...some more H2O...with a twist...

Saturday, May 13th

They were pretty dry, and the Roco-whatever was actually a little bit droopy. So I gave a really good, deep soaking and also sprayed them with a fertilizer I got from my mentor(aka - mom). She told me to spray it on the actual leaves...that they would feed that way. If you say so...

Most of the plants look great. Some are growing sooo much faster then others. And then there is the scotch bonnet, which doesn't seem to be doing ANYTHING. Barely growing in height, and almost no new leaves. And DEFINITELY no buds. I think I've picked atleast one bud from all the other plants. I don't know. I think after this week(ending May 20th), I'll stop picking buds. Time to see what the plants will do. If they haven't established good growth/roots by then(30 days on the 20th), then they aren't going to. Need to take/post new pics of the plants. Will try to remember to that on Friday, May 19th.

We need water!

Tuesday, May 9th

So I watered the plants on Tuesday. They were pretty dry, but they just don't seem to droop. I almost want to wait for them to droop, but I don't...

I gave an ok soaking, but maybe not deep enough. It was incredibly hot that day, with massive humidity. The heat index(whatever the hell that is) was 109 and the mosquitos were viscious...a cool front was pushing all that shit in front of it. And it was MEAN, though the plants seemed happy enough. I think the mosquitos kind of kept me from giving a really deep soak. Anyway...nothing else really happened but picking buds.

Yet again...

I procrastinate.

And now I have to remember...

Very, VERY wet...

Friday, May 5th

Happy Cinco de Mayo! Here's to the Mexicans that laid a whooping on the French in Puebla, all those years ago.

On Thursday night(Friday morning), we had some terrific(terrifying?) storms roll through at about 2-3am. Massive lightning and thunder...a couple of times, it seemed that I heard the thunder before the lightning flashed. So it was right on top of me. And of course, the power went out. NEVER fails...

But the plants got a serious soaking. Though when I stuck my finger into the soil this evening, the soil was wet, but not dripping.

Tonight, ANOTHER big band of storms is currently flowing through North Texas. Not really any lightning and thunder, but lots of rain. I'm a little concerned that the plants are now over-watered. I'll have to poke some holes in the soil, away from the roots, to help the plants dry out some.

Not sure I've posted much info here, over the last few entries, though I have "caught up," date-wise. As I finish typing this, the thunder has started to roll...

Pictures after 12 days

Took some pictures on Tuesday, May 2nd. The plants do look bigger...but when you stare at them everyday, you don't always see the changes. Los had the great idea to put some thin dowel rods in the soil, and make marks on them as the plants grow. It would be a good way to measure their height to the time in the pots....so that's something to look into. Speaking of, here are the plants:


Saggy scotch bonnet and a happy Sunbright


2 Red Savinas(tm)- I think something strange is happening here. The one on the right is slowly beginning to no longer look like a habanero plant - THAT will piss me off. I'll take a picture later...


Jaloro, Arledge Heirloom and chocolate habanero - all look good


The other chocolate habanero and little Chilly Chili hybrid - also looking pretty good.


2 fataliis - out of all the habanero-type plants, they look the strongest.


Much Nacho Jalapeno - looks about the same, but doing well


Thai - good to go...


Roca - whatever it's called. It's got some really big, floppy leaves, but they are strong.


Kung Pao - really growing strong...maybe the fastest. And in the smallest pot...could spell bad news.

How hot has it been?

I just realized I haven't been documenting the temperatures during the day, as these plants have progressed. From what I can remember, it's been hotter then normal for the last week or so - 80's and 90's(except when it has rained). Add some wind, and that will dry out the soil in the pots faster then if they were in the ground. I do have about 1/2 an inch of cedar mulch on top of the soil. Should probably be deeper(atleast a couple of inches), but I haven't done that. I need to pay more attention to the temperature...

Scotch Looks a little off...

Tuesday, May 2nd

The scotch bonnet plant has been looking a little sketchy from about 3 days in. A little sagging, and yellowish leaves. It's shown NO perkiness at all. All the others looked strong, especially the fataliis. Since I hadn't fertilized the plants yet, except when I hit them with the seaweed stuff during the potting process, I figured it was time to do it.

So I watered them, though they were still a little moist, with water mixed with fish emulsion. The nitrogen in it(5%), will "promote strong growth and deep green leaf color."(from chileplants.com's GROW-HOW) Sounds good to me...

Gave them an OK soaking, probably not as deep as it could have been, but they were already a little moist. I'm still trying to figure this out, but I need to start thinking "less is more" when it comes to water. I also took off a couple of the really yellow leaves from the scotch bonnet.

"...Stormy Weather..."

Friday, April 28th

Heavy weather was predicted for that Friday night...one week into the pots. Big rain, and possible large hail. So I kind of freak-out, and move all the pots on the porch, where they'd be safe. Before they were moved, just a little earlier that evening, we got a good, deep soaking of rain. With that soaking, and the possible bad stuff coming, I figured they'd had enough and needed to be moved. Of course, you know what happened later that night - absolutely nothing! Almost no rain, and definitely no high winds or hail. So all the pots got moved back out into the sun the next day. And moving that big-ass pot with the Jaloro and Arledge was a real pain...

Ok...so where was I...

Wednesday, April 26th

The little guys were in their pots for 5 days(for the most part), and the soil was still just a bit moist. They looked pretty strong,(except for the dead Ancho) with no wilting. But since they were new in the pots, I thought I'd go ahead and give them some water. I can look into letting them suffer a little bit, to piss off the peppers, later in the season. For now, I think they need some moisture to get them settled into their pots. A couple of the non-habanero plants were trying to get some buds going, but I plucked them off. I wasn't using as much patience as I should have, as I pulled off some of the new growth - little stems and leaves - while going for the buds. I doubt I was hurting the plant, but it didn't seem like the right thing to do.
Anyway, after that, I left them alone for a couple of days.

Catching Up...

I knew I would start to slack on updating this info. I'll see if I can catch up, and remember the important, if any, details. Though, it seems with growing plants, things move pretty slow. So I'm not exactly too far off track.