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ehc's 1st grow season - 1st aji pineapple

As a younger man I used to love hot foods, but over the years sort of drifted to the mild. After and extended trip through South and Central America with my wife I started getting back into foods with heat and in particular chillis. When we finally got back we started a little herb garden on our balcony. After chatting with my cousin (Nee), i decided to give pepper growing a go.

I started with two seedlings from a local big box store, an orange hab and a mystery chilli called razzamattaz (i think). The raz fruited well, but the hab flowered a small bit, but that was that. They started to get a bit mangy at the start of winter so I pruned them right back and brought them inside. They withered a bit in May/June and I thought they were just about gone. Any way, I repotted the hab and gave some slow release ferts and it has come back strong, more foliage than ever and even some flowers. The other has come back a bit more slowly, but I only gave ferts to this one and not re-potted. Pretty happy really as have used no tech and it has been a bit cold here (down to 0 celsius) overnight.

Having the bug I also planted some store bought seeds and also some from Grant from JungleRain at the start of winter. A bit crazy as I have no tech, but I was keen to give it a go. The results, I had 3 of the store boughts sprout which was cool and also a manzano red and one the raz's (seeds i took from a grown pod). I had to separate two of the store boughts as they were in the same pot. Things were going well for awhile, but we went away for one weekend and when we got back one was dead, one was dying and the other needed a bit of love and the manzano and raz were dead as the fungus gnats had gotten at them. Was pretty shattered. But it happens really. The remaining two store bought seeds are fighting back and hopefuly they get stronger as the weather starts warming up. They are both still small, maybe 5 centimeters tall with 15-20 leaves each, but considering that they had to fight their way through winter, i'm stoked.

The plan now is to plant a whole bunch of jiffys in August and hope that I have a good little balcony garden ready for spring/summer. My grow list for this year is small, but i think that is probably best for a beginner:

Birds Eye (seed taken from bought pods)
Pimienta Pitanga (seed from JungleRain)
Aji Dulce Yellow (seed from JungleRain)
Aji Pineapple (seed from JungleRain)
Bahamian Goat Pepper (seed from JungleRain)
Habanero White Jellybean (seed from JungleRain)
Razzamattaz/Big Box Special (seed taken from grown pod)
Aji Cachaca (seed from JungleRain)
Manzano Red (seed from JungleRain)
Bishops Crown (gift from nee)
Olho de Peixe (seeds from eBay)
Orange Habanero (big box store)
F1 Super Hot (nursery seeds)

I will update with some photos of the existing plants soon and will update with the August grow as it goes.

Would greatly appreciated any feedback, tips, etc as I go. As being a newbie help is required.

Cheers all :fireball:
 
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Hi Bernard! Really glad to see you made it onto the forum! (Bernards my cuz!)
Not seen you guys in what feels like a loooong time! We have LOTS of video of Toms global ping pong frenzy to bore you with when you visit next...lol
See you soon :)
 
:welcome: from the PacificNorthWest, USA, Bernard!
You are smart to start small. Once you find varieties
that work well for you in your neighborhood, you'll be
on the way! Good Luck with your winter start!
 
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Photos added. Thanks for all the tips.

---- updated ---


Thanks for the welcome DocNRock and Paul.

Here are a couple of photos of the current grow.


This is one of the two from seed that almost carked it when we went away for a weekend but is fighting back. No idea of the type, the pack calls it F1 which is no help. The picture on the pack looks a little like bird's eye. Will have to see if it makes it through winter and starts to fruit.
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This is the store bought goes by the name razzamattaz that I pruned all the way back, but is slowly coming good again.
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And this is the store bought orange hab which is going great guns. Again, I pruned this back and though it was almost gone, but it has come back really well. Most foliage it ever had.
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And finally a couple of cactii that we have for decoration.
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Cheers
 
Hi mate...

OK, the way i do it, is to create a new album on Facebook...maybe call it "chilli plants" or something...and then in the options for the album, you can select who you share the album to. Select "just me" or whatever (basically just share the album with yourself!!) and then upload your photo's to that album. (that way no-one else on facebook gets bombarded with your chilli plant progress, unless you want them to see)

Then, on the photo you wish to post on here, right click on the facebook pic and select "copy image URL)....then come back to this page and hit the "image" button....then paste the link in. Repeat this for all of the pics you wish to post....and thats about it!
 
You can also upload pics to Photobucket or another hosting site,
and just paste the direct links they provide into the image dialogue
box that pops up when you click on the image icon in your new post.
 
Not much news on the existing chilli front. Re-potted my two over winter seedlings and that's about that.

I have in the meantime sown the rest of our balcony garden: 3 strawberry seedlings in hanging planter, chive seeds/oregano seeds in hanging planter, basil, spinach and myserty chilli seeds in propogater. Will be waiting with interest for the first sprouts of success.

Waiting a couple more weeks for the weather to warm up before I put the rest of the chilli seeds in jiffys. Hopefully, by mid-summer our balcony will resemble a jungle. (we also have an existing rosemary bush, blueberry bush and patio lime - all in their first full year of existence). Looking forward to the summer!
 
Visited my cousin Nee over the weekend and inspired by the forest at his I have sown a batch of seeds to start the spring (late winter) grow. Fingers crossed that they take. Any success will be awesome. Still have a few other types to sow once I get through these ones.

I've put in:
Aji Pineapple
Aji Dulce Yellow
Aji Cachacha
Bahamian Goat Pepper
Habanero White Jellybean
Bird's Eye
Pimienta Pitanga


IMG_0127.JPG


Rest of grow is going very well. Oregano, basil, coriander, chives and spinach have all sprouted from seed. Really can't wait for spring/summer to start harvesting and cooking.

Cheers
 
Right. Mixed feelings at the moment. My mature plants have sprung to life. The Hab has half a dozen or so flowers now so I'm hoping that I finally get my first pod (got flowers but not pods during the last summer) and the Bunnings special has come back from the dead and has too many to count flowers about to sprout. On the other hand my sown seeds are yet to spring to life, yet, the basil, thai basil, lettuce, spinach, chives and coriander planted at the same time are going mental. Patience is the key i'm thinking.

Here's a photo of the hab flowers:
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Another of the Hab flowers (it's different I promise):
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Some of the budding flowers on the Bunnings plant:
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More of the budding flowers on the Bunnings plant:
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Cheers.
 
Hiya!

Just a thought...are you flicking the flowers to try and pollinate them?

I used the brush method for a while, but have found i get way more success by gently flicking them. If they are ready you can see the pollen flying around when flicked.
 
Hiya!

Just a thought...are you flicking the flowers to try and pollinate them?

I used the brush method for a while, but have found i get way more success by gently flicking them. If they are ready you can see the pollen flying around when flicked.

yeah have been flicking them. haven't seen any pollen dropping off. will keep an eye on things, but will be beyond stoked if I can get a pod or two this early in the season.
 
Quick update. Finally have had a breakthrough on the seeds sown a few weeks back. A single bahamian goat pepper has pushed through the surface. Very happy.

On other news, one of the mature plants has lots of buds that haven't flowered (been about a month). Seems a bit odd, any tips?

One of my overwinter seedlings has toppled. I guess it got a bit too top heavy. I have tied it to an ice-cream stick to make it stand up, hopefully it doesn't die and grows a bit more steadily.

Photos to come in a few days.
 
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oioi Bernard!

Are the buds dropping off, or just staying there without flowering?

just staying without flowering. it's like it's stuck in time.

this is how it has looked for 3-4 weeks.

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on another note, i now have 2 bahamian goat peppers, 1 aji pineapple and 1 bunnings special sprout from seed in the last couple of days. pretty cool.
 
another update.

first thing first, it has been the week for sprouting. i now have 3 sprout from seeds taken from a big box store chilli plant which was very helpfully labelled 'chilli'. i will need to separate the two in one.
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i've also had some more success with two bahamian goat peppers, two aji pineapple (in one pot, although, i'm certain that i only put one seed per pot), one aji cachaca and one bird's eye taken from a pod bought at the market. good times.
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now to my overwinter seeds. the two f1 super hot (again very handily labelled) plants from seeds are coming along quite well, there are buds on both of them.
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one question for all you chilli heads though, one of the plants got a bit top heavy and when i put it outside to harden up a little it blew over in the wind, not the pot, the plant. to fix this, i've dropped in an marker label and tied the plant to it with a tie from a bread loaf. will this work, or do i need to do something else?
IMG_7902.JPG


here's a photo of the more healthy one of the two overwinter from seeds
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and finally, the habanero from the big box store that i managed to keep alive over winter. there is tons of foliage and probably a dozen or so flowers in the there, but still yet to get a pob. waiting very patiently. i am flicking to try to pollenate. is there anythin else i should be doing or should i just let it be?
IMG_7905.JPG


Cheers.

quick question re: this blog. how do i change the title of the blog?
 
Hi Bernard!

You change the title by going to the first post you made at the top....click EDIT.....and then FULL EDIT....then you can change the title too :)
 
Hi Bernard!

You change the title by going to the first post you made at the top....click EDIT.....and then FULL EDIT....then you can change the title too :)

Mate, it doesn't give me that option, that's why i thought i was doing something wrong and asked.
 
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