Re: pepperhead212's 2023 garden

[pepperhead212]

Not a whole lot going on outside here, but my hydroponics are taking off big time! The old basil was the one thing I had trouble with this year, but I got some new seeds recently, and hopefully it will catch up. I've been eating small salads, with just a few leaves from each of several plants, but I'll have to harvest a bunch of it, and make a dish with all of it. That unknown lettuce I save the seeds from was the fastest to germinate, and to grow. Two old packs of lettuce were not germinating, and a second variety finally took off. The arugula was the fastest, and had the most roots every time I would look at them. The "White Stem" bok choy is listed as 8-10", so not one of the larger varieties, and it's not getting overgrown, so that's good. A few other new things, too.
Arugula, in the hydroponics, 1-13 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Wasabina mustard greens, the bright green, 1-13 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Some leaf lettuce, with some parsley and Thai basil to the left, 1-13 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

White Stem bok choy, a little larger than Toy Choy, but still good for inside. 1-13 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Red epazote, finally getting going, 1-13 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Leaf lettuce, from saved seed, fastest growing, 1-13 by pepperhead212, on Flickr


A couple of cilantro plants, and a couple of Russian Red kale plants, above the chives. 1-13 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[bower]

Sure is great to have winter greens. Mine are not hydroponic but the effect looks about the same! Lovely green things under lights, cheerful and ...om nom nom!

[Mark_Thompson]

Showoff!

[pepperhead212]

If it didn't get to 60° today, on February 8th, it was very close! I went out there, and did as much as I could, it was so nice out. I cleaned up a lot, and took the shelf supports out of 3 old SIPs (at least 8 years, maybe older), that started breaking, when moved last season. They actually lasted one season longer than I thought they would, as they were breaking a little last year. I started making 2 more SIPs last night, and those shelf supports saved me cutting more of those, the PVC doesn't degrade.
Recycling the shelf supports from old SIPs. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

I also trimmed some of my herbs - the marjoram is starting to get some new leaves, so I trimmed all the dead stems off up top with the cordless trimmer, then cut the totally dead branches off the sage, as well as the outer ones (the large plant got over 3' in diameter!), leaving the inner clusters on it. It is getting some new leaves in the center already. And I got a pleasant surprise while doing that - my rosemary, which I thought may have died, from a 7° temp we had before Christmas, is getting a bunch of green, in the lower stems! I cut all the dead branches from it, and much of the inner branches have signs of life! I have a rosemary plant in a large pot on my back porch, which I thought I was going to have to plant in place of these, but it looks like I won't be doing that!
Rosemary coming back, with greens on 2-8, after it looked dead, from a 7 degree low, before Christmas. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Sage trimmed way back, with all the outer stalks, and totally dried clusters removed. A bunch of new leaves starting out in the center. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

I gave my neighbor a laugh when she saw me smelling my hand, repeatedly, when I was trimming those herbs.

[pepperhead212]

I finished those two SIPs today, after going to Harbor freight to re-stock on a number of items. I cleaned the watering tubes from those old SIPs, that I took apart, then cut the screen to cover the shelves and line the wicking columns. Here's one of them.
Shelf for the first Sub-irrigated planter, with the supports attached with cable ties. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

First SIP almost completely assembled. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Finished SIP, with screens cut out for the wicking columns and shelf. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

The hydroponics is going crazy! I usually just harvest a couple leaves per plant, as it doesn't take much more as a salad, or something to add to a soup or a curry. The bok choy has to be harvested, as it is is flowering. The arugula bolted early - always a problem for me, no matter what variety I grow. But I cut it totally back, a week or so ago, and it seems to be growing, w/o any flowers.
Bok choy, just started to flower, so I'll harvest all of it soon. Epazote on left, getting huge. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Leaf lettuce and mizuna in the hydro, almost covering the cilantro. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Wasabina mustard greens, in the hydro. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[bower]

So glad to see your rosemary coming back from the low! I'm trying to overwinter my own giant rosemary plant in the greenhouse this year, and it's pretty scary... I don't want to lose her.

[pepperhead212]

Good luck with the rosemary, @Bower. What's the lowest temp your greenhouse gets in the winter? My standard rosemary used to only be hardy down to a little below 20°, but this Hill Hardy variety is hardy down to the low teens, with no problems. I always have a smaller one on my back porch (maybe about 5° warmer, when really cold), just in case! And I can bring it inside temporarily, when really bad. From now on, if it is forecast for single digits, I'll cover the outdoor one!

[bower]

@pepperhead212 it can get below freezing, for sure. Air temperature was 30F a couple of mornings ago, and that was at 10 am so probably a bit below that. 10F is about -12C, that's what it'll be outdoors tonight, so we're in the ballpark. When the sun was shining today though, it went up to 60F at least briefly. So they have a little heat to hang onto, if the sun shines now and then. Mrs. Rosemary is looking a bit stressed but covered in flowers, still okay!
I also rooted some cuttings this summer and gave the plants away except I kept one as a backup, which is in the living room, safe!

[pepperhead212]

It got up to 60° today, and I went out took off the Agribon cover off my greens bed, because it got some holes in it, with terrible wind a few times. Some things are still growing, or maybe growing again, getting ready to bolt. I also weed-wacked those dead garlic chives, about 12" tall, from the winter (we did actually have that, briefly), as they have already started coming up in all those clusters, and I don't want a bunch of dead stalks in with the new chives when I cut them!

[pepperhead212]

Here's my list for the tomatoes I'll be trying this year. If any of the old seeds I'm testing don't germinate, I'll probably just fill them in with other favs. I've usually had good luck with old tomato seeds, but you never know. The ones I tested I marked with *.

I'll be starting them around April 7th, or maybe a couple days later. 4-3 was even a little too early last year, since I've been getting unusually cool early parts of May, after very warm Aprils, the last few years.


Cherry, and other smallish types:

Old favs:

Bumblebee Purple
Green Zebra Cherry
Sprite Grape *
Sunsugar F1 (really the only of these cherries I've grown recently, though I've grown the other 3 previously)

New:

Ambrosia Red Cherry *
Brandywine Cherry *
Matt's Hornet
Pearly Pink Cherry *
Piglet Willie Black
Prune Verte Green Plum


Larger:

Old Favs:

Amish Gold Slicer *
Brandyboy F1
Oaxacan Jewel (last year's best keeper)

New:

Aunt Gert's Gold *
Aunt Lou's Pink *
Calli Orange
Dragon's Eye *
Grub's Mystery Green
Hippie Zebra
Juliet F3
Pink Boar Salad *

Here is my final pepper list for 2023 - posted this already, on the pepper thread. As usual, my old favorites list is longer than the new ones, unlike my tomatoes, where there are few perfect ones, for this weather.

Old favs:

Aji Dulce
Aruna
Chocolate Habanero
Hanoi Market
Jalafuego
Jalapeño M
Jyoti
Maui Purple (new source, but listed as milder than my old ones)
Superchili
Thai Dragon (I'll see how this compares to others I've grown in the past with this name)
Thai Vesuvius

New (mostly)

Big Mic
Datil (very late ages ago, but hopefully they have improved it, like many chinense varieties)
Hawaian frutescens
Japanese Yatsufusa
Joe Parker
Pimienda de Pedron
Pumpkin Pie Spice NuMex/Jalapeño
Wartryx (only superhot this year)

Most of those new varieties will need covered, along with the Jalapeños and Hanoi Market, as they are the types prone to pepper maggot flies.

The chinense varieties I'll start in mid-March, but everything else on April 1st. At first, it seems like that is too late, but at the end of April, they take off, and if I planted them any earlier, I'd have to transplant them to larger pots for a week or two before putting them out.

And here are the eggplants I'll be growing. I have 3 green varieties - still trying to find a replacement for the Hari variety I got from seedsofindia.com years ago, but it eventually changed (still the same name, but flowers changed color, and much smaller fruit), and it was definitely a hybrid, so I'll see if I can find an OP variety that's similar. The String from last year, and Ichiban are the only oldies - everything else is new.

These I'll start in Jiffy Pellets - last year they grew faster than I ever had any EPs grow, and I transplanted them to the larger pots - 18/tray. I'll start them on 4-1, as the usual start about a week earlier got them too large too fast!

Ichiban
Chinese String

Batac
Choryoku Green
LA Long Green (grew years ago)
UH Long Green

[pepperhead212]

It is still windy, but it got close to 60°, so I went out around 2:30, picked up a bunch of branches, then I laid the T-tape in the middle of my double row of garlic. I usually do it sooner, but they hadn't gotten too large, so there weren't too many growing across the middle. I did have to add about a 2' extension on it - that was the only correction I had to do to it. It was too wet to do much else. I only turned the water on to test that, before laying it - I had to turn it off again, and drain the pipes, as I still have some freezing lows in the forecast.

Only one spot looks like nothing came up, and one is just coming up, despite all these others growing through the entire winter.
T-tape laid in garlic row, 3-4-23 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[pepperhead212]

The last couple of days I direct seeded some things outside - snow peas, sugar snap peas, some dill, and tomatillos. The only rain (which we were supposed to get) only caused some drops on the deck - not even enough to wet things completely.
I did nothing outside today, being the last cold day of the winter, starting at 27° sometime this morning, and still at 30° at 11 am. Got to 42°, which was the minute after midnight, more than 10 under average, but it's getting warmer quickly. I started my chinense peppers today, after soaking overnight in that Instant Pot, at right around 90°. I put them in Jiffy Pellets, starting 2 Wartryx, 2 Chocolate Habaneros, 2 Aji Dulces, and 3 Datil, with 3 and 4 seeds in for the chocolate habs, as they are the oldest. I'll definitely have to bag some of those blossoms, as they were the best habaneros I've grown - Craig's Super Chocolate Brown - and are indeterminate, while the others, including another chocolate hab last year, was not the same.

[Rockporter]

The last couple of days I direct seeded some things outside - snow peas, sugar snap peas, some dill, and tomatillos. The only rain (which we were supposed to get) only caused some drops on the deck - not even enough to wet things completely.
I did nothing outside today, being the last cold day of the winter, starting at 27° sometime this morning, and still at 30° at 11 am. Got to 42°, which was the minute after midnight, more than 10 under average, but it's getting warmer quickly. I started my chinense peppers today, after soaking overnight in that Instant Pot, at right around 90°. I put them in Jiffy Pellets, starting 2 Wartryx, 2 Chocolate Habaneros, 2 Aji Dulces, and 3 Datil, with 3 and 4 seeds in for the chocolate habs, as they are the oldest. I'll definitely have to bag some of those blossoms, as they were the best habaneros I've grown - Craig's Super Chocolate Brown - and are indeterminate, while the others, including another chocolate hab last year, was not the same.

It's so good to hear you are getting to do some seeding now. Good luck and a good season for you from here on out!

[pepperhead212]

Thanks, @Rockporter! Yeah, it's that time of year, and the big day (for me) of April 1 is coming cast! That's when I plant all the rest of my peppers, the eggplants, and a few other things, though this year my tomato seeds will get planted a week later. Even 4-3 was too soon last year, with the plants a little too large, by planting time, so I'll try 4-7 this year. 2 days ago I started 14 varieties of brassicas indoors - still don't see any coming up where I direct seeded some of those a few weeks ago, just to see if it would work. It might still!

[pepperhead212]

First mint of the year!!!
First mint visible, first day of spring! 3-20 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Patch of mint, first day of spring. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

It was probably out there yesterday, but I didn't go out yesterday. And I look EVERY day I'm out there!

That bed will be covered in a month.

[davood]

Your hydro setup looks great and you're getting a jump on spring here. What will you plant in the SIP?

[pepperhead212]

I plant a lot in SIPs - tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, cucumbers, bottle gourds, okra, bitter melons, and this year some other melons, on trellis.

Today I pulled down about 19' of nylon string trellis, that had a branch fall on it, but it was coming apart, anyway. This time I got some 6' 6" high, while the old was 5'. This is that "high density polyethylene", which lasted a lot longer, which surprised me. I have some that smaller tomatoes, tomatillos, and eggplant have been hanging on for the last 8 years, and while there are some breaks in it, it's still doing well. Not easy to handle, especially for one person, but I managed! Eventually, I'll get some cheap pvc and screw it onto the tops of the wood supports, in case any of those branches fall.
on left, new trellis for the pole beans, six and a half feet tall. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

I also turned my water on today - hopefully for the last time, as it is not supposed to freeze anymore. I also put up my new rain guage - something else I had to wait until no more freezing for. The plastic on the old one started cracking more than I could save it anymore. It lasted 8 years, I think, and I saved the base for one last year, with epoxy, but couldn't save it anymore. I rubbed it with some uv blocking polish for cars, but I thought maybe it will help with this.

Before it got dark, besides the usual cleaning up I did, I got all my irrigation lines attached to the trellises (some of those things they are attached with always break off in the winter, from the cold, or whatever, and I get them all back to normal, then take the end caps off all of them, and flush any dirt out each, saving the water in a sprinkler can. Then I put the caps back, and everything is set up. This year, like last spring, has been dry, so I might need the irrigation early again.

[pepperhead212]

I see my first pepper poking through of those 5 chinense types - one of the oldest ones, an aji dulce. It was just after 5 days from planting them, and the overnight soaking. The others shouldn't be far behind.

[pepperhead212]

Update:
Here's that pepper, about 5 hours after I saw that sprout! And there is another sprout just to the left - about what that larger one looked like, when I first saw it.
First pepper from the seeds, planted 5 days ago. Aji Dulce, another sprouted right next to it. 3-24 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[pepperhead212]

The other pellet with 2 Aji Dulce seeds started was the second one to have a sprout just this morning. Later today I saw one of the three pellets with Datil seeds has one just peeking through.