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
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)
Aji Dulce Yellow (seed from JungleRain)
Aji Pineapple (seed from JungleRain)
Bahamian Goat Pepper (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
