Hydroponic Aji Lemon Pepper: Day 121
It’s been pretty quite with the hydroponic Aji Lemon experiment the past month or so, but that’s about to change. Before we get into the excitement, however, let’s take a look at the plant above. If you followed along during the 2017 pepper growing season, you’ll know that I grew my first Aji Lemon from seed. That particular plant was the most productive I had this year and was easily the tallest of my plants.
When I entered into this small hydroponic project, I knew that I couldn’t let the plant get as tall, but I wasn’t sure how it would react to the occasional trimming. Well, as you can see above, the plant is healthy and looks great. It’s short (roughly 14 inches tall) and bushy, reaching about 30 inches at its widest. Oh, and it’s packed with pods. The General Hydroponics Flora Series has been working great and, for as inexperienced with this method of growing as I am, it’s been incredibly easy to work with.
Which brings us to the exciting news. As of the morning of this writing, the plant has three fruit that are starting to show color. I only managed to snag photos of two of them, but once you’ve seen two peppers ripening on the same plant, well, you’ve seen them all. I’m beyond ecstatic and, to be honest, relieved. When I started this project, I wasn’t even sure that the plant would ever get to this stage, let alone start producing ripe pods. And yet, here we are!
On a side note, the pods that are starting to ripen (as well as those that should start in the next week or so) are much larger in length and width than those that I grew outside this year. I’m sure it’s due to being in ideal conditions — constant nutrients, temperature, consistent light, etc. I suppose that was sort of expected, but to actually see the visual differences is impressive.
That’s it for this update. I’m really looking forward to taste testing the pods and comparing them to those that I grew during the Summer.