Grow log by Shawn · Original thread
What you can learnDetailed long-duration pepper diary comparing three compact varieties, including pruning decisions, fruit delicacy, taste observations, repeated harvests, and end-of-run decline.
*The days were calculated automatically and approximately.
I am debating on what to do with these two plants. The sweets are still producing flowers and peppers but I am noticing them getting smaller (it will be round 3 of them). Same for the Fresnos. So I am thinking about waiting for these large ones to fully turn red and then maybe ending it. It is just shy of 7 months.
5ml Mr. Mooch added. Waiting for these dozen or so peppers to turn red so I can maybe end this one and start a new garden.
Added Nutes and Mooch today. Next weekend I will be ending these and starting new peppers.
I pulled several Sweet Heats and Fresnos for tonight's dinner.
This garden has been plucked of all the remaining peppers and is now Terminated. I have begun cleaning it out so I can start a NEW batch of Sweet Heats and something else I have not looked for YET. All in all these were all successful. While I would have liked more Almapaprikas they were good while they were growing. Fresnos and Sweet Heats are Keepers!
I think Fresnos in general are great.
Fabulous!
Nutes and Mooch Added
Fresnos are thinner walled than a jalapeno. How much thinner walled are they? BTW, they look fabulous!
Added Mooch on Sunday. These plants are still producing and getting so many new flowers and peppers.
Looking very "Fresnoid" there!
There are so many that are turning red now. I hope it looks like your Office one soon
I have NO explanation for how that one turned out so well. My only guess is that someone who actually knows what they're doing is sneaking in when I'm not around and taking care of them for me.
Mmmm, nice and plump.
Out of hte three Mark ate yesterday, one was really hot while the others had a kick. Today he ate one and it was a really Sweet Hot Heat. For some reason this second round of peppers are hotter then the first round. Lets see what the third crop brings in.
So interesting.
I am THINKING about transplanting the Fresno in a pot for outside. I did it with the Golden Greek and that did wonderful. But I need Potting "Mix"? (not soil correct?)
I think soil is ok for outside, not sure. I just know that soil is a no no for inside because of bugs and stuff.
Nice. One of your and Mark’s favorites.
I LOVE the Sweet Heats. I don't have the nerve to prune my plants to your level, but you make it work. Great looking plants!
GREAT EYE CANDY! I see you will be harvesting soon!.
5ml Mooch added
I am doing my bnest not to be such a pruner on the the Fresno and the GAL peppers. I know I get a tad to crazy.This morning I cut about 8 Sweets off. I think they will be used in dinner.... UNLESS Mark places them in his lunch bag.
Beautiful peppers! How tall is that Sweet Heat plant, Shawn?
Kate, you can grow the Sweet Heats on a 12" AG. They are delicious.
I have seeds for them. I might do them in the Harvest after the Fairy GAL, or wait and do them in either the Extra or Bounty.
As Mike stated these will do wonderful in a 12" machine
Those little plants really do bang out a lot of peppers! I have Sweet Heat seeds for a future grow, so it's pretty cool to see how well yours is doing.
Beautiful. Reminds me I have to de-foliage my Sheepnose a bit more.
This garden needed water but thankfully not much. All the Almas minus 2 were ripened and were picked. The rest of this plant looks wilty. The Sweets however are doing great and are still waiting for them to ripen. They are slow to do that but so worth the wait.
This morning i ended the Almas. The plant was withering. I think the water level was just too low. Well be cooking these up today.The sweets are thriving which i thrilled about.
I'm excited about the SH's. I have some seeds for those and they're next on my list when I get an open garden.
Mooch and nutes added. Mark came home early and will all week. I still in to much pain.. But he saw a totally ripened Sweet and asked to eat it. I let him. He said it was better then the last plant and is eagerly awaiting more. There are also more flowers and buds. I still have to plant rosemary in here but can hardly even move. But i digress.
Whoo Hoo on the peppers. The Rosemary will come when you're back on your feet, and I'm sorry to hear you're not doing so well.
Mmmmm...
Really beautiful peppers! I'll be interested to hear how they taste.
Well Mark just could not wait... He tasted the Almapaprika. Here is his assessment (an no, I did not have a try )Almapaprika: No heat at all, juicy and extremely sweet. It has a medium skin and is fleshy and are crunchy. (edited to add).. not a lot of seeds for the size.He said if you like sweet peppers and no heat you will like this one. While the description states it is a sweet heat he did not find any at all. I will have to try one when the next ripens and see if I agree.Edited to add: There was a small red pepper on the other side. I tried it and no heat in mine and yes very sweet and juicy.
I like sweet and juicy!
That’s a gorgeous pepper! And I love that there aren’t many seeds. Sweet, thick and crunchy sounds divine.
These look wonderful, Shawn.
Thank you.
That 2nd picture makes me think of apples!
LOL It kinda does, or tomatoes
Exciting!!! They’re all gorgeous. I’m especially taken with the almapaprikas. They’re super cute, and even unripe the color is beautiful.
LOL, I posted to the Peppers board just a few hours ago to ask if it's possible for a plant to produce more peppers than it can support. After seeing these two, I'm no longer concerned! Those are really impressive.
I did a total dump, rinse and refill this morning. Also added nutes and Mooch.
Those are really impressive looking!
Thank you. I really need to get a updated picture as they are starting to change color.
I still can’t get over those Almapaprikas. The arrangement of fruit on the plant, the color and shape of them, and how your pruning shows them off so well. If AG is still doing that contest you should submit this picture.
I love it like that- you get to see all the beautiful fruit!
I took off a bunch, too. More later.
It's going to be hard for me to trim off a lot of leaves. I hope I can do it. I can just hear the plant screaming, lol.
I could be wrong, but my hunch is that removing so many leaves isn’t a problem when there is a lot of fruit already, like here, and that it could be problematic only when there isn’t fruit yet, or when the fruit is at the baby stage. But that’s just my hunch, I have no verifiable info whatsoever. I read an article once on tomatoes that said at a certain stage the author liked to remove a bunch of the foliage so the energy would go into the fruit and not maintaining a lot of lush foliage. Makes sense to me (not that I know...I don’t. )
Those look so good! I definitely have to try those. I need another AG!
Those look fantastic
9ml Nutes and 5ml Mooch Added
Those are exciting!
They are doing well for you, Shawn. I want to know about their taste.
One actually fell off (my fault) and we tasted it. It was still grassy. So as soon as they ripen I will get a taste test video of the Almapaprikas.
I am finding that the Almapaprikas are very delicate. I am so careful when pollinating however I had another smaller pepper fall off. So I will be using a brush (like a makeup brush) to pollinate these flowers. The stems are delicate.Sweet heats are growing like mad and just waiting for them to start turning colors.
How amazing they're all doing! I really want another AG to do peppers. You guys are a bad influence, lol.
I tell ya, you have a knack for growing peppers!! I wish I could get such great results..I hold back on the nutrients because I have burned several pepper projects. 'twice shy' and all that
Wow, they really took off fast. That's amazing.
Thanks. I think it it my water LOL... I have no idea what else it could be.
What water do you use?
My tap. What ever comes out of the faucet. We do have a under sink filtrate filter on the cold water too.
I do too, but I've been too paranoid to use it. Our water is really hard, but good. We have glacial-fed underground aquifers with the best tasting water I've ever had. My outside plants love it, but I'm concerned that even filtered at my sink, calcium buildup might be an issue over time. It's substantially less with my filter, but still. Aerogarden wants us to use distilled, and I'm guessing this is one of the reasons.
Yaaaaay!!!
You have the pepper touch! I guess some got it and some don't! I am in the 'don't' group.
I often cut my biggest/oldest lower leaves. Partly because they can get ugly (not the case here) but also for the energy you mention. I don’t know enough about trimming the top for the buds, though, to say.
It's time for the big ones to go. They are taking energy from the plant.
Really beautiful, healthy plants. They look like they will stay bushy.My middle, (daughter age 31), got me started on this journey, getting me the Sprout LED for Christmas. I'd wanted to try Aerogarden for years, but never pulled the trigger. I got the Extra in January, after seeing how well the Sprout grew. I'm so hooked now.
It is a wonderful hobby and you do get pulled in fast LOL.I just realized my 2 year Aerogardenversary just passed. It was two years ago 2/6 that I got my very first AG!
Buds at 5 weeks - sweet!! I’m thinking it looks like it’s going to be a Chubby too. But you still have a week to decide. And hey, I see your cool new pod plugs that Dawn made! Very cool, Dawn! I like the green on the black deck. Seems very fitting with the green plants, and also adds a nice lititle flair to the deck. A little deck fashion, if you will. They look terrific.
Yes, they fit really nice and I am not seeing water buildup and calcium coming thru ...at least not now
They look good.
What excellent advice, mike! Thanks, I did not know that.
Why the jalapeños, Mike? Do they tend to be the skinny light seekers?
Not as much. But it does force them to bush out more. I don't do that to the outdoor plants.
Topping them isn't always the right answer. If you know the plant is supposed to be about 18", you need to determine if the plant is a light-seeker, or a chubby-baby. A light-seeker tens to germinate quickly. Then it grows vertically fairly quick. The problem is, the base of the plant hasn't a chance to develop, and remains quite thin early on. These are plants you definitely want to top off. I usually wait 6 weeks to make that determination. These tend to be more common in milder peppers.A chubby-baby is a pepper plant that naturally wants to bush out. These plants typically don't grow more than 20" tall, and are very common in ornamental peppers. Ornamental peppers tend to be quite hot. Many of them have a bitter taste to them as well. One nice exception was the Loco Hybrid Peppers I grew three years ago. Very nice flavor, and very hot. But it has a lot of seeds for a 1" long x 3/4" diameter purple pepper. (matures red) You never need to top these.Super-hots are notoriously slow growers. That gives them plenty of time to grow a sturdy base. However, I usually top these when the get to 9-inches or so. Every super hot I've grown is really too large for an AG. All of them get minimum 4-foot limbs if you leave them alone.I also usually top off jalapenos, as well.Just remember, topping them does slow down the pepper production. But, you usually get 50% more peppers overall.
That was fast on the sweet heat
Nothing happening yet. Although you can see that the seeds have lightened in color and are softening. So hopefully soon.
Sweet Heats has green