[CH] Newbie question about garden prep

The Geissmans (jgeissman@socal.rr.com)
Wed, 26 Mar 2003 18:33:23 -0800 

I love the list and hope to learn about more varieties,
although so far I prefer those that can be eaten in
relatively large quantities after grilling, which seems
to imply they should be large enough not to fall
through the grill, and not too incredibly hot.

I have been reading some cautions about putting
peppers, tomatoes and eggplant in the same locations
from one year to the next.  Well, those are the three
kinds I love the best, in the San Fernando Valley of
LA, they are what seem to grow the best, and I don't
have enough room to put them in virgin or at least
fallow soil every year.  The main area is a bit less than
300 sq ft (15x18), and right now I have 8 tomatoes, 4
eggplants, and space for approx 35 peppers of which
14 are already planted.  (It was a very mild winter, and
some of the salsa-type peppers survived to be used
in January!)  There's also room for some basil, and
another tomato large cage that holds 6 bean plants.
Last year it was roughly the same, except I had more
peppers, that were more crowded, so I decided to space
them out a little more this year to ~18 inches apart, with
rows ~2 ft apart, and a somewhat wider gap between
every two rows to allow access.  That's the pattern pretty
much every year.  So my first question is, how to prepare
the soil?  This year I dug it over in early January and then
again a few weeks ago, adding a bit more than the
recommended amount of a 6-20-20 fertilizer, plus some
vegetable fertilizer.  Then compost or planting mix when
planting, depending on whether the compost is ready.
Over the years the accumulated sand, compost and some
gypsum have turned the clay into a reasonably good soil.
Are there secrets for this?  The pH is okay (varies, but in
an okay range) and last year did a test for N, P and K --
the K was pretty low and the P a little low.  What should
I do to grow peppers/tomatoes in the same place every year?
I rotate among the 3 main kinds, but they are relatives.

My second question is, what would be a couple more hot
varieties to plant?  The peppers are ~60-40 sweet/hot.  The
sweet ones go on the barbeque, while the hots also end up
in salsa.  Because the hots are eaten directly rather than
used to heat up sauces, they should be thick and not too
terribly hot.  A Thai pepper would have only decorative value.
Something in the 5,000-20,000 range, perhaps.

Right now I have planted, for the hot and semi- ones 2 ea of
Jalapeno (intended to be smoked), Poblano, Anaheim and
"Thick Large Cayenne", while the sweet side is represented
by 2 ea of Pimiento, Sweet Banana and Gypsy.  Those are
all from the nursery.  Seedlings include many JEParker New
Mexico, Hungarian Wax and Marconi, plus some bells and
Paprika .  I would like to add one or two that are pretty hot
but not overly so.  IMHO the best ones grilled are Hungarian
Wax, Poblano and Marconi, while the rest of the family likes
the various sweet ones and Jalapeno.  We make salsa from
the New Mexicos, and last year also had some Garden Salsa
Hybrid from Park Seeds.  All kinds of peppers seem to grow
well -- two years ago had a Habanero that was nearly 5 ft tall.
Oh, the poor friend who wanted to try "really hot" peppers and
took some home without instructions on not just eating half
of one in a gulp, and then not rubbing your eyes!

Thanks for any advice,
Jim Geissman