Megamoo's 2012/2013 Glog

Lavatung · Dec 10, 2012

Nice to see you've got some podage happening moo, and some toms as well. Question... How long does it take until you can pick jalapeños? I got one that's been in the bush for about a month. I'm busting to eat it lol.

megamoo · Dec 10, 2012

Lavatung said:
Nice to see you've got some podage happening moo, and some toms as well. Question... How long does it take until you can pick jalapeños? I got one that's been in the bush for about a month. I'm busting to eat it lol.

On one seed site it says 65 to 80 days. That either means from sowing the seed or transplant into the garden. I've not had a ripe one this season but if you can't wait for it to change colour you can eat it green obviously, and if its been on the plant a month it should be plenty hot.

What type of jalapeno? Is it from the big packet of mine? Mine were taking a long time and I begun to suspect they were selectively bred to stay green longer for the market.

Lavatung · Dec 10, 2012

It's from the early seeds you gave me. So those woollies seeds actually podded up? I didn't end up planting those. How are those mystery red savinas going?

megamoo · Dec 10, 2012

Lavatung said:
It's from the early seeds you gave me. So those woollies seeds actually podded up? I didn't end up planting those. How are those mystery red savinas going?

I've got two or three of the mystery plants in the raised garden bed. They haven't got pods yet but are budding.

Yeah they sure are podding up. I've ended up with 10 mature plants in the ground. After the big windy storm we had I harvested everything to lighten their load... and make some green sauce.

They are already heavily podding up again and this time I'll let them turn red before picking.

DocNrock said:
Lots of work, and with that, I hope comes lots of reward! You are going to have a chile jungle, my friend. Keep it up and keep up with the pics!

PaulG said:
MM, you are turning into a growing machine!

Thanks guys. Little green superhot pods are getting bigger everyday.

megamoo · Dec 14, 2012

My first ripe pod this season was this tiny Naga Jolokia Purple a few days ago.

It had more heat than I expected from a little pod. Couldn't really taste anything.

Then today these

Ate the one in the foreground. I don't think this variety is meant to be very hot but it really got me! The heat faded quickly so I think I am just not used to eating fresh pods.

I have resolved to eat at least one fresh pod from every variety I'm growing... and considering I have about ten different green superhot pods coming on, it looks like 2013 will be starting off with fire and pain :mouthonfire:

stickman · Dec 14, 2012

Wow, 2 weeks for those Naga Jalokia pods to ripen! That'll warm the cockles of your heart!

megamoo · Dec 14, 2012

stickman said:
Wow, 2 weeks for those Naga Jalokia pods to ripen! That'll warm the cockles of your heart!

Well thanks to my overly detailed glog i can see that he pods first appeared around 20th October
http://thehotpepper.com/topic/31245-megamoos-20122013-glog/page__st__80#entry721764

and the first picture I have of the fullish grown purple pod is on 18th November
http://thehotpepper.com/topic/31245-megamoos-20122013-glog/page__st__120#entry734191

So that's just under 4 weeks to ripen. If that is long then I'm not surprised. The plants have been through a few repots, over feedings, disruptions to watering schedules, serious heat and intense sun, followed by two solid days of rain and high winds in all that time.... not exactly optimum conditions.

I just checked back at the site where I got the seed and they no longer have a listing for it. I'm trying to find a heat description so I know what they are supposed to be.

stickman · Dec 14, 2012

Hi Moo
I was just comparing your pics of them from 2 weeks ago when they began to change from black to brown and your pics today when they're fully ripe. 4 weeks from flower to ripe pod sounds a little long for an Annuum with pods of that size, but not overly so... and I expect the extra time gives them more heat, eh?

megamoo · Dec 14, 2012

In past seasons I've had precious little experience watching pods form at all... let alone ripen. I'm just happy its all growing away at the moment. It wasn't very long ago I found out that most purple pods ripen to red and not purple

Apparently Pimenta de Neyde stays purple.

Hope I get some ripe chinenses by new year, might take longer tho.

The plants were stressed by all the stuff going on so that could be to blame for the pod being hotter than I expected, but I really don't have any reference point for fresh pod heat. Willing to learn... :fireball:

gasificada · Dec 15, 2012

From what I remember, Naga Jolokia Purple does have a surprisingly decent kick to it. For an annuum, it's up there. Try letting one dry and then taste it. It should improve the flavour--make it a bit richer. They are deffo one of those ones that are better used dried (or as a powder).

megamoo · Dec 15, 2012

gasificada said:
From what I remember, Naga Jolokia Purple does have a surprisingly decent kick to it. For an annuum, it's up there. Try letting one dry and then taste it. It should improve the flavour--make it a bit richer. They are deffo one of those ones that are better used dried (or as a powder).

I've got a dehydrator that's been sitting idle for about about 6 months, waiting for the chilli fest to begin. So I'll definitely put a load of NJP through.

Transplanted about 34 chinenses into the garden today, and finished extending the retic so finally everything in the garden bed is on automatic watering.

Was worried about the big ones because after some rain their new growth was all light green. I was doing the thing that always gets me into trouble... thought they needed some ferts but they didn't, that is just the colour of a burst of new growth. Today they are all normal green again and looking good. This is the situation that leads people into loving their plants to death. I was lucky I've been too busy to do anything about it.

These are the last 6 plants behind the shed. Decided on a single row to give them more space. If it gets too hot I will put some shadecloth up.

New ones

It may look like all the transplants are in sand but that is just what I dug out of the large holes. I filled them in with composted wood chip stuff and the sand went on top and around so they should have good drainage.

Finally seeing some pods beginning from Habanero Peach

Jonah (pulled the dead flower off to see

)

Orange Lantern

I think the ants are doing a lot of my pollinating. They are always crawling all over the plants and get right into the flowers.
You probably can't clearly see the ant in this Dorset Naga flower but in the second photo you can see it has crawled further back on the stem. I was trying to get the macro setting to focus on a flower, and time it to shoot an ant

I've been checking and so far no aphids. I did discover a few on the fresh new leaves growing on some chillies in pots a long way from the main garden bed. But there were no ants on these plants. I squished the few I could find and I did notice a couple of zombie aphids. So... there are aphids in my garden but the aphid natural predators are present, and the ants aren't farming them. Instead they are pollinating my flowers. It all sounds a bit back to front but I'll take it!

Everything seems to be doing well in the shade.

stickman · Dec 15, 2012

It just keeps getting better Moo, you, Nee and Gassy are taking some great pics and making me itch to get my hands in the dirt again. We're at G-day minus 21 here, so still have a few weeks to go...

gasificada · Dec 15, 2012

You got freakin' chillies growing everywhere, moo! :onfire:

Plants in the last pic look lush as. Are they in full sun? I've noticed with my own plants that the ones in the ground handle the sun so much better. I'm deffo moving towards doing a lot more ground growing next season. Of course, that shadecloth you got there is probably helping too, eh?

Yeah, ants aren't always the bad guys. :shh:

Just the other day I saw 'em getting stuck into one of those damn caterpillars that keep munching my pods.

megamoo · Dec 15, 2012

stickman said:
It just keeps getting better Moo, you, Nee and Gassy are taking some great pics and making me itch to get my hands in the dirt again. We're at G-day minus 21 here, so still have a few weeks to go...

It's been torture for me during winter to watch all the harvest shots and grows in the north. Getting some payback

gasificada said:
You got freakin' chillies growing everywhere, moo!

Plants in the last pic look lush as. Are they in full sun? I've noticed with my own plants that the ones in the ground handle the sun so much better. I'm deffo moving towards doing a lot more ground growing next season. Of course, that shadecloth you got there is probably helping too, eh?

Yeah, ants aren't always the bad guys. Just the other day I saw 'em getting stuck into one of those damn caterpillars that keep munching my pods.

Thanks gas. They get sun, though shade cloth, from 6 - 7 am to 4 -5pm. I had the exact times a few months ago but the damn sun keeps changing its angle

I'll measure it on the summer solstice, (if the world doesn't end first :scared:

)
I feed the caterpillars to the ants when I catch them.. but haven't found any for ages. Maybe they got the message

Stefan_W · Dec 15, 2012

Man, that is quite a grow list and you definitely have have a huge number of plants growing well. I'm really looking forward to watching your grow this year.

Trippa · Dec 16, 2012

I had the orange Lanterns last season and I have one seedling again this season. They are cool looking pods I think ... almost transparent when green

megamoo · Dec 16, 2012

Stefan_W said:
Man, that is quite a grow list and you definitely have have a huge number of plants growing well. I'm really looking forward to watching your grow this year.

Thanks for coming by

It's really shaping up to be a great season but I can't count my chickens yet.

Trippa said:
I had the orange Lanterns last season and I have one seedling again this season. They are cool looking pods I think ... almost transparent when green

Can't wait to see it. Also growing Scarlet Lanterns and they look pretty cool in their picture.

A couple more pictures.

These are the non chinenses part 1. The small ones down at the bottom of the picture look crap because I stopped watering them. They are already tossed as they were excess. The rest can't wait to grow out of their pots. The tallest ones are starting to bud, have to pot up asap.

I don't know if its because I'm used to slow growing chinenses or because I mixed a tiny bit of homemade worm castings into their soil mix but they are growing so fast I've been caught out.

Non chinenses part 2. These are the last seedlings to be grown for the season. They are doing well considering I haven't refreshed their reservoir in a few weeks! Xmas stuff is keeping me busy!

Hopefully this week I'll find some time and the older ones will go into their final big pots and the younger ones will be potted up and hardened off.

I thought my Bhut Jolokia plant only had 2 pods but found another one, makes three very gnarly bumpy pods

stickman · Dec 16, 2012

Hi Moo
It looks like the Annuums are on track... they do grow quicker than the Chinense varieties. I'd say just give them moderate Nitrogen when you transplant, and another moderate shot when they blossom, and that's it. You don't want bushes with lots of leaves and no flowers... That said, make sure they get enough magnesium and phosphate. They need more of that. Organic is better than chemical, so I'd say when you repot, work in lots of humus if you haven't already, plus a tablespoon each of dolomitic limestone and rock phosphate, and when they blossom, top-dress with the same.

Lavatung · Dec 16, 2012

stickman said:
Hi Moo
It looks like the Annuums are on track... they do grow quicker than the Chinense varieties. I'd say just give them moderate Nitrogen when you transplant, and another moderate shot when they blossom, and that's it. You don't want bushes with lots of leaves and no flowers... That said, make sure they get enough magnesium and phosphate. They need more of that. Organic is better than chemical, so I'd say when you repot, work in lots of humus if you haven't already, plus a tablespoon each of dolomitic limestone and rock phosphate, and when they blossom, top-dress with the same.

it looks like moo is ontop of it

WalkGood · Dec 16, 2012

Moo nice glog and pics, enjoyed the read ... BTW when you posted the term "pod porn" in gasificada’s glog you had my wife going for a few minutes

Edit: love the look your Bhut Jolokia pods