My every season starts with Texas Pequin, because it never stops growing. A few weeks back we dug up about 30 of these perennial plants to rescue them from the relentless march of the upcoming super hots...
windchicken 2017
- Thread starter windchicken
- Start date
I see this snap yesterday morning when you sent it via social media [emoji14] , iv looked at it on my phone a few more times today [emoji6] the rwc beds get better every season I see them.
The row of Mississippi scorps finishes it off nicely.
Another grower who raises the bar every season.
Loving this grow Gary nicely done.
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The row of Mississippi scorps finishes it off nicely.
Another grower who raises the bar every season.
Loving this grow Gary nicely done.
Sent from my VFD 900 using Tapatalk
OCD Chilehead said:
Thanks Chuck! That uniformity is a manifestation of my OCD... There's something about straight, evenly-spaced rows of lush chile plants that's very soothing to me...
The Scorpion is a really fun plant to grow for me, with the lush foliage and the vigorous, massive plants, but most of all it's the only one of the weapons-grade super hots that does well in the extreme summer heat of this particular garden. NagaBrain grows into giant, heavily-laden plants, but the nuclear sunshine ruins most of the fruit...Same goes for the 7 Pots. It seems like the thicker flesh of the Scorpion fruit stands up to intense sunlight better, and they might set closer in and lower, where the shade is better, but I'm not 100% sure about that... (Next year I will build a shade canopy, but it's too late for that this year...)
Superhot Sim said:
Thanks so much for saying that, Simmy!
This season has brought a multitude of volunteer plants, I have to assume because the RCW soil is just now coming into its peak fertility. Check out these volunteers of Chocolate NagaBrain, growing in a disused bed I built in 2012:
That money shot on the previous page is great Gary! I had to call the wife over to show her the RCW grow; as I've been adding tons of it to the garden. No longer tilling here 
I can kick the top loose stuff aside and it's chocolate colored powder 3"s deep. We're getting there!
Do invest in sunshade, it's not cheap for the good stuff. I've been using 30% that goes on in most years in May. I bought it at http://www.greenhousemegastore.com . I'm in year 4 or 5 and it's still in excellent shape. No more sunscald on peppers or tomatoes.
Here's a shot from last month:
I can kick the top loose stuff aside and it's chocolate colored powder 3"s deep. We're getting there!Do invest in sunshade, it's not cheap for the good stuff. I've been using 30% that goes on in most years in May. I bought it at http://www.greenhousemegastore.com . I'm in year 4 or 5 and it's still in excellent shape. No more sunscald on peppers or tomatoes.
Here's a shot from last month:
Devv said:That money shot on the previous page is great Gary! I had to call the wife over to show her the RCW grow; as I've been adding tons of it to the garden. No longer tilling here
Do invest in sunshade, it's not cheap for the good stuff. I've been using 30% that goes on in most years in May. I bought it at http://www.greenhousemegastore.com . I'm in year 4 or 5 and it's still in excellent shape. No more sunscald on peppers or tomatoes.
Here's a shot from last month:
Thanks Scott! Your shade canopy is beautiful! I just bought a 50-ft x 23-ft piece of 30% Aluminet for the big garden, but I didn't order it in time to get it installed before planting. Got any ideas about how I could get it up this season without damaging the plants? I don't want anything that looks janky, like PVC pipe. Something classy, like what you did would be great....
I don't know about classy But it works.
I always have plants going when I put it up; as I wait until the sun gets intense first. I tie off some nylon rope from one end to the other and it holds the shade up so I can drag it to the other side. First tying off the two starter corners on the East side. As I move it to the West I keep tying off the sides as I go, skipping several eyelets. Once all 4 corners are taught I go back and re-do the sides so it's tight all the way in 4 directions. That area is 40x40 and I have several sunshades tied together; with the largest being 20x40. I started with shading the maters and now all the peppers as well. It has really increased my production, no more sun damage. Last year I added the bird netting which I clip to the sunshade with clothes pins. Cheap and they work I have grapes and maters in there and the birds were eating more than I was.
But I guess the first step would be setting the 4x4's, mine are 10 footers, I then bolted 2x6's to the 4x4's with 3/8" carriage bolts.
For year one, you could set posts at both ends of the rows (mine are 2 feet deep in sacrete). A 10' spacing will make hanging the 2x6's easier. 3 days to let the cement set, hang the boards and string 2 ropes 10' apart from the center, and you should be good to go. It will sag a bit on the sides, but not too much.
Good luck and have fun! I live for this stuff...LOL
But it works.I always have plants going when I put it up; as I wait until the sun gets intense first. I tie off some nylon rope from one end to the other and it holds the shade up so I can drag it to the other side. First tying off the two starter corners on the East side. As I move it to the West I keep tying off the sides as I go, skipping several eyelets. Once all 4 corners are taught I go back and re-do the sides so it's tight all the way in 4 directions. That area is 40x40 and I have several sunshades tied together; with the largest being 20x40. I started with shading the maters and now all the peppers as well. It has really increased my production, no more sun damage. Last year I added the bird netting which I clip to the sunshade with clothes pins. Cheap and they work
I have grapes and maters in there and the birds were eating more than I was.But I guess the first step would be setting the 4x4's, mine are 10 footers, I then bolted 2x6's to the 4x4's with 3/8" carriage bolts.
For year one, you could set posts at both ends of the rows (mine are 2 feet deep in sacrete). A 10' spacing will make hanging the 2x6's easier. 3 days to let the cement set, hang the boards and string 2 ropes 10' apart from the center, and you should be good to go. It will sag a bit on the sides, but not too much.
Good luck and have fun! I live for this stuff...LOL
Gary when you have time check your phone and Instagram please buddy
Devv said:I don't know about classy
I always have plants going when I put it up; as I wait until the sun gets intense first. I tie off some nylon rope from one end to the other and it holds the shade up so I can drag it to the other side. First tying off the two starter corners on the East side. As I move it to the West I keep tying off the sides as I go, skipping several eyelets. Once all 4 corners are taught I go back and re-do the sides so it's tight all the way in 4 directions. That area is 40x40 and I have several sunshades tied together; with the largest being 20x40. I started with shading the maters and now all the peppers as well. It has really increased my production, no more sun damage. Last year I added the bird netting which I clip to the sunshade with clothes pins. Cheap and they work
But I guess the first step would be setting the 4x4's, mine are 10 footers, I then bolted 2x6's to the 4x4's with 3/8" carriage bolts.
For year one, you could set posts at both ends of the rows (mine are 2 feet deep in sacrete). A 10' spacing will make hanging the 2x6's easier. 3 days to let the cement set, hang the boards and string 2 ropes 10' apart from the center, and you should be good to go. It will sag a bit on the sides, but not too much.
Good luck and have fun! I live for this stuff...LOL
Thanks so much Scott! It looks like an HGTV installation compared to some of the wanky shade canopies I've seen on YouTube and other places around the Interwebs. Your suggestion sounds real close to what I was thinking about, but with treated poles rather than 4x4s...The only problem will be digging postholes in the substrate of that garden, which is 70-80% ironstone gravel, a.k.a. "iron ore." It's fantastically hard stuff, and the road-building material of choice in this area. It's still early in the summer, though, so the ground is still saturated with rainwater and a bit softer than it will be in midsummer. I'll try pecking around down there with my posthole digger later on today...
Superhot Sim said:Gary when you have time check your phone and Instagram please buddy
I'm on it dude...
YESSS!!! BRILLIANT!!!Devv said:In the mid to late 80's I owned a place that had that iron ore after a few inches down. No fun digging in that stuff! But you have the kids helping, this would be a great experience for them
PaulG said:Volunteer pepper plants? Don't p..s me off, Gary!
Seriously, brother, first class grow you have going there.
Great for us PNWers to see what happens down your way.
Your hard work and loving care have paid off big time!
Lol, Paul! I'm seriously thinking about letting my garden workers dig these volunteer plants up and re-pot them for sales...Seems like such a waste to let them languish like that...
Thanks so much for your kind words. This year has really seen the previous years' work pay off. That, and the amazing kids who have been helping me the last few months....
I got back from a weekend trip this morning, and found the fattest hornworm I have ever seen on one of my Big Jim Legacy plants:
[media]https://youtu.be/P670MZucP6k[/media]
Devv said:A fine ending for the bastage
Please be vigilant, once I see one, their brethren back them up. Down here this season I saw more than in the last 5 years combined. I hope that's not an indication for what you see up your way. I employed BT powder, it worked really well.
Thanks Scott! I agree, it's been a heck of a year for hornworms, starting way earlier than usual...This one marks the seventh or so that I've found in the Big Jim bed alone....
Thanks Paul!
Hey guys, this is Chris Dennis's (MeatHead1313) off-pheno Chocolate NagaBrain (We are guessing CNB x 7 Pot Primo)...Solid NagaBrain kick without the floral or the gut bomb. Good flavor:
Hey guys, this is Chris Dennis's (MeatHead1313) off-pheno Chocolate NagaBrain (We are guessing CNB x 7 Pot Primo)...Solid NagaBrain kick without the floral or the gut bomb. Good flavor:
Looking great as always Gary! Sad to see the New Mex getting hit by hornworms. They seem to be extremely prevalent this year, I'm assuming the last couple of mild winters may be behind it.
MeatHead1313 said:
Thanks Chris! Yes, the hornworms are awful this year, but not devastatingly so. The plants are okay for the most part...To be honest, the worst damage I've suffered has been from root burn from the super-rich RCW soil. So far I've lost two of the Big Jims to it, and one of the Zapotec. Fortunately I had back-up plants to replace them...
Oh, and I've had hell with the aphids this year...Never seen anything like it. Even after the plants are moved outside to the shade tent. There are apparently more aphids than the ladybugs can get around to...
