Dawn's Pepper Pot - EcoGrower (07/03/2017) ** Term 05/06/201

[drbanks]

I think they'll be sweet no matter what, but they're also supposed to be hot, and for whatever reason, mine weren't, even though I was getting the advertised near-foot-long, and they were still very tasty.

[drbanks]

For reasons hinted at elsewhere, I'm going to shut this and the other pepper pot down, probably this weekend.  It may be a health issue.

[drbanks]

So, I go to tear down this planter because the plants are looking near dead.  Probably because I had the doors and windows open all weekend to clear out the winter air.

I've been getting a small but regular harvest of the Jamaican Yellow Mushrooms.  Hadn't been getting anything out of the Scotch Bonnets or Habaneros, even though both had been blossoming like mad, and I've been pollinating them.

But once the plants start dying, all of a sudden, I have a half dozen habaneros suddenly appear and ripen.

I bit the end off one this morning to make sure it was really habanero.  It kept me "entertained" for my entire hour-long commute.

What is this business where I see nothing until the plant's near dead?  Had the same experience with the Aji Chombos just as they died (BTW - Aji Chombos are very tasty, and I'll probably plant them again).

[MaryL]

Apr 9, 2018 7:32:36 GMT -5 drbanks said:

But once the plants start dying, all of a sudden, I have a half dozen habaneros suddenly appear and ripen.

Lol, isn’t that the way of it?!  I’ve had that happen too. Maybe the pepper plants respond well to stress, I dunno.

[drbanks]

Ok, still haven't killed it, because i'm also getting some of the largest Jamaican Yellow Mushrooms I've seen yet, even though the base plant looks like its on its last legs.

[drbanks]

What I've learned, or at least hypothesized:

First, this is a LARGE planter.  2 cubic feet, which is a lot larger than it sounds.  13 gallons of water and nutrients.  Six 6" net pots.  Just keeping this flushed, nuted and filled is a major undertaking that ultimately involved several purchases for support equipment like multiple submersible pumps and a bucket large enough to mix the load.

Second, as large as it is, it's just not large enough to support six full-sized pepper plants.  It's been a constant exercising in pruning with a machete (just kidding about the machete) and I still can't keep the plants out of the lights.

Third, and most interestingly, I don't think there was ever a chance to see all six plants in bloom at once.  Until I fell on hard times, I had what was six VERY healthy plants with only one, or maybe two producing at any given time.

First, the Vezena Piperkas went wild setting foot-long, very sweet (but not hot) peppers.  Once I cut those back, I started getting the Hungarian Wax peppers, which were quite delightful.  But, two neighboring plants overshadowed it, and it died.

About the time that the Hungarians died, the Jamaican Yellow Mushrooms started popping fruit all over the place.  Still no word from the Habaneros, Scotch Bonnets or Golden Greeks.

Then, my neglect set in and most of my leaves died.  And, just as everyone's been trying to tell me all along, dying/reduced leaves cause a redirection of the nutrients from leaves and growth to setting fruit, because all of a sudden, I'm seeing habaneros appearing overnight.

These plants don't look like they're coming back, and I still haven't seen anything from the scotch bonnets or golden greeks, but I think I've learned my lesson: When i put six different peppers into the same nutrient reservoir, one or two plants are going to dominate in terms of nutrient consumption, and the others just aren't going to do anything meaningful until the competition is removed.

lastly, had tried sprouting the six plants in this planter.  Not a good idea.  It took more than a month to get sprouts out of all six.  Much better to use a seed starter then transplant.  The trouble is that those transplants tend to be so fragile that it takes a day or more for them to recover and stop looking dead.

[Kate]

Great observations. I doubt I'd go for this style system, or at least the size of this specific one.

[MaryL]

You always had me in awe, handling and maintaining this planter.  I’d need a full time employee at a high wage to handle this behemoth.  But the foot long Vezenas..., just, wow.

[drbanks]

Terminated; half successful.

[Shawn]

At least there was success

[drbanks]

Always things to be thankful for!