I'll give it a shot, Josh. Yes, I'll be using the same container. It did rain like crazy the night before this picture, but I was wondering about the moisture when I took it out.

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

Tsheets, that sounds like a plan.
You might also consider adding a wick through a drainhole, and then elevating the container
so that it has about 2 - 3 inches dangling. This ought to eliminate any excess water in the
lower layers, which should help aeration tremendously. Can't hurt, but could really help.

Josh

I wish I would have seen the response earlier! I added a bunch of perlite to that one in particular and a couple of other small plants in 4" containers that have been very slow growing. I may try to stuff one in using a skewer. :-)

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 managed to use a skewer to stuff some wicks into a few pots. I just used strips of old shirts that I use to tie plants to their supports. Nothing too fancy. I checked them this morning and two of the larger pots had soaking drenched wicks sticking out the bottom. The suave orange wasn't wet, but, it could be from re-mixing it and better air circulation. I imagine this will help greatly. :-)

Time for an update.

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.

they look great! It's wonderful how peppers can bounce back...

Glad to see your plants are on the rebound Tim. That lemon drop is one tasty pepper. I suggest lemon sauce. It is sweet:)

Thanks, guys! I really like the lemon drop peppers. Nice citrusy / bright flavor. @Jamie - do you have a recipe for lemon sauce? Sounds like something I should try. :-)

It's been a few weeks, so I thought I'd update my little grow log.

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.

Well done! Great saves, by the way!
I look forward to seeing how they progress over the next month!

Josh

A few pics to brighten your weekend....

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).

Nice plants, and very clear pics!!

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 ;)

Everything on the table is in 5-1-1 except the large Suave Orange. Everything else in the background is in-ground.

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. ;-)

Yea, its odd, your plant in the potting mix is looking the best. I have tryed the 5-1-1 too, and I just stay with potting soil for my outside container garden. ;)

I don't know if it is just me, or the lighting was good the day you took those, but is that a really nice camera you are using? I have an ok Canon and the pics are not as clear as yours. What kind of camera?

I have a Canon 7D DSLR. It's a pretty nice camera!

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.

This week I have a pic of some nice Pasilla Bajio pods that have set. They are very dark green. I bet they would be almost black if I had more direct sunlight (lots of dappled shade).

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.

Excellent experiment. Let us know in couple weeks if that Chocolate Hab starts to look like the Scotch Bonnet.
Bruce

Will do, Bruce! A couple of weeks ago, the Scotch Bonnet looked like the Chocolate Hab. :-)

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!

I agree with Bruce, an excellent experiment!
This demonstrates nicely how important nutrition is in a soil-less mix using bark as the base.
And it's also a great caveat on how variable bark can be.

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

Thanks, 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.

I definitely recommend a CRF as a "starter charge" while your plants are transitioning
to their final containers. Just remember, the CRF isn't going to last as long as advertised,
due to the way we water this mix. I actually prefer a light dose of CRF so that I can be
sure it is used up by the time my plants are setting fruit.

Josh

Thanks, yes, Peppermeister, I like the Lemon Drops. I have made sauce with them, add them to salsa, dry and powder them in whatever mix, even added them (powdered) to sugar cookies. :-)

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.

Very cool Tsheets, I've had aji amarillo paste from the the latin grocer nearby, it's quite an addictive flavor.

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 agree about the CRF in 5:1:1. I find if I get pine bark that contains sapwood, and or is not as composted as I would like, I add high nitrogen CRF. This was the case for me this year, as I was unable to get the good bark I normally use, and had a bit of yellowing early on using the less composted bark. The addition of CRF has totally resolved that issue, and I've continued using it in new mixes I've made throughout the summer. The bark does make a difference, but is easily resolved.

I should note though that even when using CRF to deal with uncomposted bark, I still do additional fertilizatin as required by the plants since the N: in the CRF is being used up by the uncomposted bark. I don't have to fertilize as often, but I still have to at times.

Thanks, Capoman! That was kind of my logic in thinking to do regular feedings with FP and use the MG "as needed".

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.

Tim. Sorry for the delay on the sauce. I have made my aji lemon sauce many ways. My favorite is this.
1 papaya
10 aji lemons( less for less heat )
3 table spoons of white vinegar
1 table spoon sugar
dash of salt
3 tablespoons of lemon juice
1/2 cup of water
splash of garlic powder
quick shake of sage
quick shake of dill
Blend

boil for 20 minutes

blend again

jar it up.

Thanks romy!!! Just so happens I have a handful of lemon drops ready to harvest! :-)

Romy6: I just used your recipe as the framework for a new sauce I just had on some spicy lettuce wraps.
I used 1 ripe mango instead of the papaya and I used Beni Highlands instead of aji limon. I used lime juice instead of lemon. Your ratios are perfect, I was able to omit the sugar since the mango was super sweet. I even had some fresh sage and dill growing in the backyard so it was excellent. Great sweetness and wonderful heat. Thanks for sharing.

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

Here is a link that might be useful: Peppermeister's Video Garden Update - Youtube

I decided to jump on the video bandwagon. :-)

Here is a link that might be useful: My First Pepper Video

Great video! I like the flow in your garden. Real clean :-)

Josh

Glad you enjoyed the recipe. You can substitute just abouy any fruit and come up with a delightful sauce. Try using a 2 granny smith apples peeled apples and substitute cinnamon for the sugar with the same ingredients to get a super sweet hotsauce. I call it apple pie hot sauce. Oh and my wife picks out the fruit so I will try to get her expert advice on that. Usually nice and orange with a soft feel but not too soft. But don't quote me.

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.

Thanks, guys! Some parts were a little choppy / too short a segment, but, I was trying to edit out the the excess to keep the video down to a short couple of minutes or less. I did some clips where I narrated, but, didn't really like how they came out. Trying to focus on too many things. haha!

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!

Oh, and I thought the "jungle' music was somehow appropriate. :-) I just searched the web for royalty free music and found that piece and followed the guy's instructions to give proper credit.

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

What a great video Tim!
The music really set the tone. At times, I felt like it was being filmed from a helicopter over a pepper forest. Great looking plants. Nice editing too, It's not easy keeping these pepper vids to a reasonable length.
Great job.

Here is a link that might be useful: Peppermeister's Video Garden Update

Great job on the video, Tim! Loved the tribal music, and the way you edited the pictures together. Makes mine look pretty amateurish!

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!

Thanks for the encouraging comments on the video everyone!

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. :-)

tsheets: to refer to your earlier post, you are right that you'll need to use less fertilizer as time passes, and I suspect you are also right that it is because of the breakdown of sapwood and uncomposted bark. One thing I have done on several plants is to freshen up the CRF during fruiting with a lower nitrogen version, which has basically eliminated fertilizing with no burn. I think I may use this low maintenance strategy with the 5:1:1 next year as it worked very well. I like the reduction in maintenance I get from using CRF's. It's much easier to water without fertilizer then with, as constant weak fertilization is a lot of work, and I keep making my gardens larger. CRF's seem to fertilize in the same matter rather then using large doses at long intervals that is not the best for the plants.

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.

Thanks, Capoman! The number of pots I have is small enough that watering/feeding isn't much of a problem for me, but, less work is certainly better!

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.

Time for an update. :-)

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.

That's quite a jungle you're growing there tsheets.

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 ;-)

They were started this year, ottawa. It's what happens when you grow in the shade...think leggy seedlings x 1,000 ;-)

Beauty!
Next year, a slightly more coarse mix and heavier nutrition up front, consistently.

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

Looking good Timbo. Keep your grow on!!!!!

Thanks guys!

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. :-)

I picked some peppers this past week.

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.

Regardless of the number, those are beautiful peppers. It's nice to see such a variety of colors. Makes for a beautiful photo. Well done sir!

Tim

That's one beautiful shot! I love the bright colors.

Nice job.