big packs of them in past years.

Either a neighbor let some 'pet rabbits' out at some point that bred like crazy, or the foxes have moved on or died off. Will know for sure this fall - fox mating calls are highly unique. If I don't hear them, I know for sure why the rabbits are so prevalent this year...

Sawyer · Jul 20, 2014

Sounds like we could both use a fox reintroduction program.

TrentL · Jul 21, 2014

Woo! Just pulled off my first ripe Habanero of the season. This was off a Tazmanian Habanero overwinter.

Good grief. I remember those being hot from last year. But DAMN.

I just ate that one straight up. Big pod, took about 10 chews. My lips, tongue are flat out on fire right now. Roof of mouth is burning & tingling. Gums are burning. Nose is running.

And that's AFTER two slow-drunk glasses of milk were swished around in my mouth.

Not eating one of those straight up again. Those bastards are going to make good sauce though. Nice, sweet and fruity flavor.

dlsolo · Jul 21, 2014

Mighty big hab you've got there. That would be some straight up awesome sauce... heck, even powdered would be kick butt!

TrentL · Jul 21, 2014

The yellow habs I grow get even bigger than that. From my 2013 grow:

Those make a cool looking hot sauce too, as long as you're mindful of what else you put in (garlic, salt, white vinegar & onion in this bottle, with 50% of the volume being pureed golden habs)

cypresshill1973 · Jul 21, 2014

The sauce was cooked or fermented?

dlsolo · Jul 21, 2014

Good gosh man! That yellow hab is huge! I hope I get mine to come close to that next year.

That sauce looks wicked. I'd smoother a enchilada with that in a heart beat! #liquidgold

TrentL · Jul 21, 2014

cypresshill1973 said:
The sauce was cooked or fermented?

Cooked. I grilled the onions, peppers, and garlic. It had a pretty raw edge on it though. Hotter than hell so after the first 5 seconds you don't taste much of anything.

I've got to tone down my sauces a little this year so I can actually use them to complement flavor in food rather than obliterate any hope of tasting food.
I seriously hope beans are done soon. Getting sick of them. (Got 5 gallons in the deep freeze already...)

Speaking of big pods.. this one is a monster.

Then I squatted down to take another pic of something and my fat ass broke a butch T off at the soil line.

Wrapped it in plastic to seal the stem best I could.. staked it, and made a rope cast.

We'll see how it does. I've repaired worse breaks, but this was on a multi-fork node (thanks to 2,4-D herbicide .. sigh), which made getting the plastic seal on WAY harder than it should have been....

Canopy is fully formed now...

Well, mostly formed. That problem corner is still a problem. Severe nitrogen depletion there, gave them an infusion, some are greening up again.

I don't know what "Goats Weed" peppers taste like, but I *do* know that I plan on growing a bunch of these as ornamentals next year out front in the rock garden. Damn pretty plant.

The cooler weather has been kind to the dirt crop, they're finally getting pods:

Habaneros anyone?

^^ This is the plant I pulled the pod off earlier today. It's an overwinter with severely exhausted soil that I've been sustaining off of liquid nutes.

dlsolo said:
Good gosh man! That yellow hab is huge! I hope I get mine to come close to that next year.

That sauce looks wicked. I'd smoother a enchilada with that in a heart beat! #liquidgold

Thanks man. It's really good stuff. Going to try fermenting this year to see what sort of flavors I can come up with.

tctenten · Jul 21, 2014

That sauce does look good!! Your plants look even better, nice to see after the couple of setbacks you have endured.

cypresshill1973 · Jul 21, 2014

Very good the whole story ... I recommend start making fermented sauces. Discover another world of hidden flavors. Otherwise all your effort seems wasted.

Once you try ferments, there is no turning back.... If not start ferment, you lose

Devv · Jul 22, 2014

Been trying to catch up after a 5 day vacation. Looks like things are kicking ass your way Trent!

Keep it green!

TrentL · Jul 22, 2014

24 hours after the repair with record setting heat index for 2014, I'm going to call this Butch T repair "good."

(If that 2/3's that was broken off was going to wilt .. it would have wilted today.)

i'll leave the cast on it for a week or two, then remove the cast, but leave the stakes & outer wrapping.

Can't even tell that yesterday it was snapped in half:

Sweet Cayenne plants need staked now..

Starting to get some color on the superhots.

I still can't believe how many pods are on this one Bhut Jolokia overwinter.

And... WTF are wrong with my cucumbers?

On that butch T repair

The most important thing to keep in mind when repairing broken plants is to start working IMMEDIATELY.

If you line up the plant properly, seal the stem with plastic (I just used a torn off piece of walmart bag), then give it a nice "cast" with rope, you'll find peppers to be tough sonsabitches.

As long as you seal the break (so that vacuum from the plant will still suck water up the stem), chances are good it will be able to mend itself. But it requires a good seal, good alignment when you piece the stem back together, and a tight wrap.

You can't leave a rope cast wrapped that tightly a stem for very long. The real headscratcher is "when can I remove it..."

If you take the repair off too early (before it's mended), you'll kill the plant good.

If you leave it on too long, you'll choke the stem and kill it good, too.

BTW, The outer stakes & wrappings were to get it aligned precisely before I started the main stem repair, in the pics from yesterday.

That stem snapped clean in half too.

It ain't pretty, but that rope weave held the plastic winding nice and tight.

dlsolo · Jul 22, 2014

Outstanding job doctor!

I'm seriously digging your setup. Your layout seems to be very ideal for lighting and shade. I'm assuming this isn't your first year with this setup/spread? Everything seems to be thriving very well, even your overwintered Bhut (BTW, could it it pod anymore???) look extremely healthy.

If only I had another acre of land. Just gotta hold off for a measly 13 more months and I'll be sitting on 10 acres of untainted soil.

TrentL · Jul 22, 2014

I've only been gardening since 2012. Learned a lot in the last two years. Whenever I take up a new hobby I go "all in" and learn as much as I can.

I've got good full sun from about 7:00 AM to around 5:30 PM this time of year; then the big walnut and locust trees give my plants a break in the shade.

I grew potted peppers in full shade last year, and this year I have 10 growing in the rock garden which gets full shade. Those do pretty good, too. They don't get nearly as monstrous as the full sun plants, but they still produce well.

I'm on a "two year" plan on some of the peppers. I'm intentionally growing some for a year in full shade, just to get them established; then overwinter them, and plant them out after last frost. This way I can avoid pruning them back too far in the fall, and they'll go nuts next year.

That bhut Jolokia, for instance, spent *all* last year in a 6" round pot under the rose of sharon plant in the garden. It got all of 2' tall, horribly root bound, and was a tiny little thing. I potted it up to a larger pot in fall, before bringing it indoors, let it grow slowly over the winter, pruning as little as I could get away with. Then, this year, as soon as I put it out it went absolutely batshit crazy growing.

One year ago this week (pic dated 7/27/2013), that Bhut Jolokia was living in one of these little black pots.

The little twig thing that grew in to that mighty bhut.

It was definitely in one of those black pots. At the end of the year I re-used random herb pots to pot them up.

Here it is - found an overwinter photo. It went to a big green pot. (Tag matches this one).

Note that it *almost* didn't survive the aphid infestation.

(That last pic was taken 4/13/2014 - just before I started hardening them off.... not that there was much left on them TO harden off...)

dlsolo · Jul 23, 2014

Well, I've gotta say, for your second growing season, your processes are working outstandingly. I look forward to your updates and progress.

Thanks for the information and your insight.

TrentL · Jul 23, 2014

Thanks man!

That Butch T I repaired had 2 wilted leaves today (out of dozens of leaves on those stalks). Looks like one of the veins feeding that stem they are on, either didn't line up or got blown out of position in the last 24 hours.

Hopefully that patch holds!!!!! That side of the plant is loaded with flowers and pods, it'd lose a good 70% of it's production if that mend doesn't hold.

Devv · Jul 23, 2014

Your repair looks good Trent.

I had the same thing happen last year, someone lost his balance and wound up sitting on a plant. Not pretty, it was about the same size as yours. I used an arrow as a stake on the far side as an anchor and tied the branch back in place with shoe laces. No plastic was used, but I made a large loop on the branch so I could leave the "sling" there. My tying was 12"s above the damage. It did fine.

And like you said, peppers are tough and resilient!