Growing Advice for Equatorial Climate?

Scuba_spice

Scuba_spice

Hi Folks,

I'm based in Indonesia and 1 degree from the equator so it's a bit hot at times!

I'm looking for tips as i have already got seedlings of various peppers:

Jalapeno
Chocolate Habanero
Orange Habanero
Red Habanero
Paper Latern Habanero

And i have seeds for Aji Limon, Fatalli, and hopefully Bhut's (removed from dried pods) about to germinate in a few days.

What has struck me is that my conditions in this region should be close to Ideal, but the chillies i have grown in the past have been very leggy (From the Maldives, look like scorpion / habanero on the packet, but are f1's so not very good), and have not produced fruit very abundantly.

My 'new' seed stock is from South Devon Chilli Farm in the UK, so i think it can be trusted.

Out here i can get some fertilizers, but no known brands. I can get compost, but it mostly looks like broken down chicken poop, although thankfully no smell. No Perlite available here.

I would like to ask how to get big bushy plants that will produce good amounts of fruit, my current seedlings are in my own home made compost mix and have established a strong second set of leaves already, so for my next step, i need to consider to put them in bigger pots or direct in the ground. Should i trim them as they get bigger to induce bushing? Or is that a myth with peppers? Should new seedlings be fed?

I know my chillies will be perennials here, will Bell Peppers be the same? I think not but thought i'd ask :)

Finally does anyone on here sell good seed stock, accept paypal and doesnt mind sending to Indonesia :lol:
 
Hello, and welcome to the forum!

Although my in-ground garden is at latitude 32º North, this summer there have been 55 days of high temperatures above 100ºF, so it's kind of like the equator. The plants produce enough fruit to supply me, my co-workers, and family, so maybe I can be a little help.

The population is fairly evenly divided among the C. chinense, C. baccatum, and C. annuum species. I have also planted C. frutescens in this garden, but not this year. C. chinense and C. frutescens easily handle the extreme heat better than the other 2 species, so I believe the varieties you have chosen are excellent for your climate.

Aside from providing good drainage, nutrients, and water, the improvement that has helped me in this climate more than anything is the generous use of hardwood chips, mixed into the soil and as a thick mulch layer. It provides several important advantages for the plants, not the least of which is helping to keep the roots cool during the long, blistering midsummer days.

There is a study about using hardwood chips to rebuild depleted soils that fundamentally changed the way I think about growing plants. I highly recommend it:

http://www.sbf.ulaval.ca/brf/regenerating_soils_98.html

I hope this helps. There are others here who have far more experience and are far more successful than I am in growing in extreme heat. Alabama Jack comes to mind...

Below is a snapshot of my garden in the middle of the Nuclear Summer of 2011, and no, I have never pruned my plants to achieve bushiness:

Garden 21Jul2011.jpg
 
I forgot to add that there are certain varieties of C. baccatum and C. annuum that handle the extreme heat very well, and you have chosen 2 of them: Aji Limon and Jalapeño. Nice!
 
windchicken said:
I forgot to add that there are certain varieties of C. baccatum and C. annuum that handle the extreme heat very well, and you have chosen 2 of them: Aji Limon and Jalapeño. Nice!
Click to expand...

Thanks for the Link. I'll have a read tonight.

One thing i forgot to mention, is i am beachfront, so it is quite salty. i'm going to try and do some samples of the soil and extract salts to see how much there is.
 
I would plant a few at a time and experiment, sounds like you will need the help of some trees to filter the mid-day sun.
 
windchicken said:
Hello, and welcome to the forum!

Although my in-ground garden is at latitude 32º North, this summer there have been 55 days of high temperatures above 100ºF, so it's kind of like the equator. The plants produce enough fruit to supply me, my co-workers, and family, so maybe I can be a little help.

The population is fairly evenly divided among the C. chinense, C. baccatum, and C. annuum species. I have also planted C. frutescens in this garden, but not this year. C. chinense and C. frutescens easily handle the extreme heat better than the other 2 species, so I believe the varieties you have chosen are excellent for your climate.

Aside from providing good drainage, nutrients, and water, the improvement that has helped me in this climate more than anything is the generous use of hardwood chips, mixed into the soil and as a thick mulch layer. It provides several important advantages for the plants, not the least of which is helping to keep the roots cool during the long, blistering midsummer days.

There is a study about using hardwood chips to rebuild depleted soils that fundamentally changed the way I think about growing plants. I highly recommend it:

http://www.sbf.ulaval.ca/brf/regenerating_soils_98.html

I hope this helps. There are others here who have far more experience and are far more successful than I am in growing in extreme heat. Alabama Jack comes to mind...

Below is a snapshot of my garden in the middle of the Nuclear Summer of 2011, and no, I have never pruned my plants to achieve bushiness:

Garden 21Jul2011.jpg
Click to expand...

you are lucky to live in a warm climate year round. You can grow out side and dont have to deal with a cold winter...............
 
papadaca said:
you are lucky to live in a warm climate year round. You can grow out side and dont have to deal with a cold winter...............
Click to expand...

if you need advice about growing in extreme heat I would be glad to help you.
I live in Georgia in the Southern United states

we have summers that are in the low 100s
and super humid.
 
If you grow your soil with microorganisms it will be a great start, goggle Indigenous Microorganisms , read a paper by the father of farming Gil A. Carandang you can make all your own nutes with his recipes, as far as weather you have to learn with a little of experimentation after I learned witch plants need shade most stuff grows good. don't rush it. chili plants are pretty tuff. if you need help with your nutes please ask love questions. I grow with fish,sea weed,Papaya and pineapple extracts they work Great for me. oh ya I make calcium with fryed egg shells.Plants Love it for seeds try Pepper Gal, Pepper Lover , The Hippy seed company, look at the top growing thread for more
 
papadaca said:
if you need advice about growing in extreme heat I would be glad to help you.
I live in Georgia in the Southern United states

we have summers that are in the low 100s
and super humid.
Click to expand...
Did you address your post to the original poster or did you just offer yourself help? :lol:
 
Hi, I lived in Jakarta, Indonesia, Habanero can flourish here. Bhut is somewhat difficult to set fruit. The biggest problem I experienced is pest. This year i had a severe attack from broadmite.
This is my habanero plant
utf-8BSU1HMDA0NTYtMjAxMTA5MDItMTAxNC5qcGc.jpg


I plant in pots on my apartment balcony

I got my seed from pepperlover, semillas, THSC, and nickynursery
 
Scuba_spice said:
Thanks for the Link. I'll have a read tonight.

One thing i forgot to mention, is i am beachfront, so it is quite salty. i'm going to try and do some samples of the soil and extract salts to see how much there is.
Click to expand...


If you read the chile information documents on the Chile Pepper Institute's site there are several mentions of handling salty soil. As nearly as I can remember, I believe they usually recommend flushing it out with plenty of fresh water. Also, there is something about bottom-watering tending to concentrate the salt in the upper parts of the rows, due to the combination of capillary action and evaporation. Of course that only applies if you are growing in traditional rows...
 
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