I had previously written that disaster struck my Paprik pepper seedlings earlier in the year and I come to you now to say that 2 of the 3 peppers that actually grew had rot on them. It’s a little tough to swallow having such a meagre harvest from my favourite crop but it is an important reminder that growing food has a lot of challenges.
What I learned and what I’m going to do differently
I started my peppers too early. I’ve started some in February before but there’s just no reason to. There’s so little natural light and warmth and at the tiny scale I’m growing at, I’d need an entire apparatus to do it properly. Or I could just cool my jets and wait until March/April like a normal person.
Rot can happen for a lot of reasons but I suspect that what started as minor blemishes or burns on the peppers ended up opening up and allowing space for all kinds of bad things to grow in my peppers. We had a few really heavy downpours in September, followed by hot sun, which may have contributed. Water droplets on plants that get magnified by the sun and burn plants is a bit of a myth but if there is already a bit of a blemish or hole, it certainly won’t help.
No matter how much we learn, we are all of us always at the mercy of the weather, timing, and divine providence. This year was a rude reminder that we control very little as food growers. If we put all our peppers in one basket, we risk collapse and a very sad harvest. While my favourite crop may have failed pretty spectacularly, I did have another pretty great year for tomatoes. I also recognized pretty early on that I had a problem and adjusted to growing more flowers and planting other crops like means more regularly than I have done in the past.
I have been somewhat lax on my note taking and learning this year, so I have resolved to spend some more time checking out Pepper Geek’s resources. Their video tutorials have helped me a lot in the past so this winter I am going to hunker down and learn as much as I can. It’s so easy to get pulled in many different directions when spring comes, so I want to resist that urge as much as possible.
What’s something that was unsuccessful in your garden this year that you would like to learn more about?
Last Ditch 
Leave a comment