yield Year end and disappointed with yield

MNXR250R

MNXR250R

Summer is almost gone here in Minnesota. Forecast for the next week is highs in the 80's (F), but the last few weeks have been lower than the average. 
 
I completely rebuilt the outdoor garden this year. I dug out the old soil which I had installed a few years ago. The old soil was supposed to be a "garden mix".  Perhaps it was. I know I have over watered my plants in the past... and more or less killed them all. Tomatoes mostly. None of the plant I had in the garden did well so I thought it was a time for change.
 
I removed the 8 inches of old soil, and dug deeper into the clay (removing some fantastically large tree roots from the neighbors trees)(4 years and the tree roots are HUGE).
 
I dug the new bed to 12 inches, and broke up the clay undersoil for another 6 to 8 inches. Then I added "Kellogs Farms" raised bet mix. Technically by bed is raised... not that that really matters.
 
I even went so far as to cover the garden with a "tunnel". Just enough green house plastic to keep the rain out (so I could control the water), but allow the wind in blow the plants.
 
I thought that this new soil would be excellent for my first year of peppers... as it turns out, that was not the case.
 
I have read a lot about soil in the past six months, and in my amateur opinion my "new" soil didn't have the microbial activity that is normally present in a mature soil. I had to add liquid ferts on a regular interval (yellow leaves).
 
So to the point> 
 
I have one tomato (cherry) that grew like crazy. I'm still getting fruit from this on every day ( hundreds so far)
I have a few varieties of tomatoes that really didn't produce. Some nice fruit but...
Jalapenos. None of the plants (3) grew more than 1 foot tall. Got two dozen or so very hot peppers (high HOT for Jalapenos)... Delicious but expected higher production.
Super Chilis were very productive, but the plants are less than 1 foot tall. Going to have a hot pepper flake for the winter !!
Chi-Chien were good, as were the Shishito and Corno De Toro, but again these plants are very small.
 
The most disappointing of all were the Sarrano and Ploblanos.  I got no more than 8 peppers from the two Serranos, and only two fruits from the Poblonao !!
 
 Minnesota isn't exactly a hot place for sure. This year has been cooler than normal to boot.  All in all, my pepper production has been disappointing.
 
Happy Growing.
 
Jeff
 
Same thing happened with my soil but in containers. Had to fertilize regularly. I found out this year that soil is HUGE. The plants I put in the ground here have huge pods with 4 hrs of sun a day and the container plants varied big-time based on how regular I was with giving them food. Turns out the topsoil here is magical and the mix I thought would be great actually sucked. Reshaping next year's grow accordingly but it sounds like you think things through. You learn something every year and then down the road, you're a pro like the people on here that make it look easy.

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk
 
I get the feeling you already know this and I am just reminding you.  We all have good years and not so good years.  Ya remember to learn what leads to what for future years and you are better for either.  Remember, gardening comes from a need to survive.  For most folk, todays bad season just means a bit less taste on the table.  In the past, well you'd be out there with your dear rifle and a prayer.  We got it made and next year you will do frigging GREAT!!!
 
D3monic said:
Been a crappy year here in Illinois as well. I feel your pain.my soil isin need of a good amount of amendments. Like a dump truck worth of llama poop.
Click to expand...
 

Why llama?
 
More than a couple people have said this has been a not so great season.  We've done OK but not for the blessings of the weather.  I think it has just been too cool when it should be warm, too dry when it should be wet, too wet when it should be dry and like that.  Like the weather is just ignoring its normal patterns.

How's your year been doing?
 
Exactly AJ, we were experiencing the same weather in here but fortunately my overwintered plants had a pretty nice yields, younger plants were not able to grow as they should even indoors (behind windows). Also my experiments with new fertilizers didn't help at all, few plants almost died and 3 plants really did (poor drainage). In overall I had a nice yield but not as good as in previous years.
 
Lesson learned and I'm looking forward to next season :)
 
The only peppers I got growing real well this this are Fish, Ethiopian Fire and Island Hellfire (waiting to see if the Goat weed ripens). None of my superhot are producing a lot. I have had 2 ripe pods so far. They are finally putting on some pods but I doubt they will ripen fully here in Missouri unless we have an Indian Summer.
 
plants staying small can be if you didn't break up roots on root bound transplants.
 
Plants roots grow fine in inert media(coco coir, rockwool) with no microbes so  
 
i figure it's best to go all in on 1 method of growing.
 
if you are going to do soil building. go all in and get lots of ammendments. 
you've seen cableguy's videos? he posted a how to make his soilmix and he does great every time.. lots of videos to prove it to you. copy what works, don't take shortcuts.
 
if you are going to do liquid ferts you need to provide consistency. you need to be watering and feeding on a schedule and sticking to it. i use nutrient water every time, every day. 
You pretty much need to get a small drip setup and water timer to automate this for you. they are only like 80$ dripdepot or dripworkss
here's a vid of my setup. i get 6ft+ tall plants past 2 years using this system. it's very repeatable as there is very little variance since everything is controlled.
 
MNXR250R said:
Summer is almost gone here in Minnesota. Forecast for the next week is highs in the 80's (F), but the last few weeks have been lower than the average. 
 
I completely rebuilt the outdoor garden this year. I dug out the old soil which I had installed a few years ago. The old soil was supposed to be a "garden mix".  Perhaps it was. I know I have over watered my plants in the past... and more or less killed them all. Tomatoes mostly. None of the plant I had in the garden did well so I thought it was a time for change.
 
I removed the 8 inches of old soil, and dug deeper into the clay (removing some fantastically large tree roots from the neighbors trees)(4 years and the tree roots are HUGE).
 
I dug the new bed to 12 inches, and broke up the clay undersoil for another 6 to 8 inches. Then I added "Kellogs Farms" raised bet mix. Technically by bed is raised... not that that really matters.
 
I even went so far as to cover the garden with a "tunnel". Just enough green house plastic to keep the rain out (so I could control the water), but allow the wind in blow the plants.
 
I thought that this new soil would be excellent for my first year of peppers... as it turns out, that was not the case.
 
I have read a lot about soil in the past six months, and in my amateur opinion my "new" soil didn't have the microbial activity that is normally present in a mature soil. I had to add liquid ferts on a regular interval (yellow leaves).
 
So to the point> 
 
I have one tomato (cherry) that grew like crazy. I'm still getting fruit from this on every day ( hundreds so far)
I have a few varieties of tomatoes that really didn't produce. Some nice fruit but...
Jalapenos. None of the plants (3) grew more than 1 foot tall. Got two dozen or so very hot peppers (high HOT for Jalapenos)... Delicious but expected higher production.
Super Chilis were very productive, but the plants are less than 1 foot tall. Going to have a hot pepper flake for the winter !!
Chi-Chien were good, as were the Shishito and Corno De Toro, but again these plants are very small.
 
The most disappointing of all were the Sarrano and Ploblanos.  I got no more than 8 peppers from the two Serranos, and only two fruits from the Poblonao !!
 
 Minnesota isn't exactly a hot place for sure. This year has been cooler than normal to boot.  All in all, my pepper production has been disappointing.
 
Happy Growing.
 
Jeff
Click to expand...
 
Wow Jeff, what part of Minnesnowta are you in? I'm about 45 miles northeast of Fargo ND, right on the Zone 3 line, and if my hundreds upon hundreds of pepper pods would just ripen, I'm having a fantastic first year with the exotics, deer attacks and all. My soil is a primordial ooze that was the bottom of Lake Agassiz some 10,000 years ago, but my clay layer is like yours, about a foot deep. Drainage is non-existant, I recently found that the alkalinity is off the scale, but my plants are growing like nuckin' futs out there.
 
Tomatoes too, even with a fungus I got a bumper crop of Amish Paste. The corn was perfect, the carrots (Nelsons) are perfect, the onions are perfect, it's been really great for a guy with one foot in the Arctic.
 
One thing I did do since signing on to THP was to listen to these guys and try what they suggest. I actually killed a couple plants, one of them I thought I killed several times, and these guys and gals really came through with the support. Almost like professionals! Those plants are producing yet today!
 
...Just watch out for the guys hawking diesel and kerosene fertilizers. :shame:
 
Sorry about your low yield. I have had them and they are discouraging. Try some Anaheims next year. Minnesota LOVES Anaheim chiles!
 
14291815_152843148498312_7016251955124930815_n.jpg
 
The summer rain, low temps, and humidity didn't help me either, but now I'm recovering a bit as the weather has dried up a bit. In previous years, I picked earlier and was picking lots later. I am seeing a lower pepper yield, but it's been more about the maters. For example, last year I guess-timated about 120 pounds harvested, maybe more. This year, maybe 40 or 50. Early blight whacked them hard. 
 
Despite all that, I always plant way more than I need. So this year, my wife and I didn't go into intense acid cramps from eating fresh tomato brushcetta and salsa for 3 weeks straight. Plus eating tomatoes on the side. I gave away less harvest because there was less to give, but I still put up enough for our purposes for the winter. Gardening can be a cruel mistress, but when she's on, she's fantastic. 
 
And...it's years like these that I'm thankful to find a half-gallon of bhuts in the freezer from last year. Not that I truly needed them, but it gives me some wiggle room  :party:
 
D3monic said:
Been a crappy year here in Illinois as well. I feel your pain.my soil isin need of a good amount of amendments. Like a dump truck worth of llama poop.
Click to expand...
 
Weather wise it has been a very off year but I am curious as I am only 25 miles East of you. Has your season really been that bad due to the weather only or is from a lack a llamapoop?  While my plants are not as tall as they would be with warmer weather, my pod production has been almost stellar in most cases.  Some of this can be attributed to first time use of new raised beds but not all.  The failure I have had is one new bed which I made to hot with too much manure.  All of my plants are pushing through their 2nd wave and with 2-4 weeks more time will fully ripen.  My crop ranges from mild up to almost stupid hot. 
 
J.Hobbs said:
 
Weather wise it has been a very off year but I am curious as I am only 25 miles East of you. Has your season really been that bad due to the weather only or is from a lack a llamapoop?  While my plants are not as tall as they would be with warmer weather, my pod production has been almost stellar in most cases.  Some of this can be attributed to first time use of new raised beds but not all.  The failure I have had is one new bed which I made to hot with too much manure.  All of my plants are pushing through their 2nd wave and with 2-4 weeks more time will fully ripen.  My crop ranges from mild up to almost stupid hot. 
Click to expand...
 
My beds are on 3 years with minimal amendments. I think at most i've added mushroom compost so i'm overdue for something. Most my plants are only light green and can tell they would love something a little extra in the soil. Not to mention I really haven't used any liquid ferts this year due to work schedules and poor time management. 
 
stettoman said:
 
Wow Jeff, what part of Minnesnowta are you in? I'm about 45 miles northeast of Fargo ND, right on the Zone 3 line, and if my hundreds upon hundreds of pepper pods would just ripen, I'm having a fantastic first year with the exotics, deer attacks and all. My soil is a primordial ooze that was the bottom of Lake Agassiz some 10,000 years ago, but my clay layer is like yours, about a foot deep. Drainage is non-existant, I recently found that the alkalinity is off the scale, but my plants are growing like nuckin' futs out there.
 
Tomatoes too, even with a fungus I got a bumper crop of Amish Paste. The corn was perfect, the carrots (Nelsons) are perfect, the onions are perfect, it's been really great for a guy with one foot in the Arctic.
 
One thing I did do since signing on to THP was to listen to these guys and try what they suggest. I actually killed a couple plants, one of them I thought I killed several times, and these guys and gals really came through with the support. Almost like professionals! Those plants are producing yet today!
 
...Just watch out for the guys hawking diesel and kerosene fertilizers. :shame:
 
Sorry about your low yield. I have had them and they are discouraging. Try some Anaheims next year. Minnesota LOVES Anaheim chiles!
 
14291815_152843148498312_7016251955124930815_n.jpg
Click to expand...
whoa [emoji50] that's a lot of peppers how many plants did all those come from?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
BSH said:
Same thing happened with my soil but in containers. Had to fertilize regularly. I found out this year that soil is HUGE. The plants I put in the ground here have huge pods with 4 hrs of sun a day and the container plants varied big-time based on how regular I was with giving them food. Turns out the topsoil here is magical and the mix I thought would be great actually sucked. Reshaping next year's grow accordingly but it sounds like you think things through. You learn something every year and then down the road, you're a pro like the people on here that make it look easy.
Click to expand...
 
BHS, One other thing I found out this season is that my container plants (first years for those too) got VERY HOT in the direct sunlight (why are the bags black anyway ??). I put burlap around the pots and that helps a lot, but too late.
 
AJ Drew said:
More than a couple people have said this has been a not so great season.  We've done OK but not for the blessings of the weather.  I think it has just been too cool when it should be warm, too dry when it should be wet, too wet when it should be dry and like that.  Like the weather is just ignoring its normal patterns.

How's your year been doing?
Click to expand...
 
AJ, We had a warm spring and a cool summer.  It wasn't cold, plenty of days in the 80's.  I still suspect the garden mix maturity. Good Luck to ya!
 
juanitos said:
plants staying small can be if you didn't break up roots on root bound transplants.
 
Plants roots grow fine in inert media(coco coir, rockwool) with no microbes so  
 
i figure it's best to go all in on 1 method of growing.
 
if you are going to do soil building. go all in and get lots of ammendments. 
you've seen cableguy's videos? he posted a how to make his soilmix and he does great every time.. lots of videos to prove it to you. copy what works, don't take shortcuts.
Click to expand...
 
juanitos, thanks for the info.  I'll check out the videos but the truth is... I don't have a lot of time to mix up soils. Maybe don't have the interest either  :rolleyes: .  I do have a barrel full of leaf/grass compost I'll be adding to the garden in a few weeks.
 
 
stettoman said:
 
Wow Jeff, what part of Minnesnowta are you in? I'm about 45 miles northeast of Fargo ND, right on the Zone 3 line, and if my hundreds upon hundreds of pepper pods would just ripen, I'm having a fantastic first year with the exotics, deer attacks and all. My soil is a primordial ooze that was the bottom of Lake Agassiz some 10,000 years ago, but my clay layer is like yours, about a foot deep. Drainage is non-existant, I recently found that the alkalinity is off the scale, but my plants are growing like nuckin' futs out there.
 
Tomatoes too, even with a fungus I got a bumper crop of Amish Paste. The corn was perfect, the carrots (Nelsons) are perfect, the onions are perfect, it's been really great for a guy with one foot in the Arctic.
 
One thing I did do since signing on to THP was to listen to these guys and try what they suggest. I actually killed a couple plants, one of them I thought I killed several times, and these guys and gals really came through with the support. Almost like professionals! Those plants are producing yet today!
 
...Just watch out for the guys hawking diesel and kerosene fertilizers. :shame:
 
Sorry about your low yield. I have had them and they are discouraging. Try some Anaheims next year. Minnesota LOVES Anaheim chiles!
 
14291815_152843148498312_7016251955124930815_n.jpg
Click to expand...
 
stettoman, those Anaheims look amazing !  My Anaheim had a total of 5 fruits and NONE of them looked like yours.... Awesome !!  I live about 30 NW of Minneapolis. I was up at Itasca State Park this last week... not exactly in your back yard but to be honest, I couldn't see how anything would grow in the soil up there :)  Kidding... you're further West so your zone is different.  Maybe next year.......... :)
 
 
 
I'll be setting up a GLOG for my indoor grow this winter.  I've got two hydro (Reaper and Bhut) under a 315W LEC.  They look great so far.  Also, I have two of the same plants in small Kratky jugs.  I will add a few more plants to fill the space just to experiment but the Hydro Hots are my project this winter.
 
I'm playing with re-creating the 80degF and 80 percent RH that are natural for these two plants.  I've had other on this forum say that the humidity doesn't matter for the chilies... maybe so, but I like to tinker. So far I have been able to keep the heat under 85 and the humidity between 65-75 percent.
 
Thanks All,
 
Jeff
 
Sinn said:
whoa [emoji50] that's a lot of peppers how many plants did all those come from?
 
Click to expand...
 
If memory serves, 18. There were three of those laundry baskets full that (last) season. We do a LOT of Mexican food up here. 12 years in Phoenix and my wife's best friend being a Mexican salsa lady awakened the latent hawt gene.
 
MNXR250R said:
 
stettoman, those Anaheims look amazing !  My Anaheim had a total of 5 fruits and NONE of them looked like yours.... Awesome !!  I live about 30 NW of Minneapolis. I was up at Itasca State Park this last week... not exactly in your back yard but to be honest, I couldn't see how anything would grow in the soil up there :)  Kidding... you're further West so your zone is different.  Maybe next year.......... :)
 
Click to expand...
 
The black muck they call the Red River Valley (de la Norte ;) ) is arguably the richest soil in the world. I live right on the inside edge of that valley, a half mile to my east is a sandy brown dirt shoved out of Canada by glaciers some 15,000 years ago. Stuff still grows there, just not with the plesiosaur shit laden nute content.
 
I'd love me an extra month of grow season....
 
stettoman said:
 
The black muck they call the Red River Valley (de la Norte ;) ) is arguably the richest soil in the world. I live right on the inside edge of that valley, a half mile to my east is a sandy brown dirt shoved out of Canada by glaciers some 15,000 years ago. Stuff still grows there, just not with the plesiosaur shit laden nute content.
 
I'd love me an extra month of grow season....
Click to expand...
 
I've read of the Great Lake Agassiz. The lake that flooded our lands after that last Ice Age melt. In fact some argue that the Red River Valley, and what is now the Minnesota River to the South of the Red River is the true source of the Mississippi River. I'll leave that determination to the experts :)
 
I've hiked and camped along the Minnesota River and seen the soil. Lots of clay mixed with age old organics. Didn't know it would be a great soil for peppers. Maybe next time I canoe on the Minnesota, I'll bag a few gallons of the soil to take back home  :dance:
 
Happy Growing  !
 
Jeff
 
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