MarkT growing log 2011

Hello my fellow chilliheads,

This is my first time growing chillis or any other plants for the matter. I have been reading and learning from this forum and am truely inspired but the impressive chilli plants grown by the members here. My goal is to be able to successfully grow chinense varieties that are currently unavailable here in Malaysia. I have been collecting chilli seeds from Australia, South Africa, UK and Australia and so far I have successfully germinated the following type.

Bhut Jolokia Red
Bhut Jolokia Chocolate
Trinidad Scorpion Red
Trinidad Scorpion Butch T
Fatalii Yellow
Trinidad Scorpion Morouga Blend
Yellow 7 Pod
Chocolate Habanero
Yellow Habanero
Red Savina
Datil
Bonda Ma Jacques
Dorset Naga
Yellow Scotch Bonnet
ThaiBirdsEye
Localchinense(unidentified)

Some issue I was facing initially were the right type of soil, temperature and amount of sunlight. I have since settled to a mixture of
45% (normal soil mix) 45% Coco coir 10% perlite and will adding in some worm casting, guano and processed chicken manure.
I germinated all my seeds outdoor with indirect sunlight and will gradually increase the amount of exposure to the sun but never full direct sunlight.
Our weather here is humid and hot with daytime temperate 30c to 35c and night time 25c to 28c. Season is either rainy or dry.

Here are some of the latest photos of my plants and materials I will be using. I plan on growing all in pots.

This is a birdseye type chilli. I collected the seeds from a fresh pod that were bought from the market. They are currently the hottest chilli sold in our market. Germination rate was very good.

This plant I believe is our local Cabai Burung I bought the plant from Tesco Supermarket and transplant them into a bigger pot

Did some reading about this product hopefully they will be useful.

Bought some essential liquid fertilizer and bug spray. I will be using them at 1/2 dosage every 2 weeks.

Below are some of the older plants that are growing well

Here is a mystery chinense chilli I got from my friend's garden. They don't look like habanero to me? I know they are way hotter than the local birdseye chilli. I have collected the seeds and succesfully germinated some. The burning sensation on my fingers lasted 2 days when I extracted the seeds without any gloves.

Anyway that it for today. Like to say thanks for all the info shared by fellow members in this forum. I will always welcome helpful comments and will try my best to share what I have learned with others. Thanks again

Mark T

 

[markt_10350]

It has been 1 week since my last posting. I think I will stop any new germination and concentrate on keeping my existing plants healthy. I am still constantly checking my plants to make sure the pest are under control. Here are some updates.

My tesco plant is starting to bush up. With plenty of flowers

This is currently how I incubate my seedlings. By placing them outdoor on a shaded area with a plastic food cover.

This is what I bought recently as part of my arsenal against pest.

Suppose to be Yellow Scotch Bonnet. But from the shape of the leaves they look like Annum to me any comments would be great.

Yes!! My first superhot pods. (Chocolate Bhut Jolokia) I was worried that I won't get any fruit set due to the high temperature but I guess not!!

Most of my older batch of super hots are starting to flower up. Here is a Butch T

Some Thai Sweet Basil! Goes really well with Vietnamese/Thai beef noodle soup!!

Thanks guys for watching. I have extra seedlings of Dorset Naga and Aji Lemon. Whoever in Penang is interested can have them for free.

Mark

 

[srin2]

looks like you got the neem oil now

hmmm superhots podding up now ) hope it come out as what is should be..!!

good luck.

 

[markt_10350]

looks like you got the neem oil now

hmmm superhots podding up now ) hope it come out as what is should be..!!

good luck.

Hi Sri,

Thanks for the direction, manage to find them at a local indian shop for RM3.50 each (1.10USD). Hopefully I don't need to use them.
I really hope that the superhots will turn out as it should be. I am pretty confident with my Chocolate Bhut and Butch T as I got mine from The Hippy Seed Co. I also have Nagabon, TS Morouga Blend, Bonda Ma Jacques and yellow 7 pot from them.

Mark T

 

[markt_10350]

Hi Fellow Chilliheads,

Its been close to 1 month since my last update. Things are moving fast. Aphids are around but under control. Notice some ladybirds hanging around as well. My initial set of pods were devastated by chilli loving bird who peck holes into so many of my unripe pods. To counter that , I have wrapped some of the new pods with blue color plastic. Its been raining almost daily but plants are doing alright smart pot seems to help with drainage. I notice more roots protruding out of the sides of my smart pots.

My Choc Bhut Jolokia from THSC

Fatalii Pods

Trinidad Scorpion Butch T from THSC

Jamaican Yellow Mushroom (annuum) that was labeled as yellow scotch bonnet.

Mystery pepper I got as as gift. Anybody know what they are and hows the taste?

Bonda Ma Jacques plant from THSC that shows Tri Branching.

Trinidad scorpion red with plenty of flowers and pod set.

I am excited with the result so far. I did observe that most of my plants could not take full day of sun in our tropical climate. The best result I have is morning sun until 2 pm. Plants that are coping better would be the trinidad scorpions, Dorset Naga, Fatalii, nagabon, 7pods, aji lemons. Plants that doesn't seem to grow well are my datil and red bhut jolokia from fireupchilli.
Can't wait to have my first taste of fresh superhots! Just wondering from fruit set to ripening, how long will it usually take?

Thanks for viewing, all comments are welcome.

Mark T

 

[ta2edfreak]

They all look great. i believe your mystery pepper is a hot hungarian, it looks like mine. Good luck.

 

[markt_10350]

They all look great. i believe your mystery pepper is a hot hungarian, it looks like mine. Good luck.

Hi Ta2edfreak,

Thanks for helping ID the pepper. Looks like is a tasty pepper! Great

Mark T

 

[ta2edfreak]

They are very tastey, I pickled some up with some serranos and they had great flavour with a good amount of heat. My wife eats them right out of the jar but I put them on pizzas.

 

[patrick]

Looks like you've grown chili's before Mark T. they're looking wonderful especially after all the troubles you've had. Way to grow!

 

[markt_10350]

They are very tastey, I pickled some up with some serranos and they had great flavour with a good amount of heat. My wife eats them right out of the jar but I put them on pizzas.

Hi ta2edfreak,

Yum, I haven't tried pickling before but will definitely have a go at it. Now is to wait for it to be ready for harvest :-)

Mark T

 

[markt_10350]

Looks like you've grown chili's before Mark T. they're looking wonderful especially after all the troubles you've had. Way to grow!

Hi Patrick,

Thanks for the complement. Its my first time growing them, before moving to my current place, I was staying in an apartment without a balcony. It been a very rewarding learning process and I am still learning and facing new challenges. I would like to thank my friend below who did a good in helping my chilli plants grow healthy, he does not use the internet thus could not visit this awesome site :-)

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Seriously though, I got most of my help thanks to great tips and advice from very helpful and knowledgeable members of THP.
BTW, looking at your grow log, your plants are amazing great job.

Mark T

 

[megamoo]

All your plants look really healthy. Keep the photos coming. Want to see some ripe pods

 

[markt_10350]

Hi Megamoo,

Thanks, give me 2 weeks I believe I should have some ripe ones :-)

Mark T

 

[kiddc]

impressive results
Good going

 

[mascalzone]

Good work Mark. Love the pictures..

 

[markt_10350]

Thank you Kiddc and mascalzone for your compliment. This is my first time growing chillis. I didn't realize its going be so hard if I where to avoid using systemic pesticide. For the pass week I notice aphids, mites, whitefly, thrips effecting my chilli plants, lucky with the help of predators (jumping spiders and lady birds) that keep those infestation in check. Also notice fruit fly causing some of my pod to prematurely drop with tiny white maggots inside. The constant rain is starting to effect my younger plants causing bacteria leaf spots. I have trim off all affected areas hopefully they will recover. Beside that, I have new pod set for my nagabon, dorset nagas, TS morouga blend and some habaneros. Looking forward to some ripe superhots in a few weeks time:-)


Mark T

 

[markt_10350]

Hi There,

Its been raining daily and my younger plants are suffering from bacteria leaf spot. I have to trimmed many of them to just stems. I have also move some of them to location that is sheltered from rain. I find that as long as it keeps raining the leaf spot will keep coming back. For older plants I have trimmed off all the bottom leafs. I have look into a product called copper hydroxide which is OMRI certified.
Another problem I am facing at the moment is oriental fruit fly infestation. Most of my near mature pots >90% are infected and suffer from premature drop with maggots crawling inside. I am currently using MAT method to trap tthe male fruit fly. Hopefully it i will reduce the number of affected pods. On a positive side, here are my first 2 superhot. Fatalii and Butch T

I tried them, the fatalii is hot but I would say they are 20 to 30% hotter than the hottest local chilli I can get ( thai birdseye). I like the flavor (fruity citrus and abit sweet), will definitely use them in my cooking. On the other hand the Butch T is all together in a different league. I took 2 small pieces, initial heat was similar to the fatalii. But then it got worst and worst. I never experience "Back of my throat" pain. Now I know what it feels like. I finished all the milk I had in the fridge, got laugh at by my wife and my 3 year old daughter have a concern face seeing my suffering. All was good after 10+ minutes. At least I can say I have tried the hottest pepper in the world :-) I have many young pods of Butch T, T Scorpion Red, TS Morouga Blend, Fatalii, Bhut J red, Bhut J chocolate, Dorset Naga, Nagabon, Yellow 7 pod, yellow hab, golden hab. If the fruit fly is kept under control should have ripe pods in 1 month time. Goodluck then..

Mark T

 

[markt_10350]

The constant rain is affecting my seedlings but the older plants are doing alright. I am now fighting oriental fruit fly as well as bacteria leaf spot. For Oriental fruit fly I am setting up traps to lure them as for Bacteria leaf spot I am using copper hydroxide. Here are some pictures

Hungarian Hot Wax stung by fruit fruit fly

Fruit fly trap

Some sort of birds eye chilli I bought from tesco that got thrips. I pruned the leaves completely and they are making a comeback :-)

Fatalii

Butch T

Dorset Naga

TS Morouga Blend

Yellow 7 Pot from THSC

Nagabon

Aji Lemon

Continue

 

[markt_10350]

Yellow Habanero

Golden Habanero

Chocolate Bhut Jolokia from THSC

Thats it for now. Happy growing for those in the southen hemisphere and to those in the northern hemisphere have a good harvest and enjoy the chillis!

Mark T

 

[harry]

How are all of those enticing pods coming along?

Did you make any headway into the battle against fruit fly?

 

[markt_10350]

How are all of those enticing pods coming along?

Did you make any headway into the battle against fruit fly?

Hi Harry,

My chillis are doing fine. Finally get the chance to try out all those different variety of peppers. My favourite are still the Fatalii and Bonda Ma Jacques. I find the Bonda Ma Jacques hotter than fatalii. Like the flavour very much. For my crop, the Fatalii seems to be more productive. Here are some updates of my harvest

As for my fruit fly issue. I have lost > 60 percent of my fruits even though I used fruit fly trap. I am currently wrapping some pods with plastic bag. And have ordered some organza bags to use from Ebay. I will also experiment with this product I got recently.

Happy growing my friend

Mark T