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pics My TOP TIIPS I learnt from my first grow season (pics included)

Hi everyone,

First of all I would like to say I am no expert, this is just here purely to help out a few inexperienced people out there, like myself :)

I would like to share some tips I learnt during my first grow. Hopefully they can help you on your way to success. I have many ideas for my new grow season which is about to begin.

These tips are in no particular order.

TIP 1: Soil, watering and fertilisers

I used a mix of the following:
80% potting mix with slow release fertilisers.
10% perlite
10% vermiculite

This is a simple mix, but it worked well for me. However, this season I am considering dumping the vermiculite and using more perlite.

I mulched with woodchips which worked well, however, this season I may use pine needles (hoping it will be hard for slugs ans snails to pass over).

I watered only when needed, careful not to overwater. Once the seedling were 6 inches tall I watered with seasweed solution every two weeks for extra nitrogen. Then once the buds were about I watered with half strength tomato feed every two weeks for extra potassium.

TIP 2: GROW YELLOW 7 POTS!

Cant speak highly enough of this plant. The most delicious chilli I have tried and it packs plenty of heat. Here are some of mine from the season:

P1000554.jpg

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TIP 3: Damn snails and slugs.

I attempted to grow not only in pots (which were successful) but also in the ground (very unsuccessful).

bed.jpg


The snails made light work of the seedling within days and I couldnt stop them. I think they travelled over the black plastic too easily. So this year I will try again but ditch the black plastic and use pine needle mulch. Apparently the rougness of the pointy needles makes it hard for snails to travel across. Also I will be hunting them late at night with a torch which I have heard works well. The damn possums are also a problem, nailing plants overnight, down to the ground. My pots are safe as they are in a court yard close to the yard and the possums wont go there.

TIP 4: Aphids

Aphids were a bit of an issue. Particularly for my fatali and butch t. They overan both plants at one stage. So I decided to cut back severly. It turn out to be a very good idea. So if you have any infestations, perhaps consider cutting down. Particularly if its early in the season. My plants recovered very very well!

cut back fatali
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cut back butch t
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recovered butch t (left) and fatalia (right) :)
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TIP 5: Some other plants to consider.

Scotch Bonnet (red): love the flavour of this chilli and the heat is great, not overpowering. My second favourite chilli for the season.

ripening scotch bonnet
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Aji Amarillo: These are a great chilli. I would have got at least 250+ chillies of my plant in a 10 litre container. They ripen to yellow and are nice :)

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TIP 6: Get a dehydrator

I was overun with hundreds of chillies and still am in the freezer. However, I purchased a dehydrator and I love it, great for drying chillies. Making flakes or then turning into powder :)

TIP 7: Grow in BIG pots

If you have the chance and space, use big pots to grown your chillies in. They will love you for it. By providing more room for nutes and roots they will grow bigger and produce more pods. However, I have allot of chillies in 10 litre pots which did quite well

Im at my image limit, so if you want to see some more pics I took (loads more) post a reply.

Hope some of this stuff has helped you out. If you have any questions let me know :)

Cheers

Mitch
 
Thanks a ton for this Mitch! I am excited for my yellow 7s, have now settled that I will be buying a dehydrator and am gonna post your aphid before and after pics in TWO member's GLogs because they got hit hard with disease and those are amazing motivational pics!

Great thread.

Matt
 
Thanks a ton for this Mitch! I am excited for my yellow 7s, have now settled that I will be buying a dehydrator and am gonna post your aphid before and after pics in TWO member's GLogs because they got hit hard with disease and those are amazing motivational pics!

Great thread.

Matt

No problems Matt, thanks for the reply. You will definitely have success cutting down plants as long as its not too late in the season. It was a winner for me. Winter is here next week and my fatali pictured is loaded with ripening pods. The butch t also has 20-30 pods and is doing well :)

I am following you grow log and its fantastic! Your vids are great. Some great tips there for everyone and very informative. Good luck with your grow and I hope that rain disappears and you get some decent sunshine!

Some good tips and nice pictures

Cheers coheed :)
 
Just remember Mitch that the pine needles will leech N from your soil. The organisms that break down the pine needles require something like 300% more N than the needles will provide. I've used them successfully (keeps the weeding down too), but just keep a close eye on them for turning yellow.
 
Just remember Mitch that the pine needles will leech N from your soil. The organisms that break down the pine needles require something like 300% more N than the needles will provide. I've used them successfully (keeps the weeding down too), but just keep a close eye on them for turning yellow.

Thanks very much for the info! I havent used them before and I will do some research. You might have saved me alot of pain ;)
 
oh and Matt, the Yellow 7's are great! They will be worth the wait! Heres a few more pics :)

P1000552.jpg


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10 liter is less than 3 gallons right?

3 gallons is around 11.5 litres I think. Dont stress too much, this size pot is still good. I got about 50 yellow 7's from my plant in a 10 litre container. Also 250 ajis from a 10 litre :)
 
Great pics and tips Mitch :)

Now I'm very sorry for not growing some yellow 7 pots. They are on the list for next season :)

Keep up the pics!

250 aji's from one plant. Insane :)
 
Great pics and tips Mitch :)

Now I'm very sorry for not growing some yellow 7 pots. They are on the list for next season :)

Keep up the pics!

Thanks mate :) Definitely give them a go. Taste better then fatali in my opinion. However, they are quite a bit hotter, which is good for some ;) good luck with your grow :)

Heres a few more pics for ya :)

Blonde fatali (delicious)
P1000560.jpg


scotch bonnets (love the colour)
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loaded with yellow 7's
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some of my plants early in the season (they got bigger, but I was surprised they were so healthy)
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aji flower
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jalapeno
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red rocoto (another quality chilli to eat, sorry no pics of them when red)
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its winter in a week, if you want pics of them now I can take some tomorrow :)

Cheers
 
Thanks mate :) Definitely give them a go. Taste better then fatali in my opinion. However, they are quite a bit hotter, which is good for some ;) good luck with your grow :)

I will give them a go, they look beautiful and I'm sure they taste good. I have some 7 pot BS growing, they probably taste similary.

That Fatali looks delicious :)

All your pods look great. Pics are always welcomed. i have just a few pods set on my plants for now, so I enjoy watching pics :D
 
I will give them a go, they look beautiful and I'm sure they taste good. I have some 7 pot BS growing, they probably taste similary.

That Fatali looks delicious :)

All your pods look great. Pics are always welcomed. i have just a few pods set on my plants for now, so I enjoy watching pics :D

Nice :) I might have to pick up some BS's from pepperlover for this season. I love the bumpy appearance of them. Im not sure of the taste. The fatali is great. That was a blonde fatali, it starts out pale green (below) rather then dark green. Tastes the same but produced heaps of pods :)

blonde fatali

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ripening

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ripe :)

P1000560.jpg


Great news with your pods, hope they ripen quickly for you :)
 
Couldn't ask for a better run down than what you just provided. Very nice pics and good info! I did red 7 Pots last year and they tasted delicious. Hella hot though!! It was a toss up of Red Scorpions and 7 Pots as to which I liked the best. Keep up the great work my friend. :party:
 
Couldn't ask for a better run down than what you just provided. Very nice pics and good info! I did red 7 Pots last year and they tasted delicious. Hella hot though!! It was a toss up of Red Scorpions and 7 Pots as to which I liked the best. Keep up the great work my friend. :party:

Thanks very much for the kind words bamaboy! :) I havent tried red 7's, I may have to get some seeds before it gets to late. Love the heat! :) Good luck with your grow.

Cheers
 
Thanks for sharing. Enjoyed the info and well as the photos. Will definitely help out a first time grower such as myself.
 
Thanks for sharing. Enjoyed the info and well as the photos. Will definitely help out a first time grower such as myself.
Happy to help. I think it would be great if someone with a very successful season could post something similar to this with all their tips and lessons learned. It makes it easier for us guys :) good luck with your season!
 
Thanks a bunch for posting the info. I will take all of the suggestions/tips I can get. Your photos are wonderful! Best of luck through the rest of the season. I look forward to more photos... so keep them coming. :P
 
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