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Chili season has offically started in NZ!

tomtomnz

tomtomnz

Hey everyone, it has been a while since I have been on here, the first of September was the official first day of spring here in NZ. Last year was my first season growing chilis and I enjoyed it so much I decided to get an early start during winter. I Brought some seeds online and got them started under a rather ghetto light setup and luckily they survived despite being in a cold room. Anyways, here are some pics, I apologize for the size of the pics:

BhutJolokia.jpg
4 Bhut Jolokia seedlings. These came from two different seed sources.

Firecracker.jpg
Firecrckers.

BrazilianCambuciBishopsHatAjiNorent.jpg

Bishops Hat, and two Aji Norento.

RedRocotoYellowCayenne.jpg

Red Rocoto and Yellow Cayenne.

continued...
 
WhiteOrangeHab.jpg

White and Orange Hab.

BirdChili2.jpg

Bird Chili that was started earlier than the others, with a younger mate!

BirdChili.jpg

Another shot of the Bird Chili. Is starting to get quite bushy due to a bit of pinching I have been doing.

ScotchBonnet.jpg

And a Scotch Bonnet which was also started early and has had the top pinched


I am really looking forward to my second year and putting into use all the awesome stuff I have learned off the site! How is everyone else in the Southern Hemisphere going???
 
Looking good TomTom. I have over 50 plants in various stages of growth, from a Red Savina that fiiiiinally popped up today, to some Jalapenos and Afghan Long which are getting close to 2 foot tall. May your season bring you much hurt...
 
Those plants look good and healthy mate.....Good job.

It's a great time of the year for us Aussies and NZers
 
Nice looking plants.

Have you grown the Rocoto before?

I grew one a couple years back and they get really big. Allow at least 2 or 3 feet all the way around. Mine got to about 7 feet tall as well and ive heard they can get bigger.

You will need to steak up the branches as well cause the truits are heavy and the branched end up on the ground.

Keep the pictures comming.

cheers
 
Cheers guys. Thanks for the advice tony05, I haven't grown the Rocoto before but I am very keen to see how it goes. I never imagined they could reach 7 feet?!?! Thats awesome. I heard they can handle some pretty cold temperatures and will be able to survive the winter here in NZ so I am hoping it will grow for multiple years. I have a 40L pot which it could eventually live in if it ever gets large enough to require that much space!
 
So anyways, here is a pic of what some of these plants will be going into this year, as well as some seedlings I will buy from nurseries. I work part time as a forklift driver and had been eying up these old vegetable transport bins laying around at work for a good year or so. Managed to score them off the boss for cheap! they are approx 1x1 meter wide and I am cutting them down to waist height. The pieces that are getting chopped off will be sufficient to make a fifth bin with.

M01A0659-1.jpg


I will be using at least one, maybe two of these for chili plants, and no doubt another two for tomatoes. Unfortunately the missus wants to grow boring stuff like broccoli so she is demanding the use of one bin, dammit!!! Do you guys think it would be wise to line them with plastic to avoid the treated timber making its way into the soil??
 
I really don't think the treated pine will be an issue and the plastice will give you drainage issues that could affect the plants......If you want something there I would suggest a low % shade cloth to line the bins.....water still runs through and it stops soil getting out, and it would add a basic level of protection from the treated pine if you're really worried about that.
 
That's a good question TomTom. I have some treated pine sleepers to add some more garden beds, but they're a couple of years old and I'm thinking older timber will be fine. Does anybody have an educated opinion on the subject, as opposed to my uneducated one?
 
Cheers for the advice moyboy!

SeeYouJimmy - I have looked around on the net and apparently the most common chemical treatment used on timber here in NZ, Aussie and USA is CCA - Copper Chrome Arsenic. According to 'experts' CCA treated timber used for garden purposes does absorb into plants, but not in high enough concentration to harm those who consume the food, and that everything has arsenic in it these days anyways! Despite this, in 2004 the United States and Canada decided to restrict the use of CCA treated timber in non-industrial settings and in 2005, the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority (APVMA) reviewed the safety of CCA treated timber in the Australian context. Apparently, as a result of the review, CCA treated timber was banned from being used in the construction of new garden furniture, picnic tables, exterior seating, children’s play equipment, patios, domestic decking and handrails.

Interesting stuff. I am thinking I will be lining my grow bins with plastic, will just have to be careful that drainage is adequate. I can reach under the bins so once the soil is in I can cut holes through the plastic from underneath.
 
tomtomnz said:
Cheers for the advice moyboy!

SeeYouJimmy - I have looked around on the net and apparently the most common chemical treatment used on timber here in NZ, Aussie and USA is CCA - Copper Chrome Arsenic. According to 'experts' CCA treated timber used for garden purposes does absorb into plants, but not in high enough concentration to harm those who consume the food, and that everything has arsenic in it these days anyways! Despite this, in 2004 the United States and Canada decided to restrict the use of CCA treated timber in non-industrial settings and in 2005, the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority (APVMA) reviewed the safety of CCA treated timber in the Australian context. Apparently, as a result of the review, CCA treated timber was banned from being used in the construction of new garden furniture, picnic tables, exterior seating, children’s play equipment, patios, domestic decking and handrails.

Interesting stuff. I am thinking I will be lining my grow bins with plastic, will just have to be careful that drainage is adequate. I can reach under the bins so once the soil is in I can cut holes through the plastic from underneath.
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I don't know about NZ and other places but I believe in the US they have made the move to ACQ treated lumber. I actually used it for my raised bed. It is supposed to be safer because they removed the arsenic but who knows. I certainly do not recommend using it if you have children or plan to give your extra chilis away. Why take the risk you know. Being that it is a newer process it will probably take a few more decades to see whether it is ok or not. If you have the money, you can build your beds out of untreated cedar but that can be expensive. Also you may want to put some thought into the plastic if you are concerned about the pressure treated lumber. Depending on the plastic, certain chemicals may be leached out of it and into the soil. I can't say for sure and don't know if that will affect your plants but just thought I should mention it. Hopefully someone can help you out and give you some more technical advice.
 
Thanks for the feedback guys.

Josh - I am pretty sure we use ACQ to treat timber here now too, but I can not guarantee what chemicals were used in the timber made to construct the bins I have. They have the distinctive green color which is supposed to indicate CCA treatment. hmmmmmm, you raise a good point about plastic too! I am planning on using some real heavy duty stuff which farmers here use to create silage (grass crops covered in thick plastic in order to ferment/preserve it for cattle feed). If such plastic was/is vulnerable to leaching then it is not hard to imagine that large parts of the food chain are contaminated - cow eats silage contaminated by leaching plastic, human drinks milk from cow, blah blah!

I suppose at the end of the day I am more willing to go with the plastic idea because if I were not using these bins I would be using plastic pots to grow stuff anyways. In many ways I know I am being way too paranoid and analytical about all this, yet I am determined to grow as 'organically' as possible!

Silver Surfer - I would absolutely love to build a raised bed, but unfortunately I rent and the landlord does not want me to start ripping up the lawn in order to build what I consider a real garden hahah.

Cheers guys.
 
tomtomnz said:
In many ways I know I am being way too paranoid and analytical about all this, yet I am determined to grow as 'organically' as possible!
Click to expand...

No not at all. You should do what you think is right.
 
tomtomnz said:
Silver Surfer - I would absolutely love to build a raised bed, but unfortunately I rent and the landlord does not want me to start ripping up the lawn in order to build what I consider a real garden hahah.
Click to expand...

Offer him a share of the crop. If he's not into peppers I'm sure he would like maters and fresh veggies. ;)
 
Hiya Tom, saw you were hanging out on THP. Tell me, where did you get the Bishops Hat seeds from ? Any probs getting them passed customs if they were from overseas ? I managed to get my brother to bring a few over from the UK at Chrismas. Like you I started early this year but also managed to overwinter a few. Noticed tonight that one of my Fatalis is already starting to bud. Should be a good summer.
 
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