WOW I must say those plants look impressive. They put mine to shame. Mine are still so small but all of them have blossoms which is great. My one 7 pot in a pot is almost dead. I seem to be having more issues this year than last so far. Joys of trying new ways of growing! Here is a pic of my biggest habanero in which I thought was doing well but not compared to yours!

Yes, things are looking great for you! I'm getting jealous of those Big Jim's! Last year I smoked then dehydrated some Guajillo's and they make an awesome powder.

You sure picked strange partners for some of the potted ones, one tall plant, one short plant. haha!

As far as the unhappy ones, I don't know the exact cause, but, I'd bet it has something to do with the medium they are in. Maybe the lime didn't get distributed evenly and there is too much or not enough in that particular bit of mix or something. Sometimes I think just a really unfortunately placed sliver of sap wood or something right up against the roots can cause distress. I don't know. But, many times it seems like the cure-all is to repot into fresh mix. Kind of like rebooting windows to fix whatever the problem is with the computer acting up. :-)

Very nice plants except the Bhuts, sorry Kevin I am not very diplomatic. I have 7 pod too but they look like Bhut, I am expecting their real shape. Your 7 pot are very nice.

Caelian

Fantastic progress, and really well ahead of schedule! My in-ground plants are babies by comparison. All the pods look great. Your Arbol is the same type that I've grown in the past and have enjoyed immensely...medium-hot, smoky, and flavorful.

For the struggling plants, I'm not sure the cause. I know that my own plants had a difficult start due to my under-feeding. Now that I've supplemented with Epsom Salt, and have increased fertilization overall, the plants are responding as I'd hoped.

Josh

Hillseeker: Thanks. Happy for the most part(the strugglers have me miffed a tad). That plant looks healthy though -- looks like it's ready to take off.

tsheets: Thanks. Yeah.. Picked a few last night and threw them in some spaghetti sauce for a change-up-- pretty good stuff. Agreed about the Guajillos -- anybody that like Mexican food and aren't using these in their arsenal are not having GOOD Mexican food. I just dry them though -- toast them up and then reconstitute in boiling water, blender , and add the pepper slurry to a multitude of dishes.

In regards to the "partnerships." There's a method to my madness --the annuum grows taller and slimmer while the chinense grows bushy...this way there's a bit more room for the chinense to sprawl.

Regarding the strugglers --- I don't know either. I was hoping you guys could help. I don't think it's the mix(composted the bark, mixed and wet it and let "acclimate" for a good 2 weeks before potting. However, I do think it's a nutrient issue, which means it just may be the mix. I was hoping not to have to repot - they're pretty well established now.

caelian: Thanks and no problem on the honesty. Now tell me how to get my Bhuts as pretty as yours! :P

Josh: Thanks for the props -- mean a lot. Btw, your plants are looking much better themselves. Did yours exhibit the same discoloring and overall haggardness? Did you use the GreenAll MicroBark this year? How much epsom and what frequency? Same question regarding the FERTS.

Thanks All.

Kevin

Bhuts! we are in the same boat :-) My bhuts are not so good.

I like some Bhut red most of my Bhuts are orange and yellow. They are not very big. The biggest one is about 45cm tall and started podding. Still I consider they are not doing very well and I am looking for my mistakes of growing it.

Caelian

Kevin, I did use Greenall and "Orchid Bark" (from the same supplier).

With the Epsom Salts, I used 1/2 teaspoon per gallon on the first treatment, and 1/4 teaspoon per gallon on the second treatment, about two weeks apart. I gave each plant a liter of the solution.

I've been fertilizing 1 teaspoon Foliage Pro, once a week, a liter of solution on each container. For the past two weeks, however, I've increased the dose to 1.5 teaspoons per gallon.

Josh

Kevin,

How much sun are they getting daily? Reason I ask is that here in Central Louisiana the past 3-4 weeks have been in the low-mid 90's with 90% + humidity and mine looked good, but as soon as I reduced the sunlight by 30% WOW they have taken off like I never would have expected.

I also believe the sun light to be true as my back yard faces East and my front yard faces west. All my backyard East facing plants are triple the size of my West facing plants. Same type mediums, water, fert regiments. Only difference is the amount of daily sun.

Also, it looks like you have a lot of sap wood in some of the pictures.

Bill

Bill: No more sun than the other container plants. It's just a few of the 5-1-1 container plants that seem that way. If you notice, the ones in the oak barrels are doing pretty good-- different medium entirely. Dunno...maybe the ones in the smaller containers are just getting too warm. Maybe I'll get out there with a thermometer tomorrow and check. I might be able to relocate them to only get sun until about 3pm or on the patio where it would be all day PARTIAL sun.

Regarding the sapwood -- that's just some MULCH that I had left over from last year that ended up not being usable for soil mix. It's not incorporated in any way. You are the first to pick up on that though.

Thanks.

Kevin

A very modest early picking. Enough to make a bowl of salsa fresca though.

Kevin

Yessir! A little white onion, cilantro, lime juice....

Josh

That's a nice harvest! Whatever you're doing, the plants seems to be responding to it, so keep doing it!

Tim

Josh: you got it. Not my elaborate fire roasted salsa, but salsa fresca works in a pinch. Ohh.. by the way, about chiles de arboles -- one of my all-time favorites. Pretty much worthless when green, but very versatile when ripened and dried. And super prolific.

Thanks Tim. Happy for the most part so far this season, but I'm still trying to get my superhots to look as good as yours and others.

Kevin

I'd be having me some green-chili cheese-burgers to go with that salsa! :-)

Great looking plants! I could not imagine filling those 1/2 wiskey barrels with any potting mix, maybe just one but no more. I do like the way those in ground peppers are growing. Nice early harvest and great choice of use Salsa! Makes me want to venture off and grow tomato's and onions :)

I have lots of flowers on my super hot/hot, a few pods set but the current heat and this weeks outlook, my plants will be dropping more flowers.

Mark

Beautifiul - I am sooo envious. Reading about some people drying them now has me on another mission- to find out how to do that too. Always learning new things.
Enjoy your harvest!

Tsheets: those will be a coming!

Mark: Thanks! I aspire to grow mine to look as good as yours. Yeah.. the 1st time I filled my 1st 2 barrels, I made a decision right there to buy potting mix, compost and perlite in bulk. Quite reasonable when I started doing that.

Lori: Many just get a cheap dehydrator. I air dry all mine but I don't have nearly the humidity issues many others do. You gotta get into drying. Totally changes the flavor profile when ripened to final colors and dried.

Thanks again all.

Kevin

Some 4th of July eats!

Toms, Serranos, Jalapenos, and Big Jims.

{{gwi:75669}}

Have a great 4th Everybody!

Kevin

Awesome. I hope to reach that stage of harvest by September.

Those look fantastic, have a great holiday!

Happy Fourth!
Great harvest...enjoy!

Josh