GeorgeJ's 2013 Tokyo-a-grow-grow - finishing off this season

Hey all.

First time growing from seed.
Thought I would start off with the grow box I built.

My apartment is so cold that I've built this box to sit in the closet and using a heat mat To keep things warm throughout. Not enough space or money to do everything separate.

So I built this box from Styrofoam and aluminium insulation sheeting. Managed to get everything from the 100 yen shop (japans version of the dollar store).

Here's it from the outside, in the closet (no gay jokes please) :

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On the inside there's a 50w fluorescent strip light I got for free with my axolotl tank. It's suspended from bamboo canes on wires, so I can adjust the height of the light as well as hopefully flexing in an earthquake.
To the left hand side, a small fan (also from an aquarium) which is pretty gentle to help toughen up the seedlings and prevent damping off.

It was alot brighter before putting the heat mat in, so I may put some thin aluminum foil over it. Thoughts?

I'm gonna prep the seeds and pots, so that's it for now.

 

[stickman]

I know G... Did you know that the predator that keeps Piranha in check in the Amazon is the Golden Dorado?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Dorado

 

[georgej]

that thing looks badass!

actually piranhas are total cowards. they are terrified of me. it's just the dominance game they have going on which one is losing consistently. that pic was taken about 10 days ago, since then the smaller one is losing half its tail and it's lower fins at the back, along with a fair chunk of it's stomach.
yet, it doesn't seem that bothered. business as usual!

 

[poypoyking]

Looking great George, and love all the critter pics. 

 

[georgej]

cheers fella!
 
actually, they seem to be going through a bit of a growth spurt recently, which i haven't photographed just to get a bit of a contrast.
we are getting 30+ c days, followed by thunderstorms and 90% humidity. not great for getting flowers to pod, but the foliage does seem to like it. i remember last year my habaneros struggled to set fruit until later on because of the extreme heat.
but once the weather cooled down it was crazy. after the whole humid summer growing

 

[georgej]

first pod to start ripening this year is my butch T
i'm wondering if it's a true butch T. this was the first pod to set and it is looking a bit different and more smooth than the others.
 

 

[stickman]

Hi G, First pods are almost always different-looking  than what comes after the plant gets more established. From what I gather, the classic shape on the pods from the Butch T.  are triple lobes with a 4th lobe underneath looking lika a fat tail.

Even if it's a cross, it should have a pretty good bite with that half of its genetics. Cheers!

 

[georgej]

yeah, they are looking naga like at the moment. some of the other pods are looking a bit more scorpion like.and bumpy/blistered and some crooked folds on them.

They're gonna be hot anyway.

i'm wondering if i got my labels mixed up. got my seeds from a semi reputable retailer in the UK, Chilli pepper petes.
hopefully it's a cross.
we'll have to wait for the ripe pod. i'll give it a test, chuck it up on youtube for everyones displeasure.

 

[georgej]

can't wait to eat this!

 
another one is ripening up

 

[stickman]

Good on ya G! It's always a great feeling to be pulling ripe pods.

 

[georgej]

only thing is i wish there were a few more of them on the plants, it's too damn hot outside for the flowers though,
 
hopefully they will have some time to grow over the hot humid summer, then when it starts to cool down there will be loads of nodes for flowers to set on.

it's been a great learning curve, i definitely know what i'm gonna do different next year and hopefully increase production

 

[georgej]

first harvest is off my 'butch t' plant. which isn't looking too butch t esque.
the newer pods are looking more scorpion like, but still.. we will see eh. it's kicking out some great looking pods regardless!

 

[georgej]

inside

burn was on the tonsils. floral and spikey.
only tried a slither raw but it was hot and crisp!

put both in a chilli con carne. hot but very small pods.
 

 

[georgej]

the plants over at the allotment are looking like this

it's hot out today so plants are having a mid day wilt. not many pics.

the 'butch t' is looking gnarly

 
recently move my bhut to the shade because it was taking a battering in the sun, it seems happy here!

 
Orange 7 pot also looking pretty happy

 
yellow 7 pot putting out some (admittedly bigger than other) buds. i expect them to fall off though in this heat

 
red habanero looking happy in the sun

 

[stickman]

It's all good G... looking at the shape and size, the Butch T. pods look like they might have crossed with a smaller Naga variety. Bhut crosses would be bigger I think. Plants in your MIL's allotment are looking really bushy compared to the ones in pots, and it's nice to see the Red Hab stepping up to the plate as well... nice job!

 

[georgej]

yeah i was also thinking naga.

the later pods are looking even more so like a cross, they have the lobes but it's pointy and twisted like a naga.
great tasting pods, the light floralness and throat burn of a scorpion without the overwhelming perfume or bitterness. it hasnt got the earthy naga flavour though.

i've not seen the plants with my own eyes since they got planted at the allotment, so i don't know for sure how they are doing. my mother in law is a genius at growing a huge amount of plants in a very small place, so they are in really good hands! hoping by the time the weather cools down, they will probably put out a large amount of pods (i'm a huge believer that if you put plants next to happy plants, they in turn become happy and join the party).

so far so good first season from seeds. i know what i will change next year. hoping to have moved house by then so i can have a small bit of garden space and get some bigger containers without risking tumbling plants.or damaging the building

 

[georgej]

Not much of a harvest, but i'm happy all the same.

my not Butch T (although they do taste and burn like scorpions)

 
so, it got up to 40 degrees c on sunday in Tokyo.. so no more pods for a while
 
however, we had a huge thunderstorm yesterday. which i can't believe how much good the humidity seemed to do good for the plants. they are looking lush and refreshed today.

i need to bite into one of these whole and do a proper review for it i think. they're actually pretty nice pods

 

[georgej]

managed to find a couple of sickly looking Jalapeno plants yesterday which i managed to get for 150 yen the pair. my paternal instinct kicked in and i felt sorry for the poor things so i wanted to take them home and see if i could make them feel a bit better.
they were in tiny pots, seriously over watered and it kinda clay like soil.

so i put them in a decent sized planter and gave them some fast draining soil. (the top is mostly coco fibre to protect the soil below, which is the basic 5-1-1 mix of bark compost, coir and perlite/vermiculite). gave them some ferts to water in and a bit of epsom salts too.

red habaneros finally showing some colour!

 
my bonnet, white habs and choc hab plants indoors seem to be pretty happy

it's still horrendously hot outside, but the plants are surviving. the south facing plants seem to be coping better with their new drip irrigation.

Went and watered everything last night with some water with a tablespoon per gallon of dolomitic lime mixed in and gave each plant a small dose, just incase the initial calcium has gotten washed away. hopefully it does some good!

 

 

[georgej]

so i made my paprika stew tonight

which contained some of my mutated Butch T pods

more placenta, more oil than the first ones..

So, it was the hottest dish i've ever eaten! my wife ate her fair share because this is her favourite dish of mine.
but, she got hiccups, ate 400g of yoghurt and was sucking on ice cubes for 30 minutes afterwards.

Me - i had endorphins rush for the first time eating a dish (not a raw pod) and pounded a litre of beer pretty fast afterwards. burn remained for about 30 minutes afterwards - mainly at the back of the mouth and throat, then moved towards the lips later on. it was silly hot! 3 hours later i can still feel the glow in my belly!
Floral overpowering butch t like aroma that takes your breath away even before the heat hits. and the heat hits fast, within about 5 seconds and just keeps building and building.

really liking these peppers! was disappointed with the first pods, but these ones are definitely scalding hot!

 

[stickman]

That Paprikash was so    it's cool G...   If self-immolation is your goal, we're here to help...

 

[georgej]

nice use of the word immolation!

yeah, like i say the first pods weren't that hot and these ones were. but, the plants are under alot of stress in this heat wave so it's no suprise. so i used a few pods.
Really enjoyed the ride though, kept eating until it was all gone and both my wife and i never panicked whilst eating. 
 
Dishes like that make you feel properly alive. it's awesome!

it's a little different to paprikash. i posted the recipe on here ages ago, originally for habaneros, but sadly i don't have enough ripe pods for the level of heat i like now, and i don't like dried habs - fresh is best!
 
i better go stick some toilet paper in the freezer.