10.5 Weeks Peppers / 8 Weeks Tomatoes

Well, much has changed. First, I am back from vacation, so now I will try to fill in the gaps of the last two weeks. First, the good news... check out these beautiful Jalapenos!!!

Yummy!!

There's more where that came from!

And, boom, a tomato!!

Here are the 4 plants....the tomatoes are just getting totally out of control.

They now dwarf the gentle-spirited pepper plants!

Funny that this pepper plant grew in a triangle...???

I feel like the lights need to be raised every 2 days cuz of those tomatoes!

I am in denial....but for the record I must note that one or two pepper leaves have this....

The BAD news is that there are LOTS, and I do mean LOTS, of pepper AND tomatoe buds just falling off. Some flowers, too. So far, nothing that has set fruit has dropped. Lets hope it stays that way.

A tomato grows in Anchorage (by Mrs. Dixon)

9.5 Weeks Jalapenos / 7 weeks Tomatoes from Dixon Nanofarm

This week has seen continued steady growth. I feel like I raise the lights just about every other day. The peppers are such wonderful symmetrical plants, but the tomatoes are just gangly and out of control...growing so dramatically in every direction. There are between 6 and 8 clusters of buds/flowers on each tomato plant...for a total of about 75 POTENTIAL tomatoes between the pair. That would be an incredible 60ish pounds of tomatoes if everything goes perfectly. Hard to believe the plants could support that amount of weight, but Shaun assures me the stalks will become very strong.

Regardless, the first tomato flowers have now set and small tomatoes are forming. If you use your imagination, you can see the beginnings of a fruit in the picture below.

Meanwhile, there are about 40 peppers now growing on the Jalapeno plants, with about 15 more flowers, and dozens of developing buds. Yeehaw!!!

First Pepper and Tomato PLUS New Grow Location

I moved my grown area from the downstairs guest bedroom to the upstairs office (with much help from Andy). The grow lights are now properly hanging from brackets and are much easier to adjust. The plants will get more heat upstairs where I spend most of my time.

The bush variety of tomatoes are becoming, well, bushy. I pulled off a shriveling flower today and spotted a tiny little tomato! I have one pepper but quite a few flowers and a ton more visibly in development.

Sat the 10th of January....Week 8 1/2 Update

Well the peppers are 8 1/2 weeks old (from planting) today, and the Tomatoes about 7 weeks. Seeing that in print, and then looking at the pictures below are shocking...especially the tomatoes.

There are 5-10 peppers growing, with another 20-30 flowers between both plants. Meanwhile, there are now about 10 Tomato flowers, with a total of about 50 buds in various stages (again, between both plants). The theme this week was pollinating. I'm very comfortable pollinating the peppers, but the tomatoes were more difficult. The anthers seem much more concealed/hidden in the stamen, so my cue-tip trick didn't seem to work. Eventually, I got an idea online to use an electric toothbrush on the back of the flower, and it sure seems to work like a charm based on how much pollen poured out of each flower! No fruit forming visibly yet, though. Maybe next week before I go on vacation.

I've noticed a bit of discoloration on some of the lower/largest buds. Not on the fruit itself, though. Its possible this could be the beginning of something major (wow, I sure hope not). But at this point my best guess is a little sunburn, since only these lower buds have it, and they are the least protected from side/reflected light.

Tons of flowers!

Wild plant

Almost 2 feet wide, already

Happy Jungle :)

Indoor Gardening Take 2

Well, Andy isn't the only one who has started over. I'm somewhat settled in a new home. Andy was generous to donate some tomato and jalepeno starts and things are really starting to take off. I think seeds were planted about a month and a half ago. My current grow area is in one of my extra bedrooms downstairs. Since I mostly live upstairs and keep it warmer I plant to soon relocate the farm to my Office. Also, I'm really wasting an entire shelf to make this work so plan on going the route of an adjustable table and hang the light from a bracket (I know - just like Andy).

The only surviving plants from the old farm are the Rosemary and Garlic Chives. I harvested everything else and dried it out, then culled the plants. Many of the herbs were just too much to keep up with - I just don't cook enough with them. I will look to add some new plants in the near future, space allowing, but in the meantime I am really excited about TOMATOES!



Grow Zone

Tomatoes. Both plants have a bud just about to open up.

Close-up of first tomato flower.

Jalapeno Pepper Plants.

Close up of first pepper flower about to bloom.

Rosemary and Garlic Chives.

Tomato flower and first pepper

The images speak for themselves.

Major Changes

Lots of picture in this post, and lots of excitement!! (no one reads this, do they....??)

First things first, I felt like both the Jalapenos and the Big Boy Tomatoes were ready for the next pot size this week. Rather than go for an interim pot size, and then another final pot size increase later on, I decided to just go for the big one. These are #7 pots...which are about the size of a 5 gallon bucket, even though their name would suggest a 7 gallon? I don't know. Either way, they are big, and bigger than the pots that the Cayenne's did very good in . At the end of this post, you will see the new pots in the garden. But before we get to that...some incremental photos of the installation of a more permanent and established Mylar configuration. The Mylar relfects a high percentage of light back to the plant, so that as little light as possible is "lost"...especially helpful in 100% artificial environments where you are supplying EVERYTHING for these plants. If you recall, at the other house I had taped the Mylar sheeting to the light fixture itself, but this was never an idea I was in love with, and am happy to now own a home and be able to make some more long-term plans.

First thing was to raise the brackets to the highest possible height, for max flexibility in growing options in the future.

I hatched a plan to use some scrap wood....

I cut some 2x4's the width of the grow space...and installed 2 of them in parallel on the back wall.

I used my new impact driver to put 3" screws into the studs with EASE

To install some wooden arms extending out from the wall, I used my new nail gun!!

The mylar will be stapled to this wood piece.

The other side...

After cutting the Mylar sheets, I installed it onto the first arm.

TADA!!!! I LOVE IT!!!!

And here's the garden

3 pepper flowers now

TOMATO FLOWERS...WHAAAAT?!?!?

Tomato VINE

A new long-term addition to the garden, ALOE!!!!

Note the flag ;)