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:

• Aji Lemon (2) - seeds from plants given to me by BPWilly
• Aji Pinapple  (1) - seeds from pods I got from Jusplayn
• Aji Cito (1) - http://pepperlover.c...aji-cito-detail
• Aji Peruvian (1) - http://pepperlover.c...peruvian-detail
• Aji Panca (1) - http://pepperlover.c...í-Panca-detail
• Aji Verde (1) - http://pepperlover.c...i-290983-detail
• Brazilian Starfish (1) - seeds from pods I got from Jusplayn
• Yellow Fatalii (2) - seeds from plants given to me by BPWilly
• White Fatalii (1) - http://pepperlover.c...talii-pl-detail
• Trinidad Scotch Bonnet (2) - seeds from plants given to me by BPWilly
• MOA (1) - seeds from plants given to me by BPWilly
• Congo Trinidad (1) - seeds from plants grown from seeds I got from kentishman
• Morouga Red Habanero (2) - http://pepperlover.c...epper-sr-detail
• Cheiro Roxa (1) - http://pepperlover.c...iro-roxa-detail
• Caribbean Red Habanero (1) -
• Yellow Scotch Bonnet (1) -
• Maule's Cayenne (6) - my seeds

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

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

 
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

 

[Runescape]

Nice pods, have you tried one yet?
 
How did the Aji Pancas taste?

 

[Trident chilli]

Great looking MoA ... you must be pleased with that haul

 

[turbo]

Nice pods, have you tried one yet?
 
How did the Aji Pancas taste?

 
Thanks Runescape!  I haven't tried any from this batch.  Was thinking about doing a small batch of MOA only sauce.
 
The Aji Pancas were a disappointment.  I only got two peppers off the plant and they didn't taste all that interesting.

Great looking MoA ... you must be pleased with that haul

 
Thanks Trident!  I really am.  Last year someone gifted me a MoA plant and I got ONE pod off the entire plant.  I saved the seeds and this year it was probably one of my most productive plants.

 

[turbo]

Whats this plant?  Its an Aji Pineapple Lemon Cito!  These three plants were in my shady raised bed, which this late in the season only gets about 2 hours of actual sun.  They haven't given me a ripe pod in about 3 weeks.  So I pulled all three out of the ground, transplanted into the same bucket and put it inside under my grow light.  After about 3 days it started serving up ripe pods.
 

 
Aji Lemons

 
Aji Citos

 
Top to bottom, left to right: Morouga Red Habanero (hoop house), Aji Lemon (inside), Aji Cito (inside), Fatalii (hoop house), Trinidad Scotch Bonnet (hoop house)
 

 

 

[turbo]

Getting a few cayennes late in the season.  I'll toss these in a paper bag with an apple to ripen them up
 

 

[Runescape]

So I pulled all three out of the ground, transplanted into the same bucket and put it inside under my grow light.  After about 3 days it started serving up ripe pods.
 

Lol, thats awesome.
 
Are those beans at the bottom?

 

[turbo]

Lol, thats awesome.
 
Are those beans at the bottom?

 
Yup, drying out some cranberry green beans for next year's season.  Love green beans!

 

[Runescape]

 
Yup, drying out some cranberry green beans for next year's season.  Love green beans!

Nice, those definitely sound and look interesting.

 

 
What other non-peppers did you grow this year?

 

[dragonsfire]

Nice looking Beans !

 

[turbo]

Nice, those definitely sound and look interesting.
 
What other non-peppers did you grow this year?

 
I eat cranberry beans just like green beans.  The pods are a red color interweaving through the green, but when you them the red fades away to just a bright green.  Super yummy.  Each year I usually grow 2-3 tomatoes, snap peas, green beans, zucchini, spaghetti squash and various herbs and greens.  I also grow about 100 head of garlic in its own garden

Over Wintering A Couple Plants
This year I'm gonna try to overwinter 4 plants: MOA, Cheiro Roxa, Trinidad Scotch Bonnet, and Morouga Red Habanero.
 
I pulled my MOA inside about a month ago to let its pods ripen faster.  About two weeks ago I cut it down and trimmed most of its larger leaves off, leaving only new growth.  Two weeks later its filled out nicely (below).  My plan is to transplant into smaller bonchi sized pots. 
 
Last year my bonchi got hit with aphids hard and didn't recover.  So this year, when I transplant I'm going to clean them down to the roots, soak them in a hydrogen peroxide solution, plant into new pots, then just for overkill give them a nice neem oil coating.  Hopefully this will get rid of any of those lingering bastards.
 
Below you can see the stem structure of my MOA

 
This side of the MOA is more filled in.  Should make a nice bonchi if it lives

 

[turbo]

Cheiro Roxa
 
Pulled all the pods off one of my Cheiro Roxa plants.  The other plant probably has 3x this many.  This is an odd duck pepper.  It starts off dark purple, then starts lightening up and becoming a bit green, then turns dark pink when fully ripe.  The crazy thing is all the pods I've tried taste different.  So I'm not really sure what kind'a sauce to make with them.
 

MOA Bonchi
 
Decided to go ahead and Bonshi'ize the MOA I've had inside.  So this...is gonna go in that pot.
 

 
Pretty nice root structure!  Way better than I've ever had from a pepper in a pot (er...bucket).
 

 
Most of the dirt removed from the root ball.
 

 
I trimmed about 6 inches off the roots, sprayed it down with a hose to get as much soil out as I can, then gave it a good submerged bath in a hydrogen peroxide solution (2 gallons water, 1 cup H2O2).  Hopefully this will kill any nasties on the plant.  Tomorrow, once it recovers a bit from the transplant, I'll give it a good once over with neem oil.  My personal philosophy...over kill is the best solution when it comes to aphids.