• Blog your pepper progress. The first image in your first post will be used to represent your Glog.

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

The is thread with the humungous solar dehydrator. :D

solardehydrator3.jpg


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.

averagedailytemp.gif



And average monthly rainfall.

averagemonthlyrain.gif




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.

Bhut2.jpg



Bhut6.jpg


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


More soon,

Mezo.
 
Ive got one of them stashed away in my packing boxes (still in Perth sigh) i forget the correct name for them now?

The seeds i collected yesterday would be OK to start germinating right away shouldn't they? i don't need to dry them do i?
Well we had good old spag bol last night with one whole pepper in there just to start with, my mate said it was to hot & i disagreed.
His missus is not in to hot stuff but was game to try & ate the whole lot, i thoroughly enjoyed it and the heat was perfect for me.

Mezo.
 
Great to see you getting geared up for the fall/winter
season there, Mezo. How cold do your temps get
down to in Fall/Winter?
 
Great to see you getting geared up for the fall/winter
season there, Mezo. How cold do your temps get
down to in Fall/Winter?

Im not 100% sure on that Paul (first winter for me here) i know its similar to Perth winters (where i was living) the nights drop down to zero or just above & the days are around 20°C but dry & sunny, summer time is when we have all the rain & hot temps mixed with high humidity (sub tropical/wet season) or as the Aussies say "The Wet"

Winters are short though (unlike the northern hemisphere) so the plants should not be to affected to much, and if its forecasting frosty nights i can always bung a kero heater in the tent to keep it above freezing.

Mezo.
 
What's the latest Mezo? How's that dryer coming along?

The dryer eh, did a bit today on it, fixed the cross bracing & gave it a paint, its well & truly sturdy now.

To be honest ive been busy germinating & on the weekend i was busy sampling the Bhut`s & am really enjoying them.
As i type ive got another whole pod in the pan with some mixed veggies, no ill effects from them either.

So ill make some progress tomorrow with it (roof at least) hopefully a door as well.

Mezo.
 
Mezo I haven't posted until now but I loved readng your story and I hope your chili's give your health a boost! I must say you are doing an amazing job of growing them.

I sent my brother in law an email who also has similar heart issues. He's started gardening in his spare time so I told him to get some peppers growing!

I'll keep up with the thread mate. I have my first small grow running at the moment and you're an inspiration

Cheers mate!
 
Mezo I haven't posted until now but I loved readng your story and I hope your chili's give your health a boost! I must say you are doing an amazing job of growing them.

I sent my brother in law an email who also has similar heart issues. He's started gardening in his spare time so I told him to get some peppers growing!

I'll keep up with the thread mate. I have my first small grow running at the moment and you're an inspiration

Cheers mate!

Thanks lads, yeah the heart thingy, it was an American friend from another forum (not Chilli) motorbikes who was reading my post when i had my heart attacks, it was him who pointed me in the right direction.

He PM`d me this link & also said read the bit about the guy who wrote the book "Left for dead" (page down to read).

Or just Google (like i did) health benefits of chilli pepper & cardio vascular heart disease.

Mezo.
 
OK, just a quickie update, the "sprout count" today stands at 181, that's bagged in in the seed mix. :party:

Some variety's have shown no signs of life whatsoever, but im a patient sort of guy so there's still hope.

This pic is the second shelf down, once they have shown there leaves i put them here.

Germination13.jpg


And the top shelf is where i put the newborns, they have sprouted but are only days old (except the ones in trays you can see) they are the oddball ones (most prolific & amish bush).

Germination12.jpg


Just a couple of pics of the dryer, cross bracing fixed & secure with some more matt black paint.

SD24.jpg


SD25.jpg


The cross bracing really did make the thing stable, no sideways movement whatsoever now.

Mezo.
 
Quick update (if only for my own records) i love this GLOG idea. :D

So i had to re-arange the tent to accommodate the newborns, seems like weeks ago since i updated my glog but its only a few days, the "Sproutometer" is now standing at 245. :party:

So ive commandeered my potting table for the ones who have shown me some leaf.

Germination14.jpg



Germination15.jpg


As you can see ive put the big leafy ones back from the window & the iddy biddys closer to the light.

The top table is now full along the back with sprouts (not much sign of life yet) but give it a few days.

Germination16.jpg


Germination17JPG.jpg


Under the top bench (second shelf) are my Amish bush & most prolific`s.

Germination18.jpg


And a few hundred Jiffys are now on the go as well. :D

jiffy1.jpg



jiffy2.jpg



jiffy3.jpg


Mezo.
 
Holy shit Mezo I knew there was a reason why I subbed to your thread, "sproutometer" @ 245. Shit just real!! :flamethrower: Can't wait to see how this pans out for you.
 
Nor me. :D

Might all crash n burn yet?

Last weekend i cropped everything red off my Bhut`s, and i just 7 days ive got the same plus a whole lot more, ive not eaten all last weeks lot yet. :flamethrower:

BhutJolokia13.jpg


BhutJolokia9.jpg



BhutJolokia11.jpg


BhutJolokia12.jpg


BhutJolokia10.jpg


Mezo.
 
looking mean mezo!!

Cheers Trippa,

I was going to crop them over the weekend but im leaving them till Friday now, my Hungarian cousin is coming down to stay at the farm for the weekend & he likes hot hot chilli, so ill crop them all then & he can take some back to Vegas with him (fresh).

Did some work on the dyer yesterday, sussed the roof out now & have made the cuts & fitted some mozzie netting to keep bugs from entering the drying chamber, im going to make the exhaust vent the roof itself by hinging the whole thing open to let the hot air out.

SD26.jpg


SD27.jpg


Just measured the thing now i know its final height, its 2.4m (or 7.8ft in Ye Olde English) :eek:

SD28.jpg


So ill finish me morning cuppa (slurp) go & pot some newborns & then carry on with the dryer,
i will be making the door frame for it today & may get round to the roof? we`ll see.

Mezo.
 
OK the door frame is finished, it basically just need a door hanging & bit of wood for the roof. :party:

Ive siliconed up all the gaps & given it a coat of matt black spray to hide my bodges. :D

SD29.jpg


SD31.jpg


SD30.jpg


Didn't do any potting, there are plenty ready & another day sprouting wont hurt them, besides it gave me more time on the dryer.

Mezo.
 
That drier is off the scale Mezo! Hats off mate...well done!

(oh, and Matt Black is great for hiding stuff, isn't it!) :)
 
That drier is off the scale Mezo! Hats off mate...well done!

(oh, and Matt Black is great for hiding stuff, isn't it!) :)

Cheers Nee, it was never planned or drawn out i just saw a few pictures & started slapping it together with what was lying around, If i had the cash i would have made it out of plywood or something (would have been quicker & lighter) but i used what i had.

Its real heavy though but solid as a rock, so it will last years & the wind wont blow the thing over. Got to get some wheelbarrow wheels for the front yet $$, got to make the inlet vent as well (sussed that part in my head) and the drying racks have yet to be made, ive found some red hardwood slats that came from an old bed which will do just fine.

The only problem ive had is finding the mesh to go over the drying racks, from reading all the guys say use plastic not galv chicken mesh as the food gets tarnished & sticks to it. You can buy the real deal stuff from the US but cant find anything locally here in OZ, closest ive come is plastic woven bird netting (strong stuff) but the holes are a bit to large.

Ideally you need something with a min 5mm hole, mozzie net/fly screen is to fine & will slow down the convection of the heat.

So yeah its an interesting little side project & an essential one for me as i need this to dry my chilli`s & may even see if i can make hot jerky as well.

Mezo.
 
Hey, Mezo, your dryer is way crafty. Lookin' better and better!
The pods aren't bad, either : ) Hope you have a good visit with
the Hungarian side of the family! Take care and enjoy!
Paul
 
Are you sure you aren't actually building a small house Mezo?? :D

Cheers Paul, eh Trippa it could double as a clothes dryer as well, daks on one shelf, socks on another. :party:

Didn't get anything done on it so far today, the "sproutometer" went off the scale & i potted some 62 newborns which took me hours.

I had some lunch & then needed to take a nap for a few hours (heart condition does that to you) so after i have fed the chickens & ducks i may not get anything done on it today, did manage to find a nice bit of wood for the roof though.

Mezo.
 
Back
Top