-
Do you need help identifying a 🌶?
Is your plant suffering from an unknown issue? 🤧
Then ask in Identification and Diagnosis.
overwintering Winter-Summer in OZ "Comparison" / Aussie Blabberers
- Thread starter Nova
- Start date
on average 120mm/5in pots
Potted up some of my bigger ones yesterday.
Got a few 9.4 litre buckets from bunnings for 78 cents and drilled some holes in them. I thought this wasn't as good as getting a big lot from a restaurant for free but I might as well get a few more. Went back and they were down to 40 cents. So I got 30 for $12.
The only problem might be their thin walls will heat up in summer but I have a plan for that.
I'd stopped watering with hydrogen peroxide because the last time I killed two tiny seedlings and couldn't figure out why. Finally figured out that I only diluted it to 3%.
Because of this the fugus gnats made a comeback and I slowed up the watering schedule to stop them breeding but now my plants have thirst problems. Will give them the H202 now and more water so all should be good.
Got a few 9.4 litre buckets from bunnings for 78 cents and drilled some holes in them. I thought this wasn't as good as getting a big lot from a restaurant for free but I might as well get a few more. Went back and they were down to 40 cents. So I got 30 for $12.
The only problem might be their thin walls will heat up in summer but I have a plan for that.I'd stopped watering with hydrogen peroxide because the last time I killed two tiny seedlings and couldn't figure out why. Finally figured out that I only diluted it to 3%.
Because of this the fugus gnats made a comeback and I slowed up the watering schedule to stop them breeding but now my plants have thirst problems. Will give them the H202 now and more water so all should be good.
I was going to do the same thing, buy $1 buckets for the second replanting, at least until the stragglers are weeded out. I'm not going to invest in proper pots for all of them until the seedlings are culled, only keeping the best growers. The potting mix alone is a huge outlay, so I'm skimping on the pots in the beginning.
Pots are such a large rip off for what they are. Thankfully I can buy small ones on line, but large ones it's not possible.
I had the same problem with 20L buckets for home brew (as in just buying the bucket with lid style food container that restaurants etc use, like the same type tonly uses for DWC). They're $15 here for a bucket like that! May as well pay $25-30 for a fermenter complete with grommets, taps and airlock.
edit: but I'm not stepping up such a large size as you have just yet...
My seedlings are in 50mmx50mmx75mm square seedling pots right now where they'll stay for another month maybe (I'm only keeping the july 30 plants, anything before is a write off. I just experimented with them and I stuffed them up).
Then they are going in 750ml square pots (105x105x120mm) I bought from ebay, and will stay there for at least another 2 months until they are are 30cm tall or taller.
Pots are such a large rip off for what they are. Thankfully I can buy small ones on line, but large ones it's not possible.
I had the same problem with 20L buckets for home brew (as in just buying the bucket with lid style food container that restaurants etc use, like the same type tonly uses for DWC). They're $15 here for a bucket like that! May as well pay $25-30 for a fermenter complete with grommets, taps and airlock.
edit: but I'm not stepping up such a large size as you have just yet...
My seedlings are in 50mmx50mmx75mm square seedling pots right now where they'll stay for another month maybe (I'm only keeping the july 30 plants, anything before is a write off. I just experimented with them and I stuffed them up).
Then they are going in 750ml square pots (105x105x120mm) I bought from ebay, and will stay there for at least another 2 months until they are are 30cm tall or taller.
Pots are a rip off. I'm guessing it is about 2 cents worth of plastic when they make thousands at a time. Having to pay for pots really pisses me off, so its a not such a bad deal to get 30 for $12. Hopefully they will last more than one season too.
In all I did about 15 pots and that will be their final pot up. I figure I have the room for about 40 buckets in my garden, and I will be growing more chilli plants than that so I'm going to have to use smaller pots. Everyone I know will be getting chilli plants for christmas, whether they want them or not.
I spent a bit of money on the soil as an experiment blending different things. Next time I will just the method on the hippy seed co facebook page... coles cheapy potting mix + coir-peat-brick + rooster booster fert.
In all I did about 15 pots and that will be their final pot up. I figure I have the room for about 40 buckets in my garden, and I will be growing more chilli plants than that so I'm going to have to use smaller pots. Everyone I know will be getting chilli plants for christmas, whether they want them or not.
I spent a bit of money on the soil as an experiment blending different things. Next time I will just the method on the hippy seed co facebook page... coles cheapy potting mix + coir-peat-brick + rooster booster fert.
I bought bags of different soil potting mixes for all the other non chilli plants I grow. Never had much luck with any of them with chillies, poorly draining as it's mainly just soil.
I did try out a bag of the coles mix, very barky and loose.
The coles stuff I mix 50/50 with all the left over potting mix I have. Works well, loose barky coles stuff with a bit of soil for the roots to anchor to, from the regular other brand potting mixes I have.
I mix vermiculite with that mix for seedlings, or perlite with that mix for plants. Great improvement over just using soil potting mix (no matter what brand) or just the coles stuff. I add a bit of blood and bone in the middle of the pot (gets moldy if on the top or botttom)
I'll have to look into that rooster booster though, just what I need for the garden soil after I dig up my winter veg and might try some in a chilli plant pot.
I did try out a bag of the coles mix, very barky and loose.
The coles stuff I mix 50/50 with all the left over potting mix I have. Works well, loose barky coles stuff with a bit of soil for the roots to anchor to, from the regular other brand potting mixes I have.
I mix vermiculite with that mix for seedlings, or perlite with that mix for plants. Great improvement over just using soil potting mix (no matter what brand) or just the coles stuff. I add a bit of blood and bone in the middle of the pot (gets moldy if on the top or botttom)
I'll have to look into that rooster booster though, just what I need for the garden soil after I dig up my winter veg and might try some in a chilli plant pot.
Yeah I am looking at doing the bucket thing for some of my plants as well Mega. Much cheaper although they do degrade after a year or 2 and become really brittle (from past experience) and crack/smash easily. But if you don't mind replacing them every season its not such a bad thing still much cheaper.
Thanks Candice,
just got in the mail your Smokey Jolokia 2 and Hot embers
I tried the hot embers with fried rice last nice, mmmm very delicious,
but I just tried the sauce on a spoon and it bit me back got to try this on the week end
also thanks to Nova tooooooo for a sample of his hot chill powder mix,
I'll be trying this tonight with some thai noodles...
just got in the mail your Smokey Jolokia 2 and Hot embers
I tried the hot embers with fried rice last nice, mmmm very delicious,
but I just tried the sauce on a spoon and it bit me back got to try this on the week end
also thanks to Nova tooooooo for a sample of his hot chill powder mix,
I'll be trying this tonight with some thai noodles...
my mum potted up about 15 chinenses into buckets for me last season and had them at the her house they worked out good actually. But now thinking about it there are certain plastics that leach toxins once heated up so you wouldnt want this stuff going into soil where you will be picking your food from.
Thanks Grant glad you liked the hot embers. try the SJ on some steak or mix a bit into mince when making meat patties if its too hot.
Thanks Grant glad you liked the hot embers. try the SJ on some steak or mix a bit into mince when making meat patties if its too hot.
Yeah cheap buckets are a good option but wont they eventually get too small & you'll need to pot-up again anyway?
My plan is from seed tray to plastic cups (with holes stabbed in) then to cheaply made raised beds
My plan is from seed tray to plastic cups (with holes stabbed in) then to cheaply made raised beds
They would still grow a fairly decent plant in them though wouldn't they.
They may not reach their optimum size say if they were in a bigger 15-20 litre container but would still be large enough to bear fruit especially for Annuums (I have successfully grown a few Annuum types in normal 9.whatever litre buckets which have borne well and even overwintered in a New Zealand winter).
I have never grown chinense var. though so no idea about them and by all accounts they do like bigger containers.
yeah its the root system that seems to let down a lot of chinense. I didn't know myself until i got out of pots & put them in the ground. No more curled up leaves, more & larger pods....all round its just a bigger happier plant.
This will be my first attempt at 'middle of the road' 1/2 M high raised beds (attempting to allow them the freedom to get passed my clay layer thats 1/2 M down)
This will be my first attempt at 'middle of the road' 1/2 M high raised beds (attempting to allow them the freedom to get passed my clay layer thats 1/2 M down)
That sounds like a great setup. Raised beds are great if you have the space. Totally envious of anyone with the room to do that (or plant in the ground) but I don't know how the land lord would be if I built raised beds on my balconies
. I always took for granted the thousands of acres of space growing up on a farm with huge amounts of native forests and streams on each side. Now I would give anything to have that space again with one massive greenhouse constructed in the corner of the house paddock
O.k you're on a balcony, sorry I didn't notice & dont want to tease you with my suburban block 
- I'd think planter boxes would be good & depending on how much sun they get you could set up a trickle watering system for them
- I'd think planter boxes would be good & depending on how much sun they get you could set up a trickle watering system for themO.k you're on a balcony, sorry I didn't notice & dont want to tease you with my suburban block
Tease away ... no need to apologise for superior conditions.
One balcony gets sun all day in summer (and most of the day in winter except for early morning until about 9am) and the other noon to evening sun in summer (and only late afternoon sun winter). Sun won't be an issue and the heat isn't as bad as it could be due to often having a breeze especially in the afternoon.
Although the pots are going to need a good amount of water to keep them going. I may have to Jack up some sort of trickle watering system for sure and some coir mulch may be in order for the top of the pots as well.
in that case maybe some sugar cane mulch or pine bark across the top of the pots to keep the direct heat off the soil. Will probably need a plan for the sides of the buckets too
Last season I got a good amount of orange habs from smaller pots than the buckets. I'll set up a drip system for them so I never forget to water and let them dry out, and I have a plan for shading the pots themselves. I'm still trying to find some cheap larger containers but I can only fit so many in my backyard and I want to grow a lot of varieties so most will have to make do with bucket size or smaller.
Apparently the house I'm in is going to be demolished and the area developed so I might only be here till after summer. More raised beds would be a waste. I have three small ones I'm using for vegetables.
I too dream of a big acreage and large greenhouse to grow chillies in.
Apparently the house I'm in is going to be demolished and the area developed so I might only be here till after summer. More raised beds would be a waste. I have three small ones I'm using for vegetables.
I too dream of a big acreage and large greenhouse to grow chillies in.
I'm in the same boat, using pots because I hope to move soon. Every place I live in is cheap rented inner city housing, cheap because it's crappy and about to be demolished.
Because I'm always on the move and I don't own the land, I CBF improving soils enough to plant in the ground.
Due to soil condition, renting and hopefully moving, I want to grow the best I can in pots . I may just chuck some plants in the ground to compare cared for pots to rubbish soil though this summer. Last placed I lived at, everything in the ground did better than pots, but then everything in the ground got killed by root knot nematodes.
But I'm more confident I can get a decent result from pots now, as I know drainage was the issue with the old pots. My potted plants could either be in perpetual shade, or out in the rain all winter, so they never did well and died off a lot. Hopefully I can have plants that last for years with better drainage and moving them from sun to shade, or out of the rain now.
What is your plan for shading/protecting the buckets mega, you've mentioned it before but not explained. Is it just shading the area, or doing something to the individual buckets?
To everyone else, if I was going to plant in the ground, what's the best place to do it bearing in mind the 40C hot suns we get here in Perth? I have the option of one patch that gets afternoon sun and is near a tin shed wall (that was my winter planting spot), or I have a patch cleared 4m from a tree. It gets morning direct sun, then shaded afternoon sun by the tree.
Because I'm always on the move and I don't own the land, I CBF improving soils enough to plant in the ground.
Due to soil condition, renting and hopefully moving, I want to grow the best I can in pots . I may just chuck some plants in the ground to compare cared for pots to rubbish soil though this summer. Last placed I lived at, everything in the ground did better than pots, but then everything in the ground got killed by root knot nematodes.
But I'm more confident I can get a decent result from pots now, as I know drainage was the issue with the old pots. My potted plants could either be in perpetual shade, or out in the rain all winter, so they never did well and died off a lot. Hopefully I can have plants that last for years with better drainage and moving them from sun to shade, or out of the rain now.
What is your plan for shading/protecting the buckets mega, you've mentioned it before but not explained. Is it just shading the area, or doing something to the individual buckets?
To everyone else, if I was going to plant in the ground, what's the best place to do it bearing in mind the 40C hot suns we get here in Perth? I have the option of one patch that gets afternoon sun and is near a tin shed wall (that was my winter planting spot), or I have a patch cleared 4m from a tree. It gets morning direct sun, then shaded afternoon sun by the tree.
I think that is every chilli lovers dream! 
Imagine our grow list then! It would never stop
Imagine our grow list then! It would never stop