a couple of newbie questions.

[fubarhouse]

I have a few questions which I am struggling to find answers to elsewhere, any help is appreciated.

1. I have read that capsacin helps eradicate mites and aphids, is this compound useful for this purpose? I have tried this with some bugspray and a water solution with a tiny bit of extract, mixed well and coated lightly. It seems to have worked so far - mind you I have moved it from permanent sunlight so this would have also helped.
2. to prevent pests from the leaves, regular rinsing/coating is essential, from what I have seen this is done with a pressure hose. how early in a seedlings life can such high pressures be applied to the plants?
3. is there any way to control when it will start fruiting, or is it simply how they are fed and nitrogen levels?
4. overwintering is something that intrigues me, however why is it necessary? I understand frost kills chilli fruit but do the leaves survive? and most importantly in relation to this question,
5. If chilli plants are placed outside of frost's reach, are well fed and watered when required will they survive in winter, or will I have to cut them back?
6. why do chilli plants produce more pods on their 2nd and 3rd years via overwintering, and how can I achieve this? (some tutorial/guide or something would be excellent)

Gardening is turning out to be a lot of fun and a bit of a commitment, even with only a few plants. I can see why so many people do it Good to get your hands dirty with poop, soil, insects ect... It makes you appreciate the circle of life that extra much, and it will surely kill my fear of big spiders

Thanks in advance guys, this forum is an invaluable source of information, ideas and stories

 

[Sandgroper]

I have a few questions which I am struggling to find answers to elsewhere, any help is appreciated.

1. I have read that capsacin helps eradicate mites and aphids, is this compound useful for this purpose? I have tried this with some bugspray and a water solution with a tiny bit of extract, mixed well and coated lightly. It seems to have worked so far - mind you I have moved it from permanent sunlight so this would have also helped.
2. to prevent pests from the leaves, regular rinsing/coating is essential, from what I have seen this is done with a pressure hose. how early in a seedlings life can such high pressures be applied to the plants?
3. is there any way to control when it will start fruiting, or is it simply how they are fed and nitrogen levels?
4. overwintering is something that intrigues me, however why is it necessary? I understand frost kills chilli fruit but do the leaves survive? and most importantly in relation to this question,
5. If chilli plants are placed outside of frost's reach, are well fed and watered when required will they survive in winter, or will I have to cut them back?
6. why do chilli plants produce more pods on their 2nd and 3rd years via overwintering, and how can I achieve this? (some tutorial/guide or something would be excellent)

Gardening is turning out to be a lot of fun and a bit of a commitment, even with only a few plants. I can see why so many people do it Good to get your hands dirty with poop, soil, insects ect... It makes you appreciate the circle of life that extra much, and it will surely kill my fear of big spiders

Thanks in advance guys, this forum is an invaluable source of information, ideas and stories

3 one way to contrl/delay fruiting is to debud until you want them to start fruiting.


4. over wintering is helpful when you haver a really short growing season as starting with established plants shortens the time till harvest. In areas with mild winters and long growing seasons it means that you are harvesting earlier.

Yes frosts will kill the leaves and the whole plant if the frosts are heavy enough or especially if they are prolonged frosts. We had 2 weeks of frosts every day last winter and it killed all of the plants whereas in previous years with only a couple of frosts the plants have been killed off to ground level but have shot up again and grown well.

5. Hold back on the feeding and watering during the colder months, just give them enough water to keep them alive until warmer weather arrives then up the food and water once new shoots appear. It helps to cut back the old growth to get rid of disease and bugs etc. It also gives the plant a rest as it isnt trying to feed/ sustain all of that growth.

I have had my chillies survive the winter in 1/2 litre bags, under some gum trees on the northern side if a shed. They absolutely hooted along when they were planted out in spring.

6. plants with bigger better root structures usually produce bigger plants which usually produce more pods. Not excactly the same but think fruit trees. Mature fruit trees produce more fruit than younger trees.

 

[patrick]

That Sandgroper guy is one smart dude.

As far as capsaicin eradicating mites and aphids I don't think so. If it did then a pepper grower wouldn't worry about them attacking his plants. Now if you go mixing it with bug spray sure it will kill them, but why dilute the bug spray with the extract? It's going to kill them on it's own.

A high pressure rinse is going to blow your plants to pieces. It isn't essential and I'm not sure what you're coating them with to answer that. As far as how big a seedling is before you hit it with any pressure that's kind of a common sense thing. Obviously a three inch seedling isn't going to stand up against the pressure of most hoses. Plants are rather delicate and you really don't need a lot of pressure to blow critters off of leaves. Do some experimenting, start with slow running water and see how fast it needs to be to persuade the local sap suckers to get the hell out of Dodge.

Best of luck to you.