Gardening: My Tomatoe and Pepper Progress

[Braufessor]

Those might be Paprika Peppers I think... I have a plant and they go from that pale whitish color to the orange to the red - just like those.

View attachment 698472
What are these? Not as hot as a Jalapeño. Thought I was buying Anaheim. Nice joke Tag mixerView attachment 698472

 

[Braufessor]

Those might be Paprika Peppers I think... I have a plant and they go from that pale whitish color to the orange to the red - just like those.

 

[z-bob]

Just picked the rest of my jalapenos. The last ones are all small. They have been for the last month or so. I dried the last of my Numex Orange spice for extra hot jala powder. Cut the pods into rings so they dry fast. Then put the dried rings in just about anything with a lid like a quart plastic container. Fill it about 1/3rd of the way.

SHAKE THE HELL OUT OF IT.....At least 3/4 of the seeds will fall out. Either save the dried rings or grind into powder. Ive got 2 other milder jalas so im drying those too then combine all the powders. Numex by themselves are crazy hot for jalapeno.

About 2 years ago I had a bumper crop of serrano peppers ("Hot Rod" hybrid). They were as big as jalapenos, just skinnier. I sliced and dehydrated lots and lots of them; red ones, green ones, and mixed. I have about a quart and a half left; they are awesome. It's amazing how hot they are, I have to be careful not to add too many to a pot of soup or beans or whatever.

 

[user 211287]

Hot Rod is a great variety of serrano. The Numex Orange Spice jalapeno i grew this year are probably as hot or hotter. Hottest jalapeno i have ever tried and they were all scorchers. Ive been getting commercial sauces like Crystals and adding a couple Orange Spice to them. Adds a nice amount of heat and thickens them up a bit too.

Next year its going to be Numex Jalamundo. Supposed to be larger and about as hot but they ripen red instead of orange. When i get really hot jalas i like to mix them dried and powdered into Anaheims or Hatch ive dried. Makes a nice powder that is not quite as brutal for stuff like beans. Its a 1 to 1 mix...1 jala to 1 mild Anaheim.

 

[bleme]

My pepper plants are still popping out a lot of peppers but they seems to be awfully slow to ripen. Would it help to put a grow light on them for a couple hours a day?

 

[GreenEnvy22]

I did my first fermented hot sauce, after doing years of canned.
Turned out well. I'll certainly do again.

My tomatoes and most of the garden is dead now, had some Frost. Peppers i covered and had a space heater going overnight so they are ok. The next week will be warm so should still get some more peppers.
The stuff in the greenhouse is going well to.

 

[GreenEnvy22]

Forgot to post this, it's our veggie garden from April to October. Hops grew in front of the camera for part of it, but you can still see ok. next year I'll mount the camera a bit differently

.

 

[passedpawn]

There are seeds in probably 2/3rds of the pod. They dont seem to be as seedy this year vs last but they are still fairly seedy. That last one i saved just for seeds. Its sort of a pain to make a nice cut in them for a good pic.

Next year im going to try at least 1 plant in a grow bag with fresh media. Production however is great just in a hard pot. I just want to see if i can improve plant size a little. They have been very heavy producers 2 years in a row.

This was last years plant

And this is the Thunder Mountain that was less than 3ft away

This years plants look like they might be a cross

How is the flavor of these cayenne compared to the smaller size? I'm going to be building a garden this winter and cayennes are my #1 plant.

 

[bleme]

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/...r-cancer-heart-disease-research-b1719246.html

 

[corkybstewart]

We ate our last real salad from the garden last night-tomatoes, spinach and carrots. We're still gonna eat carrots and spinach, but our tomatoes got wiped out by a snowstorm a couple of weeks ago. I picked most of the green ones the day before and have been ripening them in a box in the garage. Better than half of the greens ones ripened and were good. On an odd note, one branch of one tomato plant wasn't killed by 23F temps and had 2 big, ripe tomatoes on it a week after all the other plants were a rotten mess on the ground.

 

[bleme]

I picked most of the green ones the day before and have been ripening them in a box in the garage. Better than half of the greens ones ripened and were good.

One of my top reasons for growing my own is fried green tomatoes!

 

[Dog House Brew]

I’m cutting my Chinese cabbage tomorrow. I got it in the ground late, but still plenty without heads. I learned how to transplant this fragile plant. I’ll have it down for next year. The row cover was great. The only downside it is retarded the growth. Looks like I’ll be making a ton of Kimchi come Monday. Good way to look out and watch it snow. 2020 garden is a wrap!

 

[Hanglow]

I did a vac pack ferment of some peppers about a month ago. It was only supposed to be for a week or so, I assume they will be allright? I've only just remembered about them. The bag is nicely inflated.

 

[corkybstewart]

One of my top reasons for growing my own is fried green tomatoes!

I grew up in LA(Lower Alabama) and ate too many fried green tomatoes to ever want to eat one again.

 

[corkybstewart]

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/...r-cancer-heart-disease-research-b1719246.html

I should be good for a long time. Living in southern New Mexico has meant always having a freezer full of hot and very hot green chiles, and jalapenos find their way into much of our cooking. But habaneros and ghost peppers don't fit into our regular cuisine-too much heat and too little flavor.

 

[bleme]

I’m trying out this 100 gallon grow bag this year. Hoping it does well.

 

[NeilMac]

Never had luck with grow bags

 

[mbg]

I’m trying out this 100 gallon grow bag this year. Hoping it does well.

That is huge!

I just ordered 5 yards of garden mix. I made these four 6' square boxes that surround a round one. They are pretty tall to keep out the rabbits. The plants grow well in the mix but it decomposes quicker than I thought it would. I'm in the Chicago area and have a while before I can plant.

 

[GreenEnvy22]

I've got a bunch of peppers and tomatoes started in my greenhouse. Also some overwintered peppers (not all survived, but most have some new leaves forming now), and our figs, which already have some fruit on them.

I've got a brew fermenting in there too, the plants should like the CO2.

 

[501irishred]

I’m trying out this 100 gallon grow bag this year. Hoping it does well.

i like the compostable weed barrier! We used to use newspaper layered 1/4” thick then till them in at the end of the season. It got too hard to collect enough papers to do the job, but never considered cardboard would do the trick.

 

[bleme]

i like the compostable weed barrier! We used to use newspaper layered 1/4” thick then till them in at the end of the season. It got too hard to collect enough papers to do the job, but never considered cardboard would do the trick.

It keeps the neighborhood cats from using it as a litterbox too!

 

[Deadalus]

I’m trying out this 100 gallon grow bag this year. Hoping it does well.

i like the compostable weed barrier! We used to use newspaper layered 1/4” thick then till them in at the end of the season. It got too hard to collect enough papers to do the job, but never considered cardboard would do the trick.

Had the same problem, it is hard to collect that much newspaper. Then I started using cardboard. I think this contributed to a massive slug infestation though, because slugs like to shelter under cardboard. They were wiping out most of my planted seeds for around 2 years or so until I figured out it was them. It just seemed like I was getting poor germination all the time until I went out at night with a headlamp. It was slug central, so I don't use cardboard anymore.

 

[user 211287]

Using things like cardboard creates an environment favorable to slugs and possibly anaerobic activity. A breathable fabric weed barrier like Pro-Shield would be better and can last years. Bags of pine bark are fairly cheap and they worked great in my raised bed last year. EZ-Straw worked well in another.

Timberline pine bark is under $4 per 2cuft bag. Their "soil conditioner" is mulched even finer and already composted but much harder to find.

 

[bleme]

Good tips on the slugs. I'll put some slug bait out when I get home.

 

[Deadalus]

Using things like cardboard creates an environment favorable to slugs and possibly anaerobic activity. A breathable fabric weed barrier like Pro-Shield would be better and can last years. Bags of pine bark are fairly cheap and they worked great in my raised bed last year. EZ-Straw worked well in another.

Timberline pine bark is under $4 per 2cuft bag. Their "soil conditioner" is mulched even finer and already composted but much harder to find.

I was using the cardboard mainly on the tomatoes but I have always used grass clippings too.

Good tips on the slugs. I'll put some slug bait out when I get home.

I try to stick to certified organic controls and there is one for slugs but it didn't work well. Not to say there's anything wrong with whatever you might use but if it doesn't work what I also do is pour a homebrew. Then I bring that out to the garden at night and pick the buggers off my plants and drown them in soapy water. Besides the homebrew, I like to use plastic gloves because it gets kind of gross without them. Oh and if I have any old forgotten bottles or a lousy batch, beer traps work very well and at least they drown happy.

Friends of mine have also recommended chickens and ducks but I don't want any more live animals to take care of than I already have!

 

[bleme]

Got my tomatoes (Yellow pear, tommy toe and early girl) and my peppers (banana, Fresno and gypsy) in today.

 

[Hanglow]

I use cardboard over weeds, you need to then cover it either with wood chippings for a path or compost/manure if you are going to grow stuff there. Check out "no dig" gardening for good use of cardboard.

I'm still a good few weeks away from putting my toms out, we just had two nights of frost. I do have onions and second early potatoes in so far.

 

[catdaddy66]

Just got my herb garden started, and it's cilantro heavy (bought a six pack of plants yesterday )! L-R is Italian basil, cilantro, parsley, chives and more cilantro. Parsley and chives actually survived our very mild winter Lol

 

[Miller4]

Our first year starting tomatoes and peppers from seed and they are really doing great! Now just trying to be patient enough to not get them in the ground too early. We are trying to have a very substantial garden this year as we have the space. Just got the fence almost finished. Weather has been crazy though, 86f yesterday and was 16f overnight last week. But definitely getting spring and garden fever.

 

[Dog House Brew]

I have 7 flats of plants in my cold frame. Going down to 26 tonight. We will see what the temp inside is in the am. They have a month to go before planting. Woke up to 3” of snow this morning and it was 40 inside the frame. Need to get my fence built.