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Wolf's Second Year-Adventures in Better Recordkeeping.

Last year didn't go so well. Major problems getting started, lots of plant die-off out of what I sprouted, and poor performance of my plants contributed to a lack of recordkeeping and thus poor results in the mutation plots. However, I did get enough of a crop to keep seeds from most everything, and I have better plans for this year. But it all hinges on getting seeds to sprout, and keeping good records.
 
It's almost time to start sprouting seeds, but this year I'll be using the Jiffy peat pellets as I was given a LOT (1500+) of them for free. I also have the trays and the like to use with them so convenience wins out. I am tired of dealing with big hot bulky lights so my cousin and I built some LED grow lamps from surplus LED modules bolted to big hunks of heatsink extrusion I got at the local scrap yard. We'll see how they go. I see a lot of folks using pre-mixed or mixing their own seed mix, and I did that last year, but I didn't see any better results, so if anyone has any details or tricks for using the Jiffy pellets, I'm all ears.
 
This year I'll be sprouting:
 
Black Pearl
Yellow Cayenne
Trinidad Scorpion
Yellow Datil
Mutant "Incredible Hulk" brown bell
Fish Varigated
 
Hopefully I can get the first crop to come in fairly quickly, and mutation/crossbreeding seed can be sprouted and I can start the grow out this year. I have two rooms where it would be trivial to keep three or four plants alive over the winter, but I don't know if things will get that far this year or not.
 
I'm also starting some tomato seeds, san marzano and mortgage lifter varieties. Seeing as the local university's agriculture farm is my back yard, I'm going to also ask them if they would like to participate in the mutation studies this year.
 
 
 
Click to expand...
I think your soil recipe sounds great, especially
since it is what you have on hand and not
something you had to buy.
 
Today's count:
 
Hawaiian Pineapple Tomato - 5 cotys unfolded
Paul Robeson Tomato - 6 cotys unfolded, 2 more helmet-heads decaptitated
Mortgage Lifter Tomato - 8 cotys unfolded
San Marzano Tomato - 12 cotys unfolded
Bistro Hybrid Tomato - Nada. But, this is old seed. (2005 old.) And the others were sown in wet paper towels for a few days first.
 
6 cells each:
Dorset Naga - Nothing
Fish Pepper - 1 hook, still under the dirt but just barely-should be up tomorrow
Yellow Datil -  Nothing
Purple Bell -Nothing
Mutant Incredible Hulk - nothing
Yellow Cayenne - Nothing
Black Pearl - Nothing
 
I'll update again tomorrow.
 
I hope the rest of those start showing for you, Wolf.

However, you will be swimming in tomatoes!

Nothing like waiting for seeds to germinate.
Sort of like watching paint dry!

Good luck, my friend!
 
Since the Bistro Hybrid didn't come up yet, I've spent a few quarters at Baker Seeds and we'll see how they turn out.
 
So, in a few days we'll see how Red Rosso, an old Italian variety, comes out. Supposed to look pretty cool.
 
So as far as tomatoes go, I have a yellow-orange, a purple, a red beefsteak, an Italian paste, Possibly a round slicer if they ever come up, and now a ribbed neat looking Italian slicer.
 
I know the peppers are coming-the germination gauges (two seeds left out in the paper towels) are all sprouted up and starting to try and tug off that seed jacket, so I know the seeds are coming up.
 
I've got a LOT of fish and fresno peppers dried and hanging, and some yellow cayennes as well. This year, I'm hoping to cross the yellow cayenne with black pearl and try to get a bright yellow fruit on a black foliage plant. I'd like to try the same with the Fish pepper as well, but we'll see what happens.
 
Hawaiian Pineapple Tomato - 5 cotys unfolded
Paul Robeson Tomato - 8 cotys unfolded, two transplanted out into soil
Mortgage Lifter Tomato - 8 cotys unfolded, two transplanted out into soil
San Marzano Tomato - 12 cotys unfolded, 6 transplanted out into soil
Bistro Hybrid Tomato - Nada. But, this is old seed. (2005 old.) And the others were sown in wet paper towels for a few days first.
 
6 cells each:
Dorset Naga - Nothing
Fish Pepper - 5 hooks! WHOOOOO they're here!
Yellow Datil -  Nothing
Purple Bell -Nothing
Mutant Incredible Hulk - nothing
Yellow Cayenne - Nothing
Black Pearl - Nothing
 
I split out any cells with two seedlings, transplanting them out into their own pots. They're in the transplant soil mix so they have some actual nutrients, so we'll get an early look at how well that soil mix works out for me. (It'll be great, since it was free.)
 
I have not grown the Mortgage lifter nor the Bistro myself but the other 3 are all lovely and am growing them again this year, along with too many others for that matter.
 
Will be keeping any eye on those Purple bells you have, was something I wnated to try myself but did not make it this year, hope they turn out well for you sir.
 
We have a possible rogue plant!
 
This is the end of a row of Fish pepper. Fish pepper and Black Pearl were planted straight out of the pod into the paper towels, in separate bags. No way for this to be a mix-up or a misplaced seed!
 
They were directly next to each other in the garden, so I'm a bit excited to see if I've got a variegated black foliage plant!
 
wdWlyaN.jpg

 
Also you can see a Bistro Hybrid tomato coming up in the background. They're not totally dead after all.
 
I was trying to create a fish/black pearl hybrid last year, and also tried to get a golden cayenne/black pearl hybrid last year. I really liked the black foliage, but just wished the peppers were better tasting and not so hot. Eventually I'd like to get something around fish pepper heat or less, hungarian wax size, and black pearl foliage-but that'll take years. Maybe this will be among the first steps!
 
Have you tried pollinating by hand?
Waiting for Mr. Nature is a gamble.
 
But, hey, it happens, witness my BJ hybrid!
I hope you are successful in your crossing
project!
 
I tried doing some hand pollination last year-but the tags kept falling off the plants. I have absolutely no idea if this is one of the hand pollinated peppers or not! There were many times the entire plant got stripped of peppers by my colorblind father, who can't keep his hands out of the garden, no matter how much he screams he doesn't want to plant one, he's not going to take care of one this year, he's not growing anything this year. (he does that EVERY year.)
 
You are a good son, Wolf! Your story is kind of funny.

Good luck keeping everything straight
 
The bad thing is that in the mutation plot, they're all "green peppers" no matter what color they ripen to. Green, brown, red, all the same color. Purple, Orange, Yellow, all close enough. He won't mess with the hot peppers most of the time, so those are easier to play with.
 
Hopefully Mutant A26 "Incredible Hulk" will produce the same big brown bell peppers it did last year.
 
Current Counts:
 
All the tomatoes are up.
 
Dorset Naga - 1 hook up
Fish Pepper - 6 cotys unfolded
Yellow Datil -  1 hook up
Purple Bell -Nothing
Mutant Incredible Hulk - nothing
Yellow Cayenne - 2 hooks up
Black Pearl - Nothing
 
Things are looking better now. Odd though, that the chinense varieties are coming up two days after the first annums, and right on with the second group. Hopefully by the weekend, I'll have more to show!
 
Sprout update:
 
Dorset Naga - 2 hooks up
Fish Pepper - 6 cotys unfolded
Yellow Datil -  3 hooks up
Purple Bell -Nothing
Mutant Incredible Hulk - nothing
Yellow Cayenne - 3 hooks up
Black Pearl - Nothing
 
The soil mix is actually pretty awesome-I'm contemplating moving all the tomato seedlings out. The ones I culled out of the tray and moved to soil already have true leaves developing, (all of them) and only 4 out of 30 of the seedlings in the coir mix have true leaves developing. Both are getting 1/2 strength DynaGro Foliage Pro on Thursdays.
 
The pepper plants seem to be doing OK, not much change in them. The tomatoes seem to be getting sunburnt cotelydons, even though the light is 16" above them, and the ones out on the corners are leaning into the light as if they're not getting enough.
 
Sprout update:
 
Dorset Naga - 3 plants with tiny tiny primary leaves 1 hook up
Fish Pepper - 9 tiny plants, three with primary leaves
Yellow Datil -  4 tiny plants
Purple Bell -Nothing
Mutant Incredible Hulk - nothing
Yellow Cayenne - 2 tiny plants,  two probably dead helmet heads
Black Pearl - Nothing
 
Gonna have to try again with the black pearl, I need some for crossing projects this year. I guess I'll have to grab some bell pepper plants when they become available in April.
 
Until then-40 days till plant out!
 
Not shabby, brother! Looks sounds like
some good material to work with...
 
Hint.
 
You know, potatoes make better fries than they do phones.
 
But, here we go.
 
Wide shot-all kinds of stuff going on here.
 
kvcVwI9h.jpg

 
Those empty cells...sigh.
 
One of the Fish peppers, just opening up those little leaves, hard to tell if they're yellowed under the purple lights but they are WAY ahead of last year.
 
fNBbTL4h.jpg

 
The tomatoes are doing pretty good, the potting soil mix is pretty good.
 
xqmxsVMh.jpg

 
And the little black fish pepper!
 
KeVmIteh.jpg

 
It's a potato camera.
 
But, 39 days till plant out.
 
Long time, no updates...
 
Not much to report. Only one loss, I managed to kill my best Dorset Naga during transplanting. It was nearly two inches tall and very bushy, having almost a dozen leaves, but it snapped off almost as soon as I touched it, seemed like. Oh well, I have the two small ones, although both are only an inch tall or so.
 
The other peppers are doing as well as I can expect-none taller than 2 inches, but secondary growth is budding out at every leave node. None of them have forked yet.
 
The view: The square containers, and the white round ones are all peppers. 2 surviving Dorset Naga to the far left, 6 fish peppers, 5 green and 1 black in the middle, and 4 Yellow Datil on the right.
 
XmfVxh7h.jpg

 
The little black fish pepper:
 
las6NuPh.jpg

 
All 46 surviving tomatoes are in the room, on the floor, on the counter, all the lights on...the potatoes have been cut and are prepped to go in the ground, and the garden is tilled.
 
Sounds like you are ready to roll, Wolf!
 
"None of them have forked yet."
There are always exceptions, but normally the peppers
 start forking around 50 days, +/- of course. The varieties
I grow usually fork around the seventh node, but again, 
there are always exceptions.
 
I mostly grow annuums and chinenses
 
Grown another inch taller now, and side shoots on every node.
 
Unfortunately, not much fish pepper varigation going on, only a little speckle here and there, and none at all it appears on the black-stemmed, dark-leaved plant. The black leaves are greenish now, but still MUCH darker purple than the other plants-we'll see what happens. When I get a chance I'm gonna clone the black one a few times.
 
I wish I'd have gotten a few varigated plants, and a few original black pearl to come up this year. It would be very handy to be able to do a more deliberate cross, and I was keen on the golden cayenne/black pearl cross too, but no luck.
 
It's not quite too late to start another round of black pearl, though-I may give them another chance.
 
Here's the black fish in the background vs a green fish in the foreground. Note almost no varigation in the green fish. One or two speckles, and one leaf has a white strip on it that curls a bit-the original fish pepper plant did it too.
 
rL32QRnh.jpg

 
Black Fish's side shoots, and a view showing how much blacker the original cotyledons are compared to the leaves:
 
D2H9ERPh.jpg

 
Green Fish's side shoots-Notice the stem is green, instead of deep purple, and the foliage is a LOT lighter.
 
aN0JtOsh.jpg

 
Black Fish and the bigger Dorset Naga...just a tiny plant. It's pushing side shoots too, at two nodes.
 
WKKTNSHh.jpg

 
AbxQA88h.jpg

 
The other green fish peppers are in the same boat-little to no varigation. Once they get larger if they don't show any desirable traits...into the bin they go. All these Fish plants came from the same physical pepper, so I know they're all the same Black Pearl/Fish pepper hybrid. We'll see what happens, I guess.
 
I am still a little bummed at having snapped off the biggest Naga, it was nearly twice as big as the other two.
 
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