Gardening: My Tomatoe and Pepper Progress

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beergolf said:
After you ferment them you can use that as a base for different hot sauces. IT will be screaming hot and you can then mix it in other stuff for hot sauce. I often cut up some red or yellow sweet bell peppers and boil them in some vinegar. BLend until smooth and then add enough fermented habs to get to the heat level you like. Carrots are a nice addition also.
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Job done (I think) - habanero mash and cayenne mash, ready for fermenation. I pureed 20 oz of cayennes and put in a couple of jars. Also 20 oz habaneros. I added salt (3.3% by weight). Now the waiting game.

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:rockin:

If the salt doesn't draw enough moisture out of the peppers to submerge them, add a little bottled water. You want an anaerobic environment for the lacto to work in. Mold will grow on the peppers if they're exposed to air.
 
I snapped a few photos this morning while having some coffee and getting ready for work. Our tomatoes are doing well, the peppers suffered every hardship after planting them outside you can imagine. Bugs, mold, a dog pissing on them, I have a half dozen or so left. I am heart broke!

Everything we direct sewed has sprouted, cucumbers, pumpkins, melons, okra and squash. My wife planted some herbs too and they have sprouted although I don't think they are very visible in the picture. She plants them in an old galvanized wash tub. This is pretty popular here in the south, but also popular is planting them in left over plastic containers that cattle feed comes in. She planted thyme, dill, parsley, cilantro and a couple others. We mostly make sure to plant the ones we will need for canning.

My garden is a raised bed, (sort of), that we built. It has a nice treated lumber wooden fence around it. At the moment the spring rains have turned it into a real mud hole and it went from no weeds, to covered in them in less than 2 weeks time. Will do some cultivating soon. Order some neem oil also, it looks like I may need it. I did add quite a bit of cow manure but other than that (and the few hand fulls of bone meal) I never do much else. I do check the pH usually, by mixing 100 grams of DI water with 100 grams of soil. Here in Arkansas almost all of our soil could benefit from some lime, although unless I'm planting onions I don't worry about it too much because it's pretty damn close to perfect where I live. I live in the Arkansas River Valley and the soil is very rich, drains well and has a desirable pH. An old trick if your soil pH is a little on the high side, dump the ashes from your grill in the garden. I will most likely add some 5-5-5 fertilizer when the plants just start to produce, but I never use much.

I am looking forward to the cucumbers so much! I love them just plain, not even peeled. I planted the Burpless hybrid. Pickling cucumbers are nice, as they stay firm when you ferment or can them, but they are gross raw, (tough skin and slightly bitter).

Pass, I wouldn't recommend water bath canning those fermented peppers for dry storage, (not sure if that's what you meant you were going to do after they ferment), in order for them to be technically safe the salt and pH have to be at certain levels. You could safely pressure can them though. Plenty of folks do water bath can fermented veggies, and I think your chances of actually getting sick are about as good as being struck by lightning, just thought I would mention it, I'm sure you've already heard that spill. I don't know if I'll be fermenting any of my peppers this year as I'm barely going to have enough to eat fresh, let alone make salsa. I will ferment cucumbers though, but I will also water bath can some too, along with okra, mmmmmmm love some pickled okra.

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Nice update @estricklin. It snowed here last weekend for three days straight. Glad i didnt plant yet. On this frontage road down the street this guy sells plants in his driveway, they take great care and by the time i get them they are huge so not worried yet. I appreciate the soil talk. Havent messed with mine a whole lot yet. The soil i use is potting mix
 
Here are the pools ready to go. Want to do more lettuce in the one gallon bags. The strawberries have taken over like they do every year and I will pull them like I do every year. Part of me wants to leave them and see what will happen they take up all the space and don't produce anything. Last year real late in the year I stuck a couple beans in one of those 1 gallon pots look how big they got. You can see them in the back they were like 12 feet tall. If I had a 20 foot tall chicken wire setup they would grow that high. I had kale and lettuce where the strawberries were last year and we didn't eat enough of it. Need to actually eat the kale. Happy gardening

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The bags are 7 gallonsish i think so in comparison to the 5 gallon bucket think plus 2 gallons of dirt. Come to have known them as massive really. But the one gallon pots seem to grow little one gallon size plants and the 7 gallon size grow big massive 7 gallon plants. I put a one by two stake in the ground it is 8 feet tall to help stable them but realized right away that I needed a cage at each so I start with a cage on each plant. I'll send a picture. Really would like to put the big 12 foot tall cages on them but they're super expensive. Last year those were heirlooms and they would have grown as tall as I could have got chicken wire up the side of my house I see people grow more husky like patio style tomatoes and I might try that.

I do tie the cages together and plants to the cage. But i think its the pot
 
@staestc are you going to use a Walmart bag with net cups in it On The Rain Gutter system awesome?! I think I've seen pictures where people drilled holes in buckets to create air pruning and/or laundry baskets to. That is awesome work and looks great. Then you put carpet around it and tell people to take their shoes off in your garden :)

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Indeed, with net cups. I just finished drilling it out for them. I drilled holes in one of my buckets too, but with a little more research have blown off the buckets completely and am just going with Walmart bags with net cups.
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6 of them for this test. But if they do as well as I think they will I will do a much bigger one. I have the space. But I'm in Texas, and I'm late in the season to be starting plants because it will be damn hot here soon. Don't care though. Going to give it a try anyway. Peppers and tomatoes. I'm expecting they will out produce what I already have in the ground.
 
@staestc really nice man. Don't be afraid to try some Walmart bags in any containers that will hold an inch of water either. I use slow-release osmocote and that really will make them take off. When you plant them be sure to water the holy cow out of them to get the capillary action started. Like really really really really water them. I guess I'm starting late too but like I said my Nursery takes pretty good care of them I had some corn in a cheap Walmart container that holds 2 bags and they worked just fine but nothing beats self watering I'm sure you will really miss the weeding. I thought this was the best way to go but if you have a huge piece of property it's hard not to put them in the ground it's just too economical. Man can't wait to see your results when I get this year up and running I'll post
 
applescrap said:
@staestc really nice man. ... I'm sure you will really miss the weeding. ...
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Thanks! I was going to finish last night but was ragged out by the time I got home and we had big storms moving through. I looked at my peppers in the ground though, and I have Bermuda invading that needs pulling (huff). I will not miss the weeding! lol :mug:
 
Okay. So trying to finish it before the next round of storms that are supposed to arrive tonight. Put feet on both ends to allow me to level it and provide some stability.
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There is a reason they are shorter than the width of the top that I will get to later. But I need to move it outside now to make room for a car before we likely get more hail.

I did cut the access hole to be able to adjust the float valve. But I don't want to just leave that open because of mosquitoes, so I took leftover pipe and split it, then fitted it over the valve access hole.
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Got it finished enough to move it out of the shop and into its final position. Leveled it and filled it with water. Once I'm done cleaning up the shop to make room for the car I will start loading Walmart "grow bags"! Then maybe I need to buy some plants to go in it! Lol
 
passedpawn said:
Habs are producing a lot of good stuff now. I get at least a quart of red fruit each week from two plants.

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Man words cant, those are beautiful. There is so much mature fruit as well, pretty reds. How long do they go before they need filled at this stage and also before? The reason I am asking is the kiddie pools are difficult to maintain an inch or so of water in because the sides are sloped and are cheap plastic. So I want to maybe just use the floats to fill them all at the same time and then let them be. Well I guess since those are covered it would be different but still curious. Thanks
 
They need filled every day. I don't mind at all (I work from home and enjoy my time with the plants). However, there has to be something better. I'm going to work on Gen 2 of my bucket system. Probably something similar to what Travis is working on above, but with a float valve to keep it full.

I'm super happy with how this has turned out for me. Everything has grown spectacularly.
 
Staestc said:
Okay. So trying to finish it before the next round of storms that are supposed to arrive tonight. Put feet on both ends to allow me to level it and provide some stability.
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There is a reason they are shorter than the width of the top that I will get to later. But I need to move it outside now to make room for a car before we likely get more hail.

I did cut the access hole to be able to adjust the float valve. But I don't want to just leave that open because of mosquitoes, so I took leftover pipe and split it, then fitted it over the valve access hole.
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Awesome work, yeah I have to use mosquito dunks they work good though. So cool. Now I have seen versions where they just lay the pipe in the ground and the bag sits on the ground. Yep here some pics of it and stuff.

I'm like the ones where they make a frame and use pond liner.
 

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passedpawn said:
They need filled every day. I don't mind at all (I work from home and enjoy my time with the plants). However, there has to be something better. I'm going to work on Gen 2 of my bucket system. Probably something similar to what Travis is working on above, but with a float valve to keep it full.

I'm super happy with how this has turned out for me. Everything has grown spectacularly.
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Thank you so much, well I guess I'm going to work on the set up doesn't take a whole lot of adjusting but the brass T's need to be plastic for this application, i will get them online.


I'm a terrible artist but I think I've seen people use slight elevation change with a float on the low end to keep them filled. Or is it float on the high end. Will somebody who's really smart please figure this out for me thanks. I I use one float per pool. But technically one float could run a huge framed Garden area

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passedpawn said:
They need filled every day. I don't mind at all (I work from home and enjoy my time with the plants). However, there has to be something better. I'm going to work on Gen 2 of my bucket system. Probably something similar to what Travis is working on above, but with a float valve to keep it full.

I'm super happy with how this has turned out for me. Everything has grown spectacularly.
Click to expand...

I have the float valve already but have not installed it yet. I will probably use a Homer bucket as a reservoir until I can rig up a rain barrel to one of my down spouts. I can't install the valve yet because I have not had time to head to the store and get the fittings to attach to the valve.

I'm working up plans for something else new for herbs. One thing I need to figure out is how to have a float valve in one place that will turn on water when needed but that water must be delivered to another place. I found some float valves with threaded inputs and outputs that may work, but most of them need a long float arm and a big float ball (think toilets). I will post a picture of my plans when I get one put together. I'm looking at 60 plants in a roughly 4.5' x 1.5' area! And it will be self watering :)

Scrap, where are you getting your bags, like the 7 gallon and 1 gallon ones you mentioned above?
 
I got a really good deal on the one gallon and 3 gallon root bags from a store in Denver that I think didn't know what they had. I think the company is called root pouch or root bag bag. The seven gallon bags are Walmart bags. They make hundred gallon bags too all the way down to one. They are rated by the thickness of the material some are really thin some are thick. The 7 gallon bags are Walmart grocery bags. Those aren't the right floats , the floats you need are the kerick floats. They are used in acid tanks and are diesel. There are two kinds one with a slip on fitting, one with screw on. The slip on fitting is the one for daisy chaining

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I have a Kerick float for the one I'm building currently. The ones I need are unfortunately 24V electric switches. But I can't figure out how to build this new thing without electricity! Yet. Still designing.
 
Staestc said:
I have a Kerick float for the one I'm building currently. The ones I need are unfortunately 24V electric switches. But I can't figure out how to build this new thing without electricity! Yet. Still designing.
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If you have water pressure and a float valve, you don't need electricity. At least that's my stance until I understand what you're really trying to do :)

I used a Kent float valve for my fish tank for 20 years. Never failed. At one time I had it tied to 60psi and it kept a sump full all the time.
 
@passedpawn I'll explain it shortly. Okay, how about now! Lol But I've thought about it a great deal. I'll have 10 or more pipes all at different elevations and each with different plants with potentially different water usage. It is easy to fill everything up and know that they are all full. I toyed with the idea of just putting a float valve in the lowest pipe and once it trips it would deliver water to the whole stack until the lowest pipe with the switch is full, which means every other level is full. But if I have plants at some middle level that are high water demand plants, they could well go dry before some low water demand plants in the lowest tube with the float switch used up enough water to flip the switch and refill the whole stack. The only inexpensive way to fix that is to monitor the water level in all pipes, turn on the water when any one gets low, and refill the whole stack. Lol. Ravings of a mad man!
Here is the concept:
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60 plants or more or less, depending on what size plants, in a 4.5 x 2 foot space. I need to remove two of the wheels, or use locking casters, but you need to be able to turn the thing around to make sure all plants get their share of sun.
 
Staestc said:
@passedpawn I'll explain it shortly. Okay, how about now! Lol But I've thought about it a great deal. I'll have 10 or more pipes all at different elevations and each with different plants with potentially different water usage. It is easy to fill everything up and know that they are all full. I toyed with the idea of just putting a float valve in the lowest pipe and once it trips it would deliver water to the whole stack until the lowest pipe with the switch is full, which means every other level is full. But if I have plants at some middle level that are high water demand plants, they could well go dry before some low water demand plants in the lowest tube with the float switch used up enough water to flip the switch and refill the whole stack. The only inexpensive way to fix that is to monitor the water level in all pipes, turn on the water when any one gets low, and refill the whole stack. Lol. Ravings of a mad man!
Here is the concept:
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60 plants or more or less, depending on what size plants, in a 4.5 x 2 foot space. I need to remove two of the wheels, or use locking casters, but you need to be able to turn the thing around to make sure all plants get their share of sun.
Click to expand...

I'd just do a continuous loop, keep if flowing 24/7 with a small submersible pump to all the levels. Loop feeds from your reservoir which maintains level with float valve. Man, I want to do that myself!
 
Like I said. Electricity! Lol. I'm an aquarium guy too. Or at least I was. 38 hobbies ago. Continuos circulation has merit and simplifies the system though. I will have to think about that. It may be possible to raise the water to the top just by aerating it in the riser pipe/line. If that would work it has potential, plus the benefit of aerated water for the plants. I don't want to run a water pump all day everyday though. Need to keep thinking on this one.
 
That strawberry wall is awesome!

The Kerick float valves won't work with typical garden hose pressures so I would need a water pressure reducer or a water storage container that's above the highest pipe. I could put a tank on the bottom that's big enough for a bigger float valve that will work at 40-90 psi water pressures but it would not sense when the pipes are low. A float tank on top that keeps itself full at hose pressures and a Kerick valve in each pipe would work if the top tank can be made small enough to not make the thing too unstable.

With electricity I can cheaply put a 24V float switch in each pipe wired to a 24V sprinkler valve and run it off a 24V sprinkler transformer, but you have to be near an outdoor electrical outlet. If I blow off the outdoor outlet, I could use 2 12v batteries big enough to run the sprinkler valve (think small batteries not car batteries) and mount a small solar panel on top to trickle charge the batteries! Lol. Getting expensive then!
 
I am definitely going to be moving some of my peppers to buckets at the end of the growing season!

I've got to do some weeding this weekend and I will post some more pics. For now my night shades still don't have any blooms. :(
 
Staestc said:
That strawberry wall is awesome!

The Kerick float valves won't work with typical garden hose pressures so I would need a water pressure reducer or a water storage container that's above the highest pipe. I could put a tank on the bottom that's big enough for a bigger float valve that will work at 40-90 psi water pressures but it would not sense when the pipes are low. A float tank on top that keeps itself full at hose pressures and a Kerick valve in each pipe would work if the top tank can be made small enough to not make the thing too unstable.

With electricity I can cheaply put a 24V float switch in each pipe wired to a 24V sprinkler valve and run it off a 24V sprinkler transformer, but you have to be near an outdoor electrical outlet. If I blow off the outdoor outlet, I could use 2 12v batteries big enough to run the sprinkler valve (think small batteries not car batteries) and mount a small solar panel on top to trickle charge the batteries! Lol. Getting expensive then!
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I'm sorry I'm not sure I'm understanding I use 5 of them in a daisy chain with T,s on very powerful water pressure, what am I not understanding
 
applescrap said:
I'm sorry I'm not sure I'm understanding I use 5 of them in a daisy chain with T,s on very powerful water pressure, what am I not understanding
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After I wrote that I went looking for float valves that will work at the pressure of urban waterlines and it turns out that Kerick makes them too and that they all look about the same. They are different though. Ones for higher pressure lines have different valve geometries and use larger floats and rods to move the float away from the valve for more leverage.

Something I read lead me to believe that the smaller valves with the built in floats were not capable shutting off 50 psi water pressure. They will survive up to 100 psi but they can't shut it off. That could be completely wrong and all the valves they offer may work fine with city pressures.

Control Devices, LLC now owns Kerick and their web site is crappy as far as maximum working pressures. They list flow rates though. It could be that plumbing designers just know that if a float valve list a flow rate for 100 psi then it can shut off 100 psi.

Any idea what model valves you have are Scrap?
 
I can find out for you later today but by the time you hook up the adapter and run one quarter inch line to it does that lower PSI? Also the garden hose to one-quarter inch adapter is split, so you can just turn water pressure down there as well. These don't just shut off they shut off with authority I think this is an non-issue but I will get you the model
 
Yeah there's no way the pressure in that quarter inch line is the same as the garden hose right?
 

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