How r ur peppers going in Perth west oz?

[nemspy]

Near gale-force winds it seemed like last night. One of my plants was actually UPROOTED

 

[nemspy]

Honestly, I'm just about ready to pull the pin and wait until we move away from this balcony situation.
 
My plants this year are beyond a joke. They started out all lush and lovely but every day I go out they have lost more leaves, very few flowers fail to drop, and 2/3 of my collection look like it's mid-winter and they have turned into sticks. The rest are either depressingly bereft of pods or covered in singed, sickly looking leaves. The only ones that are looking OK are my big red habanero and my big cheiro goias which looks great.
 
I know my situation is far from ideal for growing chillies; however, my plants looked like gold this time last year. I'm not doing anything differently -- they just don't want to live.
 
Probably going to drive a bunch of sticks up to mum's place to let them recover and perhaps early next season they will be strong enough, like the goias and the red hab, to live down here again.
 
It's depressing.

 

[Rainman]

I have three established plants, if you want one to set some pods before the season closes.

That's kind of you to offer, but the set-up I have for pots is not working, so it would probably not set pods for me even though you have grown a healthy plant.
 
The front garden (morning sun) has too much shade from the landlady's damn tree and the back garden (full afternoon sun) seems too exposed and the wind / extra sun etc. is causing grief.  Not to mention the aphids and the damn chilli moth/maggot attacks.  
 
The area I have for planting in the ground is OK, but the soil is wrong and its too late in the season to fix it.  Next year I'll make it into a raised bed and fix the soil mix to something more organic and plant into ground rather than pots.
 

Honestly, I'm just about ready to pull the pin and wait until we move away from this balcony situation.
 
My plants this year are beyond a joke. They started out all lush and lovely but every day I go out they have lost more leaves, very few flowers fail to drop, and 2/3 of my collection look like it's mid-winter and they have turned into sticks. The rest are either depressingly bereft of pods or covered in singed, sickly looking leaves. The only ones that are looking OK are my big red habanero and my big cheiro goias which looks great.
 
I know my situation is far from ideal for growing chillies; however, my plants looked like gold this time last year. I'm not doing anything differently -- they just don't want to live.
 
Probably going to drive a bunch of sticks up to mum's place to let them recover and perhaps early next season they will be strong enough, like the goias and the red hab, to live down here again.
 
It's depressing.

Sorry to hear Nemspy.  I take it the goias and red hab were overwinters from last year as well? You are not alone in a bad season.  
 
This was my first season / attempt at growing so many chilli types and I've leant so much, but that feels like little conciliation for the lack of pods.  
My harvest to date has comprised:
 
3 x Fatalis (stunted in the pots - now dying)
10-15 Jalapenos (damping off fungus wiped out the plant from my early over-watering mistakes)
10 mexi-belles (damping off fungus wiped out the plant from my early over-watering mistakes)
30 odd Chocolate Habaneros (half the plant has dropped every leaf the other half is fully healthy? I think I possibly damaged a root when I potted it up)
20 odd Red Habaneros (plant is still healthy)
5 odd x Douglahs (plant is now a stick - poor soil mix?)
5 odd x Jonahs (plant is now a stick - poor soil mix?)
 
1 x Morugas Scorpion, 1 x Trinidad Cadi Yellow, 2 x Butch T, 2 x Bhuts Jolokia plants all produced NOTHING, grew well initially, dropped a ton of flowers and are now sticks or fighting an Aphid plague. 
 
All my plants were generally in pots for a long, long portion of the growing season.  The two that went to ground late are much, much healthier but have aphids, so I dont expect much from them in terms of late season pods  
 
I'm just about to write the season off too.  But I will be back next year for another go... 

 

[nemspy]

Yeah, the red hab and goais lived at my Mum's in Perth overwinter. The hab kept its leaves all winter. They are about five feet tall in pots and no matter what the balcony throws at them they look great. The other stuff? If a sparrow farts outside they seem to be absolutely crisped with windburn. I can only guess that the ones that lived at Mum's got better hardened off, but some of those were out getting direct sun from dawn till about noon every day for months.
 
It's not just the leaf burn, either. Some of my plants just get all droopy and the leaves drop off - no idea why. This didn't happen last year.

 

[Jonquill]

Thanks for the welcome Highlucks
 
 
 
So what do you guys do with your plants in the winter, just leave them in the ground and hope for the best? Do they mostly survive the cold weather?

 

[highlucks]

Jonquil, there is an awesome thread in this section about over wintering. Check it out the advice and videos are priceless.

 

[Jonquill]

Thanks I had a quick look at that thread, a lot of it seems to be about digging your plants up and bringing them inside before the snow falls, seems a bit hard core for Perth Do any of you do that? 

 

[Super David]

Na I just leave them, or rip them up and start fresh, or cut them back.  It seems that the plants I left alone in general did better than the plants I cut back. The ones I cut back I either didn't do anything or took a long long time to do anything.

 

[Jonquill]

That's the sort of course of action that suits me, one that doesn't require any extra effort. Luckily I haven't become emotionally attached to any of them yet.

 

[Super David]

I dont know about all this chili stuff really.  Unless there is a net over it, I dont feel like its worth it.  The ratio of good chilies to bad because of the grubs is way out of balance.   Maybe its better for non hydroponic plants but when the plants are so thick they just seem to get their own community going and then ruin almost every pod.
 
Ghost hab Kill ratio

 
Pickled Burmese Naga from netted soil plant.

 
Ghost hab on the left.  Aji Panca at the back right.
Except for the first harvest early on I'm getting nothing from them now because of the grubs.

 
overall picture of the mostly hydroponic garden.

 

[Micca302]

 
 
I may have a spare in Chilliville if your interested.



 
 

 

Cheers for the offer Mate but will pass. I am really over the Chilli's this year!
Most of my pots have gone to Shitenhausen and i'm over putting the effort in just to watch them get worse!
On a brighter note the ones in my raised bed are going great so they are getting my attention.
 
Micca

 

[AussieMitch]

Rather than start a whole new thread, I thought I'd ask you guys first.
Can anyone tell me why my pods are getting to about the size of a marble, and then ripening?
Yellow 7 Pod


Butch T


Any ideas lads?
The Butch T is in the ground, and the yellow 7 is in a pot.

 

[Super David]

I've had pods like that on all my plants at some stage or another.  I think its pretty normal to have stunted pods.  Maybe conditions changed once the pod set so it was stunted, maybe its a birth defect.  Could also be temperature related.  Through winter my indoor trinidad scorpion put out rounded pods like that, as things heated up it put out more wrinkly pointy pods

 

[Micca302]

Well I harvested some Carolina Reapers this morning. Man do these look the part!!!!
 

 

 

 
Look at these puddles of oil

 
 
Happy Chilli Growing,
Micca
 

 

[highlucks]

So the Midland markets got me again yesterday. I picked up a Chinese Lantern and what I thought was an Orange scotch bonnet. After repotting them both into larger pots I got a very nice surprise when I checked one of the labels. It was not an orange Sb but in fact a Brazilian Starfish. I did not know they existed but after a quick google search the label was confirmed. Even better was the fact it came with at least a dozen ripe pods and the same still ripening.

Micca, that is some gnarly looking pods you have there, were you brave enough to taste test?
 
-----------------------------------
 
I have just posted this in the Affid thread and thought you guys may also like to give it a try.
 
I have been using a home concoction to take care of the Affids attacking my plants.

In a small food processor I add
5 or 6 Bhut Jolokia Chilli pods
2 cloves of garlic
1 teaspoon of Scorpion tail chilli sauce.(was used this time as I only had 4 pods available)
 
Blend until it is as fine as you can get it. add 1/4 a cup of water and blend again.
Add another 1/4 cup and repeat.
 
Once fully blended strain to remove the pulp into a pouring jug

Then add the pulp back to the processor and add another 1/2 half cup and blend. Again straining into the pouring jug.

You want to remove as much pulp as you can because it will block up your spray pack.

Now you have 1 cup of concentrate chilli spray. Pour this into a pump pack spray bottle and add around 1-2 teaspoons of dish washing liquid along with 1-2 litres of water.


Now spray your plants and watch the bastards die. You may have to reapply but I have found this to work on my plants. When I make my next batch I will also be adding tobacco to the mix for extra potency.

 

[Jonquill]

I don't have any aphids, but after only a couple of days rain the slugs and snails have reappeared as is by magic. I found one this morning raping my passionfruit seedlings >   Hope they don't like chillies?

 

[Micca302]

Rather than start a whole new thread, I thought I'd ask you guys first.
Can anyone tell me why my pods are getting to about the size of a marble, and then ripening?
Yellow 7 Pod


Butch T


Any ideas lads?
The Butch T is in the ground, and the yellow 7 is in a pot.

 
They look alot like winter pods to me. I assume being in Kal that it was hot as these were growing?
Like Supedavid said the only time I have seen it is with cooler weather or the plant being stunted.
The Yellow 7 is a great one for having smooth skin in the cooler weather and develops the lumps/bumps when the heat is around.
 
Micca

 

[Rainman]

Seeing a bit of new growth and generally all round healthier plants now the weather is below 30 degrees.  Leads me to suspect root temperature and lack of watering may have been a lesson to learn for next year during summer.
 
Have a few flower buds on many of the former sticks (Jonah, Douglah, Scorpions, Fatali) and some new pods setting on my Red and Choc Habaneros. A little late season flurry.  Hope the weather stays high 20s for a few more months to see some actual harvests.
 
Anyone else getting life back from struggling plants?

 

[Jonquill]

Yeah, for sure, my chilli plants are all at various stages of newness so not quite sure what to expect there, but all my other plants look more perky. I think I might put some shade cloth over my vege patch next year.

 

[highlucks]

Here's a little harvest I did the other night. There is a little bug on a scotch bonnet can any one advise if he is friend or foe.

 
Brasilian Starfish - EDIT turns out these might be. Annuum bonnets! Aka Jamaican mushrooms. as posted in the starfish thread.

 

 

 
Chinese Lantern

Scotch Bonnets

Little bug

 
Some fun with kaleidoscope setting