AMKuska's 2023 Garden

[AMKuska]

The hots are tucked in their beds now. I was excited to see some of them already had a tiny bit of root development when I planted them from their long soak. I also like this little tiny greenhouse thing my mother in law gave me. They help keep the moisture in so I water less. There's a vent at the top if you think it's too moist so you don't end up with fungus.

 

[ducks4you]

According to a nursery owner on this week's Mid American Gardener, we can thank the pot industry for cheaper LED's. I have one LED pink gro light, like above.

 

[AMKuska]

I didn't know that. My husband got them for me, along with the grow tent. I keep running in to peek at my peppers but of course, they have not popped yet. It's not even been 3 full days yet though and the earliest they could emerge is 4 days from now.

 

[Zeedman]

According to a nursery owner on this week's Mid American Gardener, we can thank the pot industry for cheaper LED's. I have one LED pink gro light, like above.

I will be shopping around for some LED bulbs, hopefully some 48" tubes that I can mix with my HO T8's. I've been mostly happy with the T8 fixtures, but they run a little hot & the LEDs would improve the light spectrum.

 

[Branching Out]

We too are big jalapeno fans as they are a nice size and not too spicy, especially if you remove the seeds. The plant though is not particularly attractive. This year I grew out a couple of Heirloom Gals Charapitas, and those pepper plants were really beautiful. I would visit them each day, and just stare at them. They were about a foot tall, with a broad dense canopy of small shiny leaves; kind of reminded me of a small version of the dog party tree at the end of the book Go Dog, Go! (another personal favourite). The actual peppers are yellow and minuscule. When one finally ripened I just had to try it despite not tolerating hot peppers particularly well, figuring that it was so small-- how hot could it possibly be? Shortly afterward I found myself hopping around the garden talking to myself, saying 'whoa!' over and over again. Let's just say it's on the spicy side, with a really fruity flavour-- and worth growing just for its looks. Which make me think that it would be great to be able to grow a jalapeno plant with the curb appeal of a Charapita.

 

[AMKuska]

We too are big jalapeno fans as they are a nice size and not too spicy, especially if you remove the seeds. The plant though is not particularly attractive. This year I grew out a couple of Heirloom Gals Charapitas, and those pepper plants were really beautiful. I would visit them each day, and just stare at them. They were about a foot tall, with a broad dense canopy of small shiny leaves; kind of reminded me of a small version of the dog party tree at the end of the book Go Dog, Go! (another personal favourite). The actual peppers are yellow and minuscule. When one finally ripened I just had to try it despite not tolerating hot peppers particularly well, figuring that it was so small-- how hot could it possibly be? Shortly afterward I found myself hopping around the garden talking to myself, saying 'whoa!' over and over again. Let's just say it's on the spicy side, with a really fruity flavour-- and worth growing just for its looks. Which make me think that it would be great to be able to grow a jalapeno plant with the curb appeal of a Charapita.

That's one of my daughter's favorite books!

 

[AMKuska]

The hots are doing well. We planted them this Thursday and they've already sprouted. There's no signs of fungus, and they seem to be growing very busily.

 

[AMKuska]

@heirloomgal you seem to know a lot about hots. One of the mistakes I made last year was not taking them off the heat pad the entire time they were growing to try and keep it warm enough for them. I know you are supposed to take them off while they're still young.

When is the best time to remove them? After they've all sprouted? After I pot them up? When they're a certain height?

 

[heirloomgal]

@heirloomgal you seem to know a lot about hots. One of the mistakes I made last year was not taking them off the heat pad the entire time they were growing to try and keep it warm enough for them. I know you are supposed to take them off while they're still young.

When is the best time to remove them? After they've all sprouted? After I pot them up? When they're a certain height?

I take them off as soon as the cotyledon leaves turn nice and green, then under the lights they go. If there is multiple seeds in a single pot I wait until 3/4 of them have cotyledon leaves, and I let any stragglers finish germinating under the warmth of the lights.

 

[AMKuska]

Thanks! I'll keep an eye on them and pop them under the lights as soon as the majority are up. The poblanos have followed the Trinidad Scorpions, so I imagine the others will be up pretty soon too.