Megamoo's 2011/2012 Grow Log

megamoo · Sep 23, 2011

New ones popped up. Old ones bigger.

yay

RaelThomas · Sep 23, 2011

Lookin good mega, "woohoo" @ your hot cherry sprout!
That's a nice little selection of other seeds you've got on the go too.

Trippa · Sep 23, 2011

Did you finally pop the hot cherry!!!!????

megamoo · Sep 23, 2011

Yes !

Really wanted to pop that cherry. The hard test is to get it to produce fruit.
No chillies but I also started some vegetables and herbs last night.

Dot Com · Sep 24, 2011

Very nice variety you have mega

I'll especially like watching the Asian Birdseye progress, among others, that you're growing. I also obtained some jiffy pellets and they seemed to be great in that they are comprised of a light and variegated(?) medium and they also let air circulate. They have worked fabulously for me. I believe I heard of them Neil on one of his vids and thought I'd give 'em a try. I then just take the whole pellet and transfer it to a pot w/ dirt already in it and simply make a small depression to put the pellet in after the seedlings rise and take hold. Really simplifies thing IMHO. My 2nd season is just ending, as I'm in the N. hemisphere, but I grow chilis year round indoors.

megamoo · Sep 28, 2011

Thanks Dot Com.

The jiffys are good but right now I've done exactly what I warned others about doing somewhere on this forum. I've left them in too long and the roots have grown through into their neighbouring pellet. This isn't a problem if you have some sort of tray to separate them or you just sit them apart but I went and crammed them in

When I tear them apart this week to pot up they will lose some roots and it will slow their progress but I'm sure they will recover and grow on.

They've gotten too big but I've been busy. I think I have only watered them once, so all this growth is from the water that went into the jiffy pellets.

These are younger up and comers

And some action from the non chillies.

This photo was taken on sunday and since then the bucket plants have finally shown some signs of positive growth. They were mercilessly rained on for a week and thats eased up.

Moving the buckets off the ground and onto flat chipboard to give better drainage has made a big difference. You probably can't tell in the picture but they are also on a gentle slope towards the camera, so no pooling of water is possible. My best producers last season were six orange habaneros that were on a metal rack high off the ground. I will definitely look at elevating all my pots this season.

Dot Com · Sep 28, 2011

Looks like your ready to go w/ those buckets. I had no idea that I'd have to have as many buckets as I do :rolleyes:

megamoo · Oct 1, 2011

Today time for a pot up.

The old ones are liking the greenhouse. All the new ones are in purple pots.

I thought the buckets were doing well but today I can see they are struggling. Even after a few days of sunshine there is still a wet footprint around one of them. Third row from the top, on the left.

Despite drilling large holes in the buckets the soil mix I used isn't draining well enough. I am going to have to repot them and mix in a whole heap of perlite.
I have a plan to fix it further. I've got a metal rack, which used to be an outside cat enclosure tunnel and I am going to sit all the buckets on it so there is plenty of airflow underneath them.

This Cochiti has decided that it isn't getting any bigger so it will start podding up.

Dot Com · Oct 1, 2011

Good thing you noticed that about the dirt. I've noticed that there are a few experienced growers in Australia on this forum who mix their own dirt. I live in an urban area & a smaller scale grower so I don't really have the option to utilize dirt by the truckload and things like farm refuse and worm castings that plants love. Maybe in a few more years.

megamoo · Oct 2, 2011

Had some time today so I managed to get two of the racks together. Will try to do another two tomorrow but have to juggle it with kids.

When it starts to get hot I will make a little screen of black plastic that will shade the pots but not the plants. They have to grow a bit before that will work. I will also install drip irrigation and shadecloth because our summers are harsh. Last season everything stopped producing in the middle of summer, so I'm trying to even out the temperature extremes.

Silver_Surfer · Oct 2, 2011

A fine start of a great variety. Best of luck to you with this season megamoo.

megamoo · Oct 3, 2011

Thanks Silver_Surfer

If I think about something too long I never get around to doing it so I made other two racks today. Each holds 6 buckets and I'm only using three racks for my 18 buckets at the moment but I will be potting up a lot more soon.

I might figure out a shelf that can hook onto the top of the wall because I'm renting and I can't just go and drill holes when I feel like it.

Spuds · Oct 3, 2011

Just read through this entire thread. Really coming along well. :clap:

Really liking the shelf idea. Even more so by having something to hand on the wall. I'm also renting here at the moment, so would like to see how you do it.

Also loving the bucket idea. I think I need to give that a try.

megamoo · Oct 5, 2011

Ok these pictures may look very similar to the last post but I have changed out the soil that was in all but a few of the buckets. I mixed in the last of the perlite I had into some and used sugar cane mulch layering in others. I also added a lot of expanded coir-peat bricks to the mix. When the soil level has dropped down from watering I will mulch all of the pots too. We are still getting a few rainy days at the moment so it can wait.

I also potted up some smaller ones into buckets.

These are the green house ones. Look for the two pale yellow ones, one in the light blue pot and the green pot which is two pots away from it, they were potted down from buckets because they were really struggling. The one in between them, as well as others has thrived in the greenhouse conditions and smaller pot. All three are cayenne gold.

These ones are liking their spot.

Inside more are starting to get big, but I let them dry out and a few tiny ones died.

I also sowed a bunch of different basil varieties.

I deliberately sowed them thickly so I get clusters of basil shoots. I will do minimal thinning out, only if needed. I also didn't label them so I'll have to guess which variety is which.

PIC 1 · Oct 5, 2011

Hey nice job with those plants...they'll have plenty of room to spread their wings, ....ugh....I mean roots....
Happy 1000 posts...!

megamoo · Oct 8, 2011

Thanks PIC 1

They really should be doing better by now but today I did half of my shadecloth project which will hopefully set them up to cruise through our blistering summer without too much stress. I also remembered my best pot plants from last season were heavily mulched so Ill be doing that. Will take some photos when its done.

Had some interaction with the garden life today. Found a baddie worm, didn't notice till after uploading the photo the goody spider right next to him. Fed the worm to the currently neutral ants, who have the capacity to be very bad, but right now we are enjoying a peaceful truce.

Fresno winter pod getting a lot of sun and ripening.

Flower on something new this season, can't remember which variety.

Dot Com · Oct 8, 2011

megamoo said:
Ok these pictures may look very similar to the last post but I have changed out the soil that was in all but a few of the buckets. I mixed in the last of the perlite I had into some and used sugar cane mulch layering in others. I also added a lot of expanded coir-peat bricks to the mix. When the soil level has dropped down from watering I will mulch all of the pots too. We are still getting a few rainy days at the moment so it can wait.

That sounds like a good mix. I bet the struggling ones'll be rebounding and turning a lush green within a week.

megamoo · Oct 10, 2011

I hope so Dot Com... I really do :pray:

Put up my chilli area today. The ceiling will be redone because the shadecloth I used was really old and stretchy. So when I walk under it it sits on my head. I stuck two bits of wood to hold it up for now and will make a frame to keep it all good. You can't see it but I have a retic line running along the base of the wall. I'm going to put two more lines off it which will run along under the shelf and the other side. Then I just have to splice little drippers for each bucket. Hope that is coherent but I know what I mean

The sun isn't blisteringly hot yet but it will be soon so the shadecloth will definitely be needed. The shadecloth around the sides is for keeping out the wind, and also small children who like to rip plants up.

Also found a little friend today. Hope he sticks around!

Pepper-Guru · Oct 10, 2011

Mantis = garden blessing

megamoo · Oct 13, 2011

After those photos were taken he climbed onto the shadecloth screen you can see behind him and he stayed there for two days. But now hes gone

I just covered all the buckets and pots with sugar cane mulch, which looks exactly like him so he might be still there camoflaged.
With all the moving and repotting of my plants they haven't grown or changed at all. I'm sure they are reestablishing their root structure. Have to try and be patient with them.

I've let the ones inside dry out a few times but they are still going.

The basils are ready to get a bigger pot or be thinned out now. I'm deliberately seeing how well they will do all clustered in together.
Most of the chillies are ready to move up too.