Pepper Update 3/26

Peppers

The pepper plants are still growing nicely. There are actually peppers on the plants now. The yellow wax is about and inch and a half long this morning and the pablano is about a half inch. There a blossoms on the jalapenos but no peppers yet. There are loads of blossoms on all of the plants.

Pablano

 I am really excited about the progress. I will use them as a visual aid in a couple of gardening presentations I will be doing this month. This week I will be putting them in bigger pots. They are outgrowing the ones they are in and I don't want to stunt the growth. Hopefully in a couple of weeks I will be able to harvest the first pepper. That will mke my morning eggs very tasty.

Yellow Wax

Soon I will be able to dig in the dirt again. Getting the garden ready for planting is almost as much fun as harvesting. Three weeks and I should be able to see the surface of the garden again. Wish the temperatures were warmer at night that would make the snow go away much faster.

On Saturday the 31st of March we will have a planting party at the Lutheran Church of Hope. The time is 1 PM. We will be planting a variety of seeds to give them a head start on the growing season. Be sure to come join us. It might be your first opportunity to get dirt under your fingernails this gardening season. Look forward to seeing you.

Pepper Update 1/15/18

All Three

The jalapenos got their first true leaves on January 1. The poblanos got theirs on the 4th and the yellow was on the 6th. We also had another yellow wax sprout on the 6th as well as another poblano. Don't know if the latest poblano will make it though. It has no leaves. It's just a stem.

Plabano

The tallest of the plants is about 2.5 inches. I will probably transplant them to 4 inch pots at the end of the month. I have ordered new 4 inch pots from Amazon. They are supposed to arrive today. I will be planting some basil seeds this week. Will see if I can coax in some fresh basil for later in the spring.

Jalapeno

I don't usually have great success with houseplants unless they can survive neglect really well. Of the five or six we have there is one that wilts when it gets very dry and comes right back after it is watered. I always know it's time to water them when that plant wilts. I'm pretty sure I won't get away with that with the peppers and basil. This is a science project for me so I will report on the results whether they are good or bad. I will try to do an analysis on why the projects turned out the way they did as well.

Growing Peppers in the House

Hope to grow some peppers in the house this winter. I am going to try some Hungarian yellow wax, jalapeno, and poblano (also known as Baron, and Ancho peppers). I bought the seeds from Johnny's Select Seeds. Hope they work out okay. Will try to keep things posted on here so everyone can watch the progress. With a little luck I should have ripe peppers by the time I plant to get seedlings in the spring for the elevated boxes. Johnny's says you can grill these poblano peppers. I just might give that a try this spring if I can get them to grow.

The peppers were planted on December 9, 2017. Did a four pack of each variety. If all goes well there should be plenty of peppers for eating in March, maybe even February.


One would think you  could grow these outside in Alaska. The packets show 58 to 65 days for green or yellow peppers and 80 to 85 days for red ones.  However, they fail  to state that the warmth of the soil and the air are also huge factors in how quickly they grow and ripen. I will try to keep track in the house and  then track the ones I plant in the elevated beds by the garden. Soil temperature in the house will be about 70 F. I know they will get plenty of water so that won't be a problem. Air temperature will be about 70 F as well. Humidity could be a problem. It's usually about 20% in the house in the winter. Will have to make sure I do something the moisture in the air. Don't know what yet, but will think on it. I might even do a little research to see if others have solved the problem without a humidifier.