Gardening: My Tomatoe and Pepper Progress

[estricklin]

I harvested 182 ears of corn, and got the area where the corn was planted back with half the amount of fall corn, and about 100 cabbages, ranging from some standard F1 green cabbages, giant red and Nappas. I'm trying to get better at using plastic and drip lines, I got a fertilizer injector now.

I don't have any pics of my Ajis but they are SWEET and have a crazy taste, like peaches or pineapple. Most of mine are not very hot at all, less than jals for sure. I have been eating a ghost chili about every night with dinner.

Harvested the first 2 watermelons of the season, a Yellow Doll and a Cream of Saskatchewan. I have some very large Georgia Rattlesnakes, Moon and Stars, Golden Midget, Orangeglo, Charleston Gray, Black Diamond, Carolina Cross and Sugar Baby on the way.

Since I lost both of my dogs last year, I have had rabbits move in. They are eating my purple hulls, so I'm going to get a couple of traps today and am looking forward to braised rabbit. Hope everyone is staying cool!

 

[HoppyDaze]

you corn farmers sure know how to blanch an ear...

 

[user 211287]

This 6 pack is stupid hot. I sampled the peach ones. Hotter than the ghost from last year. The other 2 red ones should be quite a bit hotter. Probably mix these with one large sweet red bell from Turkey. Im not looking forward to tasting these.

 

[deadwolfbones]

Put some Jobes tomato spikes on my tomatoes and peppers a couple weeks ago, along with some side-dressed worm castings. The turnaround in fruit production has been bonkers to watch. Gotta whole lot coming my way.

 

[applescrap]

Need some help from you hot sauce masters. I know it's not the hot sauce thread, but they are garden peppers. I took the garden salsa hot peppers which are almost as mild as green bell and smashed them in the mortar with onion, garlic, and lime zest. Then boiled and reduced and then, I was out of vinegar. So I used the juice of one big lime. The recipe says the vinegar version will last 6 months in fridge. Will the lime juice cure last as long?

It has a nice flavor and surprisingly is hotter than the jalapeno sauce. Which I wonder if it was due to seeds but I leave seeds in normal sauce. Maybe smashing them unleashed their heat sooner? I suspect a smashed jalapeno sauce would taste like it was 4 months old day one.

 

[applescrap]

Fought the bugs off but they keep coming back. I think they are in my and neighbors lawn somewhere. Anyways I am going out and knocking them in soapy water cup. The home depot peppers aren't producing fruit but are big. Starting to get tomatoes and eggplant but they have been slowed by aphids I think. Yet one good garden salsa hot pepper is producing. Lots of tomatoes though. @estricklin she's adorable. Here is my little helper picking. Sorry to hear about your dogs. I like the plastic and drip.

 

[user 211287]

Need some help from you hot sauce masters. I know it's not the hot sauce thread, but they are garden peppers. I took the garden salsa hot peppers which are almost as mild as green bell and smashed them in the mortar with onion, garlic, and lime zest. Then boiled and reduced and then, I was out of vinegar. So I used the juice of one big lime. The recipe says the vinegar version will last 6 months in fridge. Will the lime juice cure last as long?

It has a nice flavor and surprisingly is hotter than the jalapeno sauce. Which I wonder if it was due to seeds but I leave seeds in normal sauce. Maybe smashing them unleashed their heat sooner? I suspect a smashed jalapeno sauce would taste like it was 4 months old day one.

First, i dont heat lime juice in sauces. I use it to finish a sauce after its cooled or add it to a relish. Used alone in a relish/rings the chopped peppers hold up for at least a couple weeks in the fridge. I make what i call salted lime jalapenos this way.

Sweat the pepper rings (or chopped) in sea salt for a hour. Mix every 15min
Discard the liquid that sweats out.
Add the peppers to a bowl with lime juice.
You can also add ascorbic acid powder. Its cheap and easy to get.

But generally speaking yes....you can just use lime juice. 505 brand hatch chile salsa/sauce has no vinegar in it. They use lime juice and citric acid.

 

[applescrap]

Thanks. I love those rings like you get on nachos. I have to try that. Just sweat them and cover in juice, I can do that. I didn't heat the lime so I have that going for me. It emulsified, like a dressing. It was pretty thick I guess. Same shelf life then I am going to assume, around 6 months. I like the flavor.

 

[brewcat]

Need some help from you hot sauce masters. I know it's not the hot sauce thread, but they are garden peppers. I took the garden salsa hot peppers which are almost as mild as green bell and smashed them in the mortar with onion, garlic, and lime zest. Then boiled and reduced and then, I was out of vinegar. So I used the juice of one big lime. The recipe says the vinegar version will last 6 months in fridge. Will the lime juice cure last as long?

It has a nice flavor and surprisingly is hotter than the jalapeno sauce. Which I wonder if it was due to seeds but I leave seeds in normal sauce. Maybe smashing them unleashed their heat sooner? I suspect a smashed jalapeno sauce would taste like it was 4 months old day one.

The garden salsa peppers I grew were hotter than jalapenos.

 

[user 211287]

Try Zapotec jalapenos. They are screamers for a jalapeno. Every single one ive sampled is about twice as hot as most jalas. Its a landrace too so if you save seeds there are no surprises like you might get from hybrids. Refining Fire Chiles has the Zapotec seeds and i should have a good supply in a few more weeks. I have 1 isolated plant set aside.

Picked 30oz of beautiful Liana long beans yesterday. Gave them away to the local Chinese place since i got a bunch in the fridge and will have a bunch more tomorrow. Its pretty much a every other day harvest for them in August.

350grams of super hots and Scotch Brains. Starting to get some nice pods for seeds too.

 

[estricklin]

Got a couple of 50 lb Georgia Rattlesnakes this evening, and a couple Moon and Stars.

 

[Smellyglove]

Dunno if this is the correct thread. But I'm seeking advice.

I live in Norway, EU. I've planted tomato-seeds which are supposed to be "short-season"-seeds two years in a row. They don't get done until frost sets in. Have to chop off and let them ripen inside. One of the plants this year, like last year is big and bushy as a small bear, I'm not a big guy, but this plant would defeat me in the ring no questions asked, but still green small-ish tomatoes. Didn't start to grow like a giant until maybe 3 weeks ago. Same as last year. Have another which is small cherries and they are still tiny green ones. I have 8 different strains running, in what I believe is pretty poor soil, (mosly clay after 1m)

Rest of the bunch is approx 75% green still. It's getting colder here. We have long days during the summer at this latitude. It doesn't get dark, at most a bit hint of "dunkel" during may/june/july. Might this be why my tomatoes doesn't ripen? They "feel" that the season is still "young"? It's getting darker now though.

 

[501irishred]

Sounds like you are growing a “determinate” type tomato. They grow as a bush instead of a vine, but more importantly they all tend to “wait” and ripen all at once. You may want to start the seeds inside a month or so before growing season to get a jump on things if they consistently come up short. You could also look at growing an indeterminate variety. They grow as a vine so they have there own challenges keeping them tamed while growing, but they begin bearing fruit sooner and ripen individually sooner. As for clay 1M down, it wouldn’t be a problem if it has drainage enough so the roots aren’t standing in water.

 

[Smellyglove]

Sounds like you are growing a “determinate” type tomato. They grow as a bush instead of a vine, but more importantly they all tend to “wait” and ripen all at once. You may want to start the seeds inside a month or so before growing season to get a jump on things if they consistently come up short. You could also look at growing an indeterminate variety. They grow as a vine so they have there own challenges keeping them tamed while growing, but they begin bearing fruit sooner and ripen individually sooner. As for clay 1M down, it wouldn’t be a problem if it has drainage enough so the roots aren’t standing in water.

We started this party at least two months before we planted them outside. They looked really healthy inside, one of them even started to grow fruit, which seems stange, after planted they stalled, then suddenly exploded in growth, and flowers didn't seem to show until one month ago /1.5 months ago. I have to look into the determinate indeterminate thing as I don't know what that means.

We have this one plant I mentioned, which is huge as I don't know what, and this other which is also huge but in the width. She's everywhere, but tiny tiny green tomatoes. I can't see how this last plant will make it when it comes to her fruit.

 

[catdaddy66]

This is what I picked today. The peppers on the lower left are habaneros and the ones on the bottom right are a superhot variety that were mislabeled as habaneros but clearly are different. Any guess as to the type? They look like ghost chillies to me but I don't know...

They're also cayenne (red and black), banana, jalapeno and San Marzano tomatoes.

 

[applescrap]

Lots of cherry, little of anything else, peppers are starting to come in though.

 

[bethshef]

Smellygllove: Rest of the bunch is approx 75% green still. It's getting colder here. We have long days during the summer at this latitude. It doesn't get dark, at most a bit hint of "dunkel" during may/june/july. Might this be why my tomatoes doesn't ripen? They "feel" that the season is still "young"? It's getting darker now though.[/QUOTE]

You didn't say what your temps are and how long the growing season between frosts.

While tomatoes need long/warm days they need some night darkness to have good yield. Tomatoes also will suffer transplant shock and stall. I find that my tomatoes that survive summer will green up and have loads of fruit in October when the nights are 50s temps and the days 70s temps. The days are 10 hours or less; usually the frost gets those late plants before the fruit ripens.

My suggestion is to try covering the plants so they get some darkness at night. Depending on the temps at night that might be an added bonus. Remember when starting plants you want short stocky plants. You may have to keep putting the plants in bigger pots to keep then from getting leggy.

Don't give up for another 40 or 50 years! Tomato cultivation is an art. Meanwhile eat fried/baked green tomato slices. There is nothing better!

 

[user 211287]

I just got a couple bags of these evil bastards. This is one of the larger and nicer looking pods.

Be afraid...VERY afraid.

 

[deadwolfbones]

Got my first ripe black krim of the season yesterday:

 

[HoppyDaze]

I just got a couple bags of these evil bastards. This is one of the larger and nicer looking pods.

Be afraid...VERY afraid.

You should post a video of you eating that whole.

 

[user 211287]

You should post a video of you eating that whole.

Ive sampled CARDI Scorpion, CCN Reapers and CCN/Pepperlover Dragons Breath all at the same sitting. Im talking a finger nail sized piece from the tip of each one. They are all blazing hot. I really could not tell a heat difference from the 3 other than they were all far hotter than any pepper i tried yet.....I just dont see how anyone eats these pods whole and i love spicy food. My lower gut would be in agony from them for many hours.

Scorpion tasted better to me and the Dragons Breath was the most bitter.

I just picked a few more of these nasty buggars.

Got another nice load of Joes Long Cayenne. A few Thunder Mountains on top. Im saving the cayennes for a fermented sauce. I got 200 grams already in the freezer and this load yesterday. Plus another load is almost ripe...This plant is killer and its a great tasting pepper for sauce.

 

[user 211287]

Picked a few for farmers market trades today. 1365grams worth mostly in aji arnaucho off just 2 tiny plants. Got a guy who wants all the arnaucho. Gunna take the load of supers too and see what kind of interest there is at the market.

 

[deadwolfbones]

Quick caprese w/ black krim and three kinds of basil from the garden, plus burrata, salt, pepper, olive oil, and balsamic.

 

[catdaddy66]

Just culled all of my tomato plants. They were looking quite poorly. It was sad but cathartic in a weird way. Now I have plenty of space for my pepper plants to flourish.

Have picked at least 60 habaneros and a almost that many cayenne, jalapeno and ancho peppers (combined). All I have left to do is fertilize them for the final time this season.

 

[user 211287]

Just processed more cayenne for the fermented sauce. Upto 490 grams now and 1 more load plus a few more. I think i gunna use my fermenter just until its sour then into a jar and in the fridge for a few months.

My big brown bhuts are finally turning. Took all summer for them to produce.
Anyone into big brown bhuts?

 

[HoppyDaze]

 

[applescrap]

Update, been awhile. Got everything tied up and starting to fruit!

 

[user 211287]

Clock is ticking now. Ive got 2 kinds taking forever to produce ripe pods and both are loaded with greeners. My big brown bhuts got hammered by hornworms but it looks like they are gunna make it. I didnt even realize they had so many huge green pods on them until most the leaves were eaten away.

Tossed 2 trays worth of Thunder Mountain in the dehydrator yesterday. They should be done today and ready for a very light smoking.

I picked enough long cayenne to top off my ferment. Aged them a few more days on the window sill. Probably save the rest for seed stock and a tiny bit of powder. They seem to naturally air dry just fine in the sun.

 

[juggabrew]

This is weird, does anyone know what this means for my tomato plant? We’ve been hit with 3 hail storms early on in the season so I’m assuming this plant has some sort of disease.

 

[bleme]

This is weird, does anyone know what this means for my tomato plant? View attachment 643969

That's Blossom End Rot and is caused by the plant not getting enough calcium. Sometimes that's because the soil doesn't have enough calcium and sometimes it's because the plant is growing too fast to take in as much calcium as it needs.