pepperhead212's 2025 garden

[pepperhead212]

I figured that I'd tell you about this year's garden, since HG had shut down, and today was a miserable day to stay in, and I'd be inside the whole day, which hasn't happened since early April. I'll start with the hydroponics, continuing from last year, and I got a lot out of it!

The dill was the only thing I harvested from those hydroponics today, but I had to cut that back, as it was up in the bulbs again. And I had to replace one of those 47" LED fixtures - don't believe that 30,000 life hours they give for things like this. Still, I got them from Harbor Freight cheap - $9.99 - when they were getting rid of the old kind, to make room for the "linkable" type. So it didn't owe me anything. And they grow great hydro and seedlings, as well.

Here is that stuff in the hydroponics, none harvested now, but the basils, lettuce, and mizuna I've been snipping as needed. The cilantro lasted longer than I thought it would, and I got quite a bit from. The parsley is starting to grow well now that the boc choy isn't shading it anymore.
Russian red kale, next to some of the leaf lettuce, and the Mizuna behind it. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Leaf lettuce, with the dill already harvested behind it. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

A lot of basil, with some za'atar behind it, and some leaf lettuce on the far right. Removed the flowering from some of them, though there wasn't much. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

About the third flush of epazote, trimmed almost flat twice, so far. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

The parsley growing well now that the one boc choy is removed. Epazote behind it growing like crazy by pepperhead212, on Flickr

That one head o Koquie boc choy, 2-1 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Lebanese za'atar, scented somewhat like thyme. 2-1. Basil growing behind it. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Wu Choy, surrounded by basil, za'atar, and Mizuna. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

The larger leafed Mizuna, with the regular on the left. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

March 8 th I started the greens from outside
Today I started my first seeds for the outside garden - just one tray, with the small pots, 72/tray, and they usually go out 3-4 weeks after they come up, with some faster than others. Here's the list of the early crops, the ones with * next to them being held a little longer.

A Bok Choy - koquie
B Bok Choy - pachay, from Burpee
C Wu Choy - dark horse
D Napa - red merlot, from Pinetree
E Senposai
F* Komatsuna - green boy
G Misome
H Escarole - sugarloaf
I* Mizuna - landrace large leaf
J* Lettuce - red leaf type, saved seeds
K Cabbage - Earliana
L* Swiss Chard - various types
M* Russian Red Kale
N* Yu Choy
O* Choy Sum
P Mustard Greens - wasabina
Q Cauliflower - amazing

Kohlrabis:
R Blauer Speck Purple
S Kolibri Purple
T Tainjin Green
U Grand Duke
V Giant White

And one more I just got today in the mail, from a friend, that I'll have to plant in that tray! Never grew this, or even heard of it before, but it is supposed to be a type of kale, that has a garlic flavor.

W Texsel Greens - from Territorial Seeds


I'll be sharing a bunch of these with some friends, as even half of what this might put out would be more than I can use! I've gotten her hooked on some of those greens, as those CACA varieties (cut and come again) produce so much, at least until it gets too hot (and some produce into August here).

I filled the pots with that mix I made up about a week ago, and wet it with some H2O2 solution - about 2 oz of the 3% in a quart of water. This was how I "sterilized" the pots, though for the larger, later pots, I'll cook the mix at about 200°, cool, put the micorrhyzae in it, and wet it with the Bt israelensis, to prevent the fungus gnats. After this H2O2 gets neutralized after several hours with these, I'll plant the seeds, then wet them again, this time with the Bt solution. This always works with these.

Spring has sprung!
The first filled seedling pots, for the greens and other cold plants for 2025. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Today I started my first seeds for the outside garden - just one tray, with the small pots, 72/tray, and they usually go out 3-4 weeks after they come up, with some faster than others. Here's the list of the early crops, the ones with * next to them being held a little longer.

A Bok Choy - koquie
B Bok Choy - pachay, from Burpee
C Wu Choy - dark horse
D Napa - red merlot, from Pinetree
E Senposai
F* Komatsuna - green boy
G Misome
H Escarole - sugarloaf
I* Mizuna - landrace large leaf
J* Lettuce - red leaf type, saved seeds
K Cabbage - Earliana
L* Swiss Chard - various types
M* Russian Red Kale
N* Yu Choy
O* Choy Sum
P Mustard Greens - wasabina
Q Cauliflower - amazing

Kohlrabis:
R Blauer Speck Purple
S Kolibri Purple
T Tainjin Green
U Grand Duke
V Giant White

And one more I just got today in the mail, from a friend, that I'll have to plant in that tray! Never grew this, or even heard of it before, but it is supposed to be a type of kale, that has a garlic flavor.

W Texsel Greens - from Territorial Seeds


I'll be sharing a bunch of these with some friends, as even half of what this might put out would be more than I can use! I've gotten her hooked on some of those greens, as those CACA varieties (cut and come again) produce so much, at least until it gets too hot (and some produce into August here).

I filled the pots with that mix I made up about a week ago, and wet it with some H2O2 solution - about 2 oz of the 3% in a quart of water. This was how I "sterilized" the pots, though for the larger, later pots, I'll cook the mix at about 200°, cool, put the micorrhyzae in it, and wet it with the Bt israelensis, to prevent the fungus gnats. After this H2O2 gets neutralized after several hours with these, I'll plant the seeds, then wet them again, this time with the Bt solution. This always works with these.

Spring has sprung!
The first filled seedling pots, for the greens and other cold plants for 2025. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

2 smaller Koquie bok choy, and the dark wu choy. No bolting in those. 5-5 by pepperhead212, on Flickr





I got my eggplant seeds planted May 3rd - 4 Ichiban, 4 Matrosik, 2 Poamoho Dark Long, 2 U of HI Long Green (all these I only need half of), and one Dark Pea Eggplant. I grew some pea eggplant in 2016, and still have some half cup portions in vacuum sealed bags in the freezer! Last time I used some in a Thai curry was about 6 months ago, and it hadn't degraded at all. I'll see how this one compares to the first one.

I planted my tomatoes on 4-7, and they were still close to being overgrown by less than a month! I don't see why people start them so early! Next year, I'll try 4-10

I got my tomato seeds set to soak overnight, before I transfer them to those pots of vermiculite, to sprout, so I can plant those seedlings deeper, compared to just planting the seeds 1/4" deep in the mix.

Here are the tomatoes I'm planting this season. * stands for repeats - more than usual this year.

Cherries, and other small varieties:

Chocolate Cherry
Bronze Torch*
Jasper
Juliet*
Kustengold
Marbled Mystery
Matt's Hornet
Negro Azteka*
Randy's Cherry Bomb
Red Torch
Sunsugar*

Larger varieties:

Amish Gold Slicer*
Amish Paste
Bayou Moon
Big Beef Plus
Blushungstar
Early Blue Ribbon*
Green Zebra*
Moldovan Green
Mountain Magic
Mountain Rouge*
Original Blue Ribbon
Super Fantastic*

Jasper was the fastest growing, with Mountain Rouge a close second, though some others catching up lately.

Peppers I just planted a couple of days ago, at least some of them - some didn't grow as quickly, like the chinense varieties. * are previously grown.

Aji dulce*
Arune*
Big mic
Chocolate Habanero
Fresno*
Gold sweet
Hanoi Market*
Lytles jalapeño
Much Nacho jalapeño
Nadapeño
Superchili*
Thai big
Thai dragon*
White Habanero

Okra I have one red one, and 2 new ones.

Little Lucy*
Blondy
Heavy Hitter

And the one County Fair, and Wisconsin 58, and 3 new ones, to see if they deal with the bugs:

King Japanese
Marketmore 76
The General

[applestar]

Sounds like you’re well on your way! Looking forward to seeing how they all turn out.

About epazote. I started some and they are still tiny — about 2”~3”. Do you grow them in the season, too? Do they prefer cooler weather?

I’m trying to decide where to plant them — in the hoophouse with heat lovers, or in the Kitchen Garden with other herbs?

[pepperhead212]

I have some epazote I started from cuttings - they are slower from seed, but once they take off, there's no stopping them! And they don't mind the heat at all.

[applestar]

Sounds good. I snipped the tops of the seedlings today — they are growing faster— so they can branch out. Not the same, but growth characteristics look similar to basil so hopefully this will work.

I guess I’ll try planting some inside the hoophouse and others in containers to keep in same area as peppers.

[pepperhead212]

I got the first opened blossoms on both of the Jaspers, which are still the largest, but several have almost caught up, and number have some unopened buds on them. I went out to check them out, and was surprised that they were all dried out! The leaves, that is (I knew that the soil wouldn't be dry), but still, it's been very humid, and I don't touch anything out there if the leaves are wet. I clipped all the early suckers, which all of them have, of course, and noticed all those with unopened buds, even some of the larger plants. But only the Jaspers opened, so far.
First open tomato blossoms, on Jaspers, 5-16 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

The cukes are taking off, and I snipped the smallest plants from each pot, leaving the best of the 2 or 3. I gave 6 extra seedlings to my friend today, along with 2 butternut squash seedlings, and she dropped off an extra cucumber seedling she had, so we both have 6 varieties of cucumbers, to compare this year!

[pepperhead212]

One of the tomatillos had the first opened flowers today - earlier than usual, due to the heat, probably. A few other tomatoes had opened flowers, too, and are growing like crazy! I sprayed the Surround and potassium bicarbonate solution on everything again, as that very heavy rain washed the first layer off, plus there was a lot of new growth. No more rain until maybe Wednesday. Got windy out there later, so the lawn should be dried off, if I have to mow it, and it will be much cooler tomorrow.

[applestar]

I never paid too much attention to when first floral trusses opened on different tomato varieties, mostly because I was thinking in terms of early vs. later maturing… plus I never manage to start all the seeds at once — I have to do it in waves of separate groupings. BUT this year was relatively close together (except for main large fruited varieties) so maybe I should keep track?

I did take pics of the blooming varieties yesterday. Will try to log them and see if I can get meaningful data collected.

I did see some signs of stress from the days of rain on some of the tomatoes. I’ll have to treat them with something today.

[pepperhead212]

I got my last peppers planted today - only 6 more, the chinense started with the others, but just slower, and maybe for the better, given the cooler days recently. And the others started later, due to getting the seeds a little later. I took some to my friend yesterday, when I went over for dinner, and I have 2 more for another friend's daughter, where I'll drop it off tomorrow or Thursday, if it rains all of tomorrow (which is in the forecast).
White Habanero, planted 5-27 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Chocolate Habanero and Aji Dulce, planted 5-27 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

L>R Fresno, Thai Dragon, and Aruna peppers, planted 5-27. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

An extra Aji Dulce and Thai Dragon for a friend. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[pepperhead212]

Yesterday I buzzed the blossoms on the tomatoes yesterday, and pulled any suckers I noticed. The Mountain Rouge was the first of the larger varieties with a noticeable fruit - about 1" already! This doesn't mean that it will be the first to ripen, but I was still surprised. And one of the Green Zebra plants had an open blossom, but still no noticeable blossoms on the Amish Paste. All of the smaller ones have some set blossoms, with the Jaspers still the most, but only time will tell which ripens first.

I wanted to spray those plants today, with that Surround and potassium bicarbonate solution, but it was just too windy earlier - gusts up to 35 mph. The wind is supposed to start getting better "starting at mid-day", so hopefully they'll be right. Soon, I'll have to stop spraying the cherries with that solution, once the tomatoes are noticeable, as it's too much of a pita to rub the powder off the small ones.

[pepperhead212]

Here's a photo of one of the stems of the Jasper tomatoes, showing the set fruits, and still one open on the end. I won't be spraying any more Surround on this, or the other small tomatoes. These are supposed to be about 3/4" when ripe. One of these plants is about 3½', the other 3' tall. Others have set fruits, but not as large yet. Sunsugar is traditionally my earliest ripening, and might still be, though it's not as large yet.
One of those Jasper tomato stems, showing the 10-12 set flowers. This was the last time I'll spray the Surround on the small tomatoes. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[applestar]

Looking good!

[pepperhead212]

Zinnias must like heat more than I do!

One of the first open zinnias, 6-6 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Another one of the first open zinnias, 6-6 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Another of the first 3 open zinnias, not quite all the way opened. 6-6 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

I also saw a lot more new growth coming out down below on all of these.

The cucumbers are starting to climb! I'll have to wait until it gets shady out there, to look at any more, as that morning sun is wicked!
One of the County Fair cukes, starting to climb the trellis, 6-6 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

I came across a problem today, when I found those two large Jasper plants drying out some - turns out, the valve for that row died (usually it's just the individual drip emitter clogging). It's the second of 4 valves to die, so I took the unit apart, down in my workshop, but couldn't find anything obvious that was different on the two "dead" valves than on those still operating. I separated a bunch of those minute wires with some electrical tape, in case that insulation rubbed off on contact with some, but when I put everything back together, they still didn't work. It was worth a try.

Fortunately, when that first valve died, I didn't need all 4, but I got a backup unit, back when Amazon had a sale on things like that, so I put that one in today, and set all the timers. The old one was controlled by Bluetooth - something I got only because it was cheaper, at the time, but this one is the old type, similar to the one on the other side of the garden. I'll save this one, in case the single timer on the side of the house dies at any time. Half of that one still works, after 14 years, so it doesn't owe me anything!
the 14 year old Melnor Bluetooth irrigation timer above the new one below, which I got to have as a backup, fortunately. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[pepperhead212]

Here are those Matrosik eggplants, after just 2 weeks of growth in the larger pots. Plus a pepper I started later, for my friend.
Those late planted Matrosik eggplants, just 2 weeks after putting the seedlings in the Jiffy pellets into the larger pots. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

I planted my pole beans again today, because almost all of the first ones didn't make it, and the few that did, were not in good shape. This time, I sprouted the seeds in my seed sprouter, and the majority of them sprouted, even the 6 year old blue lake poles! I did those, Blauhilde purple pod, Rattlesnake, and two long beans - the Thai Red, and a new Indonesian purple. I'll see how they do this way. I usually inoculate them, by soaking the seeds briefly, then rolling in the powder, but this time I put the inoculant in a watering can with some water, I'll do it that way (it rained just as I finished up, so I'll wait until it dries out some).
3 types of the beans sprouted for planting, the white ones are Blue Lake poles, from 2019, the oldest. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

A bunch more tomatoes out there! It won't be long! And those two that dried out, don't seem any worse for the drying out.

[applestar]

Yep I like pre-germinating seeds, too. That’s great that you were able to get the older seeds going as well. This method lets you be sure of the viable seeds.

You do have to be attentive and plant them as soon as they sprout, and the larger seeds in particular can spoil if overwatered.

[imafan26]

Looks good. I should try pre germinating beans too. Sometimes it is hit and miss.

[pepperhead212]

I cut most of my scapes today - a few of the smaller plants I left on them. I got them packed into a 2 gal ziploc - just like last year.
Garlic scapes, harvested on 6-9, only a few skipped. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

I also got those last two Matrosik eggplants planted. I'll look tomorrow, to make sure that there are no problems with them, and I'll take those 3 extras over to my friend. Those Swiss chards are almost ready to put out, and that pea EP is growing fast, now that they are in the larger pots.
The late Matrosik eggplants, planted on 6-9 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

The Poamoho Dark Long eggplant, getting taller than the Ichibans, which were the largest. That smaller one is the Green UH long EP. 6-9 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

I couldn't spray the Surround on everything today, since there is more rain in the forecast, so all I did with the tomatoes and cukes was train them up the trellises, and trim some of those suckers. A lot of the tomatoes have gotten fruits on them since I last looked, and that Marbled Mystery are the largest cherries, so far, and several more have the fruits starting - several Bronze Torches (but no Red Torches), Matt's Mystery, Juliet, and Sunsugar. Of the larger ones, the Superfantastik, Moldovan Green, and more of those Mountain Rouge, with that first one getting over 2". Amazing what happens when I don't look for 2 days!

[applestar]

Is that ground hot pepper and a mouse trap on the mulch for Matrosik?

You must really feed them — they look super!

[pepperhead212]

Yes - that pepper is some extremely hot bepper, out of my pantry; just old peppers I ground up, and I sprinkle them to ward off squirrels and rabbits in places they get into (though rabbits don't get in those upper tubs), and those rat traps are for the birds, that dig in there. I had several things destroyed by birds - cukes, a tomatillo, and one of the first eggplants, and most of my basils. So all of those windowsill boxes have rat traps, and those others I mentioned, plus a couple more. I think there are at least 18 out there. So far, I've gotten 4 trapped, not including the squirrels.

[pepperhead212]

I saw a volunteer today, I hadn't noticed before, but I know it's been there a while, since I know it is slow, at first. I've also seen many tomatillos, tomatoes, and lettuce volunteer plants, but this surprised me:
A volunteer epazote plant, growing against the raised bed in the back, but the plants were growing out front last year! by pepperhead212, on Flickr

When everything was dry, and the shade was getting back there, I sprayed the Surround on my larger tomatoes, tomatillos, plus all the rest - cucumbers, squash, and eggplants. The cherry, and other smaller tomatoes (most of which are getting loaded with fruits) I sprayed with the H2O2 solution. Tomorrow I'll probably add the calcium nitrate to the tomato SIPs, to help prevent BER in those tomatoes. Early, I'll spray the front and side - the okra, peppers, and other things, when they'll be in the shade (that's in the sun, later in the day).

[pepperhead212]

It's been over a month since that first bok choy started bolting, so these two lasted a lot longer. The Wu Choy surprised me, since it's a cold resistant (down to at least 17° F) variety, too!
Just bolting greens, 6-7, Dark Wu Choy, and the Koquie Bok Choy, with some garlic chives. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Before harvesting these, I did a lot of trimming of my tomatoes, removing those very low branches, as well as some of those suckers, and training those plants through the trellises - they are all taking off now, even those few that don't have any visible tomatoes yet, like Amish paste, they are growing wild. I also gave them all a "snack" of calcium nitrate, for the BER - not really near their ripening times, but that's a preventative started early, which usually works.