Windchicken 2013

Jamison · May 6, 2013

Lookin happy and healthy!

Dshlogg · May 6, 2013

Your raised rows look awesome! I'm sure they'll produce some monster plants this year.

I take a similiar approach to amending my soil. I don't remember where I saw it but I read an article on African slash and burn farming that talked about how most nutrients in the ancient forest are in the canopy. With slash and burn farming the trees are used for lumber and the canopy is burned leaving only the forest floor for farming. After a few seasons the fertility is gone. If the canopy was shredded as mulch instead of burned the soil lasts many more years. Unfortunately they still mostly use slash and burn.

Last year I tilled 3 inches of shredded hardwood into my rows. I'm hoping it pays of big this year. I topped with 3 more inches of hardwood this year that I may till in this fall. I've heard that tilling every season is bad for beneficials though. I might skip a year of tilling in half the garden to do a comparison. Anyway your grow looks great! Lot of good info too. Thanks!

PHB · May 6, 2013

As usual perfect beautiful peppers !

You have either green thumbs or serious skills with Photoshop .... (just kidding for Photoshop !

)

May God Capsicum be with you.

romy6 · May 6, 2013

Nice poddage Geeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeman!!!!!!!!!!!!! Lets seem some pics of those chineses everyone is talking about

windchicken · May 7, 2013

WalkGood said:
So is everything in the ground yet Gary? From my view point, wind or no wind dem looking great!

Thanks Ramon! Just annuums in the ground so far...They are tough little plants, true, but man it hurts my feelings to see my babies getting all whipped around like that....

Jamison said:
Lookin happy and healthy!

Thanks Jamison!

Dshlogg said:
Your raised rows look awesome! I'm sure they'll produce some monster plants this year.

I take a similiar approach to amending my soil. I don't remember where I saw it but I read an article on African slash and burn farming that talked about how most nutrients in the ancient forest are in the canopy. With slash and burn farming the trees are used for lumber and the canopy is burned leaving only the forest floor for farming. After a few seasons the fertility is gone. If the canopy was shredded as mulch instead of burned the soil lasts many more years. Unfortunately they still mostly use slash and burn.

Last year I tilled 3 inches of shredded hardwood into my rows. I'm hoping it pays of big this year. I topped with 3 more inches of hardwood this year that I may till in this fall. I've heard that tilling every season is bad for beneficials though. I might skip a year of tilling in half the garden to do a comparison. Anyway your grow looks great! Lot of good info too. Thanks!

Thanks Daniel! It's funny you should say that, because it was an effort to remediate African soil exhausted by slash-and-burn practices that initiated the Lemieux study. What you are saying is very similar—That in a normal healthy forest ecosystem the nutrients are continuously transferred from the canopy to the soil. (Although Prof. Lemieux tends to speak in abstract terms, I always figured he was talking about branches falling to the ground from the tree tops and decaying on the forest floor.) I believe that one only needs to till in the wood chips the first year...After that one only needs to "dress" the mulch layer.

As Pepper-Guru would say, I thank you and the Earth thanks you for building soil the way she does!

PHB said:
As usual perfect beautiful peppers !

You have either green thumbs or serious skills with Photoshop .... (just kidding for Photoshop ! )

May God Capsicum be with you.

Thanks Pierre! To accuse one of using Photoshop on his pod porn is the highest sort of flattery!

romy6 said:
Nice poddage Geeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeman!!!!!!!!!!!!! Lets seem some pics of those chineses everyone is talking about

Thanks for making my day J-Daddy! My chinense babies on the patio took a serious hammering from the two nights of 37ºF, 20 mph north winds we had here last weekend, but they will all make it. Right now it hurts my feelings too bad to take pix of those plants, even thought it's not nearly as bad as I feel....But thanks to profound windchicken-induced copper poisoning, my 7 Pot "Rennies" (armac) are still in the nursery, and really feeling their oats these days:

I don't know what I'm going to do with these Cabe Gendot plants (Indochilli), since the Louisiana climate is so hostile to C. pubescens. Maybe I'll have to grow them inside in the AC, but right now I'm loving how pretty they are. I can't think of another Capsicum with such pronounced drip points:

MGOLD86 · May 7, 2013

Looking great Gary! I really like those raised rows, it has got to be great for letting the water drain off. I saw a post about those "Rennies", looks pretty cool.

Good luck with the grow, it looks like it is gonna be a good year for ya!

PHB · May 7, 2013

I will not look at Gary's Chinese, I will not look at Gary's Chinese, I will .....

no ...

I can't resist ...

I did it ...

NO WAY ! ❤❤❤❤

meatfreak · May 7, 2013

Hey Gary, plants are looking great as are the pods. I must note about the Doux des Landes that over here it stopped flowering once it got some pods going. It took a while before those were ripe and then when they started for the second round it was to late in season. So if that's the same in your case, you might wanna just pick those 3 pods now.

windchicken · May 8, 2013

MGOLD86 said:
Looking great Gary! I really like those raised rows, it has got to be great for letting the water drain off. I saw a post about those "Rennies", looks pretty cool.

Good luck with the grow, it looks like it is gonna be a good year for ya!

Thanks Matt! That's the main reason I build the high beds....Seriously poor drainage in both my gardens.

I find myself more and more excited about the Rennies...Not sure why, unless maybe because they're completely new to me and they're so crazy robust.

I'm looking forward to this season...Thanks!

PHB said:
I will not look at Gary's Chinese, I will not look at Gary's Chinese, I will .....

no ...

I can't resist ...

I did it ...

NO WAY ! ❤❤❤❤

Thanks Pierre! I'm going to have a great day now....

meatfreak said:
Hey Gary, plants are looking great as are the pods. I must note about the Doux des Landes that over here it stopped flowering once it got some pods going. It took a while before those were ripe and then when they started for the second round it was to late in season. So if that's the same in your case, you might wanna just pick those 3 pods now.

Thanks Stefan, and thanks for the observation....I picked the one very long Doux Tres Long pod that was actually touching the ground. It must have been 7 or 8 inches long, but the taste was still that unpleasant immature green flavor. I've got 4 real healthy plants, and it's still real early in the season, so I think I'll just leave the pods on the plants for now...I really want to taste a red one! Thanks so much for the tip, though, and please don't hesitate to offer advice....

KiNGDeNNiZ · May 8, 2013

Rennies. Mann wish Mine looked sick like yours. Hahaha. Good work Gary.

windchicken · May 9, 2013

Thanks KD! Your Rennies look great!

P. Dreadie · May 9, 2013

All looks great Gary . So you have all or most you're pepper plants in the ground now ? In either case ..... lucky you and way to go . I hope to set mine out ... transplant to 1 gal pots and harden them off . Then stick them in their final spots by the 2nd week of June. Just last week we had below 30 temps in the morning. Other days highs in the 80's. Now areas around me are getting heavy rain , wind , and golf ball sized hail . That storm stuff has hit Amarillo and my garden several times. I'm always cautious about this and maybe slow to put things out . I always seem to get enough to freeze or dry and supply my habit 'till the nest season.

Another question . Do you always step -up the potting on your peppers ? What I mean is do you go from a 4" pot , red dixie cup , etc and go to a 1 gallon or something ? Do you ever stick the smaller plant in the bed ? I did my first year and all was great ... but the air was cleaner and was gas a heck of lot cheaper ......

Peace

Silver_Surfer · May 9, 2013

Man, those are some tall hilled rows. I envy ya getting yours in the dirt already. You'll need to break out the ladder b4 the season is over.

Great lookin' plants and sportin' pods too!

meatfreak · May 9, 2013

Sure, your welcome, Gary

I understand the need for red ones, the green just taste like grass

but I'm sure you will have plenty of pods tasted before the season ends. Hell, we're just getting started, right?!

windchicken · May 9, 2013

P. Dreadie said:
All looks great Gary . So you have all or most you're pepper plants in the ground now ? In either case ..... lucky you and way to go . I hope to set mine out ... transplant to 1 gal pots and harden them off . Then stick them in their final spots by the 2nd week of June. Just last week we had below 30 temps in the morning. Other days highs in the 80's. Now areas around me are getting heavy rain , wind , and golf ball sized hail . That storm stuff has hit Amarillo and my garden several times. I'm always cautious about this and maybe slow to put things out . I always seem to get enough to freeze or dry and supply my habit 'till the nest season.

Another question . Do you always step -up the potting on your peppers ? What I mean is do you go from a 4" pot , red dixie cup , etc and go to a 1 gallon or something ? Do you ever stick the smaller plant in the bed ? I did my first year and all was great ... but the air was cleaner and was gas a heck of lot cheaper ......

Peace

Thanks Erin! Only annuums in the ground so far....I'm still building out most of the chinense beds. In answer to your second question, I've gone both ways on the potting-up issue...This year the annuums went straight in the ground from the 5" Jiffy Pots, and, as you said, they really took off. But since the chinense beds weren't ready, I transferred them to 2.5-gal containers while I'm getting that done...I feel like the later in the season I set plants in the ground, the more they benefit from a larger root ball...Increased ability to assimilate water, etc....

Every time one of those late-season cold fronts comes blasting across the Texas panhandle I think about how cold it must be in Amarillo....Who would have ever thought Texas could see upper 20s in May! I'm glad you hadn't yet set out your plants!

Silver_Surfer said:
Man, those are some tall hilled rows. I envy ya getting yours in the dirt already. You'll need to break out the ladder b4 the season is over.

Great lookin' plants and sportin' pods too!

Thanks SS! Still two rows to go...I bet you finish planting before I do...I checked your glog...Those are some beautiful transplants!

meatfreak said:
Sure, your welcome, Gary I understand the need for red ones, the green just taste like grass but I'm sure you will have plenty of pods tasted before the season ends. Hell, we're just getting started, right?!

Lol, thanks Stefan! I'm hoping to get several reapings off the the Doux Tres Longs. They are some really nice plants, and the pods are formidable! Thanks so much for the seeds! How big did your plants get?

The Calabrese a Mazzetto plants are finally overcoming their frostbite and looking real nice...I think I even noticed some flower buds....I can't wait! Pix soon....

P. Dreadie · May 10, 2013

Thanks for the answers. Most of my plants ... at least the ones I started are still small in the 6" to 8" range. I started them later this year . The plants from CCN are a little bigger . I also ordered them to show up later this year. I saw in the past it did me little good to get things going to early. At least if I didn't want to put dozens of plants under lights. Which I don't if I can get away with not doing it. The season here can go into late October . Can ... not always , but does some years.

Peace

Bigoledude · May 11, 2013

Been a while since I've visited here G-Dawg. Your beds are kickin Brother!

We have no native pines down here. All hardwoods. So, all of the "tree services" down here offer hardwood chips for free because the gubmint now makes them pay for landfill disposal. I don't think they shred their chips as small as yours are though? I bet they'd still break-down fast enough, ya think?

I was always worried about using hardwood chips because of the nitrogen issue. Your time-released fertilizer idea takes care that!

Those chips sure make some neat-looking beds.

windchicken · May 11, 2013

P. Dreadie said:
Thanks for the answers. Most of my plants ... at least the ones I started are still small in the 6" to 8" range. I started them later this year . The plants from CCN are a little bigger . I also ordered them to show up later this year. I saw in the past it did me little good to get things going to early. At least if I didn't want to put dozens of plants under lights. Which I don't if I can get away with not doing it. The season here can go into late October . Can ... not always , but does some years.

Peace

Kind of like in music...timing is everything, right? I was always jealous of the growers who were getting ripe pods in June...My previous years of windowsill germinating seemed to put me consistently 2 months behind everyone else...So this year the grow lights let me have plants ready to go in the ground in early April, but who knew we would have these cold fronts??? Best laid plans....As you say, here in the South we often get the very long season, which really helps to make up for problems in the spring....

Bigoledude said:
Been a while since I've visited here G-Dawg. Your beds are kickin Brother!

We have no native pines down here. All hardwoods. So, all of the "tree services" down here offer hardwood chips for free because the gubmint now makes them pay for landfill disposal. I don't think they shred their chips as small as yours are though? I bet they'd still break-down fast enough, ya think?

I was always worried about using hardwood chips because of the nitrogen issue. Your time-released fertilizer idea takes care that!

Those chips sure make some neat-looking beds.

Hi Ray! Thanks! Man, that free shredded hardwood sounds awesome to me...As long as they're not big sticks that damage your tender stems, what you describe should be perfect...The main thing you're looking for is plenty of bark material.

Looking forward to see if you try it...Have a great weekend!

StupidJerk · May 12, 2013

I just realized I hadn't commented here before! I want to thank you for your info. Your grow logs played a big part in the way I built my beds. I ended up doing them 2 plants wide and walled the center one off to save space in my very limited grow area, but I used a lot of your techniques. The soil I started with already had a partially decomposed woodchip mulch, so I worked that in along with adding a bunch of manure and compost, then eventually I put a top mulch of wood chips and pine needles. I top mulched one bed with the wood chips first, and the difference it made was so vast that I eventually top mulched my entire garden with the chips.

Here is a picture of part of it:

(the plants just on the opposite side of the wall are not planted, just plants in containers that I don't know what to do with.)

windchicken · May 13, 2013

Wow, thanks SJ! It makes me so freaking happy to hear that...And your grow is perfect! Those plants are textbook beautiful.

Keep doing what you're doing...and thanks so much for stopping by!