I pushed it this year, planting two weeks before Memorial Day weekend. Usually, it's that weekend or the one before. Feels good to be getting it going, doesn't it?!! :-)

Ottawa: Do you mix the promix with anything else or do you use it straight up? What is the composition of Promix BX?
Bruce

Bruce, I top dress it with approximately an inch of compost but otherwise use it straight up. It's mostly peat based with other additives (tech sheet linked below).

BX is the Pro-Mix that incorporates Mycorrhizae. I've used other pre packaged mixes from Premiertech and others but by far, in my experience, the BX produces the best root system and more robust plants.

Here is a link that might be useful: Pro-Mix BX

Thanks Ottawa:
I am using Fafard 52 this year. I am mixing it with Perlite and Pine bark at a rate of about 4-1-1. It already has some bark and perlite in it but like Promix is primarily peat.

Here is the list for Fafard 52:
ITEM# DESCRIPTION INGREDIENTS
65-1585 Fafard #52 Mix 2.8CF
24% Peat Moss
8% Perlite
8% Vermiculite
60% Bark

At that rate, I would think it would be great for peppers but it seems to hold a lot more moisture than something with 60% bark. Even with the bark and perlite that I add, it doesn't drain like I would expect.

But I am no expert and maybe it will be great. I hope so. It looks like I may have some extra left over this year too.
Bruce.

I'm just jealous. After 4 days or so of mid-70s weather, we are down to a high of 55F Thursday, 48F Friday, 55F Saturday, then warming. Hardening off is abandoned - my peppers have all retreated to back under my grow lights. Zone 3 is really not the place for peppers, but I'm trying.

Nice, time to get into the Garden! :-)

Josh

So, if I buy this pro-mix stuff, I don't have to sift pine bark and do the 5-1-1 thing? Any other helpful hints I should know about?HA

don555, I grew up in zone 3A and we never could get peppers or eggplants to do well no matter how hard we tried. Now tomatoes were another story, we had around 1000 plants a year and sold to the local stores. We decided to retire down in zone 8 ...now I've been trying my darnest to grow rhubarb!!

Bill, I agree with others, can't wait for your review. You've a fun grow list.

Just got back from my friendly garden center and alas, Premier Tech (producers of my go to potting mix Pro-Mix BX) have decided to save a few cents and mess with the product formula by eliminating the inclusion of Mycorrhizae.

Mycorrhizae was the reason I and I'm sure many many others purchased it to begin with. I snagged a couple of bails of the old formula before they sold out. I won't be buying any of the new BX even though it now comes in new nifty black plastic wrap with silver grey print.

Hopefully they suffer a "New Coke" moment and revert back to the original formula that made it popular. If not, I'll be re-joining you mix your own enthusiasts.

Nice stuff, Ottawa.

Set out 35 plants the last weekend in my raised beds. Worked till yesterday and went to check on them. Some critter dug most of them out, burying many in the process. Thinking the Tomatoes Alive natural fertilizer I placed at the bottom of the plants got the critter going. Lost 2 of my 5 Jamaican Hot Chocolates.

Anyone else had a similar experience?

Watching the conference finals, Ottawa? The Kings are scary looking right now, bro. What do you think?

I have problems with squirrels digging up my plants or digging holes exposing roots, though I think something bigger is trying to get at the ferts you placed at the bottom of your plants, hopefully it was a one time deal or you may need to get rid of the problem, shotgun?

Hi folks,

Two months since my original post and not much exciting to report. I've managed to keep all my babies alive - some barely due to heat/humidity and earwigs. All the plants except two or three are putting out a good crop of pods. I'll try to get some shots to post in the next couple of days.

Watering and shading has got me through a few 100F+ days, diatomaeceous earth has some what helped keep earwigs at bay. The earwigs this year have been my biggest problem... they're insidious bastards.

Here's a shot of a few Christmas Bell leaves. A third of the plant looks like these. The white powder some of the diatomaeceous earth.

Here's a shot of a Black Cuban that got decimated early after planting. It's just starting to come back now. It should have been four times this size and fruiting by now.

I can't blame earwigs for all the damage caused this year. I helped out by pulling a bonehead move. We have a tank-less water heater, basically a mini blast furnace that heats water on demand. These systems exhaust hot gas through a jet like nozzle outside.

While rearranging plants one evening I left a Takanotsume pepper right in the line of fire. Took a shower the next morning and the result was:

If I make this mistake again I'm going to have to use the diatomaeceous earth on myself!

Later,

Bill

Bill, Have you had any problems with deer? They've eaten the tops off all of my peppers and left the beans & tomatoes alone. I sprayed with Liquid Fence and haven't seen any damage since. The plants now have new growth, so maybe I'll still get ripe peppers before frost.
John A

john11840,

No, I haven't had any deer problem, just earwigs.

Buy hey, on the positive side you can eat deer. I'm told earwigs taste terrible... just sayin I heard.

I wish you luck my friend for some harvest before frost.

Bill

Well it is nice to see even a master can be human :) LOL

Thanks for the update Bill.

Jamie

;-)) Jamie, you're being very generous.

If I'm a master at anything it's disasters!

Your plants are looking great Bill. Your a great source of motivation to us new guys! I don't know where I would be without you and the other members here. I just hope when it's all said and done, I have enough pods to justify the generous donation you made with your seed donation. Us new guys can only hope to aspire to the level of you old salty dogs! :)

Well, since Josh took the time to update his 2012 thread I figured I better suck it up and head out into the heat to update mine. Heck, it cooled down to 87F (101F with the Humidex).

This has not been my best year. My plants seemed to be having a bit of a tough time with the extended high temps and humidity. Like Josh I have cut back on my feeding. My plants would normally be larger by this point. If we get a normal fall up here then I should have a couple more months to catch up.

In no particular order, I crammed a few pots together for some family portraits ;-)

From left to right...

Piri Piri; Takanotsume; Twilight and Thai.
The Thai should be in a larger pot. It got creamed by earwigs early on while still in a 3 inch pot and I didn't think it would make it.

Jalapeno; another Takanotsume; a Black Cuban/Twilight cross and a Yellow Jelly Bean.

Trinidad Scorpion FG and a Poblano (needing water)

part of the same Poblano; Chimayo; Bonda ma Jacques and 7 Pot Jonah.

Billy Goat; 7-Pot; TS Douglah and Datil

The Takanotsume I fried and a Trinidad Scorpion hit by earwigs in rehab.

I'm finding the Black Cuban/Twilight cross interesting. The pods started dark purple/black like the Cuban but their shape is the normal Twilight. In this shot it looks like some pods are starting to turn red, again like a Cuban black to red not the five colour transition you see on a Twilight. Overall the plant is growing like a Twilight.

I have another 15 pots to photograph. I'll try to get the rest of my update done in the next few days. I'll also try to get some pod shots.

Later,

Bill

Nice update, Bill! Everybody is so lush!!

Here's the next nine plants. Sorry if some aren't too clear, I grabbed the shots this AM before heading out. I only had one coffee in me ;-)

Trinidad Scorpion and a TS ButchT

Nagabon

Fatili

Bhut Jolokia

Aji Cito

7 Pot

Christmas Bell

Last but not least, one of the four Edymnion's mutant NuMex Halloween I grew out

No pods yet on my Scorpions and Jolokias.

Eight more plants to go, I'll try to get the shots and post them later today (if you folks are tired of the updates yet).

Bill

Good to see yours are growing lobed fruit as well.

Edymnion, the lobed fruit on your plants are doing better than the sorry looking lobed Bells in my garden ;-)

Well then, allow me to take credit for their success, despite having little to nothing to actually do with it. =P

Hey good work.

Your plants look great.

You have a nice looking collection there Bill. Geez....just when I thought I was doing good, you had to go and show off! :)Hopefully I can post an update soon. I did try a few pods green yesterday. I was surprised at how hot the red savina was considering it wasn't ripe yet. I've had excellent results with all the seeds you donated. Thanks again.

Those Plants are looking awesome! I see where I went wrong need all of my plants to be in bigger pots lol. The Christmas bell pod is looking strange looks like a saucer or something please do post once its ripened would like to see what it looks like. Its nice to see so many pods already at this stage of the season.

Mark

Fantastic! Let's see the rest of 'em! ;-)

Are those 7 Pot pods the ones that are shaping up differently?

Josh

Just picture those 7 pot with Bhut skin and more rounded instead of a point at the tip. I am growing from seed Bill sent to me and in my thread I have a pic of the pod that he identified as the 7pot Jonah that are shaped differently.

If anyone would have told me a year ago I would be sitting here eating peppers for breakfast while looking at pictures of pepper plants, I would have called them crazy!

The plants look great. I'm with peppernovice here, you're my pepper hero! (Not sure he went THAT far!) Definitely motivating.

Thanks Lorabell (blush).

Mark, the Christmas Bell pod is resting on a cage bar. The shot is of the bottom of the developing pod.

It's growing true like others I've grown in the past. Here's a couple of shots of a Bishop Crown (aka Christmas Bell aka Uba Tuba aka a dozen plus other names) I grew four years ago.

Josh, no, they're not the same ones. I'm starting to doubt the 7 Pot seeds as well. The skin is starting to develop blisters though.

Here's a couple of better shots of the 7 Pot pods.

I'll post my last set of pictures shortly.

Bill, other than the shape, what is unique about the Bishop Crown / Christmas Bell / Uba Tuba?

It's a very cool looking pepper. But, what do you use it for? How hot? Flavor, etc..?

My last set of update pictures for July. Looking at the quality of my shots in full size I'm now looking forward to my eye exam next month... I need new glasses.

Bhut Jolokia-Chocolate and a Dorset Naga

Bih Jolokia

Billy Goat and Scotch Bonnet-Chocolate

Kurtovska Kapija and Bulgarian Spicy

TS Morouga

Last and definitely least, my sorry looking Bell peppers

That's it folks until I get some ripe pods.

Return your seats to their upright position, fasten your seat belts and prepare for August.

tsheets,

The Christmas Bell is one of my favorite two bite popper pepper. It has a warm not hot heat, a nice crunch and tangy flavour.

I like them for mini stuffing peppers because you can get your stuffing down into the lobes. Really great stuffed with some chorizo and queso fresco!

Thanks, Bill! I'll add them to my list of possible new strains for next year. peppermania lists them and describes them as sweet, mild with little to no heat.

August so a short update...

My first (puny) harvest; Bulgarian Spicy; stunted Datils (the rest are coming in normal size) and what I thought was a Fatili.

I grew out three Fatail from seeds received from another member. Two are growing true yellow, this one is more orange/red. I know there is a red Fatali variety but I'm not sure if this is it. I'm still trying to figure out who sent the seed so I can ask.

It's been a bit of a strange season for me on a number of fronts. This year, for the first time growing them, I have a Jolokia ripening up before a lot of others. Usually they're the last to turn. Here's a shot of my Bih Jolokia.

That's some good looking plants and pods Bill. I know the bih isn't supposed to be as hot, but that guy looks like it would hurt you! I have my first 7 pot JF turning red, so I'll feel the heat real soon. I have one bhut jolokia that has just a splash of red. I think with in a few weeks, I'll have more pods than I can handle. Thanks again for all the help. I know I've been a bit of a pain. I promise to do better in the future. :)Good luck!

Tim

Wonderful for a first harvest...way better than mine ;-)

Peppernovice, other than some slight morphological variation, I can't tell any
difference in heat between Bhut and Bih Jolokia. One of my friends, in fact, declared
last year's Bihs to be the hottest of the superhots I grew (Yellow scorpion, Bhut, Bih, Dorset, Morich).

Josh

NIce colors on those peppers!!!

Bulgarian Spicy Datils? Which one are those? I never heard of that.

What Josh said re. Bih and Bhuts.

TheMasterGardener1, They are two different peppers; Bulgarian Spicy and Datil.

Well I'm glad you guys straightened me out before I grabbed a bih and melted my tongue. I'm starting to learn you should never underestimate a pepper. It seems no matter what you think you know, any pod has the potential to bring the heat.

Tim

One thing I clearly learned about heat in peppers. The inside white stuff and seeds is much, much hotter than the flesh. I had heard this before but the other day, I cut open a jalapeno and cut out the pepper flesh between the whitish pulp and tasted it. I was expecting heat but it was barely hotter than a bell although the taste was different than a bell. Then I decided to see if indeed the white pulp was hotter than the fleshy part and sure enough, it had plenty of heat...for a Jalapeno anyway. Plenty hot for my tongue. If you are going to test a pepper, I suggest you start with a piece of the colored flesh to start. But even Bhut or Bih or whatever will probably light you up with just the fleshy part.

Bruce

O yea, the "pith" is the hottest part :)

I pulled my first ripe Bonda ma Jacques today.

This is my first time growing them. If the first pod is any indication of the rest then I'd say it has a Habanero mouth burn but really nails the back of your throat. I was expecting more fruity taste than was present. I'll update if future pods impress me more.

I also seeded a few Bulgarian Spicy pods today. Overall, not really a remarkable pepper. It has a milder than Cayenne heat and taste with loads of seeds. Actually as I was munching one I found myself spitting seeds ;-)

Here are some updated shots of my Black Cuban / NuMex Twilingt cross. The flowers and pods have the colour charistics of the Cuban but plant and pod shape are classic Twilight. Interesting how the pods start out black and then take on an olive green colour before ripening red.

Here are a couple of shots taken earlier this summer. I didn't have time (ok I wasn't fast enough) to wrap any plant I wanted to collect seed from in a mesh row cover. I ended up just wrapping branch ends where buds hadn't flowered yet.

My main objective is to keep pollinators away. You can see from this close up of the mesh that it won't effectively block all blowing pollen but I'm comfortable that plant spacing and mesh eliminates 99% chance of crosses.

Just for fun I tried the carpenters glue method of keeping pods true. Basically, the theory is gluing the bud before it flowers stops it from flowering and the bud self pollinates and as the pod develops it pushes the glue off.

Well, I call this theory busted. I glued and tagged four buds and within a few days all had flowers ;-))

That's it for now. Sorry if I bored anyone ;-)

GREAT JOB my friend.
We can all learn a lot from you.
Fiery Regards,
Pepper Joe

Just another short update...

Here's my latest harvest picked today. Still waiting on my other 20 odd varieties to ripen up.

Going clockwise:

- Top: Maybe a red Fatalli (can't track down my seed source to find out if yellow and red seeds were sent);
- Aji Cito - not. Again, traded seed and they are not coming in yellow/orange as expected. The pods look similar to the Bulgarian Spicy but the leaf shape and pod flavour are distinctly different;
- A lone 7 Pot Jonah whatever;
- Datils;
- Bulgarian Spicy;
- Bonde ma Jacques;
- Center: TS Moruga (should have ripened more but I got sauce to make!).

The drought we had this summer knocked earwigs out of commission but with the minimal rain we've had the last few weeks has brought them back.

The few that resurfaced seem to have taken a liking to my Bih Jolokia and TS Douglah.

That's it for now.

This thread is getting long so next update will be in a part 2 thread.

Bill

Ottawapepper: Beautiful harvest! I also feel like we could all learn a lot from you but i can't find a giant pic of my face to really nail that point home. Looking forward to Part Deux.

That earwig damage looks like the damage on some of my neighbor's pods. What do you use to kill those bastards?

Fiery-er Regards,
Peppermeister

Here is a link that might be useful: PEPPERMEISTER! Hot Pepper Gardening, Recipes and Chile Info

Very colorful plate!

Yeah, how do you get rid of them? :-)

I hate earwigs....

I'm sure Bill has his own methods of control, but I'll share one of mine in the meantime.
I roll up newspaper or use a cardboard tube (pvc pipe, too), spritz it with water, and leave
it on the ground near my plants. At dawn, the earwigs retreat to the tube to hide for the day.
In the morning, I dump the tubes into a bucket of water.

Josh

Greenman,

That is brilliant!

Thread continued HERE.