Spiral Pepper Plants

I am growing "Heat wave" chili peppers in the basement for kitchen use, because we can't find any in town. They have been growing successfully, which is my problem. I grow my plants on shelves under grow lights, but the plants have grown too tall for the shelves! This is my first attempt at making them shorter by wiring them into having spiral stems. I am using bonsai wire and bending the stems a little each day, since pepper stems are quite brittle.

Check out this pepper plant:

I have 3 plants that I am artificially deforming to fit under my lights. All have buds and flowers on them. Hopefully, I'll get some peppers from them! I am also growing "Top Girl" yellow peppers for some variety.

Tomato Musings

I recently wrote about my tomato failures. Not only is revelation of these failures a bit of "truth in blogging", but I also like getting the helpful tips from readers.

"Sugary" grape tomatoes: most are split after recent rains.

I have been wondering if I should change my tomato expectations. My in-laws live further south in Saskatchewan and report picking their tomatoes green and ripening them indoors, as if this were the natural thing to do with tomatoes. "A-ha", I thought, "so Saskatchewaners don't actually grow RED tomatoes." Then I talked to a long-time La Ronge gardener, who starts his plants indoors, moves them to a greenhouse, then outdoors. His short-season small tomatoes have finished already and the regular big types are just starting. "So you CAN grow red tomatoes here!", I exclaim. Growing tomatoes in northern Saskatchewan is nothing like growing tomatoes in the semi-arid warm conditions in the Okanagan Valley, where I've experienced much simpler and successful tomato culture.

Well, I'll try again next year, but I still think growing tomatoes under a metal halide light in the basement would be more successful (though definitely more expensive). Resident-lawnmower-man hasn't agreed to this yet. Sigh.

Gardening Keeps the Post Office Busy

The people at the post office know us by name and at least one of them knows our box number by memory after putting so many parcel notices in our box. "I know you", he says, "you've got box xxxx!".

Other than the hot deals on ebay, our box gets some business from the fall gardening-related mail orders. Okay, I guess some of the ebay stuff is garden-related too. I get sucked in by novelty vegetables -- who can't resist an impulse purchase of purple carrots (seed, of course)!

The bulbs and fall plants haven't started arriving yet, but I did just get some red cozy coats and a large capillary mat from Lee Valley. The cozy coats are water-containing plastic frost shields for the tomato plants. I will try these after experiencing year THREE of tomato failure. I have eaten 5 cherry tomatoes from my 3 plants so far! Last year, I ending up picking all the tomatoes green just before frost and ripened them in my kitchen cabinets. You successful tomato growers should feel special! If I only had a greenhouse...

The capillary mat is a new addition to the indoor light garden. I have purchased new trays and plan to make the system self-watering, with a capillary mat wicking water from a reservoir (a shallow bucket or something) into the trays. Plastic pots sitting in the trays can soak up water through their drainage holes. This may make going away for short holidays an easier proposition. I'll try it out and let you know how it works.