• Blog your pepper progress. The first image in your first post will be used to represent your Glog.

Turbo 2015 Pepper Growing: Keeping It Simple (Stupid)

I've been procrastinating a bit this year, and just got around to starting my seed germination.  Last year, I picked just a few varieties and grew 4-6 plants of each variety.  I realized that if a plant does well, one plant would give me more than enough peppers, so this year I decided to go the other way.  I'm growing 17 varieties, but only 1-2 plants per variety, with the exception of Maule's Cayenne which I'm growing 6 plants (I never have enough cayennes).

My final grow list for 2015:
I'm also taking a different approach to growing this year.  KISS, or keeping it simple (stupid).  Last year I played around with a lot of "stuff": germinate seeds in coffee filters vs paper towels, mixed my own soil for each transplant, topping, trimming leaves, cutting early buds off, different kinds of pots once the plants are outside, etc.  This year I'm gonna try and make the process as simple as possible.  I'm just soaking the seeds over night in water then putting them in peat pods for germination.  I'm using Fox Farm's products for soil.  No topping, trimming, or pinching.  And all peppers are going in raised beds.  We'll see how the simple method works for me.
 
All my seeds soaking over night.  I have a germination heat pad, with a towel on top of it, and the seed tray on the towel so the seeds don't get too warm
IMG_1060.jpg

 
Here is the germination pod try I'm going to try this year
IMG_1058.jpg

 
I know I said I was going to try and keep things simple, but I couldn't help myself when I saw this.  Its a thermometer / humidity reader for the germination tray.  Hopefully this will allow me to keep better humidity control of the seedling environment.  Besides, I'm a data geek
IMG_1059.jpg
 
Click to expand...
I know I said I wasn't going to do pots this year, but I had two extras plants that I just couldn't bring myself to give away: a MOA and my crazy wrinkled white fatalii.  The MOA is from my plant last year (thanks Bill) that only gave me one perfect shaped pod.  I'm hoping this guy will give me a better harvest this year  :rolleyes:
 
IMG_2008.jpg

 
The Aji Verde definitely are early producers.  Its my first year growing it.
 
IMG_2007.jpg

 
I've ready that they are often used while still green.  I'm half tempted to pull this sucker off and munch on it.
 
IMG_2005.jpg
 
I couldn't give the MOA or Fatalii away either. I can't believe you have pods already. Patience my friend! LOL. That's a nice garlic bed you have. I wanted to try growing garlic this year. I decide against, not knowing where my work was going to take me. I think I read you gave to cure/dry them some how.

Looks great thanks for sharing.
 
OCD Chilehead said:
I couldn't give the MOA or Fatalii away either. I can't believe you have pods already. Patience my friend! LOL. That's a nice garlic bed you have. I wanted to try growing garlic this year. I decide against, not knowing where my work was going to take me. I think I read you gave to cure/dry them some how.

Looks great thanks for sharing.
Click to expand...
 
Yea, its always hard to give away extra plants.  I did manage to donate about 10 extras this year though.
 
Garlic is super easy to grow.  They like it cold, actually taste better if the ground freezes over winter.  Once you harvest them, you just tie them together in bunches of 10 or so and hang them in your garage for a month to cure.  Then its garlic time!!!
 
Nice to know. You might have said somewhere. What kind of garlic do you have growing? I might have to retract my statement about giving away plants. I've given plenty away. What goes around comes around. I wouldn't even of had a season this year, if it wasn't for Beerbreath giving me a bunch of plants. I agree, its still hard to part with your babies.
 
Had about 5 days of weather with highs in the min 60's, so I pulled the hoop house cover on.  Temps inside were in the 90's during the middle of the day.  The plants are loving the extra heat and are growing nicely.
 
Today's high in the mid 70's so I pulled the cover off to give them some direct happy sunshine.
 
IMG_2018.jpg

 
Learned something new today about growing grass from seed.  I tore up about 12 inches of ground next to the new bed, so I put grass seed down.  Over the past 5 days I had the hoop house cover on (painting tarp from Lowes) and it was laying over the new grass seed.  The tarp held in the moisture and warmed up the soil, and after 5 days I had 2 inches of nice thick grass.  I'll have to remember that next time I lay seed down in my yard.
 
IMG_2037.jpg

 
Morouga Red Habanero
 
IMG_2024.jpg

 
Aji Verde
 
IMG_2026.jpg

 
Aji Panca
 
IMG_2045.jpg

 
(my crazy) White Fatalii
 
IMG_2051.jpg

 
Also note, I did no topping this year, and all but 3 of my plants have great branching going on.
 
We've been having some good heat the past couple weeks, with no sign in end.  It should be an amazing pepper season for us Pacific NW'ers.  Though my grass is already dead.  Anyway...peppers!
 
Aji Peruvian - I had read that this plant was relatively short, so I planted it on the east most side of the bed (taller plants on the west side, so they don't cast as much of a shadow on the shorter plants).  Yea, its my tallest plant so far.
1aji_Peruvian.jpg

 
Aji Pineapple - I'm pretty excited about this pepper this year.  I tried them for the first time last year, and really love the flavor.  Its a good friend friendly pepper for those that done like heat as much but want something that tastes unusual
1aji_Pineapple.jpg

 
Aji Verde - this one was a freebie from PepperLover.  Its my first one to start getting ripe
1aji_Verde.jpg

 
Brazilian Starfish - cant wait to see a full grown plant full of these beauties
1_Brazil.jpg

 
Cheiro Roxa - I was worried that this guy would loose the dark color of its leaves when it got bigger, but it looks like its gonna stay.  Its been slow to flower so far.
1_Cheiro_Roxa2.jpg

 
Fatalii - what a mean looking pod!
1_Fatalii.jpg

 
Aji Lemon
1ji_Lemon.jpg

 
Aji Panca - I'm pretty excited to see what these taste like
1_Panca.jpg


Trinidad Scotch Bonnet
1trinidad_SB.jpg

 
...if I can get a bump I've got some more pictures to post
 
Looks good brother. Nice pics. The heat has been intense here as well. The plants are hating it. I have a bunch of plants that are shaded half the day. Those plants look beautiful. I'll try to do a update this weekend. I have some Aji going for the first time this year. Excited as well.

Thanks for sharing

Have a great weekend
 
Good looking crop! My lawn is crapping out, too...Those Aji Pineapples grow fairly tall...long, upward, spindly branches. I can't tell the pods apart from Aji Lemondrop. Aphids seem to like them, too, so, beware.
 
Wow,
 
That starfish pepper is really looking great.  Can't wait to see the final shape and color when it gets ripe.
 
I bet you will like the Aji Panca.  I grew some last year, and while they did not produce a lot of peppers for me, the ones that it did produce had a real unique taste.  Try them fresh and see if you like the flavor.
 
OCD Chilehead said:
Looks good brother. Nice pics. The heat has been intense here as well. The plants are hating it. I have a bunch of plants that are shaded half the day. Those plants look beautiful. I'll try to do a update this weekend. I have some Aji going for the first time this year. Excited as well.

Thanks for sharing

Have a great weekend
Click to expand...
 
Thanks OCD!  We've got daytime temps in the low to mid 90's this summer.  I've got two beds, one that is in full sun all day, and the other only in the sun from 9am - 3am.  The bed that's in full sun has more peppers but smaller plants.  And the bed that is shaded has bigger bushy plants, but less peppers.  It'll be interesting to see which varieties do better in full sun vs partial sun. 
Roguejim said:
Good looking crop! My lawn is crapping out, too...Those Aji Pineapples grow fairly tall...long, upward, spindly branches. I can't tell the pods apart from Aji Lemondrop. Aphids seem to like them, too, so, beware.
Click to expand...
 
Thanks for the aphid warning Roguejim.  I've been battling them about once a week this summer.  Neem has worked pretty well for me so far.  Hopefully I can stay ahead of them
bpwilly said:
Wow,
 
That starfish pepper is really looking great.  Can't wait to see the final shape and color when it gets ripe.
 
I bet you will like the Aji Panca.  I grew some last year, and while they did not produce a lot of peppers for me, the ones that it did produce had a real unique taste.  Try them fresh and see if you like the flavor.
Click to expand...
 
Thanks Bill!  The Starfish are really taking off this past week in the heat.  Them and my Aji Peruvian are really producing a ton of new pods.  I'm really looking forward to seeing what the Starfish look like when fully ripe.
 
IMHO, spraying for aphids once a week indicates the insecticide, organic or otherwise, is not effective. Just my own take on it, man. Good luck to you. I hope you don't wear out!
 
Last couple of years my partial shade prevailed. If I get the time next week, I'm going to try and put up some shade on my raised beds.

Have a good week.
 
John,
 
Did you ever try eating one of your Aji Verde while they are still green.  I remember you mentioning that you might.  I ask because they sure do seem to be a fast growing peppers.  I have not tried one yet, but the pods are getting good sized.
 
bpwilly said:
John,
 
Did you ever try eating one of your Aji Verde while they are still green.  I remember you mentioning that you might.  I ask because they sure do seem to be a fast growing peppers.  I have not tried one yet, but the pods are getting good sized.
Click to expand...
 
I tried one a couple weeks ago and it wasn't anything impressive.  Just normal green bell pepper flavor, with a little bit of heat, and fairly tough skin. 
 
Here is a picture of an Aji Verde that ripened this week in all this heat.  They sure look pretty.  I'll let you know what it tastes like
 
IMG_2498.jpg
 
I've been really impressed with my iPhone 6+'s camera.  It has totally replaced my little point and click camera.  But it doesn't take the best macro pictures.  So I got a macro lens attachment for my iPhone last week.  Its got 7x, 14x, and 21x lenses on it
 
Here are some pictures of (mostly) pepper flowers taken at 14x 
IMG_2346.jpg

 
IMG_2369.jpg

 
IMG_2376.jpg

 
IMG_2381.jpg

IMG_2388.jpg

 
This is a cilantro flower
IMG_2354.jpg

 
Closeup of the inside of a rose
IMG_2331.jpg

 
And just for fun my garlic I picked a couple weeks ago
2garlic.jpg
 
I am impressed.  My cell phone stinks when it comes to close-ups.  Does good for normal distance, but when you get close, either the depth or the focus seems to be off.   Nice job.
 
I don't think I have ever looked at a cilantro flower closely before,  Interesting.
 
Harvested the garlic already!  Wow, did not know they could be ready so soon, but then I am not real knowledgeable about growing them.  Now I better start looking that info up!
 
bpwilly said:
I am impressed.  My cell phone stinks when it comes to close-ups.  Does good for normal distance, but when you get close, either the depth or the focus seems to be off.   Nice job.
 
I don't think I have ever looked at a cilantro flower closely before,  Interesting.
 
Harvested the garlic already!  Wow, did not know they could be ready so soon, but then I am not real knowledgeable about growing them.  Now I better start looking that info up!
Click to expand...
 
I like the macro lens attachment, but its still hard to take good pictures.  Its pretty tricky to get focus just right, and you can't see your screen when taking pictures in full sun to make sure its in focus.  I took well over 100 pictures to get those 7 good ones.  That being said, the ones that come out really look cool.
 
Yea, my garlic was ready really early this year.  I usually harvest in mid to late July, but this year has been so hot and dry that they matured early.
 
Micro Climates!
 
So I think I'm noticing a micro climate difference between my two raised beds.  One bed gets full sun all day long (sunny-bed), and my other bed next to the house gets sun from about 9am - 3pm (shady-bed).  Both beds have equal(ish) number of baccatums and chinense between them.  Sunny-bed's baccatums are fairly small and only have a few pods on them, but it's chinese plants are probably twice as big and have many green pods and a few that are starting to ripen.  Shady-bed on the other hand, its baccatums are nicely developed and full of green pods, but its chinese have almost no pods on them at all. 
 
It'll be interesting to watch how the baccatums and chinese mature through the summer in the two different beds.  But so far, next year I'm thinking all my baccatums should go in shady-bed, and all my chinese should go in sunny-bed.  Any ideas where pubescens should go?
 
My first round jalapenos are pretty small, but the red ones taste like spicy apples!  Crunchy, juicy, and sweet.  Love them
IMG_2625.jpg

 
Caribbean Red Habanero
IMG_2647.jpg

 
Congo Trinidad
IMG_2659.jpg

 
Trinidad Scotch Bonnet - you can't see it in this picture, but this plant is packed with green pods in the upper branches.  This heat is really speeding things along
IMG_2668.jpg


Fatalii - I've picked a couple tiny baby ripe Fatalii so far this summer.  Love the look of this sucker...just looks mean
IMG_2675.jpg
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top