pepperhead212
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Re: pepperhead212's 2019 garden

@tomatonut Sorry to hear about that. KOW, I have never had that happen, even in wet years - it's the leaves I have to worry about, when excessively wet. But then, I always put a 4' wide row of landscape fabric down, to grow the squash, and this year, the Watermelon, on, so maybe that helps.

No rain expected here until late Saturday night, so I sprayed down my plants that will be brought indoors, to sort of "sterilize" them - something I always do to kill anything that might be hanging around on the plants, or the soil. I just make a solution of pyrethrin, and totally soak the upper and lower parts of all the leaves, and soak the soil, along with the fabric of the pot. This usually keeps things from hitchhiking on the plants, but the insecticide dissipates quickly. After the soil dries out some, I'll water with a Bt israelensis solution, to prevent fungus gnats. I also put little pieces of mosquito dunks (same Bt) in my hydroponics, and never have a gnat problem!

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Gary350
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You have a lot of very colorful peppers your pictures make me want to plant peppers next year they add lots of color & beauty to a garden. About 40 years ago I planted several different types of peppers in the garden the colors are as beautiful as flowers. There was one that made tiny peppers 1" long that turned lots of different colors, green, yellow, orange, red, purple, I think it was a Korean pepper but not sure. That was way back in the days when I could actually eat hot spicy food I loved it. Eat it hot while you can when you get older your stomach won't allow it. I don't recall any of the extremely spicy hot pepper plants being taller than 2 ft. One year I planted a pepper plant at the end of each row and all through the other rows that were short plants it made the garden look so beautiful. Tabasco is yellow. Cayenne is red. Korean is many colors. Online pics show Habs as, green, yellow, red, orange. I see online pics of several different shape orange color peppers. I bet a 100 ft square of multi color pepper plants would be as beautiful as flowers. There are also different sizes & shapes of each color. What are the names & colors of other pepper plants?
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pepperhead212
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My front flowerbed has peppers in it, every year! Those, the okra, and some colored chards take the place of flowers for me - I only plant edibles.

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Gary350
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pepperhead212 wrote:My front flowerbed has peppers in it, every year! Those, the okra, and some colored chards take the place of flowers for me - I only plant edibles.
I don't think a person can make an entire meal of chili peppers. LOL. 40 years ago I put, 6 jalapeno peppers, 2 potatoes sliced, 3 carrots sliced, 3 garlic cloves, 1 onion sliced, 2 quarts of water, salt & pepper in a crock pot before bed. Next morning all I had to do was add 2 chicken breast to the crock pot turn it on MED then go to work. When I arrived home I turned crock pot on HIGH at 3:45 pm then about 5:30 pm dinner was ready to eat. When it comes to cooking there is nothing easier than a crock pot.

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I harvested the last of my habaneros today, and cut all the plants out. Also cut all of my okra plants out - obviously, no more of those coming.
ImageThe end of the Aji Dulce peppers 10-28 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

ImageThe end of the Red Savinas and a few chocolate habs 10-28. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

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TomatoNut95
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I honestly don't see how some people can eat such hot peppers. Next year I do plant on growing ONE habanero plant to make some pepper spray from to spritz in places where I don't want critters sniffing.

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Finished all of the peppers, on first of November! I don't think that they have ever lasted this long, at least in this amount - there have been a few here and there in the past, but nothing like this.
ImageLast of the Hanoi Markets, from just 2 plants 11-1 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

ImageLast of the longhorns from 2 plants 11-1 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

ImageLast harvested from 2 Aleppo plants, and 1 cherry pepper plant 11-1 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

ImageBunch of weed dill harvested at the end of the season 11-1 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Also pulled the last of the butternuts:
ImageLast of the butternuts, 11-1. Smallest a bit green, but they often ripen, just sitting on the countertop. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

I tipped all of my SIPs over to get all of the water out of them.

The greens are doing great, and sometime this week, the garlic is going in!

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TomatoNut95
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Nice harvest, @pepperhead! What is an Aleppo pepper?

I am so sick of the ads! Annoying!

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@tomatonut The Aleppo is a middle-eastern pepper, named after the city in Syria, and is usually sold as crushed, red pepper - finer than the Italian style pepper flakes, and much milder and more flavorful. When they were sort of new in this country, they would have oil and salt added, but many I've seen recently are just the pure peppers. They are maybe around 10k as far as heat, but I always trim the core, and much of the veins out, to remove the seeds, so there is little heat remaining - just the flavor.

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Very interesting! Thanks! :)

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Today I spent a lot of time cleaning up all those vines! Tomato, cucumber, , bottle gourd, bitter melon, and beans on the trellises, and butternuts and watermelons on the ground. Even found a cucumber, under a bunch of leaves, and two tiny watermelons, under all those butternuts, but nothing useful, I'm sure, except maybe for compost! I now have 7 trash cans full of vines and branches. The leaves are slow this year - usually they are all down by now, when I plant the garlic. These are the few things I got - most of the beans are for saving the seeds.
ImageThe absolute end of the harvests, mostly green tomatoes, some beans (mostly for saving seeds), some more weed dill plants, and 2 tiny watermelons, probably not really good. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

This week, the garlic goes in! Today I planted the end of my onion sets, which I plant only for scallions, and I planted them in the last empty section of that covered raised bed. The greens are doing great in there!
ImageGreens, in raised beds, 11-3 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

ImageShogoin in front left, Grand Rapids lettuce in front right, 11-3 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

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TomatoNut95
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Have you ever tried growing water cress, @pepperhead? I've seen seeds for it in Baker and wondered what it was like. I also saw a type called peppercress: water cress with a pepper taste to it.

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I grew it, but didn't have great luck with it. I also tried another herb, just called "cress", which grows differently, but still nothing that I had great luck with. Maybe one or the other would do better in the hydroponics.

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I trimmed a bunch of sage and rosemary today, to share with friends for the upcoming Thanksgiving (or whatever they want it for). The sage was huge, and was growing into the walkways, but the rosemary was just from the potted plant, to make it smaller, to take onto the back porch. There is an 8 qt bowl overflowing with sage, and about 5 qts of rosemary. I still smell the rosemary!
ImageTrimmed sage and rosemary, to share with friends. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

ImageTrimmed rosemary plant. 11-6 by pepperhead212, on Flickr.

I also got most of my SIPs covered with tarps. Still those 3 in the front, that I grew the okra in this season, and 6 more in the back. I turned all on their sides a week ago, to drain, and they still are, if I don't get to them by the time it rains tomorrow.

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That is beautiful Rosemary! I had a little plant years ago, but it died. I may try again, but not sure where I'd put it in-ground. What size of fabric pot is that? I've got some five-gallon ones, do you think that would be big enough to hold a Rosemary? And what type of soil does it prefer?

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Gary350
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What type sage & rosemary is that? I am looking for something different to plant next year. The Tuscan Rosemary I grew in AZ tasted & smelled much better than Tuscan Rosemary I grew in TN.

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@TomatoNut That plant is cut WAY BACK now! I gave up long ago on growing rosemary in pots. They become rootbound in just a year, and the only reason I have another is because two winters ago my 15 year old rosemary died - the cover blew off, and I had knee surgery, so it stayed off! So I did some researching, and found that a variety called Hill Hardy is supposed to be more cold hardy than Arp - the traditional cold hardy variety, which, unfortunately, is not as flavorful, in my experience. So I ordered 3 plants from Richter's, last spring. Then I planted one in a 4 1/2 gal fabric pot, in some Promix BX, with a little extra perlite, with some worm castings, and two in the ground in the garden (I'll take some photos of those and post them). They were only 4-5" to start, but the potted one had grown to a foot by November, and the others about 10". Then, I kept the potted one on my back porch, and brought it in just a few times, when even the back porch went below 20°. One of the outside ones I would cover with a trashcan, while the other, I left uncovered. It went down to 6° once, and close to that several times, staying in the teens during the day sometimes. Turns out, both plants survived! The uncovered one was slightly smaller, but that was it. However, the one in the pot grew to about 18" by May - just one year in a larger pot than normal. But the roots began growing through the sides of the pot, and it turned out to be totally rootbound! So I trimmed it way back up top, just like this year, and did a severe root pruning, as well, and re-potted in a 7 gal fabric pot. I have a feeling it will be rootbound next spring, but maybe it will take a little longer, with the larger pot. If the ones in the ground survive another winter, I'll stop growing the one in the pot - maybe give it to someone who wants to put it in a huge pot indoors.

@Gary. This variety has the same flavor and aroma as the standard rosemary that I have always grown. Not sure if the standard is the Tuscan, or something else. Richter's herbs has more varieties than I would have thought there were! The sage is the Mammoth Leaf sage, also bought at the same time, and planted in spring of 2018. It has no flowering, and the flavor seems as good as the Italian sage I got seeds for from Renee's seeds years ago.

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TomatoNut95
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Aww, I bet it was sad to lose a 15 year old plant. :(

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TomatoNut95 wrote:Aww, I bet it was sad to lose a 15 year old plant. :(
Yeah, but that was the least of my problems then! lol
And these have taken over quickly!

I had the plant before that for 13 years, then it started flowering non-stop, so I knew it was on its way out. The roots were getting eaten up, but I think that was just toward the end - not sure what reduced its immunity to start that off.

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At least I know now to never grow Rosemary in a pot if I ever get one again, lol!

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@pepperhead, I need some advice on an onion, please! I have ONE onion still growing in my raised garden. But temperatures are supposed to get really low, with a chance of snow after this coming rain. Bulb isn't big enough to pull up, it just has a lot of nice greens on it. Should I protect the bulb somehow by putting leaves around it, covering it with a bucket, or will the onion survive on its own if it gets snowed on?

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I would just pull it; not an onion expert, by any means, as I only grow them for using as scallions, in Chinese food and the like. I have about a dozen scallions out there now, uncovered, which I may pull today, as it is supposed to get into the low 20s this week.

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I already piled a bunch of leaves around everything. It's too late and dark now; but I guess if it survives the night I'll just pull it. But the only usable part of it might be just the greens.

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Here are those scallions I pulled up - most of them were small ones, that just popped up after I pulled the others out of the ground - like weeds! Many were "twin scallions", with two joined at the bottom. I cut the last half inch or so of each one, and plant those under cover, in spaces where some plants didn't make it.
ImageLast uncovered scallions of the season, 11-11-19 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

ImageThe onion sets, cut off of the scallions, to be re-planted. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Here are those two rosemary plants in the ground, behind the sage. The slightly smaller one is the one I left uncovered all last winter. Both are about 16" high.
Image2 rosemary plants, slightly smaller one on bottom was the uncovered one, last winter. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Here's some of the greens I trimmed for a salad - some mizuna; also trimmed some of the Grand Rapids lettuce, from the one under cover.
ImageMizuna, with chard above, and kohlrabi to the left. 11-11 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Here's the lettuce I have indoors:
ImageIndoor lettuce, mizuna, and some Japanese Spinach, finally taking hold in the lower left. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

And here's another photo of the hydroponics, showing a large amount of basil, in that tub on the right. I have to pull one of the Thai basils (I'll be making something to use that up soon!), and two of the others, and put something else in. Unbelievable how this stuff is growing, and I have the nutrient level sort of low!
ImageHere's the rear view of the hydroponics tubs. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

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Looking really good! 8)

Could you explain the wooden crates (?) and flap lids tied down with bungee? Why use the lidded storage tubs at all? Do they add some side support?

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applestar wrote:Looking really good! 8)

Could you explain the wooden crates (?) and flap lids tied down with bungee? Why use the lidded storage tubs at all? Do they add some side support?
I assume the wooden crates you are referring to is the wooden supports I have strapped around all sides of the tubs, to prevent bowing. And I used that smaller one, with the flap lids, not because of any special reason, but because it was cheap - only $4.50, or thereabouts! And I could have removed the lids (though not easily), but they do offer some support, and I store the stuff in it in the off season, so that is another plus.

All that wood is just scraps from my workshop, and I stick them on the sides temporarily with some double stick tape, then put the nylon ratchet clamp on loosely, before filling the tubs. Then I ratchet it a little tighter, and that's it, until dis-assembly.

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I see! Storage tubs do tend to bow outwards when filled -- that’s a great solution! I might borrow this idea. 8). And Ratcheting straps huh? I wouldn’t have thought of that.

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Today, since it was in the 50s, with little wind, I uncovered the raised bed, harvested a few of the leaves of greens, then re-covered it with the 6 mil greenhouse plastic. Easier than I thought it would be! I also watered the greens, as some looked wilted, but they weren't the type the cold would have bothered, so I figured it was the lack of rain for quite a while. I had to turn the water on again, then turn it off, and drain the pipes again, since it is supposed to get very cold tonight!
ImageMizuna and some other greens, from the uncovered bed, 11-15 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

ImageMore greens, and scallions, from the uncovered bed, 11-15 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

ImageRaised bed, re-covered with 6 mil greenhouse plastic, 11-15 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

I got that Mexican oregano growing. Here it was a few days ago, even larger now:
ImageMexican oregano 11-13 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

The hydroponics are doing great! I have way more basil than I can use, and I was going to pull out one of each plant and toss it (after using all the leaves, of course!), but I might toss both of the Gecofure, and keep the two Seratta plants, as they are not getting leggy, like the Gecofure, reaching for the light.
ImageHere's the rear view of the hydroponics tubs. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Here's the Seratta, close-up, showing how dense the leaves are, in that bushy plant!
ImageSerrata basil 11-13 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

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Had to look up Serrata (presumably “serrated”) Basil - had not seen them before. They are very pretty! And you like their flavor?

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When I lived in Arizona I had a 6 foot diameter 5 ft tall Rosemary plant in front of the house in front of the big window in the front yard. The Rosemary plant was 5 ft tall before HOA sent me a notice to cut it to 3 ft tall within 10 days. I wish I had taken a picture before and after. This was the best rosemary plant ever after I trimmed it I could smell it 100 ft away. I cooked with it too. I wonder since rosemary is a desert plant maybe that is why flavor is much better when grown in the desert.

Look at picture, next to house to the right of the tree are 2 bushes, the largest bush in front of the big window is Rosemary.
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That is weird, gary - why did the HOA want that down to 3 ft - so they could see in your windows? I've seen other photos of huge rosemary plants, where they were able to grow year-round. Incredible! And the dry air of AZ would be better for it, as some people in very humid areas have trouble with rosemary, due to fungal diseases.

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pepperhead212 wrote:That is weird, gary - why did the HOA want that down to 3 ft - so they could see in your windows? I've seen other photos of huge rosemary plants, where they were able to grow year-round. Incredible! And the dry air of AZ would be better for it, as some people in very humid areas have trouble with rosemary, due to fungal diseases.
HOA rules, rosemary plant covered too much of the window it did not look good according to them. I trimmed off the round top so plant was flat it made HOA gestapo happy. I had a basil plant in back yard that lived through 2 winters then freak cold weather 21 degrees killed it. It snowed enough to cover the ground TV News claimed it had not snowed there is 100 years but that was not true I remember it snowed when I was in 3rd grade that was 1958 that was 57 years ago. .

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applestar wrote:Had to look up Serrata (presumably “serrated”) Basil - had not seen them before. They are very pretty! And you like their flavor?
Seratta, or Serata, or Serrata, depending on where I see them, seems to have dropped out of the market, from what I saw, when I googled it. Several places that used to carry it don't now, it's nowhere on ebay, tradewindsfruit.com says it's out of stock, and Burpee seeds only sells it in plants - https://www.burpee.com/herbs/basil/basi ... 00459.html

I'm wondering if there is some patent junk going on with the name, and Burpee bought it out. I wonder if that's why I saw the different spellings - people trying to get around this.

seedman.com, where I got seeds a couple of years ago, has one called Ruffles, that looks like it, but you never know. That's when my hydoponics plants died, due to my knee injury and surgery. I usually just take cuttings, but had to start seeds that year.

Seratta basil has a great flavor - that intense, clovey aroma and flavor that genovese varieties have. I first tried the Spicy Saber from Burpee, back in the early 90s, and later got the Serrata from Gourmet Gardener, and it was identical. Later, this company was bought out by Burpee, and eventually closed.

I originally got this variety to grow inside, and in the windowsill boxes around my deck, since it is a dwarf variety, but it is incredible how many leaves these plants have! I have never seen one so dense! Every year I would try other plants, but none were as good as these and the genovese, and I tried several smaller genovese types, and Gecofure was the best of those, though it seems to need more light, since it gets leggy, reaching for the light indoors, as those photos show. Outdoors, it grows better, with great flavor; bolts faster than the seratta, but both keep growing great when those flower buds are snipped.

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@Pepperhead, have you ever heard of Nufar Basil? I read it's supposed to be a sweet basil resistant to fusarium wilt. I have a feeling that's the disease that wiped out several of my young sweet basils this Spring.

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I never grew nufar, but I think that is one of the things listed for Gecofure - fusarium resistance. Fortunately, I have never had that, KOW.



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