Gardening: My Tomatoe and Pepper Progress

[user 211287]

No, these

 

[501irishred]

Mother nature just wouldn't let well enough alone. One last freeze last week and now hopefully all clear. If it keeps raining like this, however, I think next year I'll look into growing duckweed and water lilies.

 

[user 211287]

Im getting close to being able to put mine it outside pots but we had a frost just the other day too. My rocotos could handle it as long as i cover them but pretty much all my others hate the cold. So for now a few hours outside and back in on the widow sill will have to do. I cant afford to lose most of what i got started. There is not enough time left to replace them.

I only got a few still under lights. Most are just a couple backups and a couple Joes Long Cayenne which got a late start.

This pepper originated from Calabria, Italy and circulated through the Italian-Canadian seed saving community in Toronto before being sent to Joe Sestito in Troy, New York. It was later Introduced to SSE in 1996 by long-time member Dr. Carolyn Male. Heavy producer of finger like thin-walled red peppers up to 12" long. Plants get to around 30 inches tall and are great for containers

 

[bleme]

I was given two free Early Girl plants but couldn't find anywhere to plant them that didn't require a container, so went and spent $100 on materials. Amazing how expensive 'free' can be.

 

[Kent88]

My tomatoes, mostly the Jungs heirloom variety pack, but some cherry tomatoes as well. The tote has a lid with some grow-light LEDs attached.

 

[Kent88]

My Carolina Reapers:

 

[bobeer]

Can't believe I never have seen this thread before... I love gardening and growing stuff. Inside I've started a few bell peppers, big jim chili peppers, and a market giant pepper variety. Also, a few different tomatoes, cucumbers, green beans, pumpkins, and lots of different kids of squash. Some of these just germinated this morning and are sprouting- mainly the cucumbers.
In the spring outside garden I have 3 kinds of radishes, turnips, carrots, broccoli, peas, lettuce, spinach, strawberries, and of course, hops! Also have a few blueberry bushes and just planted a couple hazelnut trees. Trying to squeeze in a few apple trees too. I'll post some pics when I can but good to see everyone growing!​

 

[user 211287]

Peppers like C. Reapers should have been germinated months ago. They take a long time to produce. Really good idea to start germinating most "supers" and many rocotos in January depending on your location. Best rocoto plants i ever had i started at the very end of the previous season. Most of them hate my summers and need plenty of cooler months to produce well. Pods/flowers just fall off in the heat and humidity.

Pretty much any small seedling hotter than an annuum still under lights has little chance of good production here in the midwest. My CARDIs, Death Spirals and long season Ajis are ready to go outside when the weather is willing to cooperate. Dont have much hope left my brown Reapers will do much. They are still very small and under lights.

If you want a super that grows fast and produces well, try red CARDI Scorpions. Try to make sure they are CARDI seed stock. Mine were crazy hot. Couldnt tell a heat difference sampled right next to Reapers and Dragons Breath.

 

[user 211287]

Getting big. They like the DynaGro Foliage Pro 9-3-6 it seems.

Orange spice on the left.....CARDI Scorpions and 1 Aji Oro in the middle....Aji Panca on the right

 

[Kent88]

Thanks @Evilgrin , this is my first time growing supers, so I just got them going at the end of February. I read that they're tricky to grow, and I looked at the days to maturity on the seed packet and figured that would be enough.

These were originally supposed to be a gag gift that I would've already given away by now, but given our current environment I'm kind of stuck with them. But I'm to stubborn to just let them die. If I get a half dozen peppers from these, then I'll have have more than I personally want.

If I try supers again then I'll try your Cardio Scorpions and/or I'll be starting them in January. But that's unlikely.

 

[user 211287]

Reapers i grew last year where from CCN seedlings. Smaller than the Scorpion in my current pic but still good seedlings. I got lots of Reapers and Dragons Breath. Only had 2 of each. My Scorpion plant though out produced any of them. It got much larger too. Plant was probably twice as tall by the time the season ended.

Now ive got a brown ghost cross that is plain nasty. Plants get good sized too. Takes forever to get a ripe pods though. Pods are massive for pods in the super category. Most pods are a little hotter than a regular bhut. The occasional pod is some kind of evil freak that will make you wish you never tasted it.

Its a Pepperlover cross of unknown origins. A grower in Illinois had some of the old seeds. He grew them one year and sold pods/seeds.
https://lawrenceproduce.com/collections/seeds/products/seeds-brown-bhut-jolokia

 

[Apple_Jacker]

The weather in TN is beginning to cooperate. I got my bean seeds (pole beans in ground, bush beans in 3 gal. pots) and cucumber seeds in the ground/in pots last weekend.

I've been able to leave all of my tomatoes outside for the last 2 weeks, but had to cover them a couple of times due to the threat of frost. I got in 17 gallon buckets I ordered off of Target's website, that I'll be using for my Rutgers tomatoes and for my Marzinera. I'll get the Rutgers ones in the big pots this weekend, but I'm waiting on letting the marzineras to be more established before transplanting them into larger pots.

There's a chance of low to mid 40's at night still on Sunday and Monday, so I may put off putting my peppers in the ground for another week, but they all seem happy nonetheless since I moved them into larger temporary pots.

 

[user 211287]

These were originally supposed to be a gag gift that I would've already given away by now, but given our current environment I'm kind of stuck with them. But I'm to stubborn to just let them die. If I get a half dozen peppers from these, then I'll have have more than I personally want.

Many of these super types are just fun to grow. Pod shapes are interesting to watch them develop. Ghost peppers are about my limit and the flavor can be pretty good for the microsecond you have before agony sets in. C.Reapers dried or fresh sell for crazy amounts of money. 1 good plant will pay for itself a few times over. I get $7/100grams fresh at our farmers market and thats a deal for organic Reapers.

Plus many of us have the goofy friend or friend of a friend that thinks he can handle anything. Watching one of these guys munch down a super then endure the total agony for HOURS is sometimes amusing. Many of these guys dont know about the cramps that follow the burn. The hours of hot sweats and the flaming colon when it finally passes.

This is the new one im trying. Its called Death Spiral. I just thought it looked cool. Baker Creek seeds germinated pretty good and seedlings look nice now.

The Death Spiral or Death Pepper is a variant of the Naga Bubblegum Red cross from the United Kingdom originally made by grower Terry Smith. We first saw this on a number of plants in 2015-2016. It does not have the bleeding calyx like the Naga BBG 7. But it does have a reticulated pattern on its outer skin which look like grooves were etched into it.

The Death Spiral peppers are unigue in that they ripen in multiple color stages. They start out at light green but go to peach, then orange and finally red. The peppers get a pointy end but sometimes a tail as well. The heat is above most Naga types and flavor is floral fruity. It has an upfront burn so beware. Its consistency is not known so you may get many varied shapes and sizes. The Death Spiral chile plants grow over 4 feet tall.

 

[user 211287]

Brought more of the babies up today. The mutant brown Reapers from a friend are short little studs. Kinda like a dwarf from LotR. They should explode now in real sun.

4 Aji Amarillo, 2 Death Spiral, 1 NICE Aji Oro and 6 Antep Aci Dolma. Most of these have been in the window for a week or more. Anteps came up last since most annuums dont need as long of a season to produce. Plus it took forever to get the Antep seeds i wanted. What a PITA that was.

 

[user 211287]

Welcome to the jungle.

The crew and i still got about 7 upstairs. 3 Aji Amarillo and some spicy bells.

CCN seedlings....Dont know why i even bother because mine blow them away. 2 Chilhuacle *****, 1 Chilhuacle Rojo, 2 Aji Panca (just in case mine crossed) and a Habanada. Good thing i got that last one because all the local guys didnt get them yet. Its a ZERO heat habanero and looks just like a orange hab when ripe.

CCN tomato starts were worse. Out of 6 only 2 looked nice. Luckily it was the two i most wanted and cant get locally. Vietnamese Coriander, Rosemary, 1 spicy bell above them and 2 Joes long cayenne below.

Lew's poor little mutant Reapers grow soooo slow. 2 of the 3 look nice but man they grow slow.

6 Numex Orange Spice MONSTERS in front and my Aji Panca from seeds i saved. The Numex already got little "podlets" on them too.

2 Baker Creek seeds Death Spiral (man they grow fast), 1 Aji Oro and 1 Aji Amarillo.

4 CARDI Scorpions, 1 Aji Oro and 1 Aji Panca..i think

Bonnie's Spicy Slice jalapeno and Early Flame (both new offerings i think). I planted them a few days ago.

Planting this weekend for sure
2 maters
Rest of the herbs but 1 might wait on the Vietnamese coriander....its very hard to replace it
1 Aji Amarillo
1 Spicy Bell (Antep Aci Dolma)
2 Joes Long Cayenne
2 Aji Oro...Got one more that is finally taking off under lights i need to bring up too.
1-2 NuMex OS...Thanks again Lewis...Mucho Nacho are no where to be found this year. Bonnie could not get the seeds.

 

[user 211287]

Rain dodged us today...well sofar anyway. Redneck shade cloths ENGAGED. The stress of waiting to plant out was killing me soooooo.

3 Aji Oro in their fabric pots. Man i hope i get a good yield like last year. One is still just a baby

4 Aji Amarillo on the steps under the burlap

Back row---1 Chilhuacle *****, 1 NuMex Orange Spice, 1 CCN Aji Panca, 1 Chilhuacle Rojo and a Death Spiral. A few others that need more time to harden. I cant shade them easily in their final pots yet.

 

[bleme]

“Free” tomato plants really took off this week! Now I just have to figure some sort of cage for them...
I have some vinyl covered chicken wire - thinking about screwing that to the fence, then using twine to attach...

 

[Apple_Jacker]

Had a threat of frost last night....odd for Tennessee in May, but everything survived

 

[user 211287]

Nite before last got into the 30s. Covered everything and brought in what i could. Didnt lose any. Thats one of the nice things about most rocotos. They love cold nights. As long as it dont frost they are fine. For 2 years i struggled with 2 other kinds of rocotos. They dont like a lot of rain or hot/humid combined. Plants do ok but flowers just drop off. Aji Oro are doing a better than average job handling all of it. Plus they are delicious pods.

Not much left now to get in their final spots.

 

[501irishred]

“Free” tomato plants really took off this week! Now I just have to figure some sort of cage for them...
I have some vinyl covered chicken wire - thinking about screwing that to the fence, then using twine to attach...
View attachment 679572

I love these clips. Obviously it’s nothing that you cant get done with ties, but what the heck. You’re already $100 in on your free maters, what’s another $12?

https://www.amazon.com/LEOBRO-Suppo...uPWNsaWNrUmVkaXJlY3QmZG9Ob3RMb2dDbGljaz10cnVl

 

[bleme]

I love these clips. Obviously it’s nothing that you cant get done with ties, but what the heck. You’re already $100 in on your free maters, what’s another $12?

LOL! I was actually looking at those at Walmart (for $10) but figured I have about 200 tiny zip ties that would probably do the same thing...

 

[501irishred]

I love this time of year when the “youngins” come out to play!

 

[501irishred]

Our first 2020 harvest! Our first try with broccoli. So far it’s been a breeze to grow, but I’ll be a little mor selective where I plant it in the future. The plants get way bigger than I expected and The leave shade EVERYTHING!

 

[VApatriot]

Off to a slow start this year, the cold weather earlier this month delayed our progress. It may not be nice to fool mother nature, but she can sure piss in your wheaties even if you don't do anything to her in the first place. It actually snowed here in May. Ugh.

The raised bed gardens have mostly heirloom / indeterminate plants, but we did plant some hybrids for production. My wife also cut the root ends off some scallions from the store so we planted them as an experiment. There are also some baby swiss chard in the middle of the tomatoes, all protected by my electric fences that are hooked up to an outlet with a light sensor so they only come on in the dark. Take that you critters, don't worry they can't kill anything, just a little jolt to dissuade munching on my produce. There's also 2 red peppers, an eggplant, a husky cherry tomato, a bush tomato, a red chili pepper, a jalapeno, an orange bell pepper and the blueberry bush on the patio.

 

[z-bob]

All my pepper plants look smaller now than they did a month ago. They were overrun by aphids, which loved it under the bright lights in my basement, perhaps because it was so dry. Insecticide sprays didn't do much. I moved the peppers outside in the cold and rain and that took care of the aphid problem but the damage was done; also the peppers didn't like the cold. They are still not in the ground; I will plant them as soon as it dries out a little. My tomato seedlings damped off; I managed to save one and it is coming around but still pitiful. I bought 4 little tomato plants (2 Early Girl and 2 Jet Star) at Fleet Farm on Saturday and got them in the ground. By Sunday they already looked bigger. If I can keep it healthy, that little seeding ("Big Brandy") will catch up with the others in a few weeks.

There were all kinds of other seeds (mostly herbs and flowers) I was supposed to start indoors but was afraid to because of the aphid problem. So I'm starting to direct sow them and don't expect much this year.

 

[bleme]

This was from several years ago. My mom planted this heirloom pumpkin. A single plant took over her whole garden area. She says she used to have nightmares about falling asleep out there and waking up with vines wrapped around her neck.

 

[Kent88]

My peppers aren't taking off, but some of my tomatoes are flowering. How is everyone else doing?

 

[passedpawn]

I've got a shy tomato plant that very slowly produces the occasional fruit. Jalapenos are producing nicely. Banana pepper plant produced one baby and lost interest, but I see some small blossoms, so maybe there is hope. Basil is going nuts, which is great because I've been into breadmaking and that plant is my source for unlimited pesto sauce.

I was thinking about building a large vegetable garden this year, but I've got too many other inside construction projects to tackle it. But this winter I'll dig it out, and the spring will hopefully be epic.

 

[Hanglow]

My peppers are starting to take off a bit. Got a good few aleppos and aci sivri forming. "Early" Jalapenos though? Nope.

My tomato plants are just starting to show flower buds, no flowers though. I have five or so outside, three in a greenhouse

I'm trying tomatillos outside this year and some are flowering. Why some are doing so much better than others right next to them I don't know. Ground was prepared the same and they were the same size going in. Four on the right are tomatillos and the two far left are patty pan I think

 

[mbg]

I'm in the Chicago area and we planted one week too early in may. Even though I covered them I lost about 30 plants due to a deep frost. Re-planted and the garden it doing well this season:

Our raised gardens.

First tomato.

Peppers

Squash

And my big problem - tried hops in this box and they grew well but they don't want to grow around the trellises they want to go up so got orders to get rid of them. I dug like crazy to get rid of the roots - could have made a fortune selling rhizomes. They are still popping up! (Any help on getting rid of these appreciated)