Wicked Mike's 2015 Growlog

tctenten · Jan 6, 2015

Good luck Mike. That is a great list of plants, you will be a busy man!

sirex · Jan 6, 2015

Don't tease us mike!!! We want pics of the fields!!!

Wicked Mike · Jan 20, 2015

Update:

Jigsaw, Giant
Kroo Town Street Market
Large Red Antigua
Lucy
Murupi Amarelia
Naga, Black
Naga x Congo Chocolate
Nagabrain, Red
Oily Paste
Orange ???
Pimenta Leopard
Scarlet Lantern
Scorpion, Butch T, Yellow
Tangerine Dream
Thai Orange
Trinidad Bean, Brown
Trinidad Bean, Yellow
Turk's Cap

Pics of stuff incoming soon. I'm down at the nursery planting Beit Alpha cucumber plugs along the fence line next to a bunch of Solanum paniculatum we just got from Brazil (poor things are in serious need of water). I'll take some pictures of the peppers once I'm done here and move to the shadehouses.

jcw10tc · Jan 20, 2015

Your list is overwhelming. I would need a chiropractor on site with that many plants.

Pulpiteer · Jan 20, 2015

I've never heard of Solanum paniculatum, just looked it up. Do you mainly use/sell it as a medicinal?

bucdout57 · Jan 20, 2015

Grass Snake said:
Man, my finger got tired of scrolling down. Looks like a good season ahead.

I was thinking the same thing. Good amount of peppers. How can one family eat so many? I'm amazed. Good luck on your grow.

mpicante · Jan 20, 2015

Mike this is getting bigger and BIGGER!!!I admit very impressive,indeed.Hang on I need to find my calculator to add up all the varieties you have going over there...Go big or go home.I like it!!!

Wicked Mike · Jan 27, 2015

So, update:

I still (that's right, still) haven't gotten around to taking current pictures, mostly because I'm still struggling to get things organized. In the meanwhile, though:

The ones in the foreground are Venezuelan Tigers. There are probably twice that many there now, and Jve got at least a hundred to pot up tomorrow. I've also got CARDI Scorion in red and yellow, CGN 21500, Yellow Congo, Trinidad Perfume, Rain Forest, Moruga Scorpion, and SB7J going down there, as well as smaller numbers (one plant here, ten there) of maybe twenty other varieties. Most of those are in larger pots and are for air-layering/cloning or pods.

My Yellow Fataliis at home are looking good, but not as good as the one down at the nursery, which has pods that are getting pretty big.

Yellow Brainstrain:

Red Bhuts

Lastly, something that totally made my day yesterday...Its not something I've ever had much cause to talk about, but I've always done volunteer work, especially stuff for kids. I even spent a summer teaching blind high school kids to cook (and yes, it was as...uh...exciting as you might imagine).

Anyway, I've been collaborating with this absolutely amazing girl that teaches art to elementary and middle school kids. I've been helping one of her middle school classes to set up a garden. These kids are beyond amazing. Genotype vs. phenotype? Yes, we learned that already in science, Mike, but can you explain how to cross peppers and stabilize them? And not just smart kids, but nice kids.

Like I said, great kids, and the teacher in question is probably one of the most worthwhile human beings I've ever encountered.

So anyway, that's what I'm working on. Will really try to get around to some better pics/video soon.

mpicante said:
Mike this is getting bigger and BIGGER!!!I admit very impressive,indeed.Hang on I need to find my calculator to add up all the varieties you have going over there...Go big or go home.I like it!!!

Hahaha! Go big or go home, indeed. By the way, I haven't forgotten about your seeds. Will be getting to it soon.

bucdout57 said:
I was thinking the same thing. Good amount of peppers. How can one family eat so many? I'm amazed. Good luck on your grow.

Thanks, man. I don't have a family (that much more impressive if I eat them all myself though, isn't it?). I saved thousands of seeds from last year's grow and am hoping to do it again this year with far more varieties. I kind of feel like spreading as much germplasm as widely as you can should be number one in the Grower's Ten Commandments.

Pulpiteer said:
I've never heard of Solanum paniculatum, just looked it up. Do you mainly use/sell it as a medicinal?

I'm as new to it as you are, but from what I read, it is indeed primarily of medicinal interest. I'm hoping they rebound from being so parched, as I'd like to tak some cuttings and they're looking really rangy anyway. I also got some mystery cucurbit from Peru (at least, I think it was Peru...have to look into it).

jcw10tc said:
Your list is overwhelming. I would need a chiropractor on site with that many plants.

It's funny you mention that. I have steel rods in my back, running from the base of my neck to my waist, but you'd never know it. the work keeps me in better shape than I was in at twenty, and I've got a hell of tan to boot. Yet another reason to love my job.

coachspencerxc · Jan 27, 2015

Amazing, Mike.

Pulpiteer · Jan 27, 2015

The thank you cards are amazing - very cool! That third one could be framed, very neat art.

Do you clone a lot of peppers? I need to start doing that stuff. Not just for peppers, but for my perennials and stuff. I should take a plant propagation short course or something.

Wicked Mike · Jan 27, 2015

coachspencerxc said:
Amazing, Mike.

You know how it is, Rick. Once a teacher, always a teacher. Points to you for having what it takes to still be doing it.

Pepper Ridge Farm · Jan 27, 2015

Wow the picture down at the nursery is very tropical like your living on a tropical island in the south pacific. I am sure that makes all those digging out of snowmageddon just sick looking at your plants sitting on those tables outside no less. How are you labeling all those plants? Labeling to me is a PITA and just end up using blue painter tape on everything. I also am loyal customer of Black Kow composts, both the manure and mushroom mix. No other composts grows my vegetables better than Black Kow. Good on you for volunteering at the school and teaching the kids how to grow peppers. 3,000 plants is very ambitious but if anybody can pull this off Wicked Mike is on the job. Will be following your success, Good luck!

Wicked Mike · Jan 27, 2015

Pulpiteer said:
The thank you cards are amazing - very cool! That third one could be framed, very neat art.

Do you clone a lot of peppers? I need to start doing that stuff. Not just for peppers, but for my perennials and stuff. I should take a plant propagation short course or something.

The third one was Valeria. She's special beyond my ability to articulate it. The kid makes everything look easy and then looks surprised and legitimately happy when you reel in your jaw and tell her a simple, "yeah, I think that's good." There is a humility in certain kids that I just don't see in most adults.

And yes, I clone any time I take an apical cutting. Air-layering is superior by far IMHO, though. Happy to share info with you if you want to explore it.

Oh, and I have no idea where she got the idea to paint that particular pepper. Bishop's Hat, by the look of it.

Pepper Ridge Farm said:
Wow the picture down at the nursery is very tropical like your living on a tropical island in the south pacific. I am sure that makes all those digging out of snowmageddon just sick looking at your plants sitting on those tables outside no less. How are you labeling all those plants? Labeling to me is a PITA and just end up using blue painter tape on everything. I also am loyal customer of Black Kow composts, both the manure and mushroom mix. No other composts grows my vegetables better than Black Kow. Good on you for volunteering at the school and teaching the kids how to grow peppers. 3,000 plants is very ambitious but if anybody can pull this off Wicked Mike is on the job. Will be following your success, Good luck!

Most days, it's more tropical than I would like. The weather down here is where it should be, at least for the moment, but it's been hot and wet as hell all winter long. I've been pruning the hell out of my plants so they don't transpire too quickly and scrambling to find shade. Fungal diseases, insects...but hey, keep fighting, no?

As labels go, we get them in bulk boxes. I have no idea from whom. And yes, labeling is a PITA. I've done pretty well this year: only three dozen or so mystery plants. The problem is that my first wave of Red MoAs is lost in there somewhere.

I used the Timberline compost at first because it was so cheap (something like a buck fitty a bag as opposed to five bucks), but it's garbage. The Black Kow is way better stuff.

By the way, the kids know about Brainstrains. If you find yourself down this way as anticipated, I bet they'd love to meet you. If we coordinate things, it could coincide with the field trip Sarah and I are planning to take them on in Redland. I hear there will be passionfruit the likes of which have never been seen, and carambola the size of your head, and twice as sweet as your first kiss.

About Brainstrains, I had a question. They kinda look like a a TSMB. Are we sure they aren't the same pepper?

(Yes, I'm kidding).

Pulpiteer · Jan 27, 2015

Wicked Mike said:
The third one was Valeria. She's special beyond my ability to articulate it. The kid makes everything look easy and then looks surprised and legitimately happy when you reel in your jaw and tell her a simple, "yeah, I think that's good." There is a humility in certain kids that I just don't see in most adults.

And yes, I clone any time I take an apical cutting. Air-layering is superior by far IMHO, though. Happy to share info with you if you want to explore it.

Oh, and I have no idea where she got the idea to paint that particular pepper. Bishop's Hat, by the look of it.

I was a teacher for three years before going into seminary. There were kids that you just knew would do something special. Working with people, in general, you get the best and worst of humanity. I try to really appreciate it when I encounter folks who show the best of what humanity has to offer.

Bishop's Hat is one of my favorites. I thought that was what the picture was. She captured it well. I'll say it again - worth framing.

Yeah, I'd be interested in air layering or cloning info. Links to stuff online? Videos? Books? Just let me know - thanks!

Peter S · Jan 28, 2015

Nice looking plants Mike! Would you be willing to share more specifics on your grow mix?

tctenten · Jan 28, 2015

Plants look great Mike and that is nice of you to donate your time and spread your knowledge.

PaulG · Jan 28, 2015

Okay. That is the most insane list of peppers I've seen.

I always think 'Gee, I wish I had a nursery'.
But then I get real. My 35-50 plant grows
almost take time away from backpacking

Here's to a successful business venture!

tsurrie · Jan 28, 2015

wow, talking about dedication... way to go Mike!
nice pics, nice growlist, great nursery!

ribbedturtleneck · Jan 28, 2015

Appreciate the time you put into posting this all, Mike. I know it's extra time and work, but great stuff to read and see. Thanks.

Wicked Mike · Jan 28, 2015

Pulpiteer said:
I was a teacher for three years before going into seminary. There were kids that you just knew would do something special. Working with people, in general, you get the best and worst of humanity. I try to really appreciate it when I encounter folks who show the best of what humanity has to offer.

Bishop's Hat is one of my favorites. I thought that was what the picture was. She captured it well. I'll say it again - worth framing.

Yeah, I'd be interested in air layering or cloning info. Links to stuff online? Videos? Books? Just let me know - thanks!

See? Being a teacher drove Andy into the priesthood. I tease, I tease.

Agreed; working with people is a double-edged sword. I just find that there's an enthusiasm and an innocence at work in the younger folks that seems comparatively more rare in adults, chileheads excepted.

Bishop's Hat, your favorite? The hell, you say (yes, still teasing).

Happy to walk you through cloning/air-layering. No need for books and whatnot. I've been meaning to make a Germination 101 video for a while now; seems that a cloning/ar-layering vid and maybe one for grafting should be in the pipeline.

Peter S said:
Nice looking plants Mike! Would you be willing to share more specifics on your grow mix?

Good question. You can more or less approximate it as follows:

One 2.5 cubic foot bag Miracle-Gro potting mix
One bag Black Kow composted cow manure
Roughly 1.5 gallons perlite
Whatever fertilizer you like (I use a 50/50 mix of 70- and 180-day Nutricote, and adjust as the season progresses; CalMag Pro, etc).

tctenten said:
Plants look great Mike and that is nice of you to donate your time and spread your knowledge.

To be honest, I'm flattered that some of you are even reading it.

I'm still learning new things every day. I totally welcome consructive criticism and will be more than glad to share anything I can learn with anyone willing to listen.

PaulG said:
Okay. That is the most insane list of peppers I've seen.

I always think 'Gee, I wish I had a nursery'.
But then I get real. My 35-50 plant grows
almost take time away from backpacking

Here's to a successful business venture!

Thanks for the well wishes! any advice you have to offer is welcome.

And backpacking, hmm? Sounds good. I took a one-week vacation last summer and spent the entire time worrying about my plants. K could really use an actual vacation.

tsurrie said:
wow, talking about dedication... way to go Mike!
nice pics, nice growlist, great nursery!

Thank, man! So, uh...you growing any varieties that are unique to Slovenia? That kind of thing always intrigues me.

ribbedturtleneck said:
Appreciate the time you put into posting this all, Mike. I know it's extra time and work, but great stuff to read and see. Thanks.

I appreciate the things you do too, man. Thanks for the amazing jerky, the reading material, and the friendly ear.