Windchicken Grow 2011

[windchicken]

Your garden looks great Gary!
All that work looks like it is paying off for ya bigtime!
I dig that thick mulch! It should really cut down on your weeding time!
Great work man!!

Kevin

Thanks! I do love the hardwood chips...not only does it help with the weeds, but it also with maintaining uniform moisture in the soil and preventing erosion on these tall rows of sand. But most importantly, there's some crucial biological benefits from the presence of rotting hardwood for good soil-building. Years ago I was fighting root knot nematodes in my tomato patch, and ran across a long-term study by some Canadian scientists who were trying to restore soils ravaged by the slash-and-burn agriculture of Central Africa. It completely changed the way I think about soil, and gave me a new understanding of why virgin river valleys have such wonderful dirt. I don't think this is the original paper I found back then, but I'm pretty sure it's the same group of scientists:

http://www.hydrogeochem.qc.ca/brf/ramial_chipped_wood_2007_11_27.pdf

Saturday I potted up 8 Queen Laurie and 6 Birgit Locoto into the intermediate pots I use before going into the main garden. Those guys are robust as all heck and growing fast!

 

[windchicken]

I truly bit off more than I can chew this year...I started planting out around the first of April, and as of today (June 8) I still have around 50 plants left to set out. Now the hot weather (98ºF) has caught up with me, and I can only plant very early in the morning. Next year all the rows will be built by the end of March, before I set out the first plant!

Here's an overview of what's done so far. The container plants on the left are waiting to go in the ground; the two rows to the right of them are Guampinha de Veado (6), Aji Amarillo (6), and Aji Limon (12 plants, the entire row). The remaining 3 rows of darker-leafed plants are Trinidad Scorpion (4), Congo Red (8), Jamaican Scotch Bonnet (12), and Cajamarca (10).

A few photos of individual plants. Cajamarca:

Jamaican Scotch Bonnet:

Congo Red, a.k.a. Congo Trinidad:

Trinidad Scorpion:

Aji Limon:

Guampinha de Veado (Buddy keeps the deer out of my garden):

Aji Amarillo:

Lumbre, a newly-released New Mexico type (Thanks Richard!):

 

[windchicken]

Now for some pod porn. Cajamarca:

Jamaican Scotch Bonnet:

Congo Red, a.k.a. Congo Trinidad:

Aji Limon (for Brian!):

Aji Limon, The Pod Producer:

Nambe Pueblo, an ancient Northern New Mexico landrace type (Thanks again Richard!):

 

[windchicken]

The annuums I have planted out right now are pretty scrawny from being root bound, so you can't see them right now. Still in pots are Thai Chile (12), Thai Bird Chile (10),NuMex Jalmundo (6), Caribbean Red Habanero (Baker Creek Variety, 5), Queen Laurie (Thanks Kevin! 8), Birgit's Locoto (Thanks Kevin! 6), and Habanero de Arbol (6).

 

[chileaddict]

You are welcome. Very impressive Gary. Looks like your hard work is paying off. Soon you will be swimming in pods!

 

[Brian2112]

All of your plants and pods look amazing Gary!
Looks like your caught up with me.
Keep up that awesome work, that Limon looks super nice!

 

[millworkman]

Those are some very happy plants, nice work Windchicken.

 

[windchicken]

You are welcome. Very impressive Gary. Looks like your hard work is paying off. Soon you will be swimming in pods!

Thanks, Richard! I just ate a fresh Nambe pod right off the plant for lunch. Excellent! I believe they are a hit with my co-workers, too.

All of your plants and pods look amazing Gary!
Looks like your caught up with me.
Keep up that awesome work, that Limon looks super nice!

Thanks, Brian! The Limon bushes are covered with pods...When they start to turn yellow, there will be way plenty for everyone!

Those are some very happy plants, nice work Windchicken.

Thanks, Noah! The Tree Habs are growing like crazy in their little 6-inch pots, and one has even begun to set pods. They want to be in the ground real bad...

 

[wayright]

Wow Gary, That is quite impressive indeed!
Beautiful!!


Kevin

 

[SRBII]

man awesome pepper patch plants all looking real good 2
nice pods as well you will soon have to hire a harvest crew

 

[Siliman]

Wow, fantastic! Also thanks for the link on the use of hardwood chips as mulch. Looks great and seems to be paying off. And it must be good stuff if you're using hardwood with all those pine around... Now, to find a local supply....

 

[armac]

Very nice plants sir.

Great job.

 

[Josh]

Everything looks great.

That congo red looks cool but I thought they were more rounded?

 

[windchicken]

Wow Gary, That is quite impressive indeed!
Beautiful!!


Kevin

Thanks! I hope to have the Birgit's and Queen Laurie you sent me in the ground soon, just up the hill from the other baccatums. By the way, that Birgit's is a crazy fast-growing chile! Most of them are outpacing the Tree Habs, which were planted several weeks earlier!

man awesome pepper patch plants all looking real good 2
nice pods as well you will soon have to hire a harvest crew

Thanks! Y'all's encouragement is really helping me...I was beginning to get overwhelmed by all this...

Wow, fantastic! Also thanks for the link on the use of hardwood chips as mulch. Looks great and seems to be paying off. And it must be good stuff if you're using hardwood with all those pine around... Now, to find a local supply....

Thanks! I was hoping someone would catch onto that...I firmly believe that one day folks will consider those studies to be a turning point for world agriculture—The ideas are just that important. By the way, while the above linked paper is very good, the original paper that turned me onto hardwood mulch (RCW: "Ramial Chipped Wood) was by Dr. Gilles Lemieux and his team at Laval University in Quebec:

Lemieux Paper

I get my hardwood mulch at Lowe's. $3 a bag...way overpriced, but I don't have a chipping machine yet...

Very nice plants sir.

Great job.

Thanks!

Everything looks great.

That congo red looks cool but I thought they were more rounded?

Thanks! My thought as well. Do they remind you of something else? I've not grown enough C. chinense to really even have an idea...I guess we'll see...

 

[Downriver]

Awesome looking plants Gary. Obviously tons of work, but you've got to be well ahead of the game for your area.

Love the dog and the truck as well.

 

[capsidadburn]

Excellent effort Windchicken! Very impressive.

Mike

 

[Pepper-Guru]

Now for some pod porn. Cajamarca:

Jamaican Scotch Bonnet:

Congo Red, a.k.a. Congo Trinidad:

Aji Limon (for Brian!):

Aji Limon, The Pod Producer:

Nambe Pueblo, an ancient Northern New Mexico landrace type (Thanks again Richard!):

Now thats what Im talking about! Raised rows! Love it dude. Way to grow Those things are gonna get huge, just wait and see. Nice touch with the mulch too.

 

[windchicken]

Awesome looking plants Gary. Obviously tons of work, but you've got to be well ahead of the game for your area.

Love the dog and the truck as well.

Thanks! You can't imagine how much your kind words help my mental state right now...The heat and the sheer magnitude of finishing this plant-out is beginning to wear on me...

Buddy is a truly great dog. He will not dare step a paw in my garden, but if a rabbit or deer comes anywhere near it, then it's ON!

Excellent effort Windchicken! Very impressive.

Mike

Thanks Mike! Y'all getting this crazy heat over there?

Now thats what Im talking about! Raised rows! Love it dude. Way to grow Those things are gonna get huge, just wait and see. Nice touch with the mulch too.

Thanks! Yes, I wanted to give the roots all the room they needed, for maximum plant development. I would have built the rows even taller if I had the time and energy...

While I'm here, a couple more pix...

Caribbean Red Habanero, Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds variety. This is my control group for Capsicum chinense; I have grown them for years now, so I totally know what to expect from them. They are extremely robust and productive, so any C. chinense I grow must compare well with them....If my C.R.'s have a problem, then I expect my whole garden has a problem; If my C.R.'s are doing well, then everything else had better do well, too:

I said I wouldn't show you any of the C. annuum plants yet, because they are still spindly from being in the little peat cups for too long. But on second thought maybe these little guys don't look so bad. "Garden Bird Seed," from Lion Seed Co. in Bangkok, is not only my favorite Thai Chile, but also my favorite C. annuum. They take an incredibly long season—Every time I have grown them it is right before the killing frost that I see a red pod—But they are well worth the trouble. They grow to around 6 or 7 feet tall, and set fiery red erect pods on the very top of the leaf canopy. I put the SHU value at around 100,000, with an excellent, noble chile flavor:

 

[Alphaeon]

Awesome WC! Aren`t Congos round pods though?

 

[RedtailForester]

Hey WC, I'm digging the 'elephant ear' leaves on your scorpion! Great looking plants man!!!