Mezo`s "super hots" Glog including the 'big' solar dehydrator.

The is thread with the humungous solar dehydrator.

G-Day, im Mez or Mezo & im new to this part of Australia having come from Perth (Western Australia) where growing chili peppers is so easy (except the heat).

I live in the border ranges in northern New South Wales (bordering Queensland) and its a mixed bag of temperate & tropical conditions, the summers are very hot, wet & humid, the winters are dry & sunny.



Average daily temps.

And average monthly rainfall.

Aussies reading this will already know this, but people in other country's probably paint a picture of Australia as a hot dry/dusty land but this is far from the truth, up north its full blown tropics with a wet season & 100% humidity (yuck). Down south its freezing cold & snow during winter, out west its a dry heat like in the Mediterranean & in the middle of Australia is desert country.

So im now growing for the first time "Super hots" and for a very important reason, whilst working away in Perth i had a double heart attack wich has left me permanently disabled, sadly they are unable to operate on me (bypass/stent) as its to far gone, so having worked all my life (Electrician) im now at the age of 45 claiming a disability pension & i hate not being able to work.

Now i take shovel fulls of dam tablets to keep my heart pumping & id rather not be taking any but right now there no option i have to take them or ill drop dead on the spot. After much reading i found out that cayenne powder has all sort of benefits to your health & well being, especially to your cardio vascular system. I had read that cayenne powder can stop a heart attack in its track & i put this to the test (twice) and yes it does work where the medication (Nitrolingual) had no effect.

So anyone reading this who spots a friend having a heart attack just flick some chili powder in a glass of water as fast as you can & get them to drink in right down, fast. It works within 30 seconds of drinking it & it saved me from two more attacks already.

So there's my life story in a nutshell & some sound advice on how to save a heart attack victims life.
And this ladies & gentlymen is why im growing "Super Hots" to make high heat cayenne powder for cooking to improve my circulation/remove fats & as a "just in case of emergency"

OK on with the first of my "Hots" the Bhut Jolokia, the reason i chose this was simple i just Googled "whats the hottest chili" and up popped the result, however further reading on the interweb i found threads from this forum & names like the Butch T, the Douglah & Brain Strain.

So ive ordered them from pepperlover.com after so many people gave such great reviews, Bhut in the meantime lets look at my Jolokia`s.

Must admit i just love the shape & color of these babies.

More soon,

Mezo.

 

[Mezo]

Most prolific is on her site. I have it growing as a freebie at the moment. No idea on taste or growth habit but supposedly hot and high production. Seems like a winner to me

Well i did look on Judys site & searched "prolific" but got a few hits, ive never seen seeds that look like this but i guess its all part of the fun of growing anything, just have to wait & see what she has sent me in a few months.

Bhut Jolokia`s (6,7 & 8) the wee little nippers are coming on strong, ill keep them out as long as poss & then they will come on for winter, along with my Butch T`s, Douglah and Brain Strain (if they germinate) and im sure they will.

Mezo.

 

[Trippa]

http://pepperlover.com/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage.tpl&product_id=84&category_id=10&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=1

 

[Mezo]

http://pepperlover.c...uemart&Itemid=1

OK cheers for the link, now Judy sent me three berry looking things, this must be the fruit im guessing (pea shaped) did you open this one up to get to the seeds or do you just germinate it like any other seed?

Now ive seen the picture im guessing there must be some small seeds inside, f**k do i feel like a total newbie here.

Mezo.

 

[Trippa]

OK cheers for the link, now Judy sent me three berry looking things, this must be the fruit im guessing (pea shaped) did you open this one up to get to the seeds or do you just germinate it like any other seed?

Now ive seen the picture im guessing there must be some small seeds inside, f**k do i feel like a total newbie here.

Mezo.

Yeah the seeds are inside the round pods. There are quite a few and they sprout incredibly easily

 

[Mezo]

Yeah the seeds are inside the round pods. There are quite a few and they sprout incredibly easily

Cheers Trippa, what a knob eh.

I did wonder when i got em, ill disect them in the morning, thanks for the help.

Mezo.

 

[Trippa]

Cheers Trippa, what a knob eh.

I did wonder when i got em, ill disect them in the morning, thanks for the help.

Mezo.

Everyone starts somewhere so don't sweat it ...No problems with help bro
.. anytime

 

[Mezo]

Well its been raining all week, to much rain & all the peppers are drowning in there pots.

So i planted some more runner beans yesterday, and today i thought id better make progress with this solar dehydrator.
I have done a heap more than you can see it these pictures, ill post some more pics this time tomorrow.

Tess wondering WTF? and what`s that pile of crap doing in my walkway?

Like i said ive done a fair bit more since i took these snaps, ill post more up in 24hrs time.

Mezo.

 

[Mezo]

Well its rained all week (hard) and there's more coming, sigh.

I plucked my first ripe Bhut of the plant today, only because i could see it was diseased (same plant i had the other gub on).
When i cut the last one open there was no maggot inside, as if it had been "stung" the area where the mark is feels soft.

Any ideas on what this is?

Mezo.

 

[Mezo]

Update, some of my brain strain`s are sprouting (pics to come) in the meantime ive been busy with my dehydrator as my Bhuts are all turning red day by day (pics to follow).

Here`s the progress today.

And by late this arvo it was almost full height, i should get eight 500mm x 500mm racks with 100mm separation between them.

Its big and its heavy, lots more to do yet (roof, door, racks, wheels, handles, vents)

Mezo.

 

[Nova]

Well its rained all week (hard) and there's more coming, sigh.

I plucked my first ripe Bhut of the plant today, only because i could see it was diseased (same plant i had the other gub on).
When i cut the last one open there was no maggot inside, as if it had been "stung" the area where the mark is feels soft.

Any ideas on what this is?

Mezo.

That is or has to be the fuckin devil! How odd!

 

[Mezo]

Are these OK to plant out yet?

I put a couple like this in to pots & wondered if it was to soon? anyone?

Gave the dehydrator a quick coat of black spray paint (black to attract the heat of the sun) its looking more & more like the picture i saw on the net of one of these things.

Would have been easier to make this out of one bit (not several) but this is free this way.

Mezo.

 

[S.S.Tupperware]

Nice, I was going to buold one, but I think there is too much humidity here, not sure if it would work or not. I like the idea for sure, Let us know how well it works...

 

[Mezo]

Well th

Nice, I was going to buold one, but I think there is too much humidity here, not sure if it would work or not. I like the idea for sure, Let us know how well it works...

Well that could be a problem here as well? this region in summer is hot, wet, & humid (sub tropical) but not every single day like up north of here which is full blown tropical with 100% humidity. So with the aid of modern technology & the internet i should be able to pick a window of drying opportunity..

Yesterday i ordered a LCD thermometer/hygrometer combo from China for a whopping $1.79, it comes with a sensor probe on a long wire that i can poke inside the drying chamber to keep an eye on temps & more importantly humidity.

My thinking is,,,if the humidity is high then logic would tell me to close the exhaust vents to build up the heat more which would lower the humidity but then i have to balance that with cooking my fruits with to much heat, hence the temp/humidity sensor.

Ive made the handles yesterday as well & im just fitting the cross brace for the legs to stop sideways movement (sturdier).

Pics to follow later.

Mezo.

 

[Mezo]

Well where to start eh, well them little sprouts are doing fine so i guess i must be doing something right.

Here are some pics of the handles & cross bracing (not fitted just yet) on the dehydrator.

And now for the good bit.

Two packages arrived last night, one from Judy @ pepperlover.com & the other from Conor in Canada,
the one from Judy had been opened by quarantine coming in to Australia.

And inside was my order plus some of her "Dragon Breath" powder.

And as always with Judy she throws in some freebies to try out, clever marketing eh.

And just look how many "freebies" Judy has sent me this time.

And here are Conor`s seeds he sent me (thanks buddy) and in his words,,,,,,,

"My most prized chili, a yellow from St. Helena in the south Atlantic Ocean" and these were sent by his friend from St Helena.

So im going to be a very busy boy now & thanks again Conor & nice one Judy.

Mezo.

 

[Trippa]

Nice Haul Mezo. Good luck with them

 

[saugapepper]

Glad the seeds arrived safe!!

 

[Mezo]

Yes thanks mate, yours are under way in there own little grow chamber (bottom of a water carton)

That`s how ive done all them seeds, put them in lines & written on the lids what they are, its 30°c here during the day & the tent keeps it just a smidge warmer, the domes keeps the moisture in nice & stops the chickens hopping up on the table to eat them.

Lost two more of my Bhut`s to insects last night, still cannot see whats attacking them? but there are plenty more on the plant.

And if you look closely at this one near the top, again something is eating it? possibly from inside out?

Bhut ive still not found/seen any insects or grubs, mites or fly's.

Mezo.

 

[dvdpfstr]

Good luck on the seeds germination. I purchased all of my seeds from Pepperlover this year and had good germination rates. I will purchase from her many times in the future.

 

[Mezo]

Well im glad i found this forum & through it i found pepperlover.com (Judy) i had originally purchased my Bhut Jolokia seeds from The Chilli Seed Bank (here in Australia) i paid $8.00 for 20 seeds plus postage ($2.00) & got 19 seeds in return.

So Judy is my preferred seed vendor for sure, not only do you get them fantastic "freebies" she also throws in lots of extra seeds,
i had one packet which i paid for 20 seeds & there was 15 extra seeds thrown in (just in case) that's the way to do business.

And her postage is FREE.

Mezo.

 

[Mezo]

My Douglah, Brain Strain & Butch T`s are sprouting nice, planted out roughly 20 this week (pics to follow) in the meantime its ripening time here, the Bhut Jolokia`s are turning red day by day.

Best fun ive had growing any chilli, the shape is great eh.

Mezo.