The Cheap Vegetable Gardener

Growing Pepper Plants Indoors

14.5 years ago Bhut Jolokia, indoor growbox, jalapeno, peppers 6 Comments

Pepper plants need specific environmental (temperature and humidity) conditions to establish growth and create high yields.  If the temperatures get too low it will stunt its growth or not produce blossoms, when the temperatures get too high the plant will drop it blossoms resulting in no or reduce yields.

The perfect temperature range for peppers is between 70 and 80 degrees F for Bell peppers and hot peppers can handle a little warmer temperatures up to 85 degrees.  If their environment gets below 70 degrees the plants will struggle, which given even in August we don’t hit an average of 70 degrees F for any success a greenhouse, hot box, or a growbox is requirement.  If you are a frequent reader of this site you probably already know I go with the last option.

With a few CFLs (or incandescent if extra heat is needed) the peppers plants are happy in the growbox.  With exception of once a week watering with a diluted fertilizer at 50% recommended on the box they pretty much take care of themselves.  If we do get a nice warm day I will bring them out for some natural light.  This also invites some natural organic pest control of any aphids which may have found their way into the growbox.  When the plants begin flowering this also gives some bees an opportunity to do a little pollination, this can be done by hand with a paint brush or Q-Tip though my success rate is much less than the bees, though they have been doing this for millions of years…I am still a little new at this

As mentioned above controlling the proper temperature is critical, I do this with a combination of computer controlled fans and lighting to maintain the proper temperature, though this could also be achieved by using a $10 outdoor digital thermometer and a occasional adjustments to venting or fan control to maintain a good temperature range.

Last year I only grew jalapeno pepper plants, but this year I am also trying Cayenne, Sweet Yellow, and Bhut Jolokia pepper plants.  Though it is quite a bit more work growing peppers in my area, I like challenges and to do things that others say can not be done, call me stubborn.

Why don’t you grow tomatoes in the ground?

14.5 years ago tomato, upside down planter 2 Comments

When I mention I grow tomatoes upside down many people ask me, “Why don’t you grow tomatoes in the ground?”  The surprise answer is, I do grow both in the ground and in the air. 

The picture above shows my current tomato plants I am growing in the one location with sufficient sunlight to grow them, which might explain the reason why I look alternate options for adding more yields each season.

Ladybug Release: Not a good day to be an aphid in my garden

14.5 years ago aphids, ladybugs 6 Comments

We normally would have already had our annual ladybug release for aphid control, though this year it has been a little colder than normal so we have to postpone until this evening.  You want to release your ladybugs at sunset since they do not like to fly at night and gives you the best odds of keeping them in your garden.

For fun and a little carnage we decided to let 20-30 out early and placed them on some plants with a few too many aphids (peas and mint)  In the picture above fortunately (or unfortunately depending how much you loathe aphids) you can’t see it but the ladybug was just having his first victim.  With many more to come that were surrounding him (or her).

For some less gruesome pictures of ladybugs you can check out some of the photo shoots from our previous years ladybug releases

Build a ladybug house

14.5 years ago aphids, cheap, kids, ladybugs 9 Comments

With a piece of cedar fence board and a few nails you can make your own ladybug house to give your army of aphid eaters I nice comfortable place to take shelter between battles

This project started with my youngest daughter (5 years old) has been asking every weekend, “Can we build something with wood?”  Finally I came up with this project which we had a great time building.

Materials

• 1 — Cedar fence board
• about 12 finishing nails
• small hinge
• 1/2-3/4 drill bit
• paint for decorating (optional)

Build instructions

 

Step #1 – Cut the boards:  Given the cedar board should be 5-1/2 inches so the cuts should be pretty straightforward.  Cut the following pieces:

• Front Panel — 5.5” by 5”
• Back Panel — 5.5” by 5”
• Bottom Panel — 5.5” by 5”
• Top Panel — 5.5” by 4”
• 2 X Side Panel — 5.5” by 2.5”
• Room Separator — 5.5” by 1”

I used a circular saw for my cuts…yes I really should invest in a chop saw or table saw so hopefully your cuts will be a little straighter but I am sure the ladybugs will not mind.

Step #2 — Nail two sides to back panel

Step #3 — Nail front to sides and back panel

Step #4 — Nail bottom panel to ladybug house.

Step #5 — Drop room separator inside house.

Ladybugs are social and like to group together but sometimes thy like to live in smaller groups, this divider will give an additional area for the ladybugs to hang out.

Step #5 — Attach top using screws and hinge

Step #6 — Drill 3-4 holes into front and sides and decorate (optional)

Step #7 — Hang close to your garden

Now of course the decoration part is optional unless you are a 5 year old then it is required.  Here she is carefully deciding what to paint with her marker next…

Little green bugs on pea plants

14.5 years ago aphids, ladybugs, organic, peas 8 Comments

It is fairly uncommon for me to see these little green bugs on my peas.  In case you didn’t guess these are pea aphids, which suck juices from the plant leaves ad spread disease between plants.  This is a rare occurrence because normally it is warmer and drier this time of year and we would have our annual ladybug release to take care of these little pests.  If the weather holds up we should have good enough weather to do the ladybug release next weekend.

In the meantime I have resorted to to using some organic pesticide solution to deter these pests until the weather gets better.  This will not stop the aphids, but hopefully slow the down a little, though when it comes to organic solutions you can not compete with ladybugs which each one can eat up to 5000 aphids/mites in their lifetime.  Come next weekend there will be an aphid massacre in the garden. [evil laugh]

Building a Pea Garden Trellis

14.5 years ago cheap, fall crops, peas 6 Comments

When building a pea trellis it is actually pretty hard to do it wrong.  All that is needed is a little stability and once the plants grab hold they will make the structure even more stable.  My typical strategy when making a pea trellis is to use whatever I happen to find closest to me.  Here are a few examples from past and current years of building

	Bamboo Pole Structure Pea Trellis Here is a classic structure made from a couple pieces of bamboo poles scavenged from a couple of rotting scarecrows purchased a few years back at a craft store.  I used a stick I am pretty sure one of my daughters picked up on a nature hike across the top bound with a few inches of twine.  Lastly I attached a line of twine at 1 foot and 2 feet above the ground which gives the plant plenty of leverage to climb up the structure. Click on the picture to the left or below for a larger view.
	Branches Pea Trellis Here is probably the simplest technique out there.  If you have some old branches left over from pruning?  Just stick them in the ground and let the peas grow up the branch.  This gives a nice natural look but also a variety of paths for the peas to naturally sprawl while given each plant plenty of personal space.
	Vertical Stick or Pole Pea Trellis Another simple option is just by simply driving a few straight sticks or bamboo or metal poles in the ground with a little assistance the peas will climb their way up the trellis
	Hybrid A-Frame Pole Structure and Branch Pea Trellis Do you like more than one technique?  Feel free to combine them like this where I used bamboo poles as additional support for branch pea trellis (though in the end the branches proved to do just fine by themselves, I sometimes over engineer things…)

 

As you can see when it comes to making your own pea trellis it is very difficult to do it wrong.  So do a quick scan around your yard and you should find exactly the materials you need.  Though if you want something a little more professional looking there is always the commercial options (click images below for more info) which I would definitely recommend as well.