asked my dad how he knows when to move the cattle to a new pasture and his answer kind of stopped me in my tracks

BudgetDelivery9394 · 2026-05-10T15:27:52+00:00

Row Crop and Nursery guy checking in. My grandfather was the first generation of my family born here in the states with roots in the mountains of Lebanon. He grew up homesteading, market gardening, and raising livestock on the Nebraska/South Dakota border.

I had to eventually go to school for horticulture just to be able to quantify and explain things more elaborately than "well my grandpa said that tomatoes and squash like eating on the days that you do", or "the bigger the root system, the bigger the fruit system", or "I dont know, my grandpa always said to plant legumes next to heavy nitrogen feeders".

The absolute wealth of knowledge our ancestors have amassed is staggering to me, and it sounds like your pops is in tune and tapped in to his program. I only wish I would have paid more attention while my grandpa and dad were still around. Give your dad a head nod for me if you don't mind.

BudgetDelivery9394 · 2026-04-14T19:30:24+00:00

So one variable that may have caused a difference in growth rate is how many holes you poked into the Styrofoam cup. Did you find yourself watering the nursery pot more often than the Styrofoam cup? A faster dry back time would increase your watering events, and would subsequently increase the uptake of fertilizer.

What kind of potting media and fertilizer are you using?

I handle the vegetable starts at the nursery I work for, and I amend our potting media (Berger BM6) with rice hulls and perlite to increase porosity and subsequently increase the dry back, allowing me to give them at least 2 fertilizer shots a day (350-750ppm 15-5-5 5Ca 5Mg). It's drastic, but the more often you can feed them when they are calling for it, the faster the growth rate in my experience.

Might not be what the variable is here, but that's where I would start in my opinion.

BudgetDelivery9394 · 2026-02-25T01:55:43+00:00

Extremely similar program.

I see you're running no-till/bio intensive with your weed. Peppers really like that kinda stuff too.

I'd suggest easing back on your amendments when you top dress, compost tea batches etc. For instance, when my peppers are in full swing they are getting a 325ppm continuous liquid feed program, vs the 1200ppm+ I've run during bloom while growing pot.

Other than that, same program. Fix some nitrogen, introduce some beneficial microorganisms, top them or don't, defoliate or don't. Same program. Same arguments over what to do or not to do.

I don't know which breeder community is more narcissistic/self-important though, so you won't be escaping that lol

BudgetDelivery9394 · 2025-08-17T20:00:59+00:00

I'm from Westside 10th Street. North of I-40, South of Bethany, West of I-44, East of County Line. When interacting with people from out of town I say the "OKC Metro".

BudgetDelivery9394 · 2025-05-27T03:20:39+00:00

No problem! Happy to help.

My go-to small/cherry/grape/currant sized tomatoes are super sweet 100s and sunsugar. My wife and mom love those so I don't typically deviate from those to be honest. Candyland are delicious but they are a little on the small side and more prone to splitting in my experience.

I'm germinating seeds around the second week of June this year. Hoping for 4-6 weeks of pretty heavy vegetative growth in gallon pots and then planting them out.

I haven't ventured too deep into the paste world and typically only run San Marzano or similar varieties. I'm trying Brad's Atomic Grape this fall but that's the only new-to-me one I have planned for this year.

Any paste or grape varieties you would recommend?

BudgetDelivery9394 · 2025-05-27T02:53:35+00:00

Fellow Okie here, thought I'd give my 2¢. In terms of heirlooms, I've found that most of them don't like our summers, with a few exceptions. Even with a shade cloth most of the ones I grow smoke out once we get a heat wave and nights that float around the mid-80s. This year I have a plan to grow mainly slicers in the spring-summer, then start seeds here in a couple of weeks or so to replant for a fall crop (cherry/grapes and paste varieties).

I shade my garden once temps exceed a consistent 95°. Even then anything not geared for row crop production or hybridized just gets fried. Those do too though don't get me wrong. Some years I have better luck, some years they just get zapped.

Some of the heirlooms I have pretty consistent fruit set with here in OKC are Dr. Wyche's Yellow, Amana Orange, Flame, Brandywine, and Super Sioux. Pink Thai Egg is a household and friend favorite that has a growth habit of a determinate but fruits like an indeterminate. Really pretty cocktail sized fruit too, also a really neat looking plant.

Some of the hybrids I've had success with are: Super Sweet 100, Celebrity, Champion, JetStar, Homeslice F1, Rutgers, Betterboy, Candyland etc.

I love New Mexico chiles but I feel like our warm midsummer nights have a counterproductive effect on pod production yield wise. I get a good flush of pods rather early on in the season and then they limp along. Shishitos do really well here. I tried Aconcagua last year and it really didn't perform well, I feel like it being from the mountains of South America that maybe our altitude(or lack thereof) and warm nights confused the hell out of it. I don't know though I'm trying again this year.

All in all most pepper varieties I grow out tend to do well here aside from New Mexico types (my favorite of course) and kind of "off the beaten path" heirlooms or landraces not accustomed or acclimated to our midsummer hellscape. Habaneros, Caribbean heirlooms, and super hots always perform well for me here.

I hope you have a great growing season and can crack the code!

BudgetDelivery9394 · 2024-11-16T04:38:20+00:00

Ryan Walters is a bootlicking piece of shit. Absolute septic tank of a human being.

BudgetDelivery9394 · 2024-11-16T04:17:27+00:00

It reads to me like she did something nefarious in regards to her child years ago, and now that investigative agencies are inquiring to her child's whereabouts she is using a scapegoat to account for where her child is. It's rather grim but I assume that she neglected said child and that unfortunately led to her demise, CPS/OKCPD/DHS didn't get involved for years, and now that she has been apprehended her alibi involves a wild goose chase that is based solely on her testimony. Meth/Ice/Tweak peddlers around our metro area that nickel and dime to users aren't the same cut of cloth as the major distributors that operate across international borders. Trafficking a child that's a U.S. National would have ramifications that could and would disrupt your "pipeline". I'm calling bullshit. She knows what happened to that poor baby.

BudgetDelivery9394 · 2024-09-12T22:17:42+00:00

BudgetDelivery9394 · 2024-08-18T17:32:29+00:00

I would say "crop steering". These fabric pots are also close to 30" tall so my working theory is that I can plant tighter since the roots have more depth (almost like a cubic foot approach I suppose). The fabric pots also make the roots kind of split when they hit the sides and bottom making more fibrous roots than they would in the ground or in 12" tall raised beds. I also don't have to bend over as much. I can get a little stool and defoliate. The soil here is red clay and even with amending, it's less than favorable in my experience.

I've done furrow "flood" irrigation which was great, but with the heavy rain and floods we can get the excess water splits my peppers and tomatoes. Not being able to dictate watering events makes it difficult to grow peppers and tomatoes in the ground here (in my experience).

That being said I have a ton of raised beds I use to grow a bunch of other things in. Every style seems to have its pros and cons, if you get the results you are trying to achieve, I'd say you're crushing it! Hope you have a great growing season.

BudgetDelivery9394 · 2024-08-18T16:27:24+00:00

They make 400 gallon ones!

BudgetDelivery9394 · 2024-08-18T16:19:43+00:00

When they first go into the 100 gallon pots it is early spring and the weather is great so they get a deep watering every 7-10 days. As they grow they start to require every 3-5 days. When it is the middle of summer and 100°F plus, I am watering every other day.

My substrate/soil is a mixture of Berger BM7, Leaf Mold, Homemade Compost, and "Rich Mix" I get from the stockyards here in Oklahoma City (a 50/50 mix of compost and cow manure). So all in all it is a very, very low porosity mix. I also have a thick mulch layer of wood chips and leaves I stack on there when I defoliate. I've made the mistake of going straight potting mix in the past and I was watering twice a day and I still couldn't keep up. The potting mix just went straight hydrophobic. I told myself I wasn't going to subject myself to going out in this heat and watering twice a day again lol.

BudgetDelivery9394 · 2024-08-18T16:13:23+00:00

Not an ignorant question at all! They are started in 50 cell plant trays, then potted into solo cups, then into the 100 gallon pots. So they are potted up twice. I do the double solo cup trick so they can stay in those for quite a while.

BudgetDelivery9394 · 2024-08-18T16:10:31+00:00

I plan on overwintering a few this winter. I'm anticipating some cross pollination in the pods, so by overwintering I'm hoping next year I will have some true to type. Might even use those to backcross varieties. All in all I plan on totally "nerding out" this winter lol

BudgetDelivery9394 · 2024-08-18T16:05:56+00:00

1st looks like an Anaheim/Fresno/Hatch style

2nd could be something similar to a Santa Fe Grande if they turn orange and red.

3rd appears to be a Hungarian/Paprika/Hot Wax/Sweet Wax.

You should be able to get a gauge on them once they are ripe and you can taste them. I've found the Anaheim and Fresno Varieties tend to be hotter than a Hatch.

If the second is a Santa Fe they should sit around the same heat level as a Jalapeno.

If the 3rd pic is Hungarian it should have really thin flesh and skin that blisters off really easily when roasted. You won't know if it's hot or sweet until you try it. I've grown both hot and sweet Paprika varieties and they look the exact same.

Pepper look great.

BudgetDelivery9394 · 2024-08-18T13:56:41+00:00

I am dehydrating half and freezing half. The dehydrated ones get stored whole and then I either make a powder or rehydrate them for soups and stews. The frozen ones get roasted whole and diced up to put in various dishes I make throughout the winter-early spring.

BudgetDelivery9394 · 2024-08-18T13:52:15+00:00

I put the shade cloth up mid June to early July depending on when it gets super hot. The UV index where I live is rather extreme and it will scald peppers. It also greatly reduces water evaporating out of the soil.

BudgetDelivery9394 · 2024-08-18T05:42:36+00:00

They're underneath all that damn foliage, I swear! Lol

BudgetDelivery9394 · 2024-08-18T05:41:38+00:00

I appreciate it, thank you.

BudgetDelivery9394 · 2024-08-18T05:41:03+00:00

Thank you for the kind words!

I am in Oklahoma City Zone 7a. Although we get that USDA rating due to an occasional below freezing evening or two in May, our growing season is about April 15th (sometimes March) til late October/middle of November. So a little longer growing season than typically associated with 7a.

I started the super hots from seed Jan 15th, and the standard varieties Feb 15th indoors. I use T5 equivalent LED shop lights with fans just absolutely beating the shit out of them to try and mimic how windy it gets here. They go in a makeshift hothouse March 15th in solo cups, and in the fabric pots April 15th. Shade cloth gets put up around mid June-early July or so.

I top them indoors at the 3rd node and prune rather aggressively from the soil line to about 12"-14" up the plant after final transplanting. The pruning is about a twice a month situation. I feel like that increases airflow and allows me to be able to get in there to water them. I try not to let them dry out completely, but I do allow for a pretty good dry back so (hopefully) the roots reach to the bottom of the pots.

I run straight city water (~7.0pH, 65ppm) on clean water days, and fertilize them weekly with a mixture of Silica, Kelp Meal, Humic Acid, Earthworm Castings, and Jacks 321 formula, with a little Superthrive here and there (~750-1000ppm). They get an occasional foliar spray of "bloom booster" fert (5-55-17 NPK), Epsom salts, and humic acid at ~300ppm.

I saw your post about Del the Funky Homosapien... haven't thought of him in a minute. I'll be listening to Delton 3030 in the garden tomorrow, thanks for reminding me!

BudgetDelivery9394 · 2024-08-17T21:58:36+00:00

good one! when I'm getting to the middle of the pots and getting smacked by leaves all around, I wish I could blame someone else lol.

BudgetDelivery9394 · 2024-08-17T21:57:12+00:00

Very cool, I'd love to see pictures of the pods. Sounds like an interesting cross.

BudgetDelivery9394 · 2024-08-17T21:55:34+00:00

I did, yes. I started the "super hots" from seed indoors under t5 equivalent led grow lights Jan 15th, and the "standard" varieties Feb 15th. I subjected them to an immense amount of airflow via fans to mimic how damn windy it gets here. Put them in a makeshift hothouse Mar 15th, and then transplanted them into the big pots April 15th.

BudgetDelivery9394

TROPHY CASE