Megamoo's 2012/2013 Glog

stickman · Apr 1, 2013

Love the vids Moo... It looked like you had a bit of Blossom End Rot on those tall, lanky Annuums in the pots. I've been doing a little reading about deficiencies, and one of the things I've learned about BER is that it's most often caused by the root tips drying out in drought conditions, which inhibits the plant's uptake of Calcium. Plants don't need much Calcium, so adequate watering usually takes care of it. I saw drippers in the pots, so they aren't in danger of drying out completely, but the pots are also pretty small and they dry out quickly between waterings.

It's a little thing... most of the chiles look fantastic, and the pods are really coming in for you. Good on ya Moo...

Sanarda · Apr 2, 2013

YUP +1 with Rick. Things look really good and you have a large harvest coming in from what I could see. Lots of color you have going on. Wonderful grow. I remember when you were diggin out by that wall and put the little plants in the ground. WOOWW they came a long way.

megamoo · Apr 3, 2013

stickman said:
Love the vids Moo... It looked like you had a bit of Blossom End Rot on those tall, lanky Annuums in the pots. I've been doing a little reading about deficiencies, and one of the things I've learned about BER is that it's most often caused by the root tips drying out in drought conditions, which inhibits the plant's uptake of Calcium. Plants don't need much Calcium, so adequate watering usually takes care of it. I saw drippers in the pots, so they aren't in danger of drying out completely, but the pots are also pretty small and they dry out quickly between waterings.

It's a little thing... most of the chiles look fantastic, and the pods are really coming in for you. Good on ya Moo...

Thanks stickman. You know I used to be a wedding DJ/MC and had to talk to crowds all the time but I still get nervous talking on camera.

I'd rather wash windows on skyscrapers or play with snakes or skydive. It's all a bit of an adrenalin rush. And of course eat superhots

When I did the final pot up I tried a bunch of different mixes to find something that will work in pots. Wrote everything down and labelled pots etc. But now after I've had mediocre results across the board I've decided to scrap pot growing altogether and just go with raised beds. I've got the space and supplies to do raised beds so there's no point compromising with pots. I'm sure you are right about the roots drying out, and the lack of calcium causing BER but the season is ending so I'm not going to try and fix any deficiency problems. I'll be doing a foliar feed on all plants every two weeks with seaweed, kelp, fish and potassium. Other than that I'll just harvest pods as they ripen until winter shuts it all down.

Sanarda said:
YUP +1 with Rick. Things look really good and you have a large harvest coming in from what I could see. Lots of color you have going on. Wonderful grow. I remember when you were diggin out by that wall and put the little plants in the ground. WOOWW they came a long way.

Thanks

I was looking at the old pictures and its clear that once I put them in the bed with sheep manure and mushroom compost they exploded with growth. The shadecloth helped a whole lot too. I've got a good structure for next season to follow.

Trippa · Apr 3, 2013

Can't beat the Sheep Manure and Mushroom Compost ... Sheep Manure is one thing in a garden bed I won't be without. In pots however it can hold water and stink a bit so I leave it out (it is in my Searles 5 in 1 mixture I add to the pots though in small quantities)

stickman · Apr 3, 2013

Trippa said:
Can't beat the Sheep Manure and Mushroom Compost ... Sheep Manure is one thing in a garden bed I won't be without. In pots however it can hold water and stink a bit so I leave it out (it is in my Searles 5 in 1 mixture I add to the pots though in small quantities)

+1 on Sheep manure... our neighbor used to keep about 30 sheep and would let my parents take all they wanted to spread on their vegetable garden. They spread it on every fall and Dad would plow it under. After 40 years of that the soil in their garden is marvelous stuff!

Trippa · Apr 3, 2013

stickman said:
+1 on Sheep manure... our neighbor used to keep about 30 sheep and would let my parents take all they wanted to spread on their vegetable garden. They spread it on every fall and Dad would plow it under. After 40 years of that the soil in their garden is marvelous stuff!

Yeah I learnt the virtues of sheep manure from growing up on a sheep and Beef farm .... Mum had a huge Garden with over 120 different roses in it... plus the vege garden ... the 6 kids job twice to three times a year .... get under the woolshed pens (they were grated with a 1.2-1.5metre gap under the wool shed) and rake up the dried sheep manure and bag it for the garden .... 3000 sheep made a lot of sheep manure

Dot Com · Apr 3, 2013

I have to grow in pots :oops:

Urban dweller living on 4th floor :confused:

I hope, one day, to grow a pepper in the ground/earth.

You still have done exponentially well mega :dance:

not even taking into acct your grow on the previous plot of land that seemed to be problematic

DocNrock · Apr 4, 2013

All in all looking fantastic, MM!

About the mites, I have read that their saliva is toxic to plants. Not only do they suck the life out of them (literally), but their saliva also stunts the plants. Even if you can rid the plant of an infestation, the plant may never recover. I suppose they could also harbor viruses, as well.

And I want to see a pic of your ute!

megamoo · Apr 4, 2013

Trippa said:
Can't beat the Sheep Manure and Mushroom Compost ... Sheep Manure is one thing in a garden bed I won't be without. In pots however it can hold water and stink a bit so I leave it out (it is in my Searles 5 in 1 mixture I add to the pots though in small quantities)

I can't believe how well it worked this season. Definitely repeat for next season.

stickman said:
+1 on Sheep manure... our neighbor used to keep about 30 sheep and would let my parents take all they wanted to spread on their vegetable garden. They spread it on every fall and Dad would plow it under. After 40 years of that the soil in their garden is marvelous stuff!

It's the shit!

I believe its got a lot of Nitrogen but it's obviously not just that simple, there has to be all sorts of microbial action going on. Natures fertilizer is the best.

Trippa said:
Yeah I learnt the virtues of sheep manure from growing up on a sheep and Beef farm .... Mum had a huge Garden with over 120 different roses in it... plus the vege garden ... the 6 kids job twice to three times a year .... get under the woolshed pens (they were grated with a 1.2-1.5metre gap under the wool shed) and rake up the dried sheep manure and bag it for the garden .... 3000 sheep made a lot of sheep manure

Sounds like lots of fun

Bet you kept your mouth closed!

Dot Com said:
I have to grow in pots Urban dweller living on 4th floor I hope, one day, to grow a pepper in the ground/earth.

You still have done exponentially well mega not even taking into acct your grow on the previous plot of land that seemed to be problematic

Thanks Dot Com. Well my previous grow was in pots, so that has to take the blame! I think the major benefit of growing in the ground is the ability for it to suck away excess water.

DocNrock said:
All in all looking fantastic, MM!

About the mites, I have read that their saliva is toxic to plants. Not only do they suck the life out of them (literally), but their saliva also stunts the plants. Even if you can rid the plant of an infestation, the plant may never recover. I suppose they could also harbor viruses, as well.

And I want to see a pic of your ute!

That makes a lot of sense. You can definitely divide my season into before mites/big pods, and after mites/stunted pods.

And no.. you don't want to see that picture.

Harvest pic coming

GA Growhead · Apr 5, 2013

I'm with you on planting in the ground. It's the way it's intended to happen, and much easier for me to pull off. For those who can recreate nature in a pot, i have a lot of respect. I have learned a ton from this site and will be expanding my attempts at doing so. Learning to feed the soil, and not the plants is my focus this upcoming season.
Your raised beds/walls are really nice. Very appeasing to the eyes. And you have way more plants than i thought! Awesome grow mega!

megamoo · Apr 6, 2013

GA Growhead said:
I'm with you on planting in the ground. It's the way it's intended to happen, and much easier for me to pull off. For those who can recreate nature in a pot, i have a lot of respect. I have learned a ton from this site and will be expanding my attempts at doing so. Learning to feed the soil, and not the plants is my focus this upcoming season.
Your raised beds/walls are really nice. Very appeasing to the eyes. And you have way more plants than i thought! Awesome grow mega!

TESTIFY!!

Thanks, I wish I could take credit for building it. It'll be getting bigger next season too

Here's the harvest photo I promised.

Top right is the first Trinidad Scorpion Chocolate pod that wasn't bugged. The big brown is a Habanero Chocolate above that is some Datil pods

Here is about a third of the harvest that didn't make the cut

There's only a few leaves in there, its a good 3 litres bucket worth of pods

SeanW · Apr 6, 2013

Jeez...why don't you grow any HOT peppers?

Shame about all the wasted pods, time to condemn them to the compost pile so that they can feed future harvests

GA Growhead · Apr 6, 2013

What are the creamy/white pods? That is still a killer harvest, even without the bad ones!

megamoo · Apr 6, 2013

SeanW said:
Jeez...why don't you grow any HOT peppers?

Shame about all the wasted pods, time to condemn them to the compost pile so that they can feed future harvests

They mostly have maggots in them, so if I tried to compost them I would breed more moths, and make more maggots. They had to go into a sealed bin for death and disposal.

I suppose I could have recycled them but don't have a good compost system that works right now. I think my worm farm died from heat then neglect

GA Growhead said:
What are the creamy/white pods? That is still a killer harvest, even without the bad ones!

They are Habanero Peach pods that are still unripe. They stay really white until they change peach and then later they change to a deeper peach colour. I should have left them but they were all hanging out exposed. Most of the fully ripe ones were bugged out.

It's a great harvest compared to years past, but if I had my stuff together setting it up and feeding them right, and without bug attack it would probably be three times that every week. Last small harvest was just under three weeks ago.

I'm trying not to complain when getting such a bounty, but I can't help but see there is definitely room for improvement. I finally hit upon a good soil mix this season and that has made the positive difference, (and I've got my germination and first months growth system down). Now I just need to get the other things right.

Gardening is so dependent on local conditions it's a real trial and error learning experience over years.

SeanW · Apr 6, 2013

Word on the street is that maggots are good for compost, though I suppose depending on the situation it might get a bit overwhelming

megamoo · Apr 6, 2013

SeanW said:
Word on the street is that maggots are good for compost, though I suppose depending on the situation it might get a bit overwhelming

I would be too scared of them getting out

Really need to get my compost big sorted.

DocNrock · Apr 6, 2013

Great looking harvest, MM! That's a ton of pods!

megamoo · Apr 6, 2013

DocNrock said:
Great looking harvest, MM! That's a ton of pods!

Thanks doc. When all is finished I will take a collective photo of everything I've frozen. That will be a ton of pods alright.

GA Growhead · Apr 6, 2013

I didn't know they were white before going peach. That's cool. Might add them to next seasons grow. How do they taste? Hopefully not like reg orange habs. They are not my favorite.
Your yellow 7s look really good. I really like each version that i grew. The Large, regular, and brainstrain 7s. Really yummy! Definitely one of my favorites.

DocNrock · Apr 6, 2013

megamoo said:
Thanks doc. When all is finished I will take a collective photo of everything I've frozen. That will be a ton of pods alright.

That's a pic I have to see!