Here's the gang.

and, here's a closeup of one with a stuck seed hull or cap or whatever you call it.

I already posted the triploid cotyledon pic in another thread, so, won't bother you with it again. :-)

Im going on 18 days waiting for bhut jolokia's to pop up and im not giving up!

Mark

Jamie

If they aren't up by this weekend, I'm going to start some more (I'll be starting tomatoes this weekend anyway). I have had some take a long time to come up before too, but, I don't want to fall too far behind.

Don't get too discouraged about lagging seeds, I had some 7 Pot Douglahs that took a good month to germinate.

So...I wouldn't give up yet, but I understand your desire to re-plant to be on the safe side. The one remaining variety of mine that isn't up yet is the oldest of my stash, so if they're not up by this weekend, I think I'll plant the rest of the packet (no matter how many) in a little cup, and if they come up, great...but either way, I can say goodbye to that seed packet and start fresh with something else next year. Thankfully, I wasn't wedded to that variety.

Anyway, everybody that came up is doing ok, I just moved them out of the germination dome, they needed to get out anyway. A few were staying too damp in there - some slight yellowing. Otherwise, everyone is starting to get their first set of true leaves.

Should have new babies next week, tomatoes and hopefully pepeprs!

Here's an updated photo of the first round of seedlings. They're doing fairly well.

I had a hard time with germination this year. At one point, I think things dried out too much at a critical time. Not sure what happened with the second try, but, tomatoes and peppers both failed miserably. Third time was the charm! I had my tray double-stacked due to cracks, and had the dome on. For the third try, I decided to change it up and removed one of the trays for more direct heat from the heat mat, and removed the dome (I was starting to get green stuff growing on the soil surface). These two things or something related had a great impact on germination success. Most have come up and today is day 10 from the last planting.

Anyway, enough rambling for now and on to the pics.

First, we have the same group of seedlings pictured twice before. They're doing great! In this pic, they are a little droopy from being outside most of the day. A drink and they'll recover nicely.

Next, is the pic of everybody. The ones pictured above, front left, newer generations to the right (both tomatoes and peppers), and the overwintered peppers in the back.

Mark

We've had record high temps several times over the past few weeks. If it's around 70+ they get treated to a little fresh air. :-)

I planted up the largest ones a couple weekends ago. They are doing well. Getting too big, really. I still won't be planting out for good for at least a couple more weeks, maybe more.

The youngest ones (tomatoes and peppers) got potted up to 3" - 4" pots today. The tomatoes were really pouty / wilted afterwards. But, the peppers didn't seem to mind.

Here is a pic of the ones that were potted up 2 weeks ago:

Then, I mixed up my first batch ever of 5:1:1. I spent this past week screening 5 bags of pine bark mulch, and ended up with a little more than 3 bags of screened stuff, and just under 2 bags of larger stuff.

Here are the ingredients, Pine Bark Fines, Perlite, Sphagnum Peat Moss, and (not pictured is the dolomitic lime). You can see I had more bark spread out behind. I was mixing up multiple batches and kept one set out for a picture to document it.

A close-up of the Pine Bark with a nickle for scale. I had already wet it when I took the picture.

And here is the completed mix:

As I said, this is my first time making the 5:1:1, hopefully it LOOKS ok. and REALLY hope it WORKS well!! haha!

I'm thinking to do a comparison of the old stuff I was using vs. the 5:1:1. Nothing scientific, just for fun to see if I notice a difference.

When I mixed up the 5-1-1 a couple weeks ago, I couldn't resist transplanting one plant. An overwintered Lemon Drop (it is the second from the left, back row, in the pics posted on 4/1 if you want to see before re-potting). It had grown really long skinny branches over the Winter, and it just didn't look good to me. So, I pruned him back a few days ago.

I see new growth coming out of that base that is in its 4th year. I was so happy that I didn't kill it! LOL

Next, I thought I'd show you some other overwintered plants that I just re-potted into larger containers (about 7 gal I think) this week. Here are a chocolate hab and a scotch bonnet. I think the scotch bonnet is on the left, but, don't remember for certain. These guys were much better behaved over the winter, so, they didn't get their heads cut off. :-)

Minutes before this picture was taken, I transplanted these two Suave Orange plants. Both are new starts from this year, and were started in the commercial potting mix (Ball Professional) and perlite like I have used for years. Now, one is in the old potting mix, the other is in 5-1-1. This will be my experiment as mentioned above. Not sure yet if I will have any other extras to test with. You can see they are basically the same size at this point. The one in old mix I just plopped down in the new pot and watered. The one in 5-1-1 I pretty much bare rooted.

And finally, a group shot. All the tomatoes and peppers started this year. I really need to get these things planted!! Most are huge! Need the weather to cooperate and still some garden prep to do. I am thinking in the next week or 2 which will be a week or two early for my usual.

Anyway, thanks for following along!

Since I know how much everyone here loves pics, here are a couple of closer up shots.

First, the Lemon Drop is really starting to put out new growth. No branches yet, but, lots of leaves coming in.

And here is a shot of the 2 Suave Oranges in different mixes. The one in the commercial mix definitely has bigger leaves at this point. This was taken on day 8 after transplant.

How are you fertilizing this year?

Josh

Here is the garden group including Big Jims, Ancho San Martin Hybrids, Guajillo, Pasilla Bajio, Ahi Chinchi Amarillo, Sheepnose Pimento, and a Thai Hot.

And the 5-1-1 comparison - two Suave Orange Habaneros.

And an updated shot of the Lemon drop that I pruned back to a few sticks when I repotted him from his overwintered home into 5-1-1 on 4/21/2012 - so that would make it about 4 weeks ago.

The Lemon Drop from above is going well and starting to bloom.

The Suave Orange soil test comparison....Not much to say. The 5-1-1 plant is still not much bigger than a month ago. The one in regular mix is much bigger and starting to set blooms.

Thought I'd throw in this other Lemon Drop that I had overwintered but, didn't prune back. He is in a mix of mostly the regular mix with 5-1-1 filler when I potted him up (small increase in pot size - so, mostly old mix). He got blown off the table during a storm last night, so, he's leaning more than usual. But, loaded with pods and I've picked a couple already.

Everyone in the garden is doing fine, most are blooming / setting fruit. Tomatoes are also blooming and most have set fruit. We finally got some rain again for the first time in a couple of weeks. I expect an explosion of growth this week. :-)

Mark

At this point, we know that something is off with that pot of 5-1-1.
There does appear to be a lot of visible sapwood on top, but maybe that's not indicative
of the overall sapwood inclusion. The particle size of the bark could be a bit large, which
can impact drainage characteristics of the mix. Third thing to consider would be the Lime.
Tsheets, can you carefully lift the plant out of the container to inspect the roots?
Maybe something is going on down below....?

Josh

There was some sapwood obviously, but, I didn't really think it was too much. The Pine bark mulch was the same stuff that Bruce pointed out from kmart. I did screen the bigger pieces, but, I'm sure a lot of larger than ideal ones made it through. I did not screen out smaller pieces. But, something is definitely off. The lime being off was my first suspicion, so I added a little more lime to a few containers almost 2 weeks ago - just scratched it in the first inch or so by hand, but, I haven't seen any difference.

I will try to get some pics of the roots. I have been considering repotting anyway, but, I just hate to give up. I have to believe there is a simple answer, I just haven't found it yet. (being stubborn, or maybe lazy) :-)

It certainly hasn't filled it out, and there are a lot more on one side, but, to my untrained eye, I didn't see anything alarming. Anyone have any thoughts?

Will you be using the same container?

Josh

I'll keep everyone posted as usual. :-)

Josh

If things look to be improving I have quite a few more in larger containers to work on. I may just add a wick to a couple and see how it goes.

Thanks again for the assist!

I believe the wick(s) have helped. I added a second wick to larger pots (the drain holes are around the edge, so used opposite sides angled towards center). There was a lot of moisture being held.

The plants are still looking pretty sickly, maybe they just haven't had enough time to recover. I did pot down one smaller plant into mix that I screened out the small particles. It hasn't grown much, but, only been a week and it looks relatively healthy. I had way too much small particulate matter in the mix. I was hopeful that the wicks would be the easy way out rather than trying to repot / screen everything.

Anyway, I don't have any overall pics this time, but, here are a few lemon drop shots.

This is the one I pruned way back at transplant. It's still growing well and putting on blooms/fruit.

Here is the one that had ants - both lemon drops are several years old. I harvested the ripe peppers earlier this week and more are ripening.

Overall, things are moving slowly. I've gotten a handful Aji Chinchi Amarillo, a couple Ancho 101 (overwintered), many Lemon Drops (overwintered), and a couple miniature Chocolate Habaneros (overwintered). Everything else is pretty much the beginning. I have had some problems with BER or something on my Big Jims, and simply no or low fruit set on others (too hot / dry).

The potted plants are still struggling. The ones I've tried re-potting with less small particles look fine, but, aren't really growing..just sitting there. The others are just sickly looking. I've about given up on this year for the potted plants and considering pruning and repotting for experimental purposes.

Anyway, here's what I do have to show at this point.

Thai Hot: This guy is doing pretty well overall. Getting ready to pick the ripe ones and make some stir fry.

Sheepnose Pimento: This I probably should have plucked the blossoms when they first formed. He's pretty small / stunted. But, here are a couple fruit. These were a freebie / bonus from peppermania.com

Aji Chinchi Amarillo: Used several of these already. Only a couple ripe ones, but, several green ones hiding throughout the plant.

Guajillo: A few green ones on 2 plants. This is the only ripe one. Am anxious for these. I want to see what the powder is like.

Ancho San Martin: A new (to me) Ancho variety. Was hoping it was more productive / quicker to ripen than the Ancho 101 I have used in the past. This is the only one so far.

Anyway, that's where I'm at at this point.

Josh

The pruned Lemon Drop in the hanging basket is doing pretty well. There is fruit and some ripening. I have picked a couple off this guy already. It's getting hard to isolate it with all the tomatoes growing up around it. The hanging basket is on a cross bar between my two tomato trellises.

This Lemon Drop has had a rough year, yet is hanging tough! This is the one that had ants earlier, and has been blown off the table at least 3 times during storms. I come home, and find him laying on the ground outside it's pot. I scoop him back up, stuff him back in, and he keeps going. Sitting next to him are some 7-pots in little 3" (or maybe they're 4") pots that I started late (thanks Romy)!

And this view has the 5-1-1 comparison I was doing earlier this year. The tall one on the left was the regular potting mix, the one on the right next to it (with sprayer nozzle in between) is the 5-1-1 that I have struggled with. A few neighbors including the 7-pots, Thyme, and a Pasilla Bajio that I down-potted a while back.

To close this week, I can tell you that I *think* I have finally solved the issue I have been struggling with using the 5-1-1. As mentioned, I was thinking about experimenting figuring that I had nothing to loose at this point. I have had some promising results and am waiting for a week or two then I will have before and after pics (assuming all goes as expected).

Why is the one in the 5-1-1 so small? ;) Looks like you should just use potting mix from now on seeing how nice your plants are in the potting soil ;)

If you have scanned through the thread you'll see I had high expectations with the 5-1-1, but, have had a lot of problems. I do think I've finally figured it out, though. I just don't want to count my peppers before they're set, though. ;-)

The lighting was very flat (notice there aren't any harsh shadows) and I had to crank the ISO up to 1600 for these. I may have also had a polarizer on the lens (I had it on for some, not for others) to reduce glare.

As I mentioned in the last post, I think I've finally figured out what the problem was that I was having with the 5-1-1 mix in my first year of using it.

I believe there was a significant enough portion of sap wood using the Nitrogen that the plants were simply starving. I had increased to full strength Foliage Pro 9-3-6 already in one of my many attempts to figure out the problem. But, as a last ditch effort to diagnose I split the pots into groups, and did different things to each group. The group that I tried Miracle Grow Tomato Food 18-18-21 at full strength responded very well in the first week. Then, the second week, I gave everyone a feeding of the MG.

I think the much more concentrated dose was needed to overcome the sap wood decaying. I knew there was sap wood in there, but, really didn't think it was that much. I must have really underestimated the effect even a small amount can have on your mix.

Anyway, here is a shot of two plants that I had overwintered. A Chocolate Habanero on the left and Scotch Bonnet on the right. This was taken on 8/9/12, and the Scotch Bonnet had already been fed the week before. The Chocolate Hab had not been fed MG, only the FP.

This second shot was taken today, 8/18/12. The Scotch Bonnet on the right had 2 doses of MG, the Choc. hab had 1 dose 9 days ago on 8/9/12. You can see a lot of new leaves just forming and both have greened up significantly.

I am figuring the Chocolate hab will bush out significantly over the next week or so.

Anyway, I guess that's it for this week.

Others were either just sitting there not really growing or looked really pale/sad as well, but, these two overwintered plants had the most dramatic response. And honestly, the plants looked so sad, I didn't take their pictures! haha!

As I mentioned elsewhere at the Forum, I've gone as high as 2 Teaspoons per gallon when my
peppers were still young and putting on growth. I did a couple treatments at that rate and
didn't notice any burning. Now I'm back to 1 Teaspoon per Gallon, once a week, giving each plant
about half a liter of fertilizer solution at a time. At this rate, the nutrients last about one
week, and I typically see some light yellowing on the lowest leaves at day 5 or 6. If I had
the time, I would probably fertilize twice a week at half-strength.

Miracle Gro fertilizer is a fine choice, as long as the Calcium is supplemented.

Josh

BTW, I am not continuing the experiment...I was just trying to find something that worked - and once I found it, I'm sticking with it! ;-)

I don't really know how much more the MG was compared to the FP. I was using 1tsp/gal of FP, and used 1TBSP/gal MG. I have no idea what ppm difference that is. I was just going off the recommended dosages listed on each product.

I certainly learned a lesson! I am also thinking that if I had added some CRF at the beginning like I had considered, I probably wouldn't have had any problems - or not nearly as bad anyway. :-)

Good point on the Calcium. I figured that my next step is to figure out what I'm missing by using MG. Also considered just using FP for regular feedings and MG as a booster every couple weeks or so.

Josh

I am growing the Aji Chinchi Amarillo this year - it is supposed to taste the same as the regular, only smaller. They are similar, but, the Lemon Drop I feel has more citrus than the Amarillo. They are definitely closely related, though.

How does the Aji Crystal compare to the Amarillo? I know you're a fan of the Crystal.

The Aji Crystal is picked when its a bit immature, it's very sweet and citrus-like. Very juicy and fruit like in texture and brightness. I'm going to let a few of the crystals mature all the way to compare flavor and save seeds.

I would also figure that as the sap wood finishes breaking down, less feeding would be needed. Pretty much a 'listen to your plants' schedule.

boil for 20 minutes

blend again

jar it up.

Keeping off topic, how do i pick a ripe papaya? can you recommend any tips?

Josh

Great video Tim. Love the music. I felt like I was on a pepper safari :) Did you ever start any Brainstrains? I thought you did and may have missed them in your jungle.

romy - yes, they are near the beginning I just labeled them 7-pots. There are two in 4" square pots (or maybe they're 3") - one is brain strain (in red) the other is yellow 7-pot. Right behind them in a round 1-gal pot is another brain strain.

I have them all in 5-1-1 and you know how that's been going (at least until the past couple weeks). But, they are looking healthy - just not too big. I plan to overwinter them so I'll be ready next year!

Now, if I had my own band like peppermeister....... ;-)

Plants look great too! So what do you think of the Aji Chinchi Amarillos? Have you had any BER issues with your Guajillos? Both the one at the community garden, and the one here at the house in an Earthbox have had a couple of pods with BER, so I'm wondering if that variety is prone to it? I've had the same problem on the Big Jims.

BTW, I'm still using one of your awesome harvest pics from last year as the wallpaper on my computer, LOL!

I like the Aji Chinchi Amarillos, they are doing well with production compared so some others. They seem to be a little thicker flesh and a little less citrusy than the Lemon Drop. I may or may not plant them again next year...depends on what else I "can't live without" in my limited space. :-)

I have only had 1 ripe Guajillo so far, and I had one fall off the plant yesterday when I was picking Ajis next to it. It looked like some sort of damage, but, not bad. I had some BER on my Big Jims earlier, but, they seem to have pulled through that phase.

Glad you haven't tired of my harvest pic, Bonnie! At the rate things are going, I'm not sure if I'll have that good of one for this year. But, I'm sure I'll give it a good try. :-)

It is a very good thing to be able to "read" plants, as I caught the N deficiency very early in the season and didn't lose any yield. I'm sure everyone learns to do that after growing a few seasons.

I really did think the issue was nutrition at first. Though, my first thought was ph being out of line. I was concerned that the lime I added didn't get mixed thoroughly. So, I added a little more Lime to a few pots and that didn't have an effect. I also increased from the recommended 1/4 strength feeding to full strength (1tsp of FP per gallon). Still didn't seem to make much difference. Then I started thinking it was holding too much water - and that's why they were yellowing. Tried to resolve that...

So, to make a short story long....N / nutrition was my first instinct, I just didn't try hard enough. :-)

I've been growing peppers / hanging out on the forum for several years now, and as you said, still learning.

Here is an updated shot of the chocolate hab and scotch bonnet. Both have recovered very well and are putting out blooms.

As another comparison.... the same plant 1 month apart. The first shot was before any miracle grow, the second after regular feeding with MG and some FP 9-3-6 between times.

and just for fun, here's an overall jungle shot. It's really hard to get a decent pic in this mess - just showing you what I have to work with. Notice how most everything is shaded, and the bright spots are where the sun is peeking through. This was taken around mid-day. About all I get is dappled light with a little window of direct sun light. Those tall plants getting direct sun are Poblanos that are stretched out to about 7' tall. Though they have somewhat bent over from the weight of fruit on them.

7 foot tall Poblanos in zone 5!?!? Were they previously overwintered plants or did you start them fresh? If started fresh, how much you charging for seed ;-)

Yes, in my dappled garden, my Poblano shot for the sky!
I pruned it three times....the last time, I pruned it when it was 6 and a half feet down to 5 feet.

Josh

Yes - I am ready for next year! Next year is going to be the best year EVER!! LOL (isn't that always the way we feel??)

Jamie - the 7-pots are starting to put out a few blooms. None open yet. It's too bad that there won't be time for them to finish. But, I pretty much expected to get little to nothing this year with how late i started them. I really expected to just get a head start on next year. :-)

Not as large a pile as I had hoped so I had to zoom in to try and fill the frame.

There are Thai Hot, Aji Chinchi Amarillo, Guajillo, and Lemon Drops in this pile.

Tim

Nice job.