Lookin great Josh! Your superhots are a tad farther along than mine. I don't have a pod the size of yours yet...:(

I might try moving my potted ones to receive not so much direct sun for the next few days while it's still hot.

Keep up the great work!

Kevin

Awesome plants Josh, that ghost pepper is a beast!

LOL, meager my azz...

Josh - Great video and Nice looking plants. The Peach Bhut Jolokia is amazing.

Looking forward to your next update.

Sandy

wow, your peach bhut is looking a lot better than mine. Cool.
Aren't they pretty?!!?!! I think the Peach Bhut has one of the prettiest pods I've seen.
Pam

This post was edited by kuvaszlvr on Wed, Jul 30, 14 at 11:03

Thanks for sharing your great pepper garden and interesting video!

I like how you've repurposed those flats as container shade. Wouldn't work in my my area though - they'd soon get knocked down by wind or curious varmints.

It's interesting how you've got your plants in partial shade, it must help on watering needs as well. I've got my peppers and a few tomato plants in a modified 5:1:1 this year. The peppers seem happy, but it seems hard to get enough water to the tomatoes. They're frequently semi-wilting, but the fruit are developing well anyway.

I agree with with Pam and Sandy, Peach Jolokia is one I have to try next year!

Alex

Kevin, Tom, Tom, Sandy, Pam, and Alex, thanks so much :-)

I am very pleased with the Peach Bhut, especially now that it is producing. I had my doubts at first. I love the bushy shape of the plant, as well as the look of the pods. My hope, however, is that some of the pods get longer - closer to the length of other Bhut Jolokias.

Kevin, a little shade throughout the day should really help the plants cope. It has been hot up here, too....we're in the 100F's this week....but hoping for a dip into the 90F's this weekend. As for the pod size....a few of my plants set pods earlier on, then there was a heat-wave before the next set of pods; so now those earliest pods are large, with all the others behind in development.

Tom_92, that Ghost is great, isn't it? It obviously has plenty of Nitrogen, which is probably why it has only set a couple pods compared to the lower profile Ghost beside it. I am contemplating moving it a little further out into the sun, and holding off on fertilizer for a week or so.

TomT226, thanks! "meager" in that I've only got 6 superhots growing...!

Alex, thanks! Using those plastic flats to shade the containers on the south side has made growing in these #5 containers much more effective. A single hole at the rim of the pot would allow you to wire one of these flats in place, I bet. My garden is shaded (mosaic sun) most of the day....but from about 11:00 - 1:00, the main pepper patch gets blasted with sun. Going from shade to full sun is incredibly hard on the plants, so I've got to keep the containers cool. You're right about the watering needs - now that we're in "drought" conditions, I've been mindful of how much water I use and where it goes, and shade helps. That was the primary reason for using more drip-trays this season, as well. The frogs are pretty happy with those drip-trays, too ;-)

Tomatoes use a lot of water, no way around it. I have a Sun Gold in a 15-gallon pot on my back deck, and it's also in a concrete mixing tub (to protect the deck) that allows me to fill with an inch or two of water on hot days.

Lastly, a pic of some Carolina Reapers from this morning....

Josh

I absolutely love Sun Gold, those are the best tomatoes around!

I'm impressed with how well your plant in the 1 gal container looks. Mine, in 100+ heat a couple of years ago, in 1 gal pots, were small, looked stunted, and didn't produce much fruit. That's when I went to 5 gal. 5 gal uses a lot more soil!
Pam

Hey, Pam, Sun Gold is my favorite, too. I don't really care for tomatoes much, but this sweet low-acid variety is one that I snack on all day. I've grown a Sun Gold on the deck for 5 years now....mine's about 9 feet tall at this point ;-)

Last year, I grew a Bonda ma Jacques in that wide 1-gallon container in a drip-tray, and that plant outperformed all the others, becoming huge and covered in pods. So, this year I said to myself, How about I try growing a pepper that I actually like in that set-up? If I can get really good production, then I don't need to grow as many plants...rather, I can focus my efforts. In this heat, I have been adding a little water every day....so there is a trade-off as far as convenience.

Josh

Great looking plants Josh! I'm diggin the whole backyard overall too, got a lot of good stuff goin on back there.

Jay

Thanks, Jay! I like hanging out in the backyard....it's a pleasant place to be :-)

Josh

Yeah Josh, your peach bhut is killing it! Good job man, that garden is killer and I hope I can get something like that kicking one day.

Once again you make me feel like a novice! Everything is looking great. I always have to enjoy being ahead in May and June, because by the end of July....you pass me. Let us know when you do battle with that Douglah.

Tim

Sheesh, I may just give up altogether after seeing that vid. Those super hots are great. The reaper is truly a classic reaper. The bhut is huge. Who cares if it doesn't produce much, those leaves are cool. How many bhut pods do you need anyway, especially with all the other super hots you have going. Very nice and with your late growing season, you have a lot of time left.
Very well done,
Bruce

This was a great video. You give me idea to how to improve my gardening strategies. Thank you! - Rachel of Homework-desk.com

Tom, Tim, Bruce, and Rachel, thank you for the kind words! :-) I sure am enjoying this season....and believe it or not, but these pods are actually *early* for me....heck, I already have two Douglah pods with a chocolate blush beginning to show! I'm anxious and dreading the Douglah....and I'll report on it the second that I try it!

Bruce, last year I sent the Carolina Reaper seeds that you sent me to a buddy in Texas. In return, he sent me some seeds from the plants that he grew so that I could grow them this season. That one trade also scored me the Peach Bhut and the Yellow Brain Strain seeds. So thank you again! As for how many Bhut pods I need....not many! I just "discovered" a bag of 15 Red Bhut pods in the freezer this morning! I don't know what I'll do with them all now ;-)

Hey, Rachel, if you ever have specific questions, or want to see more of something in a video, just let me know and I'll pay special attention in the next installment.

Josh