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I replanted my raised bed at the end of August. I'm gonna try to do a timelapse thing of it growing.        It's doing pretty well so far. The transplanted comfrey at the center of the bed died off a bunch so you can't see it very well but it's still going strong and should get out of control later. Comfrey tends to do that in my yard when I transplant it.
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Sep 23, 2014 18:40
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Looks like a last gasp of hot air here in high elevation utah, before next week with tons of potential rain and below freezing at night (I hope). Looking at my pineapple sage and purple basil. The latter I may dig up and put in a large pot. The sage though, is it perennial or should I just pot it with the basil and bring indoors for the long winter? Let me tell you about dill being a weed this year, eeesh.
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Sep 25, 2014 01:52
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Dilettante. posted:
 Clockwise from the upper left that's Thai birds, habaneros, bhut jolokias, and Hungarian wax. I've been continuously harvesting the Thais and they keep producing more. This is the second or third batch of habs, and there's about half that many green peppers still on the plants. The bhuts just now started setting fruit. I've taken two or three others, but there are another half-dozen or so fruit still on the plants and a bunch of flowers. The Hungarians I've been pulling one or two at a time as I use them. They've been pretty productive, but produce peppers much slower than everyone else but the bhuts.
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Sep 25, 2014 02:44
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Chili Chat! Guys, next spring I'd like to grow some. I was wondering what I could grow from Switzerland. I'm in zone 9a. I'd like to grow Jalapeno and Habaneros at least. Do you guys think this would do in my zone? Also may be recommend another variety to grow?
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Sep 25, 2014 07:59
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Le0 posted:Chili Chat! On hardiness zone maps, I only see parts of Switzerland being 5, 6 or 7 though.
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Sep 25, 2014 10:51
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Le0 posted:Chili Chat! If you're new-ish to this, I suggest buying pepper plants, instead of trying to grow from seed. Regardless, you should have seed companies that sell in Switzerland, so I'd suggest checking out their catalogs to see what is available there. I love growing peppers, and I've found that almost all of them grow pretty well for me, except bell peppers and the super hots (which I think are just supposed to be temperamental and difficult to grow). In general, I've found that smaller peppers produce more for me than larger ones, and I've had especially good luck with jalapenos, cayenne, lemon peppers (spicy and pretty unique appearance and flavor), Jimmy Nardello, banana peppers, and cubanelles (good alternative to bell peppers). Much of it depends on what you want to do with them. If you want to eat them fresh in salads, go for a variety with a thick wall and lots of flesh (bell pepper, cubanelle, etc.). If you want to grind them into spice, get cayennes or some typical chili, like Anaheim. If you want to pickle them, jalapenos are good. If you want to offend your neighbors, grow peter peppers. For what it's worth, I have found that habaneros take a long time after transplanting to really produce much. I'm often out in the garden right before the first cold weather trying to pick some, and I lose most of them to the first frost. If you can get a hoop house or other greenhouse over them, it might help extend the season. I really want to try that some year. Also, NMSU has an actual chili pepper institute. It might not relate much to your climate, but it can be fun to look at their stuff. Edit: I don't mean to limit your efforts. If you have space and time, try growing one or two of everything that looks cool. There are lots of varieties, and the amount of time, money, and effort you want to put in are really the only limiting factors. Peristalsis fucked around with this message at 16:36 on Sep 25, 2014 |
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Sep 25, 2014 16:30
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Peristalsis posted:If you're new-ish to this, I suggest buying pepper plants, instead of trying to grow from seed. I second this suggestion. It took me a few years before I got pepper starting from seed to work well. It's pretty much not going to work at all without a heat mat.
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Sep 25, 2014 16:46
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I just moved to Atlanta and am in the process of house hunting. This means that next season I can finally make my dream of having a backyard garden come true. I would like to start preparing for this early so I have plenty of time to get everything going. I plan on building enough raised beds to grow a large variety of vegetables and know I have a lot of work to do in order to prepare. The OP suggests finding a club in the area and I think that is a great idea. Are there any Atlanta goons here that can chime in on a great club to join? Are there any other resources I should be checking out to prepare? Any advice on which resources a beginner gardener should check out in order to get started off right would be appreciated.
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Sep 25, 2014 16:54
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Jewce posted:I just moved to Atlanta and am in the process of house hunting. This means that next season I can finally make my dream of having a backyard garden come true. I would like to start preparing for this early so I have plenty of time to get everything going. It's probably obvious, but make sure to get a house with a large, all-day sunny area in its lawn, and also don't buy in a neighborhood with an HOA that will tell you that you can't grow your own veggies.
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Sep 25, 2014 17:15
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Fog Tripper posted:Looks like a last gasp of hot air here in high elevation utah, before next week with tons of potential rain and below freezing at night (I hope). Looking at my pineapple sage and purple basil. The latter I may dig up and put in a large pot. The sage though, is it perennial or should I just pot it with the basil and bring indoors for the long winter? Supposedly sage is perennial to around zone 4, but I've never had it come back after a frost (zone 9). If you've got more than one plant, consider going the experimental route: leave some out and bring some in.
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Sep 25, 2014 19:00
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Molten Llama posted:Supposedly sage is perennial to around zone 4, but I've never had it come back after a frost (zone 9). If you've got more than one plant, consider going the experimental route: leave some out and bring some in. That's odd. All of mine have survived some pretty cold temperatures over the winter here in zone 8. I'd say sage is like zucchini though, you really don't need more than one of each variety unless it's just for ornamental purposes. They do look nice blooming and the bees really love the flowers too. Jewce posted:I just moved to Atlanta and am in the process of house hunting. This means that next season I can finally make my dream of having a backyard garden come true. I would like to start preparing for this early so I have plenty of time to get everything going. Have you figured the cost of both building and filling those raised beds with soil? A new house is going to have lots of other little expenses too. I wouldn't rule out beds in the ground yet. Maybe just do one or two raised beds while you improve the soil for the rest of the garden in the ground.
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Sep 25, 2014 19:33
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Peristalsis posted:It's probably obvious, but make sure to get a house with a large, all-day sunny area in its lawn, and also don't buy in a neighborhood with an HOA that will tell you that you can't grow your own veggies. Obvious about the sun, but good call on checking for HOA. I haven't been explicitly looking for that, but definitely want to avoid an HOA for many reasons. It's hard to gauge on some yards whether a yard will have an all-day sunny spot during a quick visit, but I'm doing my best to guess. Finding a nice wide open yard is challenging. Cpt.Wacky posted:Have you figured the cost of both building and filling those raised beds with soil? A new house is going to have lots of other little expenses too. I wouldn't rule out beds in the ground yet. Maybe just do one or two raised beds while you improve the soil for the rest of the garden in the ground. No, I have not looked into cost at all yet. I'm open to improving the soil in the ground though, for sure. We'll likely be in a house by the end of this year so I will have a few months to plan on what approach is going to work best for us.
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Sep 25, 2014 19:57
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Jewce posted:Obvious about the sun, but good call on checking for HOA. I haven't been explicitly looking for that, but definitely want to avoid an HOA for many reasons. It's hard to gauge on some yards whether a yard will have an all-day sunny spot during a quick visit, but I'm doing my best to guess. Finding a nice wide open yard is challenging. Wood and soil can be more expensive than you might realize. Don't be shy about asking to dig a small hole in the area that would be a garden. My backyard just looked like grass until I dug down about 1 inch to find a layer of gravel followed by 6-8 inches of large fractured rocks. Homeowners often choose to just cover things up rather than take the time and expense to remove them properly, like old patios, garage and shed slabs, etc.
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Sep 25, 2014 21:41
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Cpt.Wacky posted:Don't be shy about asking to dig a small hole in the area that would be a garden. My backyard just looked like grass until I dug down about 1 inch to find a layer of gravel followed by 6-8 inches of large fractured rocks. Homeowners often choose to just cover things up rather than take the time and expense to remove them properly, like old patios, garage and shed slabs, etc.
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Sep 25, 2014 22:50
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Same Great Paste posted:These look great! Thanks, I only hope they taste as good as they look! SubG posted:Harvested some peppers today: I've still got a bunch growing but as I left them in small pots they are all dinky. I tried to grow some Mustard Habaneros but they seem to require a bit more TLC than the other chillies as all of them died/ are in a terrible state. My Hungarians have very tough skins, like they are made of plastic or something, are yours the same?
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Sep 26, 2014 00:18
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Dilettante. posted:I've still got a bunch growing but as I left them in small pots they are all dinky. I tried to grow some Mustard Habaneros but they seem to require a bit more TLC than the other chillies as all of them died/ are in a terrible state. And most of my pepper plants are the opposite of dinky:  That's about half of a 4' x 8' raised bed. Habs in the corner closest to the camera, bhuts to the right, Thai birds to the left. You can kinda see all the wee white flowers on the habs. There's a bunch of green peppers still in there as well, although they're hard as hell to make out. Here's some green Thais along with some just coming ripe:  Most peppers seem to like being crowded like this. Every time I've tried to give them more space, the plants set off by themselves have never taken off like the ones bunched together. I've got a couple Trinidad scorpions in another bed with all kinds of room, and they're only like a foot tall or so and haven't set any fruit.
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Sep 26, 2014 04:03
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I tend to crowd my peppers too. This year I have them growing right underneath my staked tomatoes (on the south side of the tomato stakes). Instinctively you'd think they wouldn't like being that crowded but they're growing like gangbusters and making more peppers than I can feasibly use. The little bit of shade the tomatoes throws on them tends to prevent sunscald on the peppers, and the two plants have similar water and fertilizer requirements so it's pretty much ideal.
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Sep 26, 2014 12:03
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 Tomato plant after one season in a 5 gallon bucket. Maybe next year I'll try sticking two buckets together or something.
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Sep 27, 2014 23:55
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Same Great Paste posted:
At this point you would save money by building a raised box for your plants if you aren't renting etc. You could buy a larger metal/plastic container like a stock feeding/watering trough but they'd cost so much, hammering together a few boards would be cheaper. Even cheap plastic "rubbermaid" style tubs from wal mart etc will still cost between several to 15 bucks each, most likely. If you really want to use containers but 5 gallon is too small, maybe keep an eye open for alternative planter options. I have a friend for instance, with a small boat to get rid of, who'd LOVE to deliver it to someone's house locally for use as a planter if they didn't want to repair and float it. Look at estate sales and garage sales etc with an eye for stuff you could pick up and poke holes in before filling with dirt.. One person's broken wheelbarrow is another's planter. coyo7e fucked around with this message at 05:09 on Sep 28, 2014 |
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Sep 28, 2014 05:04
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coyo7e posted:Why are you married to the idea of buckets? Trying to cut open and set two buckets together flush would be a pain in the rear end and wouldn't be transportable almost at all unless you kept it contained within an external frame made of wood or wire or something. Are you renting and unable to dig holes? Stuck with a balcony and can't use a lot of loose dirt? Good points all around, but alas I am renting. Everything I've got is intended to be able to survive getting surprise evicted. Last landlord decided to break our lease so that she could live there when that guy was just two months old. Good news is the old place only managed a couple hours of direct sun, new place is fullest possible sun. Retroactive thanks to impulsive (wo)man-child landlords, my harvest this year would've been pitiful without them.
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Sep 28, 2014 07:27
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Re: Planter chat I have a couple of these. I love them. Sturdy, not terribly expensive, easy to move (handles!), great drainage. I have parsnips in the 15 gallon ones with handles, and they've grown great. The roots don't get all wadded up and bound because they can grow through the fabric, and then just being exposed to the air stops them after that. I also have 50 gallon, plastic, food grade drums sawed in half the long way, trough style. Holes drilled through the bottom, a little bit of rock, and they're great for anything that doesn't have a super deep root structure. I've had potatoes, peppers, herbs in them.
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Sep 28, 2014 14:05
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I used the large rubbermaid type containers to garden when I lived in an apartment. I grew tomatoes and zucchini in them and used cheap dollar store buckets to grow flowers in.
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Sep 28, 2014 15:37
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Alterian posted:I grew tomatoes and zucchini in them and used cheap dollar store buckets to grow flowers in. The only problem I have had with this method is the inevitable breakdown of the plastic after a year or two in the sun.
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Sep 28, 2014 15:54
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Put some armor-all on the plastic. It helps.
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Sep 28, 2014 16:05
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Does anybody know how long it normally takes for Moruga scorpion and Carolina reaper peppers to produce flowers, starting from seeds? I've got some plants that've been growing about 8 weeks and are almost a foot tall right now. They have no flowers on them, but are otherwise healthy.
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Sep 29, 2014 18:19
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Dr. Gitmo Moneyson posted:Does anybody know how long it normally takes for Moruga scorpion and Carolina reaper peppers to produce flowers, starting from seeds?
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Sep 30, 2014 01:21
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Dr. Gitmo Moneyson posted:Does anybody know how long it normally takes for Moruga scorpion and Carolina reaper peppers to produce flowers, starting from seeds? Carolina Reaper That site classes both as "Extremely Late Season (120+ days)", which would suggest you're at best roughly halfway there. If I'm understanding that right. I have a question that is vaguely related. I have some peppers that are very spicy. Not as much as those mentioned above, but they vaguely irritate the skin and everything. I have been making sambal ulek and sriracha from them and I get the feedback -from seasoned spicy sauce eaters- that it's all just too hot for anything but novelty. I've tried adding a bell pepper to the mix to dilute it and it doesn't seem to help much. Is there anything else I can add or alternatively any other suggestions of what to do with those peppers apart from making my own pepper spray?
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Sep 30, 2014 01:56
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SubG posted:Trinidad scorpions and bhut jolokias seem to produce very late. My scorpions haven't set any fruit yet and my bhuts have just started in the past couple weeks, and they're around three feet tall. I tried to grow a bhut jolokia here(Nebraska) last year. Planted it a couple days after the last frost in spring and by the time it froze again in fall it had only just started to produce a few fruits that were at most an inch long. I think I'd have to start growing them indoors way early to have any success. Flipperwaldt posted:I have a question that is vaguely related. I have some peppers that are very spicy. Not as much as those mentioned above, but they vaguely irritate the skin and everything. I have been making sambal ulek and sriracha from them and I get the feedback -from seasoned spicy sauce eaters- that it's all just too hot for anything but novelty. I've tried adding a bell pepper to the mix to dilute it and it doesn't seem to help much. Is there anything else I can add or alternatively any other suggestions of what to do with those peppers apart from making my own pepper spray? I believe most of the heat is in the seeds/ovaries so if you take out the center they should be a lot more palatable. I think?
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Sep 30, 2014 02:09
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ghetto wormhole posted:I believe most of the heat is in the seeds/ovaries so if you take out the center they should be a lot more palatable. I think?  Some more googling tells me Orange Thai Chilis. I'm glad I finally found out.
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Sep 30, 2014 02:51
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ghetto wormhole posted:I believe most of the heat is in the seeds/ovaries so if you take out the center they should be a lot more palatable. I think? Flipperwaldt posted:I have a question that is vaguely related. I have some peppers that are very spicy. Not as much as those mentioned above, but they vaguely irritate the skin and everything. I have been making sambal ulek and sriracha from them and I get the feedback -from seasoned spicy sauce eaters- that it's all just too hot for anything but novelty. I've tried adding a bell pepper to the mix to dilute it and it doesn't seem to help much. Is there anything else I can add or alternatively any other suggestions of what to do with those peppers apart from making my own pepper spray?
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Sep 30, 2014 03:12
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Flipperwaldt posted:Moruga Scorpion Yeah that sounds about right. I remember reading before I planted them that exotic peppers like scorpions and reapers take a good while to bear fruit, but I wanted to be sure I wasn't doing anything that might hinder them. I'm also growing some red savina habaneros in the same garden that just started producing flower buds about two weeks ago. And those flowers are only just now starting to bloom as of the last 24 hours or so.
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Sep 30, 2014 03:40
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Flipperwaldt posted:I'm in zone 8 and my spicy peppers grow wonderfully inside, in a warm room behind a window that gets a lot of direct sunlight, if that's an option. I've got bell peppers outside that are doing fine, but it depends a lot on whether the summer temperatures are any good. Some years great, other years, meh. You need a couple of months with nighttime temps never dropping below 15°C and daytime temps regularly going above 25°C in the sun. Starting the plants inside to give them a head start. Oh I did not think about growing them inside. We already have a room with orchids etc.. it could fit there just fine. Do you grow them all year long inside? Think it is worth a try doing it now or is there no point since winter is coming?  Peristalsis posted:If you're new-ish to this, I suggest buying pepper plants, instead of trying to grow from seed. Regardless, you should have seed companies that sell in Switzerland, so I'd suggest checking out their catalogs to see what is available there. I love growing peppers, and I've found that almost all of them grow pretty well for me, except bell peppers and the super hots (which I think are just supposed to be temperamental and difficult to grow). In general, I've found that smaller peppers produce more for me than larger ones, and I've had especially good luck with jalapenos, cayenne, lemon peppers (spicy and pretty unique appearance and flavor), Jimmy Nardello, banana peppers, and cubanelles (good alternative to bell peppers). Thanks for this. Just wondering, why do you suggest buying the plant directly? The girlfriend already made some stuff grow from seeds so we have some tools for it. Is it hard to do well for chilis? The thing is I can get seeds quite easily from internet but I'm not sure I could find plants that are not the usual thai chili.
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Sep 30, 2014 08:30
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Le0 posted:Oh I did not think about growing them inside. We already have a room with orchids etc.. it could fit there just fine. Supposedly they won't germinate without a heat mat, but honestly I made my pepper seeds germinate fine (saved from last season) by starting them indoors in little Dixie cups on a cookie sheet, with a towel under that and then put the whole thing on a radiator. It got just warm enough they were happy and sprouted in a few days no problem. This was in a NYC building with those old steam radiators, and in February, so I used a grow light to get them along until the weather warmed up. You just need some sort of heat source, and don't put them outside if your nights are cold. Edit: If you have a greenhouse with lots of sun you could try starting them now, otherwise wait until next winter. Peppers want lots of sun and don't like cool weather at all. Like even before a frost mine get yellowish and unhappy when the night drop to below 50, and die as soon as it frosts. In warm climates they'll supposedly perennials. mrmcd fucked around with this message at 12:48 on Sep 30, 2014 |
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Sep 30, 2014 12:45
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Le0 posted:Oh I did not think about growing them inside. We already have a room with orchids etc.. it could fit there just fine. Oh, if you have experience (or an adventurous streak), then by all means take a stab at growing them from seed. You're absolutely right that you have much more variety available from seed than from plants at Home Depot. Also, if you fail miserably, you'll know early enough to buy plants as backup. I just didn't know if you knew about having to start them indoors and all that jazz. It might be worth patronizing a seed company that specializes in varieties for your area, but it's probably not a big deal, except for the ones that have insanely long seasons. Waaaayyyyy back in this thread - from at least 2 years ago - are some instructions for how to do it (as well as some clarifications from questions I asked, I think). You can also find lots of instructions elsewhere online with minimal effort. I've found pepper seeds to be a little more temperamental than tomato seeds, but I've been able to grow more than I can use every year I've tried. The hardest parts for me are: 1) It takes a while and it can get to be a drag. I think 6-8 weeks indoors under lights is recommended for most peppers, and you might want more for the superhots. 2) Hardening them off is a pain for me, because I have to drag them all out every day for their sunlight, then get them in at night before it gets cold again. 3) So many peppers, so little space in my basement and yard. If you have an indoor grow area to play with, you can have some fun with peppers. There's a store around here that sells high end lights and hydroponic stuff, and they have an indoor pepper plant under lights that must be 5 feet tall, and easily that far across. I think it's a ghost pepper or the like, and it was covered in fruit that last time I was there. It looked more like a small fruit tree or a berry bush than a pepper plant. I assume it was a few years old. At that point, you may need more specialized lights or other equipment than you do just for sprouting them, but I don't know. Edit: And all the special instructions and equipment just for sprouting might be overkill, too. I still see people starting their tomato and pepper seeds on warm, sunny windowsills, just like their grandparents did on the farm. Peristalsis fucked around with this message at 15:35 on Sep 30, 2014 |
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Sep 30, 2014 15:26
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Peristalsis posted:Edit: And all the special instructions and equipment just for sprouting might be overkill, too. I still see people starting their tomato and pepper seeds on warm, sunny windowsills, just like their grandparents did on the farm. Honestly the only seeds I could never get to sprout indoors were Datura seeds, but those were pilfered from a National Park out west last fall when all the wild plants had pods breaking open, so they might've not been viable or I was giving them the wrong conditions / soil. Oh yeah, and my string beans for some reason never sprouted. Morning Glories, Peppers, and Tomatoes were all pretty easy, and everyone complains about how hard those are. 
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Sep 30, 2014 18:00
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I'm using one of these. These things own. http://www.aerogarden.com ... or at least they WOULD own, if they didn't cost so drat much. And got a major design update. And came in models with room for more than 7 plants. 
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Sep 30, 2014 18:08
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Same Great Paste posted:Good points all around, but alas I am renting. Everything I've got is intended to be able to survive getting surprise evicted. Last landlord decided to break our lease so that she could live there when that guy was just two months old. Good news is the old place only managed a couple hours of direct sun, new place is fullest possible sun. Retroactive thanks to impulsive (wo)man-child landlords, my harvest this year would've been pitiful without them.  Those grade of plastic barrels also won't degrade from UV and temperature fluctations in a year or two, like a cheap wal-mart rubbermaid tub might. If you spend a while looking, you can usually find them for like 5-10 bucks around here. Way cheaper than those half whiskey barrels! SubG posted:Trinidad scorpions and bhut jolokias seem to produce very late. My scorpions haven't set any fruit yet and my bhuts have just started in the past couple weeks, and they're around three feet tall.  mrmcd posted:Oh yeah, and my string beans for some reason never sprouted. Morning Glories, Peppers, and Tomatoes were all pretty easy, and everyone complains about how hard those are. coyo7e fucked around with this message at 21:37 on Sep 30, 2014 |
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Sep 30, 2014 21:32
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mrmcd posted:Honestly the only seeds I could never get to sprout indoors were Datura seeds, but those were pilfered from a National Park out west last fall when all the wild plants had pods breaking open, so they might've not been viable or I was giving them the wrong conditions / soil. There are plenty of plants that I've germinated then killed on transplant, or got a sprout but it got destroyed by pests or just never grew, or grew but never produced. But Z. simulans is the one one I haven't been able to get to germinate at all. coyo7e posted:I've begun to get rain and chilly nights here so I think my bhut joloka is never going to fruit.
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Sep 30, 2014 22:13
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Jewce posted:I just moved to Atlanta and am in the process of house hunting. This means that next season I can finally make my dream of having a backyard garden come true. I would like to start preparing for this early so I have plenty of time to get everything going. As an Atlanta native myself, I can tell you that basically every development OTP is going to have an HOA, and they're run exclusively by bible-thumping utter shitheads. If you want to avoid being stuck with one, look in older neighborhoods and not in subdividions. Most places ITP are sans HOA, but a bit pricier and won't have that Stepford Wives vibe that the subdivisions that sprung up in the 90s have.
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Oct 2, 2014 04:42
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I am so drat happy. I live in the SF Bay Area, the land of no frosts at all. I grew up above the frost line eating fresh apples, and the apples here are for pooh -- mushy and flavorless, at least by the time they're trucked to us. I decided to grow my own, and to pick a variety with low chill requirements. I stumbled over Greenmantle Nurseries, which specializes in apples from a California breeder, Albert Etter, the guy who came up with the Pink Pearl you sometimes see in stores. In 2008 I ordered a couple of bench grafts, which are what saplings grow from: one bud of the tree in question securely taped into a twig with a root system. I chose a dwarf rootstock, because my yard is small. I received two ridiculous little twigs. I planted them in an irrigated part of my garden, and they sent up whips that grew to 3 feet tall. I topped them and transplanted them into their final home (the transplanting helps them develop a strong root system.) Then I got chronic migraines and wound up neglecting the garden for years. The trees quietly went their own way, unpruned, unsprayed, with no assistance but drip irrigation. Today I went down into the lower garden to check out the crawlspace. My former twig, a Muscat de Venus, was bent over with apples. I gathered a colander full and brought them up into the house. I cut one in half (it had a rotten spot) and split it with my daughter. It was perfect. Crisp, aromatic, and with a subtle perfumy aftertaste I can't quite describe.  Gardens are the best, y'all. Even when you suck at upkeep, stuff you planted years ago can keep on without you. Right now, my garden is a rambly, weedy mess of old roses and fruit trees, and it still brings me joy (now that I've had the courage to view the wreckage). Arsenic Lupin fucked around with this message at 03:55 on Oct 9, 2014 |
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Oct 9, 2014 03:52
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