Windchicken 2014

Got some sheet pots in from Grower Supply a couple days ago. I got this type so I could pull out the individual containers and replace them if need be, and they fit perfectly in my 11" x 22" Permanest Trays. Anybody in NW Louisiana need a couple of these? If I keep growing the same size garden every season these sheets should last me around 12 years:
 

 
These are the only C. chinense I'm growing this year: The NagaBrain, now in its F3 generation, is the happy accident of Florida THP mentor and all-around good guy romy6; seeds for the F2 Chocolate NagaBrain are from the talented and skillful Florida grower Tmudder; Bonda Ma Jacques x 7 Pot Yellow, the F3 generation, is the creation of the THP breeding wizard Spicegeist; Both 7 Pot Yellow and Naga Morich are from THSC seed; Dystopia is a project of North Texas grower joemomma; and Madame Jeanette comes courtesy of the incredibly generous Netherlands grower Meatfreak :
 

 

[capsidadburn]

I think my last frost is 1st or 2nd week of March. I'm always pushing that boundary though. My plants will be out in late Feb. I just have to protect for occasional cold night with a plastic cold frame and heat source, etc. (Most plants probably still in one gallon pots) Plants can be loaded May and June. As long as the pods are set before the heat I'm happy. I got a late start last year, but also not many plants. In ground is risky without the protection. I have covered with larger pots before and they live. We will see how it plays this season.

Hope for the best with yours Gary!

Mike

 

[jedisushi06]

Great list good luck this year Gary

 

[windchicken]

I think my last frost is 1st or 2nd week of March. I'm always pushing that boundary though. My plants will be out in late Feb. I just have to protect for occasional cold night with a plastic cold frame and heat source, etc. (Most plants probably still in one gallon pots) Plants can be loaded May and June. As long as the pods are set before the heat I'm happy. I got a late start last year, but also not many plants. In ground is risky without the protection. I have covered with larger pots before and they live. We will see how it plays this season.

Hope for the best with yours Gary!

Mike

 
Thanks Mike! That's a nice long season…I can see how you get a nice early crop. We almost always have a freeze around April 1, and last year we had one in the middle of April….I can probably start the hardening-up in March, though, as I can bring the containers inside if I get caught with my britches down. (Thanks for that idea!) That should get me a couple weeks ahead of my normal schedule...
 
I'm looking forward seeing pix of your verdant, leafy grow!
 

Great list good luck this year Gary

 
Thanks JS!

 

[Trippa]

Thanks for sharing that info Gary (and thanks to Soren) regarding the plants ... Its interesting if he means point 1 as being the first fork that means that he picks off all his flowers for the first 7 forks?? That is going to be quite a large plant before you get Chilli's setting. For people in short seasons would this not reduce overall yield?? Not doubting his methods as his plants are unreal but merely wondering out loud ... How are the plants going are you happy where you are at for this time of year?? Cheers Trippa

 

[Devv]

Thanks for the posted advise. One reason I started early this year was to have plants old enough to have forked a few times before planting in the garden. Started seeing some flowers and have been snipping them and will do so until dirt day.
 
Just try to beat the split season.
 
Keep it green!

 

[maximumcapsicum]

Good point about the split growing season. I think I would experience something similar here of we have a hotter, dryer summer. Production definitely picked up in September here, though it wasn't particularly bad in June/July.

 

[Spicegeist]

 
Charles, how did you interpret his statement about the goal of aborting blossoms being to "make volume"? I'm guessing he meant that it will increase the density of foliage by forcing the branches to fork more often? Correct if I'm wrong, but it seems to me that would actually decrease the overall volume of the canopy by creating the normal amount of foliage in a smaller space….
 

 
 
I think the idea is to pull the flowers off and let the plant keep growing and forking instead of putting energy into flowers and fruits while it's still too small...

 

[windchicken]

Thanks for sharing that info Gary (and thanks to Soren) regarding the plants ... Its interesting if he means point 1 as being the first fork that means that he picks off all his flowers for the first 7 forks?? That is going to be quite a large plant before you get Chilli's setting. For people in short seasons would this not reduce overall yield?? Not doubting his methods as his plants are unreal but merely wondering out loud ... How are the plants going are you happy where you are at for this time of year?? Cheers Trippa

 
My thoughts exactly, Trippa…It seems like that would be quite a long delay before one would see any fruit, a delay for which some of us may not have the luxury of that much time...
 
Here in NW Louisiana we have a very long growing season, however, we actually have two very short fruiting seasons which come at the beginning and the end of the growing season. Maybe I'll do a controlled test with one of my "production" varieties, like 7 Pot Yellow. I could do half of them as Søren recommends, and the other half the way I usually do it, which is to not abort any blossoms...
 
Thanks for asking about my grow…I've only just seeded the first two of my germ trays, so there's not much news there…I've got several overwinters in my garage that are at least surviving the exceptionally cold winter we're having this year…The NagaBrain, Yellow 7, and Aji Amarillo are finishing up with ripening the last fruit they set back in the fall, so it's nice to have fresh pods in the middle of January. Also, I seem to have rediscovered the Congo Trinidad, as the little orphan plant I potted up in October is really putting on the big pods…I don't hear many chile heads say it, but I swear some of those Congo pods have very nearly super hot potency….
 

Thanks for the posted advise. One reason I started early this year was to have plants old enough to have forked a few times before planting in the garden. Started seeing some flowers and have been snipping them and will do so until dirt day.
 
Just try to beat the split season.
 
Keep it green!

 
Sounds awesome Scott! I need to get over to your glog and check it out…
 

Good point about the split growing season. I think I would experience something similar here of we have a hotter, dryer summer. Production definitely picked up in September here, though it wasn't particularly bad in June/July.

 
Thanks MC! Hot 'Lanta, right?
 

 
 
I think the idea is to pull the flowers off and let the plant keep growing and forking instead of putting energy into flowers and fruits while it's still too small...

 
Thanks Charles! So what Søren is doing is diverting energy to leaf and branch growth…Man that takes a leap of faith! I WANT FRESH CHILES NOW DAMMIT!!! 

 

[maximumcapsicum]

Great news on the OW's! I am jealous of all the January pods. Maybe I'll pull that off next year.
 
Yeah, Hotlanta... in the middle of the concrete city. I live in an apartment with a shaded balcony (boo), but found some growing space in a nearby community garden planted over the ruins of an apartment building. Fun ambiance, but it definitely comes with some constraints. 
 
It was so damp last year that almost all the pepper plants I saw were fungi'd, especially the lower leaves. Also we had serious pest problems (earwigs, gross) due to the mild winter. Hoping the POLAR VORTEX took care of some of that...

 

[windchicken]

Thanks MC…It only takes a couple or three nice-sized container plants to give you all the fresh chiles you can use, really, especially if they are the hot, productive ones…For me, NagaBrain, Congo Trinidad, and Yellow 7 seem to be the gifts that keep on giving….
 
The idea of growing a nice garden in an urban ruin is real compelling to me…something about nature reclaiming her territory for the good of mankind, maybe? 
 
Here in NW Louisiana, heat and humidity are the root problems of most all of my growing-season challenges: BLS (bacterial leaf spot), root rot, hornworms, stink bugs, grasshoppers…Those 5 things never seem to stop…The BLS I finally learned to stave off by making sure the leaves are nice and dark from plenty of nitrogen; the root rot I prevent by building tall beds amended with plenty of RCW (chipped hardwood branches); the hornworms are easily controlled with pesticides, but the stink bugs and grasshoppers seem to be gaining ground all the time….
 
Gary

 

[Trippa]

http://youtu.be/EzZzZ_qpZ4w

There you go Gary ... The ultimate garden spaces

 

[Devv]

Gary,
 
If you figure out the stink bugs and hoppers I'd love to hear about it!
 
Love that video Trippa! He has his head on straight, damn I'm a gangsta!
 
Gardening really is contagious!

 

[Scarecrw]

Good luck this year Gary. I lost both of the pepper plants you sent me seeds for. So I'm starting them over. 5 of the 6 Cumari Do Para popped and still waiting on Guampino De Veado? Sp. Do you have any info on that pepper. I'll be using the CDP for sauces and preserves.

 

[windchicken]

There you go Gary ... The ultimate garden spaces

 
SWEET!!! Thanks SO MUCH for that Trippa! That's the very sort of thing that might induce me to leave the oil & gas industry!!!
 
Every time I walk the dog I look at that green strip between the sidewalk and street and think "what a damn waste of good southern exposure…" In our neighborhood we have a covenant that says I can only grow grass there, but the guy in the video is a true visionary….There are plenty of vacant lots in other parts of my town...
 

Gary,
 
If you figure out the stink bugs and hoppers I'd love to hear about it!
 
Love that video Trippa! He has his head on straight, damn I'm a gangsta!
 
Gardening really is contagious!

 
Lol, will do, Scott…Since the stink bug epidemic has been going on for several years now, and it seems to be getting worse, I've noticed a couple of interesting new products in some of the catalogs I get…I'll probably be giving them a try this summer.
 
Yeah, that guy is quite an inspiration…I think Trippa may have lit a fire!
 

Good luck this year Gary. I lost both of the pepper plants you sent me seeds for. So I'm starting them over. 5 of the 6 Cumari Do Para popped and still waiting on Guampino De Veado? Sp. Do you have any info on that pepper. I'll be using the CDP for sauces and preserves.

 
I'm happy the Cumari seeds popped easily—That's a really fun plant to grow—It likes the nutes and water, and seems to produce real well even in the hottest part of the summer…
 
How long have the Guampinha seeds been in the dirt? They can be a little cantankerous to start, but once they're going they're almost impossible to kill…That variety is a C. baccatum from Brazil. The pods are red, pointy, erect, and 1"-2" long. I would put the heat around the Cayenne level, with that certain fruity character most of the small-pod baccatums seem to share. Guampinha is the one variety that never fails to sprout back from the previous season's stump. I had 5 of them in my country garden that I finally had to dig up to make room for something new...
 
Here's a link to an interesting article about Guampinha:
 
http://www.fatalii.net/Articles/Guampinha_de_veado
 
Good luck with your grow, and give me a hollah if you need some more seeds...

 

[Scarecrw]

Thanks Gary, cool article. They are going on 4 weeks in the dirt. I'm going to drop some more in this weekend. I still have plenty of time before spring hits. I'll keep you posted on my grow.

 

[maximumcapsicum]

Everything is looking great! Love the idea of high efficiency horticulture in urban spaces. Local, fresh food tastes best.

 

[windchicken]

Thanks Gary, cool article. They are going on 4 weeks in the dirt. I'm going to drop some more in this weekend. I still have plenty of time before spring hits. I'll keep you posted on my grow.

 
Thanks Jeff! I'll be following your grow.
 

Everything is looking great! Love the idea of high efficiency horticulture in urban spaces. Local, fresh food tastes best.

 
I agree, MC...No one should ever go hungry. There's just no reason.
 
As of today all 15 NagaBrain (romy6) cells have sprouted. That's 100% germination on the largest plant-out of the season, and also the first variety to reach that milestone this season:
 

 
In other news, today I harvested my first ever Capsicum pubescens, Cabe Gendot, from Java (Indonesia), seeds from Indochilli. Thanks Firditra!
 
I'm a big boy now! Tasty, too:
 

 

[maximumcapsicum]

Excellent pube pod!!! Great work! And congrats on the Nagabrains!!!

 

[stc3248]

Damn....all growed up! Took you long enough to hit pube-erty my brotha! That video was off the chain Trippa! I am gonna have to try to find those gardens! 

 

[windchicken]

Excellent pube pod!!! Great work! And congrats on the Nagabrains!!!

 
Thanks MC!
 

Damn....all growed up! Took you long enough to hit pube-erty my brotha! That video was off the chain Trippa! I am gonna have to try to find those gardens! 

 
Lol, thanks Shane! A boy's first pube is a pretty significant right of passage…I must be a late bloomer, tho...