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Zander's 2010 Season

Greenhouse Time

I set up a portable greenhouse about a week ago. I love this thing. I added a 25 gallon tote, sealed up with a 100W aquarium heater to raise the night time temps. With the vent cracked slightly at night the greenhouse stays above 50. Some of my hardier plants are now outside for good and just in time. Most everything will be moved out in the next 3 weeks.

Here's the 4x8 "starterhouse" complete with shadecloth:
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In the sunny side I have 2 Green Zebra tomatoes, Padaung, Orange Manzano, and Labuyo:
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The shady side w/ solar mass and my Jalabenero, Thai #1, Orange Dulce and two Fataliis
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Here's my latest tray of seedlings. I'm very happy with the tomatoes:
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And finally, I measured a few of my Orange Manzanos, not my biggest ever, but this ones a good 19.2cm around:
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Seeds from that one will go into the seed trading parcel when it comes my way.
 
Very cool stuff here! I love my coco. Interested to know what brand you use and your nutes sometime.

Your C.Pubescens are really doing well. I've pulled some off here, but they are amongst my more fussier plants.
 
Enjoying the lob Zander thank you. Everything seems to be right on schedule, good to see.

You know I still can't get over the size of the trunks on that 7 Pod. Plus it's living in that little teeny red cup. Can't wait to see what happens to it when you turn it loose.
 
Thanks for stopping by everyone. Patrick, the Seven is now in a new home and is growing nicely. I'll have some family shots of my C. Chineses up soon. But for now, I've got some more general garden updates.
 
Community Garden Plot

Big News! Two Hundred and Twenty Five Square Feet Worth!

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I was able to get a plot in the local community garden less than a mile from my apartment. It’s covered with weeds and the soil is hard clay but it gets plenty of sun and has a water hookup. Here’s what I’m thinking:

- Pull the weeds in the plot and anything nearby. Maybe even weed a neighbor’s neglected plot.
- Test a soil sample
- Amend with gypsum, compost, and whatever else the soil test may recommend. I’ll be using a roto-tiller.
- Lay down newspaper as a weed barrier
- Cover with about an inch of old, screened potting mix. I’ll be planting directly in the ground once pepper season’s over.
- Peppers on the NE side, tomatoes on the NW. Fill up the rest with basil, lemongrass, and whatever else I can find. I’ll be using very large containers, nothing smaller than 7 gallons. Definitely 15 gallons for the tomatoes, maybe even larger.
- Connecting a drip system, hopefully with a timer
- At the end of the season, I’ll dump the containers, screen the soil and plant a winter crop. That’s the great thing about the large containers, all the used soil will become next year’s bed.

How does that sound? I’m really excited to eventually grow in-ground and make use of the extra room. My seedlings are doing very well and things would have been very crowded without the extra space.
I’ve also found another space to expand my 2010 garden. My next door neighbor never uses his back patio and gave me permission to use the space. Most of it is shaded, but it would be great for a few tall tomatoes and anything that doesn’t need full sun. The shade will also be great if I end up taking a few batches of cuttings. Without these two new extra spaces, I was going to be totally surrounded by plants out back.
 
Seedling Update

These coir cups are great! I can keep the seedlings in these for a long time and the roots go crazy. Check out these photos of some C. Chineses at transplant time:

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And here’s a shot of some nice Orange Mananzos. I picked off all the peppers and I’ll be pruning and trellising soon.
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Family Garden

Last weekend I did the prep work for my Mom’s garden. It needs to be easy so I’m using large containers, organic soil and drippers. Here’s the shopping list:

- 12 bags of potting soil = 18 cubic feet
- 30 cups organic tomato fertilizer
- 8 cups gypsum
- ½ cup controller release 14-14-14
- 2 cups Epsom salt
- 5 x 15 gallon “smart pot” aeration containers
- 4 x 7 gallon nursery pots

I used rough estimates when planning this all out but I ended up with almost nothing left over.

Step 1: Pick up the soil. This stuff is a great value.
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Step 2: Mix up the organic (and just a pinch of synthetic) amendments
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Step 3: Mix in a cement mixer. Unfortunately I had to do it by hand. I took two bags at a time added 7 cups of my fertilizer blend and mixed back and forth between two large totes. Mixing was long and tedious. I will use a mixer the next time I mix this much.
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Finished

Here’s the final product. Nine containers set out and moistened. These will sit until Easter when I’ll be planting tomatoes and peppers. I used nylon wicks in the plastic 7 gallon containers to improve the drainage. I’ll be taking home my share of tomatoes and peppers, but I’ll also get the used soil at the end of the season. I’ll be hauling up to my community garden plot to add to the bed each year. Come August this space will be a jungle!

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Looks like your work has just started Zman! Congrats on the plot! I see many sweaty hours ahead for you.

One tip, last year I got tired of mixing stuff in two containers like you got going so I got myself one of those plastic kiddie pools. Now I just dump everything in one pot and turn on the beaters.

Good luck!
 
Time for another update… Thanks for the nice comments and tips. Patrick, I may try the kiddie pool if I can find one big enough. I mixed up a smaller batch last weekend and it’s much easier to do a bit at a time. Silver Surfer, I’ll be doing raised beds eventually. I’m still deciding how to split up the plot.
Now on to the updates and photos. Again some of the photos are a couple weeks old.

First up is a shot of some plants I gave away. It was good to free up a bit of space. There are 3 tomatoes and 3 peppers here. Brandywine, Cherokee Purple, Green Zebra, Fatalii, Thai Super Hot and Biker Billy Jalapeno.
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Next, a shot post transplant at my Mom’s. Back row is Orange Dulce (pepper), Brandywine, Green Zebra, Cherokee Purple and Snow White. The front four are Yellow Rocoto, Tobago Seasoning, Mariachi, Biker Billy. The Mariachi and Biker Billy may have been swapped; they look very similar at this stage.
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Back at my place I finally rigged up a tray for some flood and drain watering. Here’s a shot with most of my C. Chineses out getting some sun and a nice drink.
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I’ve got some individual plants that are doing very well. Last year I had no pods until July so I started much earlier this year. Here’s my “Thai #1” with a lot of flowers open. I should have some ripe red ones by late May. It’s only in a 5.5 inch pot, but it’s so happy I’ll probably keep it there for the first harvest.
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Here’s one for Patrick, my overwintered Seven Pod with two berries. I’ll probably keep this one in a small container for a while too. I’m really trying to get a good variety in a small growing area.
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Here are three nice plants. From the left there’s a Jalabenero, a Billy Goat Hab, and a Yellow Scorpion. The Jalabenero is growing large, flowering and fruiting. I hope I like the flavor because I love the plant. The Billy Goat was a huge surprise. I received the seeds from a generous member about a year ago and I planted a single one this year. It looks to be a very “early” C. Chinese, tons of flowers and very vigorous. I’m seeking a hot pepper that bears over a long season and does well in small containers. If the heat and flavor are good I’ll be growing this one for years. On the right is the Yellow Scorpion, a little slow, but healthy and happy. All of these have recently been transplanted to larger containers.
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Finally, I have an update on my community garden plot. I took a weekend and cleared out the weeds. The ground was like solid concrete and it took all day long. Luckily, the weather was on my side; cool and not too sunny. After I got the weeds up I did my best to break the surface and work some gypsum into the soil. I skipped the soil test; it will be years before I can grow anything in this stuff so I’ll test it when I finally have it loosened up. I came back the next day and covered the ground with cardboard, then piled some nice soil on top and watered it down. I’m not growing directly in the bed at this time but I wanted something nice so the worms will be happy.
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Thanks Silver Surfer, it's by far my best start and the weather has been on my side. I love my hula hoe, but it works a lot better in good soil and on young weeds. About 5 minutes into the job I realized it needed to be sharpened but I didn't have a file handy. I made it through but it was slow going. I also use the hula hoe when I'm mixing soil and again when I pull the plants up. It snags the roots but leaves the good stuff behind.
 
Just some pictures

Not much to report, but here are a few pictures:
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Jalabenero covered with berries
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Some babies in 1 gallon bags of promix
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More of the same. I had some trouble w/ promix last year, but it's working great this time.
 
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