Trent's 2014 Grow Log - COLD COLD COLD

TrentL · May 19, 2014

Patients 3, 4, and 5.

The one on the left is another 7-pot Chaguanas that I grew from seed. The other two are Habaneros which I acquired in a trade from another forum member.

The symptoms between the three are dissimilar, however... so this might not be the same issue.

On the left, the Chaguanas is showing the same mottled leaf pattern of it's sibling, indoors.

Damn flourescent lights make taking good pictures difficult...

Close up of leaf damage. (Same pattern as what the three indoors show, this one didn't show any symptoms until it was outdoors for a week in shade.)

First of the two habanero "imports"

This one looks like early Blight. I don't have a microscope or high power magnification to confirm though.

Second habanero. This is something I've never seen before. The striking black markings are very odd.

A close up of that sudden spotty necrosis on the second one;

So... there we are. Three different diseases/fungus/bacteria/mites/somethingthehellrather.

The other 250+ plants all look fine.

TrentL · May 20, 2014

OK, new outdoor pics.

Rushed these tomatoes a little too much I think. At least I'm *hoping* that's sunburn. They all show it on the older leaves.

Overwinters standing guard over the pepper plot... I had about 10,000 volunteer tomatoes pop up, along with assorted crab grass, etc, so I'm going to re-till it before peppers go out.

Rest of it...

I'm scooting all of these trays of 5" pots out of the shade in to the sun in the morning and evening. Not giving them noontime sun (yet)

"The BoneYard" (I lost a few more overwinters...)

Speaking of .. this Reaper doesn't look too good.

And ... this mottling pattern looks familiar. On an overwintered Yellow Bhut Jolokia.

Perhaps the original patient??? I didn't see signs until way after these overwinters went outdoors, but that doesn't mean they weren't infected from it; they did live together in the grow room for 2 months.

Same plant. Look how yellow this thing is. Soil is shot. Needs nitrogen ASAP.

Overwintered Yatsufusa. This thing is going to be a monster this year.

Moruga Scorpion. Surprisingly it's bouncing back; this root bound fellow desperately needs new shoes.

Got lots more if I get a bump.

Devv · May 20, 2014

bump!

TrentL · May 20, 2014

Gracias!

This old dog is my 2012 Scotch Bonnet - the one I saved from certain death with a gallon of Hydrogen Peroxide! Oh man is it doing awesome now.

This Reaper looks much healthier than the other.

This Trinidad Moruga scorpion isn't looking too bad either. These things are as hot as the Reapers, IMO. If you blindfolded me, I couldn't tell them apart on flavor or heat. (I could tell on pod shape, though.)

This little gem is a Tazmanian Habanero. It's taking right off, and doing great. This is a great upper-end heat Habanero that I used for a base in my Habanero sauces last year.

This Cayenne was also a "close save" - it got 3 quarts of Hydrogen Peroxide before coming outdoors. I have never had much luck with cayenne, always had problems with mold kicking in before I can harvest them. There's a bug out there that likes poking holes in the damn things... so out of three years growing Cayenne I've harvested ABOUT that many useful pods. But, I keep trying....

I tell you what, that Hydrogen Peroxide stuff.... holy crap it works miracles on overwatered / root rotted / fungus ridden soil!

Unfortunately I don't think these are going to make it. I have my wife out picking up more hydrogen peroxide but the roots on these two must be shot. The Habanero is producing some funky tiny leaves, screaming nute deficiency, and the Bhut Jolokia is nothing more than a stick with roots. Note; I re-potted the Bhut Jolokia 3 weeks ago in fresh potting soil AND fully washed out the roots in the process; there wasn't much left.. fungus or something had destroyed all of the root mass.

Right is a "Not-7-pot" - it produced pale cream colored pods that turn from yellow to white, habanero taste, 7-pot smell, but with a STRANGE heat that was blistering fast on the onset, and intense in the nasal cavity - kind of like Wasabi, in a way. (This was an obvious cross, Pepper Joe was where I got the seeds. Was supposed to be a 7-pot but nowhere close to being a 7-pot. Anyway, the damn thing was unique on flavor, shape, heat, etc, so I'm going to keep growing it a few generations to see what happens.)

Left is a Giant Bhut Jolokia, going to live up to it's name again this year I'm sure.

This is a sad specimen of a Naga Morich. It hasn't been doing too well, tiny misshapen leaves. Root problems, fungus, something is bothering it. Going to try saturating it with Hydrogen Peroxide to kill off any fungus in the soil. Then hit it with some root stimulant, and then hope it grows some new roots...

This Butch-T is kicking ass on new shoots, but desperately needs more nitrogen. Damn soil is exhausted on most of these plants.

Another cute little yatsufusa. If you've never tried these, they have kind of a bitter taste, but an interesting flavor and quite a bit of heat. They're a VERY pretty, compact plant though, so even though I don't like the pods in food (so much as others I grow), I will continue to grow them as small ornamentals. I'll still use them as a chili flake base, too!

Got more overwinter stories to tell if I get another bump at some point.

Runescape · May 20, 2014

Bump, great pics, cant wait for more.

lucilanga · May 20, 2014

keep 'em coming

Devv · May 20, 2014

bump!

Edit:that was weird, normally I'm told about new posts...

lucilanga · May 20, 2014

Devv said:
bump!

Edit:that was weird, normally I'm told about new posts...

Probably by mail...
Judging by the current online users and the ongoing notifications of other users,
it cannot be really instant ...

Devv · May 20, 2014

lucilanga said:
Probably by mail...
Judging by the current online users and the ongoing notifications of other users,
it cannot be really instant ...

What usually happens is a little white box pops up and announces that another post was made and provides a link to show it. It does this when you're in the reply window.

TrentL · May 20, 2014

LOL OK I got a half dozen bumps while I read a news article. Thanks again!

Another Bhut Jolokia - this bad boy is looking GREAT.

Last surviving "Golden Habanero". These things produce huge pods, great flavor. I made a yellow habanero sauce last year with them. Very tasty. (seeds from Pepperjoe fall of 2012)

This yellow bhut jolokia is also coming on STRONG! Another favorite of mine. Very good tasting pods.

Another tazmanian Habanero in need of some nutrients...

This 7-pot isn't doing so well but it still has a very green stalk. I'm hopeful that it'll send out some new shoots.

this Naga Viper is doing well but only down low. I might prune it back a little so it can focus it's energy better on new branches.

This Moruga Scorpion is really struggling. I suspect it's roots are FUBAR.

Another Carolina Reaper, producing a lot of new growth. I have to hand it to these things... they're a damn sturdy strain.

My Dianthus are blooming. I took this picture of my pretty pink flowers while wearing a gun on my hip, so I don't lose any man points.

I took this before tearing down my grow room, thought it was an adorable picture. He really loved laying in the empty grow trays under the lights - he stayed pretty much in that same spot for a week before I chased him out and tore everything down.

And I need to have a serious talk with this other cat about gun safety. For some reason he always cuddles up to my Glock when I get home from work.

Whoops forgot to paste that last Reaper picture but no biggie. I hit 10 again and I'm done after 3 batches lol! Got to go pick up some tomato cages and potting soil, kids brought home MORE plants from the greenhouse at school which I somehow need to find room for, without sacrificing pepper space.

Runescape · May 20, 2014

TrentL said:

Awesome looking plants. What are those red things in the background?

Devv · May 20, 2014

Looking good Trent.

Any of those OW's that you suspect have root issues would probably do well after a topping, that way they won't have to support so much.

Are they dirt bound or staying in the containers?

Good luck with your grow!

I wish I had some constructive input for the ones that look sick. Other than isolate them and see what they do.

buddy · May 20, 2014

Very nice! Good luck with the rest of the season.

Jeff H · May 20, 2014

Wow, tons of pics. Great update Trent. All of the healthy ones look great. My condolences to the few casualties. Dirt day is right around the corner.

TrentL · May 20, 2014

Runescape said:
Awesome looking plants. What are those red things in the background?

Some kind of annual flower, can't remember what type off the top of my head. that section is reserved for my youngest daughter's flower garden.

I'll check the tag next time I'm out there.

Devv said:
Looking good Trent.

Any of those OW's that you suspect have root issues would probably do well after a topping, that way they won't have to support so much.

Are they dirt bound or staying in the containers?

Good luck with your grow!

I wish I had some constructive input for the ones that look sick. Other than isolate them and see what they do.

You know I'm not sure if I'm going to put them in the dirt this year. I'm hoping to use them for the original purpose - isolated seed stock. Was hoping to get that over winter, but the aphids kicked the plants asses too bad. I managed to get 3 ripe pods from 2 of 20 varieties. They were flowering right about the time the first aphid invasion kicked off in full force, and the soapy water was disagreeable to both leaves AND flowers. (Lost most of the leaves after the 2nd or 3rd spraying.)

It'll be easier tagging & bagging branches with them in pots, so I may leave them there.

I'll probably put the two Yatsufusa and the Cayenne in the ground - I have seeds for those, and it won't hurt me too bad if I have to re-grow them next winter. Probably stick the reapers in too, I'll have a whole row of them and figure I can tag & bag the end plants when they start budding up.

Jeff H said:
Wow, tons of pics. Great update Trent. All of the healthy ones look great. My condolences to the few casualties. Dirt day is right around the corner.

Yeah sorry about the huge number of pics; wanted to document the overwinters that made it. A few are still pretty questionable, but for the most part I'll count it as a victory. Given the waves of aphids and other issues (overwatering..) I'm surprised I got as many to live as I did!

24 of 34 survived the winter. I can live with 70%.

It's still MUCH better than last year; I had 2 of 10(?) survive, and one of those two was so damaged it never produced anything again.

TrentL · May 21, 2014

Well whatever fungus, virus, or pest was doing the damage to those last three plants I brought inside to quarantine, did NOTHING compared to the damage the damn cats did to them last night.

Apparently cats like eating pepper plant leaves?

Grrrr......

lucilanga · May 21, 2014

I'm sure that the cats did that out of spite.
Have you recently chased or butt-kicked them ?

TrentL · May 21, 2014

No but if I catch which one of the 4 cats is eating the leaves I *will*.
Ack. Update on the peppers.

Forgot to shove them back in to the shade this morning and over lunch found all of them "melted looking"... too much sun!!! Ack. The noon sun was cooking them.

I pushed them back in the shade and gave them a drink of cold water..... hoping I didn't burn them too bad.
It's almost like they were all sad and crying, saying "YOU HAVE ONE JOB TO DO STUPID HUMAN"

Devv · May 21, 2014

LOL it was their way of making you feel guilty. Mine got the crap beat out of them while hardening by the winds, which really haven't let up. And now I feel the ones in the raised beds have mites, so they're getting the treatments.

Here our sun gets hot at 2 and stays that way until around 6. It starts at 12 but 2 is brutal.

You know you have a few that are probably ill, but you also have a ton of beautiful plants. So overall this year should do really well for you.

But I feel ya, I hate to lose any plant. I have 2 more Tom's looking poor that I need to pull. I little light (very) went off in my head today. Two years ago when I had issues it was in the same spot, so corn goes there next season.

Have a great rest of the week and good luck with the isolated babies.

HillBilly Jeff · May 21, 2014

Overall I have to say things are looking well for you. Got some sadness pics too

My plants always look bad when I first get them out with sunburn and wind and what not. Sorry about the OW.

I've seen that bug before, but not sure what they are called and if they're good or not.