Comptine's Swedish Glog 2016

Comptine · Apr 23, 2016

Weekly update time!

I prefer doing weekly updates, this way I can go back next year and have a look to see what I did and how fast the plants grew etc.

This happened to my large Aji Oro Rocoto plant, it was hit by spider mites, and I could not get them under control, it was easier to just cut all the growth off, it was not doing too well. The Aji Oro behind it is actually developing buds, which this one wasn't.

My conservatory experiment peppers are alive at least, I'm having a really hard time telling if they've stalled or are just growing really slowly. They are alive though, and that is always a good sign.

The first ones to be transplanted are doing really well. Aji Margariteño, SB MOA, Malaysian Goronong red and Trinidad Seasoning.

I have noticed that the Rocoto leaves always look a bit droopy. Aji Jobito, Bonda ma Jacques, Mini Rocoto, Rio Huallaga Rocoto.

This is an overwintered Colombian Yellow. I cut it all the way down 2-3 months ago. It is now starting to set fruit, I have at least 10 flowers that have set, and more coming. The plant is insanely large, bought it off pepperlover and she said that this one grows like vines. I'll probably not pot it up, if a 3,6 litre pot can produce a plant this size I'm scared to imagine a 10 litre pot.

Had a huge repotting day yesterday, trying to get rid of a few plants this weekend by giving them away.
3xJalastar, Golden Cayenne, Yellow Cayenne and Prik Kee Nu Suan. I'm doing a comparison between golden and yellow cayenne this year to see if there's a difference between the pods, or if it's just two ways of naming them.

Top to bottom:
Tabasco, Takanotsume, Jalastar
Farmer's Market Jalapeño, Mulato Isleno, Brazilian Starfish
Purple Pequin, Prik Kee Nu Suan, Golden Cayenne
Brazilian Starfish, Golden Cayenne, Aji Charapita

The root trainers don't have much in them these days, the tiny ones are sweet peppers, and a few hot peppers I just don't have the space for yet. On the top you can see 1 Litre air pots, I'm trying these out this year. The plants in them I believe are Aji Omnicolour, Aji Lemon Drop, Jalastar and Aji Pineapple.

Haha, someone got thirsty! Bishop's hat. He perked back up after a drink.

stickman · Apr 23, 2016

So sorry about the mite damage to the Aji Oro Rocoto plant :doh:

I had similar problems with aphids in my over-wintered plants two seasons ago, and I dealt with it by spraying with an organic pesticide called pyrethrin. Within 24 hours of spraying, the contact pesticide oxidizes to non-toxic components, so it's a short term solution only. I ended up having to spray 3 times over the course of the winter, and this past autumn I tried to make sure the plant I over-wintered was free from pests before I brought it inside, so I washed the plant down to the bare roots before repotting and drenching the leaves and stems with pyrethrin before bringing it inside. My wife did the same to the plants she brought inside for the winter, and It's the first time we had no problems with aphids. I notice that the aphids seem to prefer pubiscens varieties, and gravitate to them, leaving the annuum and Chinense varieties alone. Maybe the spider mites have similar tastes.

I think you'll like the airpots, I certainly liked mine! I grew Scotch Bonnet chiles outside in the 3-liter size, and they did very well. The only downside was that the plant needed watering more frequently, but I took care of that by rigging a drip irrigation setup running off a hose timer. That way I only needed to worry about feeding the plants and keeping up on the harvest.

Cheers!

Comptine · Apr 23, 2016

stickman said:
So sorry about the mite damage to the Aji Oro Rocoto plant I had similar problems with aphids in my over-wintered plants two seasons ago, and I dealt with it by spraying with an organic pesticide called pyrethrin. Within 24 hours of spraying, the contact pesticide oxidizes to non-toxic components, so it's a short term solution only. I ended up having to spray 3 times over the course of the winter, and this past autumn I tried to make sure the plant I over-wintered was free from pests before I brought it inside, so I washed the plant down to the bare roots before repotting and drenching the leaves and stems with pyrethrin before bringing it inside. My wife did the same to the plants she brought inside for the winter, and It's the first time we had no problems with aphids. I notice that the aphids seem to prefer pubiscens varieties, and gravitate to them, leaving the annuum and Chinense varieties alone. Maybe the spider mites have similar tastes.

I think you'll like the airpots, I certainly liked mine! I grew Scotch Bonnet chiles outside in the 3-liter size, and they did very well. The only downside was that the plant needed watering more frequently, but I took care of that by rigging a drip irrigation setup running off a hose timer. That way I only needed to worry about feeding the plants and keeping up on the harvest.

Cheers!

I read that spider mites aren't like most other pests, so the same remedies don't work an them. I was using pyrethrins all of last season, and it definitely gets rid of aphids! Shame they decide to come back. This year I actually bought need powder to put in the sail, supposedly that makes the plant taste bad, I also have neem oil which is new this year. I'm ready for those suckers. I didn't grow rocotos last year, so they settled on my chinenses, and they have such a lush canopy that it's hard to spray all the bits of it.

I'm glad you liked your airpots! I've heard a lot of good things about them. Do you have any pictures of your plants in airpots? Was the plant much larger/higher yielding than anything in similar sizes? I'm thinking of putting some fructesense in the 1 litre ones permanently, they have small fruit and will appear to be productive despite being so restrained.

stickman · Apr 23, 2016

Comptine said:
I read that spider mites aren't like most other pests, so the same remedies don't work an them. I was using pyrethrins all of last season, and it definitely gets rid of aphids! Shame they decide to come back. This year I actually bought need powder to put in the sail, supposedly that makes the plant taste bad, I also have neem oil which is new this year. I'm ready for those suckers. I didn't grow rocotos last year, so they settled on my chinenses, and they have such a lush canopy that it's hard to spray all the bits of it.

I'm glad you liked your airpots! I've heard a lot of good things about them. Do you have any pictures of your plants in airpots? Was the plant much larger/higher yielding than anything in similar sizes? I'm thinking of putting some fructesense in the 1 litre ones permanently, they have small fruit and will appear to be productive despite being so restrained.

Ah so... I didn't know that Spider Mites don't respond to the same things as Aphids, so I'll definitely file your observations against future need. I haven't come across them here yet, but they do live here. During the grow season I try to use chemicals as little as possible, and for the plants I grow outside I try to put in companion plantings of things that attract friendly insects like Ladybugs and Lacewings. Basil, Cilantro and Lemon Gem Marigolds are aromatic plants that seem to do the trick. I especially like the combination of Cilantro ahd hot Chiles (with a little Lime juice), so I make sure to plant them together.

I didn't feed the plants in the Airpots very heavily, and that seemed to be the biggest limiting factor once I got the watering issue dealt with. The plants still got to a healthy and productive 45-55 cm as compared to plants as large as 95 cm planted in the ground. Overall I'd say that you'll get a leaf canopy about the same size as your root ball unless you feed heavily. Some pictures...

My mistake... I mis-remembered these Douglahs as Scotch Bonnets...

Aji Criolla Sella

The Ajis have a definite tendancy to sprawl... like these two Aji Omnicolors that were planted about a half a meter apart. The purple plant in the lower left is a Chinese 5-color.

Comptine · Apr 23, 2016

stickman said:
Ah so... I didn't know that Spider Mites don't respond to the same things as Aphids, so I'll definitely file your observations against future need. I haven't come across them here yet, but they do live here. During the grow season I try to use chemicals as little as possible, and for the plants I grow outside I try to put in companion plantings of things that attract friendly insects like Ladybugs and Lacewings. Basil, Cilantro and Lemon Gem Marigolds are aromatic plants that seem to do the trick. I especially like the combination of Lime juice and Cilantro with hot Chiles, so I make sure to plant them together.

I didn't feed the plants in the Airpots very heavily, and that seemed to be the biggest limiting factor once I got the watering issue dealt with. The plants still got to a healthy and productive 45-55 cm as compared to plants as large as 95 cm planted in the ground. Overall I'd say that you'll get a leaf canopy about the same size as your root ball unless you feed heavily. Some pictures...

My mistake... I mis-remembered these Douglahs as Scotch Bonnets...

Aji Criolla Sella

The Ajis have a definite tendancy to sprawl... like these two Aji Omnicolors that were planted about a half a meter apart. The purple plant in the lower left is a Chinese 5-color.

Those plants look huge! And so do the pots, are you sure they are 3 litres? They look a lot bigger than that!

Spider mites are essentially just a type of spiders, the plants should be fine as soon as they go outside, spider mites hate humidity, so I'm guessing once it starts raining on plants they will be fine. I only had a few marigolds and lavender plants near the chilies. It's a little harder to companion plant when everything is in pots.

Looks like you had beautiful plants though! I think I followed your grow last year, just couldn't recall seeing the air pots. I'm growing the omnicolour this year, and really looking forward to those fruits, I've only heard good things. Thank you for sharing your pictures.

stickman · Apr 23, 2016

Comptine said:
Those plants look huge! And so do the pots, are you sure they are 3 litres? They look a lot bigger than that!

Spider mites are essentially just a type of spiders, the plants should be fine as soon as they go outside, spider mites hate humidity, so I'm guessing once it starts raining on plants they will be fine. I only had a few marigolds and lavender plants near the chilies. It's a little harder to companion plant when everything is in pots.

Looks like you had beautiful plants though! I think I followed your grow last year, just couldn't recall seeing the air pots. I'm growing the omnicolour this year, and really looking forward to those fruits, I've only heard good things. Thank you for sharing your pictures.

Oh yeah... they're only 3 liter... I just zoomed in so the pot filled the frame. No, I didn't use the airpots last year except to over-winter an Orange Manzano pubiscens the winter before and a Red Rocoto last winter. The enlarged raised bed on the south side of my house filled the void. I still use the airpots, though mostly to fit plants into small spaces. Lol!

Cheers!

Comptine · Apr 23, 2016

stickman said:
Oh yeah... they're only 3 liter... I just zoomed in so the pot filled the frame. No, I didn't use the airpots last year except to over-winter an Orange Manzao pubiscens the winter before and a Red Rocoto last winter since I put in an enlarged raised bed on the south side of my house.

Cheers!

Well, I'd be extremely happy if I get anywhere near the result you had in them!

Comptine · May 6, 2016

The weather has been absolutely beautiful here in Sweden, so I keep finding excuses to be outside (read potting things up etc.)

This jungle has become a tad bit smaller as I've potted up and moved most of my chinenses into the greenhouse. From my experience last year, they did not do well in the wind because of the larger leaves.

Catching some rays before being transplanted.

They all had a decent root mass, but were not root bound which I'm happy about.

My cayennes seem to have decided that flowers are in order. Them and the Jalapeños have small buds forming. They are tiny! Hand for size reference.

I was able to fit more pots than anticipated along the long side, I had planned for 11-12, and I could fit 13. Which means I have one more open space left, still deciding what to put there, but I'm holding off for the time being. Only have one more tomato to put in there, and then that side of the greenhouse is fully done. The other side will house cucumbers, courgettes and aubergines.

Chilidude · May 6, 2016

When you plant the chilis, bury the rootball lower so that some of the stem will be inside the soil. The buried stem will make more roots inside the pot for the plant to grow faster.

stickman · May 7, 2016

Very nice greenhouse setup! Are those polycarbonate panels? Your babies must really like it!

Comptine · May 7, 2016

stickman said:
Very nice greenhouse setup! Are those polycarbonate panels? Your babies must really like it!

Thank you! Yup, those are polycarbonate panels, we had an option to go for glass, and whilst it looks nicer it's not ideal for the plants. I'm glad we went with plastic when we bought it last year. A green house really does extend the season, and it allows me to grow crops that would normally not do too well in our climate. The chilies are really pleased, they add a lot of green. Although they had trouble setting fruit last year in the greenhouse. Whatever, new year and new season.

I'm using (new) peat, perlite, bat guano, epsom salt, blood meal and bone meal in the final mix, I'm hoping to not have to fertilise at all this year, or if I do let it be a lot later in the season. I'm slowly potting up a few chilies at the time, because it's a pain to keep mixing the soil. I've got at least 20 plants left to pot up, but most will go outside, so holding off a little to allow night temps to go up.

stickman · May 7, 2016

Comptine said:
Thank you! Yup, those are polycarbonate panels, we had an option to go for glass, and whilst it looks nicer it's not ideal for the plants. I'm glad we went with plastic when we bought it last year. A green house really does extend the season, and it allows me to grow crops that would normally not do too well in our climate. The chilies are really pleased, they add a lot of green. Although they had trouble setting fruit last year in the greenhouse. Whatever, new year and new season.

I'm using (new) peat, perlite, bat guano, epsom salt, blood meal and bone meal in the final mix, I'm hoping to not have to fertilise at all this year, or if I do let it be a lot later in the season. I'm slowly potting up a few chilies at the time, because it's a pain to keep mixing the soil. I've got at least 20 plants left to pot up, but most will go outside, so holding off a little to allow night temps to go up.

Interesting... does your greenhouse have a way to ventilate the inside if it gets too hot? Most chiles drop their blossoms if they don't like the growing conditions, and their comfort zone is actually pretty narrow.... http://www.mastergardenerssandiego.org/guides/index.php?season=1&ID=25&tab=1
Your ferts mix seems kind of hot with the Nitrogen... Have you figured out how to give them enough, but not too much?

Comptine · May 7, 2016

stickman said:
Interesting... does your greenhouse have a way to ventilate the inside if it gets too hot? Most chiles drop their blossoms if they don't like the growing conditions, and their comfort zone is actually pretty narrow.... http://www.mastergardenerssandiego.org/guides/index.php?season=1&ID=25&tab=1
Your ferts mix seems kind of hot with the Nitrogen... Have you figured out how to give them enough, but not too much?

Yes, there are two windows, one of which is automatic, but when it gets really warm I just leave the door fully open.

The mix is new for this year, and I put very little in. The blood meal and bat guano are about a teaspoon per pot (9 litres for most plants), maybe two teaspoons of bone meal and epsom salt. Oh, and I have neem powder in there, trying to prevent those damn aphids I had all over my peppers last year.

Trident chilli · May 7, 2016

All looking good Alana great to see your plants in the green house ... hope they now fly with growth

Comptine · May 7, 2016

Trident chilli said:
All looking good Alana great to see your plants in the green house ... hope they now fly with growth

Cheers John! How's your grow coming along? Haven't seen an update from you in a while now. All well I hope.

Trident chilli · May 7, 2016

Comptine said:
Cheers John! How's your grow coming along? Haven't seen an update from you in a while now. All well I hope.

All well Alana just waiting for the weather to be more consistent before they go in the poly tunnel ... although I did read in the the newspaper today that we are in for a really good summer so fingers crossed for a good season and I hope you in Sweden get some good high temperatures

Comptine · May 7, 2016

Trident chilli said:
All well Alana just waiting for the weather to be more consistent before they go in the poly tunnel ... although I did read in the the newspaper today that we are in for a really good summer so fingers crossed for a good season and I hope you in Sweden get some good high temperatures

Right, I see. We got hit with quite the heatwave about a week ago, I would have thought you'd get similar weather. I do hope this summer is better, last summer which was my first time growing was a little discouraging.

tsurrie · May 7, 2016

The greenhouse is filling up nicely I see. Plants look OK and the weather is fine you say? There's a good chance you'll have a jungle in there in no time.

Comptine · May 8, 2016

tsurrie said:
There's a good chance you'll have a jungle in there in no time.

That's the plan!

Devv · May 8, 2016

Nice grow

Just totally different than mine as far as climate goes. It must take some time to sort out the temps in the greenhouse?

I'm way late pepper-wise this year and afraid I've missed the boat for pod setting. The 90's are here in 2-3 weeks :tear:

Good luck this season!