Megamoo's 2012/2013 Glog

megamoo · Feb 17, 2013

stc3248 said:
Freaking mites and aphids...always trying to EFF up a good thing! Good to see the ladybug and hope your little mite busters get busy too...dunno what the little black bugs are??? Your pepper hedge looks fantastic with the top down...more pics please!

DocNrock said:
Great looking harvest, MM! That T. Perfume looks to be wildly productive. Same with the Bih Jolokia. Glad you got the good mites and seeing the ladybugs out and about. Sucks about the aphids and their farmers. Not sure what the black bugs are, either.

Dot Com said:
I bet theres a % of loss due to infestations & weather when we grow outdoors. Similar w/ retailers theres a % that they write-off annually to theft & breakage. I'm a small-time grower so I don't know what the typical/acceptable range is concerning my favorite plants- peppers . You still have your natural predators to release that will help mitigate some of the nuisance as well.

Stefan_W said:
I really hate mites and aphids. Great pictures though!

Thanks everyone I appreciate the comments.

I know it sounds greedy or ungrateful and I've said it before but the plants haven't been producing what they are capable of. However I've been lucky that despite all the bug issues, most of them are balancing themselves out and could have been much worse... like my last season! All things considered I am getting good pods, losses are acceptable, there is still room for improvement and things are looking up

Some more pics.

This 7 Pot Brainstrain was with a bunch of excess seedlings that I put where they'd get watered by the grass sprinklers. After a month most had been knocked over and had died but this little battler never gave up. His never say die attitude has been rewarded with a big fat pot and a good place in the garden

I said things are looking up. Specifically I've fertilised with PK heavy stuff and now this is happening to everything.

Possibly my first Fatalii has set :party:

Thanks to little tag pullers this is either a Congo Trinidad or 7 Pot Yellow, or Bhut Jolokia, or even something else entirely. Best guess is Congo Trinidad.

The main chinense garden looks great and happy but I'll wait to take an after pic so the difference is more striking

Meanwhile the `others` are finally feeling at home in their pots. Unfortunately the grass under them is feeling better! It must be loving all the pot soil nutrients that are washing out.

I'm stumped as to how to handle this. As far as I can figure, the only thing to do is move all the pots away, rip out the grass and put down some weed mat, then put all the pots back. But I'd have to buy the weed mat and the cash budgeted for this season has been spent. Plus that sounds like a bit of work

If anyone has any ideas feel free to tell me. The plants have to go in that position because the retic is all set up there and can't be moved.

Some of the `others` pods.
Zimbabwe Black.

Cherry tomatoes went in the worm farm and the seeds survived in the worm castings and sprouted in the pots :crazy:

more pics with a bump

WalkGood · Feb 17, 2013

bump, bbl to check dem out as I'm off to hit the hey

megamoo · Feb 17, 2013

WalkGood said:
bump, bbl to check dem out as I'm off to hit the hey

thanks

Goatsweed

Tazmanian Red. Funny shaped pod.

Rocotillo. It's a Baccatum not Pubescens as you might think. Big fat lobes on this one. (yes I bite my nails :oops:

)

Hot Fish. Will need to stake because the pod weight is pulling it over. Not the happiest looking plant. Something's wrong with it, don't know what but it ain't right.

It's right next to this Charleston Hot. This one definitely isn't right! I know there's plenty of nutes in the soil so its not a deficiency. Maybe toxicity or pH lockout causing deficiency symptoms?

The Wildfire Chilli Yellow Moruga Scorpion I bought as a seedling has put some pods out.

The pod is going sideways because it was caught in the fork.

Bhut Jolokia has a guardian

stc3248 · Feb 17, 2013

Nice update Mega...that fish don't look happy fo-sho. Maybe too hot for them??? Hope you get it figured out brotha. Those Moruga looks nasty!!! :fireball:

TheFanMan · Feb 17, 2013

plants are looking good moo, though i do think its well past time to get the brush cutter and lawn mower out for a run.

GA Growhead · Feb 17, 2013

Nice update megamoo! I feel you on the production or lack of. Last year was my first big season. I dug out a new garden bed. I tryed going organic, fertilizer wise, and learn that i was feeding on the extremely low side. I was doing AACT. Thought all was good. Plants got huge but seemed to stall out production wise. I turned it up just in time for winter and had a ton of pods not ever ripen and freeze to mush. I still got a ton of pods before the first frost, but like you mention, not nearly as much as i should have.
Sounds like you have an idea on why, and this year still sounds like it was better than your last, so write it off as a learning experience. The more we learn the better gardener we can become.
And from your last harvest, you look like your doing damn good!
Alway a pleasure to read your updates!
take care

megamoo · Feb 17, 2013

stc3248 said:
Nice update Mega...that fish don't look happy fo-sho. Maybe too hot for them??? Hope you get it figured out brotha. Those Moruga looks nasty!!!

It could be anything really, infection, something toxic in the soil, just a weak plant ? I think I'll flush it out real good and see if that does anything.
My other moruga yellow plant is giving me orange pods. The new ones do look good don't they

TheFanMan said:
plants are looking good moo, though i do think its well past time to get the brush cutter and lawn mower out for a run.

I borrowed my parent's edge trimmer earlier in the year and broke it

The head locked up and we can't get it undone. That's why the grass is going nuts all around the edges.

GA Growhead said:
Nice update megamoo! I feel you on the production or lack of. Last year was my first big season. I dug out a new garden bed. I tryed going organic, fertilizer wise, and learn that i was feeding on the extremely low side. I was doing AACT. Thought all was good. Plants got huge but seemed to stall out production wise. I turned it up just in time for winter and had a ton of pods not ever ripen and freeze to mush. I still got a ton of pods before the first frost, but like you mention, not nearly as much as i should have.
Sounds like you have an idea on why, and this year still sounds like it was better than your last, so write it off as a learning experience. The more we learn the better gardener we can become.
And from your last harvest, you look like your doing damn good!
Alway a pleasure to read your updates!
take care

The huge growth has been almost all from the soil which was half mushroom compost and half sheep manure. It's obviously mostly nitrogen. Next season I'll add something else in there.

The growing season here is far from over. It stays warm enough to keep going hard through most of Autumn. I've had plants left out completely exposed all through winter with absolutely no attention and all that happened was they stopped making pods and lost a few leaves.

The mad scientist in me is having thoughts of putting up a poly tunnel type cover and kicking on thru winter

It wouldn't take much effort at all

Got a few months to think it over.

Blue Flames · Feb 18, 2013

Mr moo an idea =less work , bit of wire and dangle the pots off the fence should solve ur lawn probs

Trippa · Feb 18, 2013

Don't know if you guys have seen but the days of free "open" trade of capsicum seeds world wide seems to be over.

JR posted in the Aussie blabberers thread ... go and check it out if you are interested. Weird thing is I have received 3-4 packages in the past 2 months marked with capsicum or pepper seeds and they haven't been stopped??

WalkGood · Feb 18, 2013

Moo, great update and as usual I love dem pics mon!!!

megamoo said:
... I think I'll flush it out real good and see if that does anything ... ...

Try mixing 3 ounces of dish soap per gallon and pour a few gallons in the first flush, wait 3 to 10 minutes and keep checking the surface of the soil for what looks like baby earth worms (really small ones) but they're really nematodes. I am not saying you have them but no harm will come from this check and if you do and rid dem your plant will do so much better.

stickman · Feb 18, 2013

Trippa said:
Don't know if you guys have seen but the days of free "open" trade of capsicum seeds world wide seems to be over. JR posted in the Aussie blabberers thread ... go and check it out if you are interested. Weird thing is I have received 3-4 packages in the past 2 months marked with capsicum or pepper seeds and they haven't been stopped??

Nuts! That'll be a drag if so... not surprising that it would take some time to coordinate though... there's always somebody that doesn't get the word...

megamoo · Feb 18, 2013

Blue Flames said:
Mr moo an idea =less work , bit of wire and dangle the pots off the fence should solve ur lawn probs

Nah the drippers are on short tubes so they can't move at all. But I've figured out one way to do it now I've lined up my brothers whipper snipper for an extended stay

I'll move the pots off, then cut the grass, then take one panel of the fence out and back my ute up to it and I can shovel wood chips straight onto the area. The wood chip mulch will suppress the grass, at least for a while. These are the wood chips left on the side of the road from council bush pruning. Have to do some ninja moves to steal a load of it but the net cost is $0. Just a bit of labour.

Trippa said:
Don't know if you guys have seen but the days of free "open" trade of capsicum seeds world wide seems to be over. JR posted in the Aussie blabberers thread ... go and check it out if you are interested. Weird thing is I have received 3-4 packages in the past 2 months marked with capsicum or pepper seeds and they haven't been stopped??

Yeah I saw that. It just means we are going to have to do some smuggling. It will put an added level of excitement into waiting for seeds

WalkGood said:
Moo, great update and as usual I love dem pics mon!!!

Try mixing 3 ounces of dish soap per gallon and pour a few gallons in the first flush, wait 3 to 10 minutes and keep checking the surface of the soil for what looks like baby earth worms (really small ones) but they're really nematodes. I am not saying you have them but no harm will come from this check and if you do and rid dem your plant will do so much better.

Thanks

I might have to do that, when I get the time.

stickman said:
Nuts! That'll be a drag if so... not surprising that it would take some time to coordinate though... there's always somebody that doesn't get the word...

I'm sure Australian seed vendors will have the resources and will to get seeds in. But if we can only buy second hand from them the cost will go up.

Smuggling is definitely the way to go

Ok think I've had too much rum tonight. I'd better stop replying before I encourage more illegal behaviour.

WalkGood · Feb 18, 2013

megamoo said:
Thanks, I might have to do that, when I get the time.

I only say this because I had a great plant last year that developed yellowing leaves that would eventually fall off. The plant also looked drained of nutriments, eventually even the green leaves looked droopy. I tried everything and even for the longest time thought is was either too much or too little water. Feeding it didn't even make a difference, till one day I did as I stated above and to my surprise I found the nematodes. Once I eliminated them that very plant came back to be one of my most prolific & lush plants in the lot. Now and then if I see that symptom again, I do the test as there's no harm that comes from that soapy water as long as it flushes thru.

megamoo · Feb 20, 2013

WalkGood said:
I only say this because I had a great plant last year that developed yellowing leaves that would eventually fall off. The plant also looked drained of nutriments, eventually even the green leaves looked droopy. I tried everything and even for the longest time thought is was either too much or too little water. Feeding it didn't even make a difference, till one day I did as I stated above and to my surprise I found the nematodes. Once I eliminated them that very plant came back to be one of my most prolific & lush plants in the lot. Now and then if I see that symptom again, I do the test as there's no harm that comes from that soapy water as long as it flushes thru.

Something is affecting it for sure. I am going to have to shift it all around to take care of the grass anyway so I'll do the soap flush.

Today I looked closer at the row as a whole and they all seem to be having the same sort of problem to some degree. It probably has a lot to do with the soil mix I made up but... maybe Shane picked it right first time with too much heat. They are alongside that aluminum fence that gets sun all day and I'm guessing it would radiate a lot of heat.

When I get my fun back breaking day of moving it all around this week I'll put them back further away from the fence and dig some holes under the fence to allow air flow. That's after I rip out as much grass as possible and dump a trailer load of wood chips on it all. Yay :rolleyes:

So I was in the supermarket and heard the announcement about the cheap vegies, fill up a plastic bag with as much of their going-out stuff as you can for $3. I was right there and had first choice

Got 7 bananas, 2 bunches of spring onions and also this

The chillies were from my garden.

Chilli Chutney time :dance:

I held back my enthusiasm and only used the five red Habs in the middle, for the non chilli heads. It's a very simple recipe but tastes awesome! Takes a bit of time to roast the skins off the capsicums and then reduce everything but its not hard.

In the garden its been hot again but there is a lot of ripening going on. I'm saving up for a harvest in a few days.
New ones Beni Highlands

First PDN pod. Took its sweet time too!

The plants are loving the increased sun, and are mesmerized by the incredible levitating ball :O

Plenty of bug action going on, hoverflies and lady bugs

ants and aphids

I've ordered some parasitic wasps that enjoy tearing holes in aphids

Not sure what this thing is, hope its here to kill bad bugs.

Sanarda · Feb 21, 2013

looks like a mosquito... ugh i know whats coming for me soon.

OHHHHHHHHH Great update!! I meant to say that first and get to pullin up all that grass (as Shane would say)

harry · Feb 21, 2013

megamoo said:
In the garden its been hot again but there is a lot of ripening going on. I'm saving up for a harvest in a few days.
New ones Beni Highlands

Was the Beni Highlands plant stressed during pod development?

stickman · Feb 21, 2013

Hi Moo
Nice pics, and Chile chutney. I love late summer's bounty!

Trippa · Feb 21, 2013

I get those little hover fly type things to mega!! Not sure what they are though

megamoo · Feb 21, 2013

Sanarda said:
looks like a mosquito... ugh i know whats coming for me soon.

OHHHHHHHHH Great update!! I meant to say that first and get to pullin up all that grass (as Shane would say)

sheesh you guys are pushing me to cut the grass

I'll do it ok soon...

harry said:
Was the Beni Highlands plant stressed during pod development?

Yeah the plant was never too happy. Do the pods look stunted or something? Don't know what they are supposed to look like.

stickman said:
Hi Moo
Nice pics, and Chile chutney. I love late summer's bounty!

After the season is ended I'll have bags of pods to do things with.

Trippa said:
I get those little hover fly type things to mega!! Not sure what they are though

Of course! :doh:

it looks just like a hoverfly taking a rest. I usually see them checking out the plants. Hoverfly larvae kill aphids. Good guys

harry · Feb 21, 2013

megamoo said:
Yeah the plant was never too happy. Do the pods look stunted or something? Don't know what they are supposed to look like.

The pods on my Beni Highlands plant are smooth and symmetrical. Those pods appear twisted and gnarly. I interested in seeing what colour they end up one month after the initial colour change.