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Guru's 1/8 Acre Fabriculture - 5 yr mothers

Pepper-Guru said:
Ya know...you guys have just made me stumble upon a revelation. I think I know why I don't get heavy aphid problems...lol Sometimes When I cut back I go for the GUSTO. I take em back to the main biggest branches and leave VERY few leaves. No leaves = no aphids. Within a month or two all nymphs/eggs/mature aphids are dead via starvation and multiple sulphur/pyrethrin treatments...lol After that 30 day mark is when the MAGIC happens (so long as the light allows it). Once a few weeks go by your plants will begin to explode with new growth. Thats when the flower set comes, then thats when christmas peppers come :)
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And thats when the aphids come out for me. I cut all my plants down to leafless stumps too but I have a much longer winter to deal with. Its the new green growth that the aphids love, especially when there are no natural predators around in the winter. I think for me its just been a bad couple of years around here for aphids and a terrible year for laybugs. Very discouraging to say the least :(
 
POTAWIE said:
And thats when the aphids come out for me. I cut all my plants down to leafless stumps too but I have a much longer winter to deal with. Its the new green growth that the aphids love, especially when there are no natural predators around in the winter. I think for me its just been a bad couple of years around here for aphids and a terrible year for laybugs. Very discouraging to say the least :(
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Do you give them ANY treatment BEFORE you see sign of aphids? This really sucks man. I hate this for you. So you have bought ladybugs and they didn't stick around? The pepper gods can only throw you so many bad winters and seasons before you hit jackpot dude. I'll sacrifice a plant just for you Potawie :)
 
Yes, I usually treat the soil and the plants with my rotating arsenal. Ladybugs don't seem to like it in my winter environment, they try to hibernate or they just die. I bought 10000+ ladybugs one year and they were pretty much useless during the winter. The ones purchased in the spring usually work excellent. Maybe my temps are too low in the winter for them to thrive
 
I'm pretty sure my house is always over 60, but not very much above.
My greenhouse plants(spring) usually do quite well in temps around 50 but like you said, ladybugs are useless until it gets a bit warmer
 
POTAWIE said:
I'm pretty sure my house is always over 60, but not very much above.
My greenhouse plants(spring) usually do quite well in temps around 50 but like you said, ladybugs are useless until it gets a bit warmer
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Even with a wood burning stove, my cold frame only stays above freezing on the the coldest winter days. Im in the south too, so I can only imagine yours gets MUCH colder than that. I assume you end up bringing them in doors? The only way to really keep them out in a greenhouse, is for one to create and design a true "green house", equipped with solar masses, thermostat, and regular heating that keeps the environment above 60-70 degrees F. This is why since I have moved, I just bring them into the basement near a window and supplement with artificial lighting. My basement stays 50 and above so I have little problems keeping things from going dormant. When it drops down into the teens outside, it will get into the low 40's upper 30's in the basement, but it never stays that way for long.
 
I've worked in a few year-round commercial greenhouses so I really do know how these things work. I have great success with my greenhouses but only in the spring and fall to increase the length of my season. The summer is way too hot for anything in the greenhouses even with shade cloth and blower fans. In the winter it would cost me a small fortune to heat, and there is not enough sun to really make it worth while. My new greenhouse will hopefully be modified for roll up sides and easily removable end walls so I can grow from early spring to late fall.
 
POTAWIE said:
My new greenhouse will hopefully be modified for roll up sides and easily removable end walls so I can grow from early spring to late fall.
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That would be SWEET! The monastery down the road from me has a "lean to" style built onto the side of one of their shops for the bonsai bookstore. They have plants in there that are 500+ years old. The little greenhouse they have is neat. Its got water insulated cement flooring. Solar mass masonry on the north wall, most if not all panes can open and vent, its just neat. I love going there and admiring their work. :)


Anyway, something very interesting to note: We all know that in ground gardens require less watering, but these air pruning pots LOVE the water. I haven't had to water my garden in weeks, while that Fatalii is sucking down many gallons every two days. Partly because I have no cover for the outside of the fabric, and partly because I sat her on concrete. I suggest that if you're going to use these air pruning pots, that you find a great chunk of soil to set her on, and let the weeds grow up around the pot. :) Or build something, that would look nice :)
 
Morning THP! Just thought I'd share the feeding that the Fatalii got yesterday.

Container plants will always require more feedings than plants that are in ground, just due to mere leeching that occurs through watering so often. Its natural. Anyhow, as you will see in the wide shot of the whole plant, plants talk to you. While most of the time, the plants show optimal health by giving you that super dark green pigment, like almost blue even. When they are just about to start running out of N, they will begin feeding on themselves and the result will be slight yellowing of select leaves. As seen here:

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This is the plant "talking" to you, the grower. After a heavy tea of Peruvian Seabird (high in N and P), Kelp meal (light N higher K!!!), Jamaican Bat (high N), worm castings (light N), and some molasses to help build back up sugars for the food soil web. Nutrients will be MORE than sufficient to last me until I chop her and bring her inside for the winter :) Remember, with a super soil, there is always less need for feeding. In growing, the less you have to feed the better. And with organics feeding is needed hardly ever if at all. This will be the second feeding of the entire season for me :) And shes in a container! :) :) :)

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Pepper-Guru said:
Container plants will always require more feedings than plants that are in ground, just due to mere leeching that occurs through watering so often. Its natural. [/img]
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Thanks for the tip, Guru. I've always wondered this. And since we're watering daily here right now, I think my plants have both heat stress AND a nutrient deficiency. A lot of top leaf drop. I hit them with a feeding last weekend and they're suddenly flowering. I don't know how often is often enough for me, but it's more often than I've been doing it.

I usually cease feedings in the hell months, but I think they needed it this year. I can't wait till mid-September!

edit: Hey! 500th post!
 
Pepper-Guru said:
Its the best kind! Peppers love whats in that stuff. I do amend it. With Ga red clay you just about have to unless it has been top soiled for years under big oaks and stuff. You see the clay itself, has just about everything that pepper plant wants, the problem is the aeration. If you want monster plants, the roots need to move around easily and quickly. Adding compost or a verm/perlite/peat mix will do the trick just fine. Drainage and oxygen are very important with ga red clay. Thing is, once the roots get going in it, WATCH OUT! We Georgia boys grow some big healthy trees down here! :D

Chili's like red clay?! My god thats all I have on my property and all my chili's have been in bought top soil. Im going to have to do some research on this. Do you have any other info on chili's and red soil or is it just from experience? 5 acres of red clay dirt and oak trees and Im buying soil? :doh:
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Pepper-Guru said:
Its the best kind! Peppers love whats in that stuff. I do amend it. With Ga red clay you just about have to unless it has been top soiled for years under big oaks and stuff. You see the clay itself, has just about everything that pepper plant wants, the problem is the aeration. If you want monster plants, the roots need to move around easily and quickly. Adding compost or a verm/perlite/peat mix will do the trick just fine. Drainage and oxygen are very important with ga red clay. Thing is, once the roots get going in it, WATCH OUT! We Georgia boys grow some big healthy trees down here! :D



Thanks. Hopefully they will do me right this year!
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what part of georgia you in?
 
voodoolord said:
Chili's like red clay?! My god thats all I have on my property and all my chili's have been in bought top soil. Im going to have to do some research on this. Do you have any other info on chili's and red soil or is it just from experience? 5 acres of red clay dirt and oak trees and Im buying soil? :doh:
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Georgia Red Clay has the reputation of being some of the finest agricultural soil in the county. Its acidic, high in unhydrated iron oxides, silicas, and beneficial metals/minerals. Drainage is key here in the south though. ;)


papadaca said:
what part of georgia you in?
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South Atlanta
 
I hope I am not on that list. I know I was, but I have harvested my fair share from Pepp3rFreak's garden and I still have the seed from what you sent that first time for next year.

If too late to stop you they will be passed on in the spirit of the site.
:D
 
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