Super hot....weather that is.

[Kikaida]

Just thought I'd post a picture of my shade cloth setup. Stay cool!

[dmforcier]

Nice!



So how is CA? Hot?

[AlittleSalt]

Aw, that's cool

[Kikaida]

Originally Posted by dmforcier

Nice!



So how is CA? Hot?

We hit 109F today...its 9PM and 84. Those suffering from droop are plumping back up nicely. Transpiring faster than they can draw moisture. Easy trap to over water...Give um a chance to recoup and they usually do.

Tomorrow is supposed to be the hottest day of this heat wave....stay tuned!

[Starlight]

Nice! Looks like a cool place for both humans and plants to kick back and relax. : )

[Kikaida]

Last night I came home to a wilted and withered mess! Man that sun was mean yesterday. After some deep watering, everyone perked up after a few hours. Probably would have lost over half the plants in direct sun light. Had some dalias get absolutely fried to a crisp...but the bulbs should be ok for next year. I so hate the heat.

[dmforcier]

Peppers are amazingly resilient. I've seen plants that looked dead suck up that water and spring back.

In extreme heat and sun, pots that dry out are hard to re-hydrate fully. Last year I used a dunk-the-pot technique. Earlier with larger pots I used under-trays to catch run-through and give the root ball a chance to soak the water back up. (Normally under-trays are a no-no.)

It will be interesting to see what kind of production you get.

[Shrinkrap]

We are expecting 105 today. I use the green shade cloth, and I also have something of an awning over part of my "deck". I position most of my plants so that they get morning sun, but are in dappled shade by about 2 PM. Some of the peppers still can't handle it.

[Kikaida]

Dmforcier: Yeah, hard to rehydrate dried out soil hence the super soaking. Just gotta watch the nutes. Have to stop being lazy and get some mulch in the pots.
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What a nice setup you have Shrinkrap!

[Shrinkrap]

Originally Posted by Kikaida

Dmforcier: Yeah, hard to rehydrate dried out soil hence the super soaking. Just gotta watch the nutes. Have to stop being lazy and get some mulch in the pots.
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What a nice setup you have Shrinkrap!

Thanks! I like to think so . Yours too!
Husband would say these are million dollar (expensive) tomatoes. And he doesn't like tomatoes. I think he might prefer I spend it on shoes. Gah!

But I think this is the pepper sub-forum.

We both love peppers. Three kinds of "Scotch Bonnets", but none of them "right", "Grenada Seasoning", Aji Dulce 1 (I think), Piquillo, Fresno, and "Tiburon" and "211" Ancho/Poblanos.

[Kikaida]

Yeah, thought I'd focus peppers this year. Last year with tomatoes was quite the struggle with bugs. I got 4 Old German going from last years harvest and they look meh. Lots of set fruit but probably no giants like last year.
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Jealous of all your Scotch Bonnets! I have 3 MOA yellows going and so far they look great. Also got some Hawaiian chilies from a hole-in-the-wall place we like to eat at in Kauai. Owner let me take some peppers last September and they are coming up nice. So far my Criolla Sella are producing like mad. Such an awesome, fruity little gem. Other than that, couple different Thai's (some from the Thai grocer) some Orange habs (from the store) "Sheesheeto" (have to watch the spelling or it gets censored) which are producing great and a few others.

[Shrinkrap]

Nice!

Something I've noticed this week. My Ancho Tiburon turn their leaves up at night! They don't feel limp or wilted.


Ancho 211 and Piquillo's don't. Could be because they are more shaded late afternoon.

[My Foot Smells]

Originally Posted by Kikaida

We hit 109F today...its 9PM and 84. Those suffering from droop are plumping back up nicely. Transpiring faster than they can draw moisture. Easy trap to over water...Give um a chance to recoup and they usually do.

Tomorrow is supposed to be the hottest day of this heat wave....stay tuned!

Sometimes I will throw ice on 'em and give them the slow melt treatment, or give them the ole' dunkaroo'

Japs usually take the brutal sun, but oddly enuff my hot peppers wither in full sun. What kinda peppers you packing under the cloth? & I do not see a BAF in your pic....

I think an oscillating misting fan would work well in that scenario.

ahhhhhhhhh.......

[Kikaida]

Well deep into summer now and thought I'd update you all. The thrips early on were a pain but they didn't last long with the heat. Hottest day so far was 110.9F. Royally sucked but shade cloth did its job. I can't rave enough about self watering buckets. These will be the only way I grow peppers going forward. Having your root mass in water during major, extended heat waves is such a life saver. My other pots really stress and wilt (but recover over night). The plants in the self watering pots are way bigger than the rest too. The heat stress will cause you plants to kick flowers so the less stress the better and the self watering buckets win hands-down.
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I recently learned the hard way that aphids don't believe in birth control and was shocked to see some of plants just thoroughly infested. It was a mess. Lots of manual leaf smooshing and power washing...6,000 lady bugs and ultimately Azamax after the lady bugs fled in the horror of being outnumbered 1,000/1. Just last night another round of treatment of some orange thais and even my hibiscus got some nasty black ones on it. Seems Azamax is holding them at bay but keep in mind I cleaned them up real good before the spray (sort of like cleaning the house before the maid shows up).
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Now back to the self watering buckets. There is a great video on youtube on how to make them so check it out. The thing with these is you can't keep the water chamber full all the time...the soil would be an over watered mess. You gotta let it run dry....then let the soil dry a bit. I then I will top-water a little...let the soil dry a bit...then fill up the chamber. If a heat blast is expected, I fill the chamber and keep it full and don't top water. You'll be amazed how much water the roots up-take from the chamber. This also makes for a great nutrient delivery system. What goes in gets taken right up into the plant (so be careful)..so if you think about it, this is truly a soil/hydroponic hybrid. Next season I'll use inert coco coir for the substrate and strictly use organic (stinky) hyrdo nutes as an experiment on some plants. Should be fun...or a complete disaster.
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Earlier I mentioned about humming bird feeders over my plants attracting bug eating birds that actively comb my plants for bugs to eat. Well Houston, there's a problem with that. The humming bird's watery, sugary poop not only probably aided in my aphid problem but that sticky poo covers the leaves and in essence suffocates them causing them to drop. So now, every few days I have to "rain" on my plants to wash off the poo. It comes off easy just something I gotta do regularly. Keep in mind that I live in a dry and arid area so fungus/mold is not a huge concern for me...may be for you though.
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I think I'm going to build a shade house for next season. Some great plans on the net to build a green house, just going to substitute the 3M plastic covering with shade cloth. Should be pretty cool if I get up the gumption to do it.
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My pod production has been so-so. Some plants are just crazy covered like my Criolla Sellas, Shish!tos, Pepperoncinis. The Orange Thais are going off as well so are my store bought Thais (although super leggy). The Scotch Bonnets have been very slow to produce but my biggest one was the worst aphid infested so understandable. Just bummed about my Hawaiians, the are full of leaves but no flowers. Hoping they will explode at some point. Going to start fertilizing with Nectar for the Gods and see if I can ramp up flowering.
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Any ways, hope your season is going well!

[Shrinkrap]

Can you share pictures of your pots? Not sure it it was from you, but I read about it somewhere, and have about half of my peppers in them. I have been worried that the soil is too wet, but so far haven't seen much problem from the wet soil. What would that look like?. It HAS been triple digits or close for about 10days. On occassion I tip some out, or don't add for a few days.

Here's mine. One of them has a basket large enough to almost fill the resevoir, because it's what I had. Sort of regretted not ordering something else, but felt I could afford to experiment. Is the a recommended ratio in terms of air to water or how far into the water the basket should sit?

Oh, and seeds from mom-in-laws scotch bonnets sprouted, and I think they are MOA. This plant is four years old, and lives in ATL. . Is it too much hope the seeds will be like the parent? There is another kind of "scotch bonnet", a red one, growing nearby.