Nee's first pepper season. (Australia) Pics, vids & banter.. yey! \\(^o^)//

Hi all! Although i've been into hot sauces / chillies for a long time, a Google regarding "growing chillies in Australia" led me to this site......and onto amazing people here in Australia, who have inspired me to grow my own!
There's not a lot to report as of yet, but here's my story so far! Please feel free to give advice to a newbie, as i really want this human vs chilli relationship to work out!

The story so far....

Pre-soaking my chilli seeds. I have 14 or more varieties to sow: From top left to bottom right....

Habanero Chocolate
Scotch Bonnet TFM
Bhut Jolokia
Macedonian
Pimenta da Neyde
Magnum Habanero
7 Pod Jonah

Habanero White Giant
Hot Fish
Cili Goronong
7 Pod Red crossed Yellow
Manzano
Fatalii
Habanero White JellyBean

Cutting the seeds from a Yellow 7 Pod....this time with GLOVES!! lol I have a load of extra seeds saved...just in case the winter grow doesn't work out, and i need to replant in the spring.

Week 1....seeds are in a propagator, kept at a constant 25 degree's thanks to the cable modem it's sat on! I don't expect any change for 4 weeks or so....fingers crossed!

 

[Mezo]

Leave them in the Jiffys for now, they are doing so well in that medium i wouldn't want to take the risk of another soil type.

Cant help you on the lamps, i use gods own.

Mezo.

 

[nee]

DAY 15


I noticed that a few of my leaves were looking "not right"....perhaps due to being a bit heavy-handed with the watering....

...but after asking for advice on here it appears they're ok.


It was suggested to maybe transfer some of the bigger ones into pots, which i duly did...and they seem to be growing away quite happily

DAY 16

I decided to make a bit more of an effort with my shelving! Basically, with the 2 flouro's on overnight, it was as bright as someone shining a cars full beam into the hallway..its was SOOO bright!!
I knocked this up in under 2 hours...well chuffed! On the front is some blackout material...and just enough light comes out for a 'nightlight' for the kids, but dim enough to not have to wear dark glasses to go through the hallway!

They're doing great under the light!

Here's the one's that have sprouted:

Hot Fish
Macedonian
Manzano
Magnum Habanero
7 Pod Red crossed Yellow
Bhut Jolokia
Cili Goronong

And i also planted these, but have yet to see anything happen:

Habanero Chocolate
Scotch Bonnet TFM
Pimenta da Neyde
7 Pod Jonah
Habanero White Giant
Fatalii
Habanero White JellyBean

I decided to do a little investigating earlier, and had a poke around at one of the Jiffy's. I found that although i planted the seeds quite near the surface, they had wormed their way right down into the Jiffy...some up to 20mm or so. I'm guessing this was probably down to me top watering? (am bottom watering now...it was one of those live & learn moments!)
So i have taken the buried seeds out and reseated them right at the top of the Jiffy...maybe something will happen...maybe not. I have plenty more seeds to retry if it doesn't work out...but thought it worth a go.
Thanks for listening

 

[Mezo]

So what drip tray do you have Nee? you have put holes in the bottom of the cups yeah?

Mezo.

 

[nee]

Hi mezo!
No drip tray, just a cup with a hole inside a cup without a hole.
As they get bigger I will sort some sort of tray out

 

[Mezo]

Love the wall growing chamber, the vertical nursery, the erm? whats it name Neil?

Good idea though & what a great use of space.

Mezo.

 

[nee]

Haha! I'd not thought of a name for it, although your vertical nursery seems apt!
My only concern is that the actual depth of it isn't enough for when they get wider, but I'm hoping by that stage it should be safe enough to take them out from there and leave them in a window sill...although with it being mid winter by that stage I'm hoping it won't be too cold for them? I know that you (mezo) only have that wedding marquee...and my question would be, what do you reckon the lowest temperatures your plants are going to have to endure? Victoria does get colder than new as far as I know, but I'm thinking that indoors they should be ok, even though indoors can get a tad chilly too!

 

[Mezo]

Mate i have no idea whats going to happen in a couple of months? i hoping by then i will have some healthy plants that will endure the cold? we do get frosts here as well as im inland away from the coast & i sit in a valley. Hopefully they can struggle through the nights & the winter sun should perk them up during the day? it could all go pear shaped for me yet i don't know.

Your weather is governed by the systems coming in off the Bight during winter, mine are all over the place, i can get the chilly winds from down south, wet & windy off the ocean, a mixed bag form inland & warm tropical weather from the north in winter

Ideally id like winds coming from the north all winter with plenty of sunshine, that would direct i nice warm breeze right up my intake on the dryer which obviously faces mostly north, and all ive had so far is winds coming from your way (southerly's).

Your plants are in five star accommodation mate.

You can always snip off them big fat leaves from the bottom when they start growing big time, i read on here they act as suckers anyhow robbing the plant of growth elsewhere, i chopped all my big fat leaves off a while back now & no harm was done.

Mezo.

 

[nee]

Well, i guess if it all goes tits up, we can at least replant in the spring, eh!?

 

[PaulG]

Nice use of wall space! I especially like that you can work it standing up and not bent over! I'm considering something like that for our garage. I'm thinking a single shelf 12' long to accomodate three lights. My double shop lights (T12) will accommodate about 22-25 18 oz. Solo cups each pretty well, so that is plenty of plant space for what I'm doing. Thanks for posting your pics - nice set-up!

 

[Mezo]

Nice use of wall space! I especially like that you can work it standing up and not bent over!

Yep & guess what i did yesterday, popped my back bending over picking up pots, im totally stuffed walking like an old cripple,


Mezo.

 

[PaulG]

Yep & guess what i did yesterday, popped my back bending over picking up pots, im totally stuffed walking like an old cripple,


Mezo.

Sorry brah, I feel your pain! I've had back issues for years.
I've learned not to get it mad at me! Get those pots off of
the floor !

 

[nee]

Sorry to hear that you put your back out
My back has been 100% fine until last year...

Got home from work and had a 'slight niggle' on my lower back, just above my bum. After dinner i went outside to move a small trailer in our garden, and it started getting a bit painful. So i sat down and rested it for an hour, but just couldn't get comfortable, so i went to bed.
Woke up at about 4am to go to the loo, and couldn't move an inch. Every time i tried to move, my muscles in my lower back would sort of 'spasm'....i was basically stuck in bed.
In the end, we had to call an ambulance out, as i couldn't move enough to get into the car to visit the doctor.
I had about 4 days on crutches and was back to work in about 10 days...but my back still isn't right...and nobody can give me an answer as to what exactly the problem is either. I've tried the chiropractor / remedial sports massage / chinese massage, but nothing seems to help.
It's weird too, as i work all day having to bend over baths / showerbases to repair them, without any trouble at all...but if i stand at the sink doing the dishes or preparing food, it hurts like mad. It's the same if i stand still for too long whilst talking to someone etc...really hurts then!

 

[Mezo]

Have you tried Bowen Therapy? Danny here is having grief with his back & tried all the same & out of everything this bowen thing worked the best he reckoned, for me its Chiropractic that works best on my back (tradesman back).

And of course eat chilli peppers daily (just to keep the post relevant)

Mezo.

 

[nee]

Thanks for the info regarding the Bowen Therapy. Not heard of that before, and deffo worth a try. It turns out that there's someone doing it in Lara, so i'll follow it up!

No biggie updates really, although i could do with someone more 'in the know' to cast their eyes over a few of the close-up piccies of the leaves below and let me know if they're looking ok or not. I'm sure they're fine and it's just me worrying over nothing..

DAY 23

Not sure if the larger ones are looking leggy at all?

Do the following pics look 'normal' at this stage of development? Not sure if they are a bit deformed or meant to be like this!

Magnum Hab

Hot Fish

Worth mentioning that i have cut the bottom watering down to once every 3 days. Still not sure how much to put in the bottom cup, so i've been adding roughly 2cm in the bottom cup. Any clues if this is too much or too little?
On the last feed i added some Miracle Gro Tomato fert, but diluted it down to about half of what they state on the packet.
I have some Epsom Salts, but wondered if it would do more harm than good to spray the leaves seeing as though i have given them fert...didn't want to overload them!
Any advice or tips welcomed as always.
Neil

 

[Mezo]

How many hours are you leaving the lights on Neil? possibly a little to close to the plants as well? i can see some leaf curl happening there.

Mezo.

 

[nee]

How many hours are you leaving the lights on Neil? possibly a little to close to the plants as well? i can see some leaf curl happening there.

Mezo.

Hi Mezo

OK, the lights are on from 7pm - 7am the next morning (12 hours) I'm not sure if it's that, as i read on another thread that people leave theirs under lights 24/7.
I'll try raising the lights too, although again, i've read that if it's too high then they get leggy! Can't win! lol
You deffo don't think it's too much water?

 

[Mezo]

I dunno mate, does it always look saturated? i always top water mine so hard for me to give an opinion here.

Its real hard at this stage to get a happy balance with the container being so small, when they go in to the big posts its much much easier, in small pots it can dry out in hours & also its so very easy to over water them.

At least with top watering if ive gone overboard the water just drains out the bottom, you need an opinion from people who are dong it your way Nee.

Mezo.

 

[nee]

Thanks Mezo
I kinda thought as much too, so i posted in the main forum to get a few more views / opinions. Thanks for the suggestions though mate...appreciated!

 

[Trippa]

Looking good bro.

I would agree they are maybe being a little overwatered and if you can while the lights are on get some sort of gentle (enough to gently tussle the leaves and stem tips) fan running across the plants to both strengthen the plants and encourage more squat plants (eliminating the possibility of leggy plants) as well as keeping hot spots to a minimum by increasing air flow.

Try to get the 16-18 hours of light as well and you will see a massive increase in growth I would bet.

 

[Mezo]

Thats a good point Trppa, Neil you can buy them computer case fans on ebay for jack squat (120mm jobbies) they would fit inside your vertical garden there, you can power them with a 12v transformer for LV halogen lighting (again couple of bucks) you can also control the fan speed if you needed to.

You can have an inlet one on the left side wall & an outlet sucking on the right side, eh, eh LoL

Mezo.