This Week's Focus in the Greenhouse
With the intensity of live plant season winding down, this week was all about resetting. The team shifted focus to deep cleaning and laying the groundwork for our own seed stock production with the Dutch Bucket systems. It's the kind of week that doesn't make headlines but makes everything else run better.
Behind the scenes in our greenhouse: half of the space is taken up by the Dutch Bucket system where we grow our own seed stock plants. The other half of the greenhouse runs flood tables for live plant production. Two very different systems, one goal: growing the best peppers possible.
Live Pepper Plants: Production Update
Current Growth Stage
With most plants out the door, the greenhouse has a lot more breathing room this week. The team took advantage of the extra space on the flood tables to do a thorough cleaning, vacuuming up dead leaves and getting things back in order after one of our busiest stretches of the season.
We also went through our remaining live plant inventory and made the tough but necessary call to pull anything that didn't meet our quality standards and tossed them. If a plant isn't going to thrive in your garden, it doesn't leave our greenhouse.
Observations & Challenges
A handful of straggler orders and customer replacements went out this week for customers whose plants that looked a little grumpy after their adventure through the mail system. Shipping live plants is never without its moments and we always make it right.
Quality checked, labeled, and ready to go. Every plant that leaves our greenhouse gets a once-over before it heads out the door.
Seed Stock Production
Big milestone this week, we shipped out the last of our grower plants to our partner growers! These plants will grow out, produce fruit, and be deseeded to supply us with fresh seed stock for future seasons. We are genuinely excited about some of the varieties in this round, so stay tuned over the winter for announcements on what's coming.
On the production side, the team spent time cleaning the lines for our Dutch Bucket system in preparation for starting our own seed stock plants. For those who aren't familiar with how we run things, here's a quick look behind the curtain:
- We have a large Dutch Bucket system in the main greenhouse area, plus two isolation rooms with 14 Dutch Bucket stations each.
- The isolation rooms are critical, they ensure there's no cross pollination between varieties, so our plants grow true to type and we don't end up with unintended crosses.
- That said, super hots can be wonderfully unpredictable. Some varieties are genetically unstable and will occasionally throw out random colors or shapes that nobody planned for. For the most part things grow as expected, but every now and then the greenhouse surprises us. It's one of the things that keeps this job interesting.
One of our two isolation rooms, Dutch Buckets cleaned, lines flushed, and ready for seed stock plants. These rooms are kept separate from the rest of the greenhouse to prevent cross pollination between varieties, so when we say a variety grows true to type, this is part of how we make that happen.
Looking Ahead
The focus next week shifts to getting our Dutch Bucket system up and running for seed stock production and continuing to settle into a more normal greenhouse rhythm after a big season.
Our priorities for the week ahead:
- Fire up the Dutch Bucket system for in-house seed stock production
- Continue greenhouse cleaning and reorganization
- Monitor remaining customer orders and replacements
- Begin prepping isolation rooms for variety-specific grows
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A few weeks ago these flood tables were packed wall to wall. Now? Quite a bit of open space.
What This Means for Home Growers
Your plants are in your hands now and that's where the real fun begins!
Whether you're a first-time grower or a seasoned pepper junkie, we have a full library of growing guides to help you get the most out of your plants this season.
- Pepper Plant Care Guide: From Seed to Harvest
- Top Super Hot Pepper Growing Mistakes and How to Avoid Them
- Full Library - Grow With Joe
And if you ever have questions, our team is always here. Don't hesitate to reach out!
Keep Up with the Greenhouse
Missed a week? 👈 Week 20: Last Week's Update
Want to see how the season started? 👉 Start at Week 1
Stay spicy friends!! Thank you for being the best pepper community around.
🌶️ The Pepper Joe's Growing Team