Hey Fellow Floridians - Year 2

[ginger2778]

Barb, no Earthboxes, just 3 gallon regular nursery pots. The water drains out. I dont know if they are stable, but the seedlings so far are identical. It is thought that they are stable and indeed bicolor/red yellow striped.
Thanks for the tips.

[kayrobbins]

I do grow some peppers in my homemade SWCs, some in raised beds and some in pots. I usually use 5 gallon pots. I have used Promix but in the pots I usually use Jungle Growth because it is cheaper and does not dry out as quickly.

I do add lime in the SWCs but not in the pots. At planting I add 1/3 cup of Tomatotone and 1 tablespoon of bone meal. I add more fertilizer and bone meal about once a month after that increasing the bone meal. If you seen the leaves on you plants having a puckered look they need more bone meal.

[Barb_FL]

Kay - How do you add the additional TT / Bonemeal to the SWC? Any specific brand for Bonemeal?

Also are you going to try the new Neptune's Harvest Tomato formula?

[efisakov]

Originally Posted by Fiishergurl

You both are killing me!! Giving me pepper fever.

Ginny

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N910A using Tapatalk

I second that. And, my season is not to long for peppers to ripen. Any recommendations for sweet and not so hot?

[kayrobbins]

I should have said adding the bone meal and fertilizer is for the pots and the raised beds. I don't do that for the SWCs. For them I the traditional way of planting SWCs. After reading what Marsha said about adding the calcium nitrate to the the fill tube for her tomatoes I did do that for the peppers some times and I think it helped.

I am a big believer in Neptune Harvest's Fish & Seaweed fertilizer and use it for all of my seedlings but I have had such good luck with Tomatotone that I don't think I will switch. I also noticed that want you to use the tomato fertilizer for one stage of growth and then switch to another one of their products during flowering. My Walmart sells these products but they are pretty expensive.

[Barb_FL]

Originally Posted by efisakov

I second that. And, my season is not to long for peppers to ripen. Any recommendations for sweet and not so hot?

Ellie - I recommend Avarski for sweet; You can read about Avarski at rareseed.com. I really like yellow Marconi's too. The yellow marconi's seem to be much broader than the red Marconis by the stem. (I saved seed from both - PM me if you want any.) Also have Red Marconi seeds too.

I've started Jimmy Nardella but no flowers yet. It will be interesting to see how this compares with the red Marconi.

---
For hot peppers, it seems any heat is too hot - so no recommendations there from me.


ETA - I think they refer to the Yellow Marconi's as Golden; I've seen pictures and they are orange/gold but mine are bright yellow.

[efisakov]

Originally Posted by Barb_FL

Ellie - I recommend Avarski for sweet; You can read about Ajvarski at rareseed.com. I really like yellow Marconi's too. The yellow marconi's seem to be much broader than the red Marconis by the stem. (I saved seed from both - PM me if you want any.) Also have Red Marconi seeds too.

I've started Jimmy Nardella but no flowers yet. It will be interesting to see how this compares with the red Marconi.

---
For hot peppers, it seems any heat is too hot - so no recommendations there from me.


ETA - I think they refer to the Yellow Marconi's as Golden; I've seen pictures and they are orange/gold but mine are bright yellow.

Barb, I am reading about Ajvarski on the web, and they are claiming that "you can smell them on the plant from 10 feet away" on a hot sunny day. Is it true? This pepper came from Macedonia. That region of the world is known to have excellent peppers. Really aromatic.

[Zone9b]

My Summer Heat Garden is not a total failure.
Picture of a couple rows of Astro Arugula, a few Okra plants and a row of Pinkeye Purple Hull Cowpeas.
I've been eating the Okra for some time. The Arugula was ready to eat in 30 days. First time for me to grow or eat Arugula. For me it has a bit of the taste of peanuts with a little bite. It didn't seem to be negatively influenced in the least by a very hot July.
Also, the Cowpeas are growing fast, but no flowers as of yet.
Larry

[efisakov]

Larry, I like baby okra raw. I just pick it off the plant eat it right there.
It taste little like underripe fresh walnuts. When you can still pill off the skin (from the walnuts). I used to get my hands all black when I was a child eating them.

Marsha, thank youthank youthank you.
I was visiting my son earlier today and when I got home I had a present from you. Marsha's mangoes. They are so delicious. I may bite my fingers off.

[Fiishergurl]

Originally Posted by Barb_FL

Maybe they didn't have enough time yet? How are the plants themselves? I have some plants AJI Grande that are taking forever. I sowed other types long after (the 2 from Kay), some test plants that I was giving away, that have fruit almost ready to pick.

Did you grow your shi★★★★os? They are really fast.

If you love peppers as much as tomatoes, you can do it. So much less room too. Plus the cheapo cages work fine.

Barb,

They had time. Some were shi-shi-tos that grow fast. The plants got tall and leggy. I dont have any trouble growing peppers in the spring at home. They grow themselves. But here the peppers didnt do well with the limited direct sun which was only 2-3 hours per day and then sparkly shade. The tomatoes did fine but not the peppers I tried 6 different types. They grew very tall and leggy and had blooms that they dropped.

I just topped them to take home with me... :-) An idea you gave me!

Ginny

[ginger2778]

Originally Posted by efisakov

Larry, I like baby okra raw. I just pick it off the plant eat it right there.
It taste little like underripe fresh walnuts. When you can still pill off the skin (from the walnuts). I used to get my hands all black when I was a child eating them.

Marsha, thank youthank youthank you.
I was visiting my son earlier today and when I got home I had a present from you. Marsha's mangoes. They are so delicious. I may bite my fingers off.

Oh, Ella, I am just delighted. Thanks for letting me know. I only have about 200 left on the tree!

[Fiishergurl]

I saw this and went and checked my mail box and had a wonderful package too... :-) thank you Marsha!! You should sell it! Its the best ever... :-)

Ginny

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N910A using Tapatalk

[kayrobbins]

I got mine yesterday. I have had fresh mango and I use the frozen ones in my smoothies but I have never had the dehyrdrated ones. When I opened the package it was just before dinner since my mail comes late. I was only going to have one piece but had to have that 2nd one. I waited until after lunch today and was going to have two but had three. It is so much sweeter than any mango I have ever tasted. I have got to try to pace myself because I am going to be so sad when this wonderful treat is gone. Thank you Marsha!

[Fiishergurl]

Its so good. I havent had anything like it. 200 more on the tree? That is incredible!!

Ginny

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N910A using Tapatalk

[Fiishergurl]

Some of my tomatoes. It seems like the tomatoes get bigger up here. The days are longer and the sun not as strong so maybe thats why...

Wes... these are probably close to 2 pounds. Well over a pound for sure. There are at least 40 tomatoes on the plant... most of them from the blooms that set after I pruned the small suckers and topped the plants...







Berkeley Tie Dye Green... also at least a pound and as pretty as PBTD.



Costoluto Genovese...

Not as big as they are more flattened.

Ginny