Let the Games Begin

Mostly Organic Grow in pots and ground
 
Will from Wales.

Currently living in the hills of Panama, 650 meters above sea level, daytime temps of 24-30 Celcius, night time temps of 14-20. Wet season from approx Mid May to November. Very heavy downpours, still plenty of sun to be found. Dry season December to April, hot and windy no rain. Foothills of an old volcanic range, the second largest inactive volcano crater in the world is just over the other side of the mountain. Water is from an underground spring on the side of the mountain and runs all year.

Seeds purchased mainly from Pepper Joe (No need to say anything, what's done is done, lets see how they come out, so far so good)

Chocoalte Trinidad Scopian Cappuccino
Butch T Trinidad Scorpion
BTR Scorpion
Chocolate Fatalii
7 Pod Douglah
Sapporo
Guatamalan Jalapeno pepper
Lemon Habanero
Ghost
Spicy Mustard Habanero
Big Bertha
Moruga Satan Strain
Kung Pao
Yellow Del Toro
Fresno Pepper
Firecracker
Bubblegum
Chocolate Morouga
Red Mrouga Scorpion
Sante Fe Grande
Jigsaw
Cayenne Pepper Blend
Jamaican
Yellow 7 pot
Francisca
Orange Scotch Bonnet
Red Savina
Yatzy
Primo
Naga Viper
Charleston
Naga Morich
Red paper Lantern
Yellow Fatalii
Chocolate Carolina Reaper
Yellow Carolina Reaper
Carolina Reaper
Red Habanero
Jalapeno
Anaheim

24th May 2016 - First batch sown. Tissue, water, plastic container and cupboard

June 6th 2016 - Approx 75% germinated for most varieties. Transplanted to cup sized conatiners for the most part, some larger containers.

Pot and Ground preperation:

September 2015 - 10 ground holes dug upto 4 ft. Layered with compost, top soil, chicken shed litter, horse manure, leaf litter, and saw dust.

June 5th 2016 - 3 ground holes dug upto 2 ft, filled with fish head and guts, compost and top soil.

June 9th - 2 x 100 Gallon, 1 x 75 Gallon, 6 x 10 gallon containers filled with the following;

Compost (Leaf litter, grass cuttings, wood chippings, chicken shed litter, coconut husks and large quantities of kitchen waste including coffee, fruit skins, vegetables, fish bones, meal wastage from an Eco Lodge with upto 30 people. No meat) Not fully composted. Slow release.

Leaf litter (Mostly mangoe and similar with some pine) Slow release

Lake silt (15 years of collected sand and jungle litter a good mix of roughly 50/50 it seems of sand and dark black well composted jungle material) Fast release

Ground Eggshells, mashed up rotting mangoes (not your most traditional addition, but I plan to use what is around me and we have 100's of rotting mangoes at the moment).

6 month old horse manure compost tea

Top soil (healthy top soil, plenty of worms)

That is it for now, feel free to give me advice or tips, on what I am doing at any stage. I am a true novie who loves to grow things, but know very little about chilli growing. But I intend to learn and enjoy growing these beautiful plants.

 

[Devv]

Nice list!
 
Good luck this year!

 

[moruga welder]

great list you have there !  best of luck on your grow !     

 

[willow]

Thanks everyone...A few photos.

My friend Balboa watching proceedings

Lining the path with monster chili pots

Plastic sheeting prtecting pots from the rain. Heavy Rain!!

 

[GhostPepperz]

Whats a welshman doing down in Panama? Work I assume. Nice grow list, sounds like a great environment for a big grow.
 
Dont forget Brexit!

 

[willow]

Lucky enough to live and work in an Eco Lodge I set up here. For now at least, until the next adventure beckons.  Environment is great overall, the extremes make it tricky. When it rains here we get inches in just 20 minutes. This can be almost daily for months, then one day it stops and doesnt rain for 4-5 months. As long as I can protect from over watering in wet season and protect them from drought in the dry season Iam good, easier said than done though. We are blessed with what seems to be an everlasting spring though, this makes all the difference, without it I wouldnt even be here.
 
Brexit! In...Out...Shake it all about.

 

[willow]

Bought 20 x 5 gallon buckets with lids today $2 a piece not bad. I am thinking of cutting a hole for the chili to grown thorugh the lid and keep the lid on throughout the wet season to protect from over watering in the heavy rains. Maybe I will make one cut from the edge to the central hole, so it can be removes to allow watering both natural and by me when necessary. I know soil needs to breathe so not sure this is a great idea, it is just a thought as to one way to protect from the rains. I could in theory keep the lids off and put them on as the afternoon deluge comes in. Them remove after. But not sure that will always be doable. Any one with experience of dealing with almost daily downpours of a few inches would be great

 

[OCD Chilehead]

Welcome Will!

Nice grow. I think maybe a slit in the lid might work. I was wondering, if one could split the lid in half. You just gave me an idea for something.

Good luck with the grow and have fun.

 

[willow]

Moved my babies out from the relative shade of the house roof after a few days from being transplanted from tissue and the dark, they seem good and are reaching for the heavens. Sheet to protect from the downpours. Oh and a fatalii cutting from last year I thought was dead seems to want to give me just a few more peppers, had one with lunch, lip burn
 
Purchased another 100 gallon pot and 10 10 gallon pots today to load up ready for planting in a few weeks. A few more seeds have sprouted so potting those up later today and think I might make another seed order. It is like a drug! Have a load of fish head in the freezer so will use those for this batch and some bat poo from the bats in the eaves.

 

[JoynersHotPeppers]

Where are you located in Panama? I love that country!

 

[willow]

In the mountains east of El Valle, Directly north from Coronado which is on the pacific coast/Panamericana. A place called La Laguna.

 

[dragonsfire]

Bussy List, Good luck

 

[willow]

Weather having some fun....Hit 30 celcius day before yesterday with very hot sun and only just got to my seedlings in time to prevent a few from kicking the bucket. Then next day saw torrential rain and a 10 degree temperature drop. Not much to be done in the weather so sowed some more seeds and searched some seeds sights for the next batch.
 

Plan to put a few ornamental chilli pants in pots down the grass strip between the concrete walkways, Bolivian rainbow etc.

Planted the Aloe a year ago, they are very happy in 75% shade, no water. Great plant for places where not much else wants to grow. Also have a myriad of uses. Looking forward to making some aloe/chilli smoothies I think!

 

 

[willow]

Getting our horse back from the neighbour tomorrow, now we have plenty of fresh grass...compost tea on the way. Also going to see a couple of goats tomorrow, great manure, clean, not smelly, little composting required if any, they will also clear the field where I plan to plant many chilies, currently a brush forest, oh and in time milk and cheese, can't go wrong! Will also be taking a few liquid toilet breaks in the prepared chili pots to enrich the mix with nitrogen for vegetative growth.
 
Trying another germination technique, warm water a touch of hydrogen peroxide.
 

 
Prepping more pepper pots and on the right more pineapple heads rooting up.
 

 
Second batch of germinated seeds.
 

 
A few picks of the seedlings starting to take shape.
 

 
New seeds on order to be used over the next three months. Ordered from a couple of vendors recommended here and trying a few different techniques on getting the seeds into Panama, hope they all work.
 
Aji Ethiopian Fire    
7pot SR Strain        
7pot White            
Aji Limo              
Aji Ecuadorian Orange              
Aji Pineapple         
Aci sivri             
Aji Cito              
Avenir                
Purple Tiger          
Peruvian Purple       
Bolivian Rainbow      
CGN 21500             
Purple Serrano        
Pimenta da Neyde      
Black Habanero        
Butch X Jonah         
Bhut Jolokia Peach    
JAFSH Red
Aji Omnicolor                  
Chil Tepin                     
Capsicum galapagoense          
Salvatico                      
Yellow Rocoto                  
Rocoto CAP 363                 
Mini Rocoto - PI 387838        
Rocoto Turbo Pube              
Ecuadorian Red Pepper For Hell    
Trinidad Beans
7 pod Congo SR Gigantic
Trinidad 7 Pod Primo
Peach Bhut Jolokia
Trinidad 7 pod Jonah
Jonah’s Yellow Brain (PL)
Matay
Goat’s Horn
Berry Amarillo (PL)
 
Fer De Lance hiding behind a home-brew kit box behind my bar! These things are very dangerous, one of the most venomous in the world.
 

 

[willow]

A friendship from birth. A couple of what I believe are some kind of Bird pepper plants and a  big brother papaya. Both self seeded next to the balcony about a year ago. The papaya is literally growing out of the balcony and is already 20+ feet tall. These trees are truly amazing, I have never seen anything come close to this for growth, it equates to about 1.5-2ft a month!! The chilies seem to be very happy with the shade big brother provides and are happily flowering and producing a nice crop for the second time.
 
Plan to cultivate this area and add a few dozen more chili plants and a couple of papaya for company.
 

 
 

 

[willow]

Happy to report my first order from Judy at pepperlover arrived into Panama ok. Started 2/7/2016 . As I expected from peoples feedback, good looking seeds and lots of them, I mean lots! as well as 3 extra packs. Top notch - Making my next order this week, still waiting on my semilla.de seeds to arrive via another method, and the ones I sent to UK to pick up in a few weeks when I go home on vacation.
 
Trinidad Beans, 7 pod Congo SR Gigantic, Trinidad 7 Pod Primo, Orange Bhut Jolokia, yellow Bhut Jolokia, Trinidad 7 pod Jonah, Jonah’s Yellow Brain (PL), Matay,  Goat’s Horn, Berry Amarillo (PL), Hot beads, yaghk 28
 

 
Next batch of seedlings on the go. A lot of Aji Escabeche bought to me by a friend from Peru. Lots of basil seedlings for companion planting.
 

 
The current seedlings, lost a few weaker plants but replaced with new seedlings and more.
 

 
Some close ups, so far so good, one critter infiltrated my defenses and nibbled away at one of the plants and another had some tiny holes on a few of the leaves, burrowed from below, saw no critter but seems to have moved on. A neem and castile soap mix seems to scared them off.
 
Happy Fresno's

 
2 Moruga Satan Strain

 
2 Bubble Gum

 
Chocolate Reaper at the back - Jigsaw at the front

 
Chocolate Trinidad scorpian cappucino! Somin like that anyways.

 
Lovely looking Chocolate Fatalii

 
First two in their pots Red Paper Lantern's. Planted in domes, plastic sheeting to protect from rain. I have read these do not get too big so might be ok no stakes, anyone thinks otherwise let me know and I could put some in. These pots have a mix of soil, sand, coffee grounds, horse manure, compost, lime, mangoes and fish heads. Will keep under cover for now for the plants to strenghen up before letting them loose in the monsoon style downpours.
 

 
Last years Yellow Fatalli is throwing out plenty of flowers and buds of all shapes and sizes!
 

 
Another 2 Fer De Lance trying to cut my life short!
 

 
 
 

 

[willow]

Finally finished one of the beds for the peppers. It looked easy enough but a week later and approx 150 x 5 gallon buckets of old dirt and bottom clay removed and replaced with rich topsoil we excavated for the driveway, horse manure, compost, river sand and silt and a touch of lime. I would say its almost 3.5ft deep.
 
This time of year this bed gets almost no sun but pretty good light, my theory is....Vegeative growth for 5-6 months and then as the sun moves across the sky it should start getting sun and it corresponds with the start of the summer with sun most days all day and then either it ripens up what pods there are or if I keep them podless it can go crazy and do its thing with the sun and a very strong plant to support it. All theory as it might just do its thing anyway, we will see.
 

 
Single row are some super hots and double rows are some sweet peppers and mild chilies. I will plant them closer than I might otherwise as they have such a deep rooting space and I want to get as many in the bed as possible to make the work worthwhile. With super-hots likely to live a few years at least we will see if they need to be thinned out one day, see how big they get I guess.
 

 
Almost time for these to face the elements, I just snipped 3 of them at the top (Choc Fatalii, Big Bertha and Charslton), I guess you could say it was FiM. The other is a Fresno and will do that in a week or so when its a bit bigger. When I transplanted these yesterday I was shocked at how hot the soil was under the black covering, it was tasty to say the least after being in the sun all day, I was a little worried but they didnt seem to mind and no transplant shock at all. The Big bertha was actually throwing out a flower from the top!
 

 
Just hit the mountain and collected some stakes, I was assured by a local that these will not root in the ground or pots like almost anything else, hope not! More 10 Gallon pots ready to go with 5 gallon buckets of compost, manure for the mix.
 
All looking good chili wise, critters around but not doing to much damage. Last night I was sitting in the dark (power cut) thinking about the plants and how the need and other mixes I have for insects will not do much once they are out in the daily rains. As I was sat there with my headlamp a lady bug landed on my arm as if to say not to worry my friend I have got your back...
 

 

[bpiela]

You dug that whole thing out yourself?  Your back must be broken.  Great job!

 

[willow]

You dug that whole thing out yourself?  Your back must be broken.  Great job!

Ah nooooo. I would be in hospital. Had some help from volunteers. Back still hurts though!
 
Just planted it up and added some Genovese basil for good measure.
 

 

[MiamiHeat]

Looking great!! Are you planning on protecting those beds from the rain like you did in the pots? I'm setting up raised beds soon and definitely worried about over-watering from how much it rains here. Did you add anything to the beds to increase drainage?