Re: pepperhead212's 2023 garden

[pepperhead212]

I got my pepper seedling strip tray ready today. I fill it with vermiculite, then remove about 1/4", then wet it with some hydrogen peroxide - 2 tb in a quart of water. It soaks up almost the entire quart, before it starts dripping out. Then I put it on that warm spot in my kitchen - the griddle with 4 pilot lights under it! lol Then I cover it, and tweak the temp, by using spacers underneath, until the temperature is about 85-90°. I put the habs I started early on the back, on a thinner spacer, and got the temp right quickly. Friday the rest of the seeds get soaked, and Saturday I strain each batch out, rinse them, then place them in those rows with a pair of tweezers, then put the rest of the vermiculite on top, and moisten it. Then cover and wait!
Setting up the pepper sprouting tray, with some vermiculite, leaving 1/4 inch to cover later. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Update - I just checked those chinense peppers I started early, and one of the Wartryx seeds is just coming up!

[pepperhead212]

Today I got my pepper seeds and eggplant seeds counted out, and into their soaking cups. Also got the KNO3 solution, and a small amount of KSO4 solution weighed out, and ready for tomorrow. Four varieties I have a bunch of seeds of, so I'm doing an experiment, to see how the sulfate compares to the nitrate. I'm going to start the soaking tomorrow evening, then Saturday morning I'll drain, rinse, and plant the pepper seeds in the strips, with those 4 that will be in the sulfate solution in the back of those strips, and the usual ones in the front. And I just put a weak H2O2 solution (just 2 tb to a quart of water) on the Jiffy Pellets, to pop those, and get them ready for the Eggplant. And the last 3 seeds I have for the Neon eggplant; a favorite of mine, but definitely a hybrid, and unfortunately unavailable anywhere now. And the last few seeds I tried didn't germinate, but I'm going to try these soaked in the sulfate solution.
Pepper and eggplant seeds counted out the day before soaking. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[pepperhead212]

Just now, after 9 pm, I put all the soaking solutions on the seeds. This was the quick part - tomorrow morning will probably take even longer than counting them out last night.
All of the seeds soaking until Saturday morning. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Got a lot done today, cleaning out and re-organizing the shed, since the weather was nice. Got the hydroponics cleaned up some, and an experiment, I'll post about later.

[pepperhead212]

Yesterday morning I planted all of those pepper and eggplant seeds that I had soaking overnight. Drained, rinsed, and planted, then put another quarter inch or so of vermiculite on top of the pepper seeds, moistened that, then covered. Two that I have a lot of seeds from, plus those old Neon EP seeds I tried in the sulfate solution, so that will be interesting to see if there is a difference.
16 varieties here, plus the 4 chinense varieties planted early.
Vermiculite, with the pepper seeds planted, after soaking, rinsing, and the top 1/4 in added after planting. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

I got a little done outside, but mostly inside - cleaning, and organizing the shed and back porch, where most of that gardening junk is. I got two of my Jr Earthboxes out in the holders on the deck - there is still a parsley plant, plus cuttings from sweet marjoram and Syrian oregano, that I put in here just in case I had a winter that killed them! I do this every fall, and they root every time, though I have never needed them yet.
Jr Earthbox, with parsley, plus some cuttings of sweet marjoram and Syrian oregano, overwintered on back porch. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[pepperhead212]

I set my tomato seeds to soak overnight - they'll be planted in the morning. And I just saw the first eggplant seeds sprout this morning. I took my greens seedlings outside, to make room, but didn't plant them due to that storm coming having some bad winds.

I just saw the first tiny sprout on the tray tonight - not sure which kind, but I'll look tomorrow. I also got a chocolate habanero - the first one - and another wartryx. I had actually given up on that chocolate hab, and tried soaking some seeds (along with red savinas - my second favorite) in KSO4, to see if that works.

[pepperhead212]

A lot of my tomatoes are coming up now, as well as the peppers; almost all of the eggplants have germinated. The experiment I am doing with a different soaking solution (17.4 g KSO4 : 500 ml water, compared to my usual 15.2 g KNO3) is showing faster germinating for 3 seeds of one variety - I put about 10 seeds in each solution, of 2 varieties I had a lot of, so I could compare them. The 3 of the KSO4 soaked seeds are totally sprouted, and nothing visible in the KNO3 soaked ones. The other ones I had a good number of, that I'm testing, are frutescens peppers, which are usually slower.

[pepperhead212]

I had a dentist appointment today - just cleaning, and she was pleased with my teeth, so all I had to do was make another cleaning appointment. I got home around 1 pm, and went outside about 2:00, and planted my brassicas, and covered them. The soil is considerably dry - we've been having dry weather, and even when we'd have rain, it would be less than predicted. I hooked up the drip line and ran it while cutting the cover, and getting that anchored in place. I found that my snow peas and sugar snap peas have popped up, and I had almost forgotten about them!
brassicas, covered with toule. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[pepperhead212]

I got a lot done again today! It got up to 83°, but very breezy, so it was comfortable all day. The sun was out constantly, so yesterday I dug out my sunscreens; fortunately, I haven't needed any insect repellent yet. KOW They will be here too soon. Tomorrow is supposed to get to 86°, so AC will probably be going on for the first time of the year. The allergy season is raging now, unfortunately, and low humidity is making it really bad.

Today I uncovered most of my sub-irrigated planters, and put them in place in the back - the ones on the side and front are for peppers and okra, so I'll do those last.
The SIPs for cherry tomatoes and cucumbers. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

And here's the double row of garlic, with the SIPs in that trellis row to the left.
Starting to get my SIPs out from the tarp covers. Still have the side and the front to uncover, but that's for peppers and okra. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Almost all of my tomato seeds have germinated, except some of those old seeds I tested before, that didn't come up. I planted a lot more of all of them, but today I got some of the extras of similar varieties, and put them in the pots for the ones that hadn't come up - if any do germinate, eventually, I'll put them in their own pots.

[Rockporter]

I got a lot done again today! It got up to 83°, but very breezy, so it was comfortable all day. The sun was out constantly, so yesterday I dug out my sunscreens; fortunately, I haven't needed any insect repellent yet. KOW They will be here too soon. Tomorrow is supposed to get to 86°, so AC will probably be going on for the first time of the year. The allergy season is raging now, unfortunately, and low humidity is making it really bad.

Today I uncovered most of my sub-irrigated planters, and put them in place in the back - the ones on the side and front are for peppers and okra, so I'll do those last.
The SIPs for cherry tomatoes and cucumbers. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

And here's the double row of garlic, with the SIPs in that trellis row to the left.
Starting to get my SIPs out from the tarp covers. Still have the side and the front to uncover, but that's for peppers and okra. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Almost all of my tomato seeds have germinated, except some of those old seeds I tested before, that didn't come up. I planted a lot more of all of them, but today I got some of the extras of similar varieties, and put them in the pots for the ones that hadn't come up - if any do germinate, eventually, I'll put them in their own pots.

Looks very nice, that garlic is awesome. I have only tried once to grow it and that was last year, nothing grew.

[PlainJane]

Great looking garlic! And you look ready to rock and roll on spring planting.

[pepperhead212]

That garlic didn't die back at all the entire winter! I had two 7° nights, but it was otherwise mild, and it just slowly grew, until March, when it took off!

[pepperhead212]

I uncovered the rest of my SIPs today (despite that heat, which was tempered again by the strong wind), which was 7 more Earthboxes, and two homemade SIPs; also went around and made a list of the covers that need replacement, and the sizes. Surprisingly, only 7 need replacing, out of all those - I actually went around and looked again, to see if I missed some!

I also got my last seed order today (sound familiar, anyone? ); this one from the deal Pinetree had a while ago. I got a new lettuce variety - Tropicana - that was sold pelleted, which was the first time I'd gotten that from there. I'll see how long it goes w/o bolting, and how it tastes. Also got a new variety of basil I saw - Mrihani - and I'll see how that turns out.

[pepperhead212]

Today I went up and transferred a few more peppers to the pots - only two empty pots, the two I have left for those Hawaiian frutescens peppers, I got seeds for in a trade. They are usually a little slower, so I'll wait a little longer, before putting something else in the pots. The Jyoti seeds are the only other ones I didn't get a single sprout of, but they were old, and I put similar Thai peppers in those pots. Most of the varieties have already at least one set of true leaves, and I have all of the starts for the unique peppers, that I always grow, plus a few new ones.

Had more tomatoes that didn't germinate, but I expected this. Only one new one - the Grubbs Mystery Green doesn't have a single start in the 3 pots, so I went through and transferred 2 extra Prune Verte Green Plum and one extra Green Zebra Cherry to those pots. Sometimes moving the soil around slightly triggers the seeds in there, so with these, as well as the others, I transferred extra "similar" seedlings to, if I see any seeds popping up, I'll I'll make a new pot for those. A certain friend of mine likes when this happens, because they get my extras!
I got seedlings in all of the pots now, and maybe this weekend I'll be getting my 3 basils started. And soon - maybe another week - okra, and all the cucurbits, get started in peat pellets.

[pepperhead212]

Here are my Aji Dulce peppers, that I started a week earlier than the rest, with my other chinense peppers. I put those two in larger pots, the 3x6 in each tray - the other ones aren't as large, and are just starting to get roots showing. The eggplants are just starting to get roots, but they were started a week later - when all the other peppers were started.
The Aji Dulce, ready to go into a larger pot - the 18 per tray size. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

I got a lot done again today. Yesterday, I made a list of the sizes of the 8 plastic covers I need to replace on my SIPs, and last night I cut them to size in my workshop. Today I replaced those, plus refreshed the soil mix in some, plus I leveled all of them out back (still have the sides and fronts, for peppers and okra, for later). Tomorrow is the first lawn trash day in 2 weeks (a week skipped, due to Easter), so I had to get a generous amount out there. I was going to do some more today, but I had to take a break - tomorrow's another day, and it's getting cooler, as well!

After I had cleaned up and eaten some leftovers, I sat down and went through my tomato list, and the diagram that has where everything will be planted, and erase the ones that did not germinate. Then figured out what would do best in place of them - some I only had one planned for, but now there will be 2 of; one, the Oaxacan Jewel, I will plant 3 of, since I had such great luck with it last year.

[PlainJane]

Those pepper seedlings are perfect.

[pepperhead212]

Got a lot done today, and once it was dark, I did some stuff I've been neglecting - I harvested a bunch of greens from my hydroponics today - some mustard greens and mizuna that were just starting to bolt, and some leaf lettuce and Russian red kale, that has not bolted since they were planted in early November. Arugula was the quickest to bolt, and the least productive, of all these cut and come again plants.



I stripped the kale from all those thick stems, and crammed them in the Instant Pot - got over 3 qts, which I steamed, and when cooled some, I blended smooth, in the VM. Got a little over 2 c, then rinsed the container and lid, and added that to the purée. I'll make something with it tomorrow - got too late to cook tonight. I did make a smoothie, however, with some of that kale, before I cooked it.
Russian Kale, from hydroponics, from 2 plants, in a 12 qt bowl. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Half of a smoothie, with an apple, banana, a bunch of pineapple, coconut flavor, a little yogurt, chia seeds, and 2 kale leaves. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[pepperhead212]

Today I transferred two smaller peppers in the pellets - a Datil, and a Wartryx. The datil doesn't seem to be getting any more sprouts, but I have 2 more in one pellet, plus at least one I planted later in the vermiculite - also a Red Savina, though I'm still hoping for a chocolate hab - my favorite of the medium hot habs.

Top L - Datil. Middle Wartryx. Both put in the larger pots today, like the Aji Dulce before. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

I started my 3 varieties of bitter melons, by starting them soaking in GA-3, and soaking them 24 hrs, then putting them on the paper towel folded up in the petri dishes. Those, and these soaking dishes I'll keep in the Instant Pot, in the yogurt mode, but moved to the 24 hr mode for the cooler Jiu Niang mode, which warms it at around 90°. Using it for this and peppers, I just re-set the timer for another 24 hrs, for several days. Here's a plate with the soaking seeds, after just 2 hrs, and up to 86.5° already.
soaking the bitter melon seeds in the Instant Pot, to keep them warm - works for hot peppers, too. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[pepperhead212]

And here are those bitter melon seeds in the IP again, on folded up PTs, in petri dishes, about 89°.
the seeds of the 3 varieties of bitter melons, sprouting in the IP, at about 89 degrees. 4-21 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

I transferred my eggplant seedlings and flower seedlings, started in pellets, into pots, covering with seed starting mix. This took 3 weeks since planting - the eggplants a little smaller than when I put them in pots last year, but about a week less time, so far. The flowers and eggplants had a lot of roots growing out of the pellets, esp. the Mexican Sunflowers. One of those is the largest of any of the plants in 3 weeks, yet last year, they were the slowest growing of the flowers I started. As for the eggplants, the Ichibans, though they were the oldest, which is why I planted 3/pellet, had ever seed germinate, though the last one was a little small, since I transferred it to a pellet, where some LA Long greens didn't germinate. And I just a few days ago started some of those, and the U of HI long green, and all 3 I had left of String EP seeds, as with those, only one each sprouted! The Batak, and Choryoku green, like with the Ichibans, had every seed sprout, when I planted 2/pellet. The Batak and Ichiban were the largest, though all had a lot of roots coming out of the pellets.

The flowers I started in the slightly smaller Ferry Morse chia pellets, and the roots were coming through even more on those, and a couple of them looked like something was growing in them, yet nothing coming up in them! I've had that happen with squash seeds, before.
A Batak eggplant seedling, 4-23, started on 4-1, getting ready to put it in a large pot. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

9 of the eggplant seedlings in Jiffy Pellets, put in large pots, 18/tray. 4-21 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Mexican Sunflowers on L, Queen Lime Blush Zinnia in Middle, and Peruviana Zinnia on R, just transferred to the pots, 4-21, the late Ichiban in the lower row. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Mexican Sunflowers, starting in FM chia pellets, showing the roots. 4-21 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

And here are the flowers, all transferred to pots. Only 4/6 Mexican Sunflowers germinated, 5/6 of the Queen Lime Blush zinnias, and 6/6 uniform size Peruvian zinnias.
Mex sunflower and zinnia seedlings, with the pellets transferred to pots, in a tray with eggplant seedlings. 4-21 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[pepperhead212]

I finished the drip lines out front and on the sides today, and leveled the last few SIPs, before the sun got over to those areas (the reason I didn't finish all that, on those hot days!). It started getting very windy and cloudy, but eventually got sunny again, so the rain wasn't coming early. I came inside anyway, and got the okras, melon, bottle gourds, and cucumbers soaking, and later this evening I'll put them in that tray of Jiffy Pellets I set up and soaked yesterday.
okras, cucumbers, melon, and bottle gourd seeds soaking, before putting them in the Jiffy Pellets this evening. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[pepperhead212]

Here are the larger types of peppers (the plants, that is) - some Thai and Jalapeño types, started on 4-1. The ones on the full tray are a little smaller, but all are growing well, and will be ready by mid-May to put out.
Peppers, 4-22, started on 4-1 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

I started the tomatoes a little later, as they have been getting too large by a week or so into May, when they'll have to go in. A few smallish ones, in pots that had no seeds sprout, and I put in some favorites, to fill the spots.
Tomatoes, 4-22, started soaked overnight on 4-6, planted 4-7 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

And those seeds I soaked earlier:
Jiffy Pellets, with the soaked seeds for okras, melon, bottle gourd, calabash, and cucumbers. by pepperhead212, on Flickr