Mezo`s "super hots" Glog including the 'big' solar dehydrator.

The is thread with the humungous solar dehydrator.

G-Day, im Mez or Mezo & im new to this part of Australia having come from Perth (Western Australia) where growing chili peppers is so easy (except the heat).

I live in the border ranges in northern New South Wales (bordering Queensland) and its a mixed bag of temperate & tropical conditions, the summers are very hot, wet & humid, the winters are dry & sunny.



Average daily temps.

And average monthly rainfall.

Aussies reading this will already know this, but people in other country's probably paint a picture of Australia as a hot dry/dusty land but this is far from the truth, up north its full blown tropics with a wet season & 100% humidity (yuck). Down south its freezing cold & snow during winter, out west its a dry heat like in the Mediterranean & in the middle of Australia is desert country.

So im now growing for the first time "Super hots" and for a very important reason, whilst working away in Perth i had a double heart attack wich has left me permanently disabled, sadly they are unable to operate on me (bypass/stent) as its to far gone, so having worked all my life (Electrician) im now at the age of 45 claiming a disability pension & i hate not being able to work.

Now i take shovel fulls of dam tablets to keep my heart pumping & id rather not be taking any but right now there no option i have to take them or ill drop dead on the spot. After much reading i found out that cayenne powder has all sort of benefits to your health & well being, especially to your cardio vascular system. I had read that cayenne powder can stop a heart attack in its track & i put this to the test (twice) and yes it does work where the medication (Nitrolingual) had no effect.

So anyone reading this who spots a friend having a heart attack just flick some chili powder in a glass of water as fast as you can & get them to drink in right down, fast. It works within 30 seconds of drinking it & it saved me from two more attacks already.

So there's my life story in a nutshell & some sound advice on how to save a heart attack victims life.
And this ladies & gentlymen is why im growing "Super Hots" to make high heat cayenne powder for cooking to improve my circulation/remove fats & as a "just in case of emergency"

OK on with the first of my "Hots" the Bhut Jolokia, the reason i chose this was simple i just Googled "whats the hottest chili" and up popped the result, however further reading on the interweb i found threads from this forum & names like the Butch T, the Douglah & Brain Strain.

So ive ordered them from pepperlover.com after so many people gave such great reviews, Bhut in the meantime lets look at my Jolokia`s.

Must admit i just love the shape & color of these babies.

More soon,

Mezo.

 

[nee]

Hi Mezo! Looks like your newbies are doing well! I've not posted for a while as mine look terrible....too embarrassed to post pics! I'll keep on with them though, but i'm thinking it might pay to start in earnest in spring now!

 

[The Howster]

Loving the solar dehydrator, very original thinking. I'm not sure if it would work in the UK but as I only have an oven to do my drying and will not part with my cash and power for a small electric dehydrator I may have to look into something similar.

 

[Mezo]

great glog mezo...just finished reading loved all the pics u put up well done bro

Thanks Ghostie.

Everything is coming along nicely for you Mezo, just wondering is the reason you opted for pots so you can grow them in your marquee over winter? Or are you going to put some in the ground just that you have what looks like "boundless plains to plant"

Hi Peakey, in pots for now until spring, some will go in larger pots & some will go in the garden below, its fully irrigated from the creek & if you look closely you can see the sprinkler heads (90 of them) all around the edge & right down the middle.

After that who knows? we were talking about making raised beds further down the paddock, but that's only really if i was wanting to go in to growing peppers on a commercial basis to sell some stuff down the farmers markets, but how many people would buy super hots in country Australia? i could always dry them & sell them on ebay i guess?

Something to think about later in the year possibly.

Hi Mezo! Looks like your newbies are doing well! I've not posted for a while as mine look terrible....too embarrassed to post pics! I'll keep on with them though, but i'm thinking it might pay to start in earnest in spring now!

How bad are they Niel? real bad? id guessed it wasn't going to flash on the growing since id not heard nothing from you. You started off so well, i doubt spring will make any difference to be honest, guys grow these all year round under lights.

Possibly to much water or ferts to soon? hard one for me to answer as ive always grown outdoors naturally but like you im guilty of over watering like most people, don't give up Nee its worth it in the long run trust me.

Loving the solar dehydrator, very original thinking. I'm not sure if it would work in the UK but as I only have an oven to do my drying and will not part with my cash and power for a small electric dehydrator I may have to look into something similar.

Well i come from the UK, parents had a place up in Howarth so i know Yorkshire`s climate fairly well, UK only has a short window for growing & drying sadly, one of these dryers would only get used for a month or two (aug/sept) and you would need to make one with a big surface area to get the max out of any sunshine that comes your way, a smaller one may struggle up there.

Even on an overcast day like today its drying, its not hot at all but the sun is still penetrating the cloud slightly & the black paint on the box helps no end in the drying process, so the bigger the black box the better it will work in a 'not so hot' climate.

In a hot climate you could easily get away with a mini dryer, i fluked mine by the way i did not plan it that way it just evolved in to a large dryer & im glad it did because a large one works well where im living now.

Have a read of this guys ideas on dryers, different design altogether & he reckons his machine is far better than others out there? you be the judge.

These are all know as 'stationary dryers' where mine is movable & i can turn it direct in to the sun to get maximum efficiency, i have to turn mine about four times a day, if your at work all day & nobody is there to turn it for you then possibly think of building a stationary dryer (wider collector).

Mezo.

 

[RocketMan]

Mezo, I saw this thread this morning and instantly thought of you. Even mentioned your finding relief from heart attacks there. This member found relief with peppers too:

http://thehotpepper.com/topic/29783-how-capsaicin-helps-me-defeat-epilepsy/page__pid__603234#entry603234

Here's also an article by a Master Herbalist about the power of Cayenne powder.

http://www.naturalnews.com/035612_cayenne_pepper_healing_herbal_medicine.html

As soon as I read through them I thought you'd like the read.

RM

 

[Peakey]

Hi Peakey, in pots for now until spring, some will go in larger pots & some will go in the garden below, its fully irrigated from the creek & if you look closely you can see the sprinkler heads (90 of them) all around the edge & right down the middle.


After that who knows? we were talking about making raised beds further down the paddock, but that's only really if i was wanting to go in to growing peppers on a commercial basis to sell some stuff down the farmers markets, but how many people would buy super hots in country Australia? i could always dry them & sell them on ebay i guess?

Something to think about later in the year possibly.

Mezo.

I guess it depends on the area as to the popularity of them but I'd say it would be hard to have a constant demand for them as most people would get them for a novelty or just to try. But then again I've seen random communities rurally that have a largish oriental community that generally love their hot chillies. Powders and dried pods might be the go, have to put the apron on and start developing haha. That garden bed looks awesome what's your plant count up to now? I'm in a similar boat, pots until spring but my reason is because my garden bed gets shaded over winter (not my ill planning there are just tree's everywhere)

 

[Ferrero]

absolutely love the thread mezo took a very long drunken moment to read it, but love all you've been doing... us aussies rock

 

[Mezo]

Thanks for the link RM & cheers Wildfire.

Well ive had 21 Ball Chilli`s sprout & in to cups (pics to follow) and ive been busy shuffling pots around in my chicken proof enclosure, they was all tight together & the end that gets the most sun was getting cramped. So ive moved the bigger ones back & brought the smaller ones to the more sunny end (takes a while).

You can see batch #4 of the Jolokia`s are almost ready to pick 'n' dry as well, gave these little chaps some liq fertz as well today.

Here are some of the bigger plants i moved back now they are strong & healthy.

Naga Morich, Red Habenero, St Helena Yellow, Douglah, Brain Strain & Butch T.

I have got to build another chook proof enclosure round the back as im getting short on space now, plus as the sun is heading north now this side is a bit to shaded.

Mezo.

 

[Trippa]

looking good mezo.

 

[Mezo]

looking good mezo.

Cheers Trippa,

The Butch T`s & Brain Strain are just over nine weeks old now (well they were delivered as seeds nine weeks ago) and i got the other seeds just over seven weeks ago (Naga Morich, Red Habs, St Helena Yellows & Douglah) so not bad at all.

I was surprised to see roots coming out the bottom of these pots already, wasn't expecting that so ill have to start thinking larger pots any day. And Conor out of the St Helena Island Yellows (five or six seeds?) i have got three nice healthy big plants going, may have more but there's three biggies for sure so far.

Mezo.

 

[simon]

Hey Mezo, I might have missed this elsewhere, but what is your potting mix recipe?

 

[Mezo]

Hey Mezo, I might have missed this elsewhere, but what is your potting mix recipe?

No recipe Si, i get Amgrow potting mix from the local Norco farm supply store, its good stuff & they have a special on right now.
Buy four bags get two for free, so six 35lts bags (total 210lts) for $33.00 or $5.50 per bag.

When i was in Perth there (working) i used to get Organix brand form Bunning`s, had good results with that but that well outside my price range now, plus im getting good results with this Amrgow store brought stuff.

Mezo.

 

[Mezo]

Well had a great score this morning, Trish spotted some old pots & asked the question "Did you want them old pots?"

Do you have a use for them was the reply, not me says Trish but i know a man that would love them.

These will be real handy, especially as ive got 60 odd more asparagus seedlings in desperate need of a bigger home.

Then there was 200 plus of these taller ones (i think they call them rootstock pots?) ideal for starting off some chilli`s in as they are nice & deep so the roots will get well established (ready for direct planting in the garden).

So im going to potting for the next few days, 60 odd asparagus plus some of the bigger chilli`s that are sprouting roots out the bottom of the medium sized pots already, down to 100ltrs of potting mix (gulp).

My little baby Avo`s are sprouting away, topped/nipped a few of the taller ones yesterday so they will grown bushy.

You can see in the pic below i remove the skin & just push it in potting mix & keep it watered, easy. That toothpick method in a glass of water is complete BS, its crap it doesn't work at all.

And here`s one i was just about to nip the top off (at about 8") seems to be the norm.

Busy Busy Busy,

Mezo.

 

[Mankeli]

Nice looking plants you got there mate! And i need to ask.. how can you tell what kind of shit we finns grow?
So you're from australia huh? That seems to be a cool country.. few of my friends are living there at queensland, for a year or so. I've heard many great things about aussie people.. Would be great to visit there even once in my life.. wanna see some kangaroos and koala dudes lol!

Peace!

-Mankeli

 

[Mezo]

I live here now but from UK originally, came as a backpacker in the 90`s & fell in love with the place.

And what else do fins do on a long winters night? pass the big hubbly bubbly around right?

Yep i have that cool stuff like Kangaroo`s hopping past my door (no Koala`s though round here) snakes & Goanna`s a plenty.

Mezo.

 

[Ferrero]

So that means Mezo is a true blue aussie... Hey mezo in that picture what size is that poly pipe? its giving me ideas summer I could put fruit fly nets over my system and winter I could put greenhouse film over it hmm hot chillis all year round

 

[Mezo]

So that means Mezo is a true blue aussie... Hey mezo in that picture what size is that poly pipe? its giving me ideas summer I could put fruit fly nets over my system and winter I could put greenhouse film over it hmm hot chillis all year round

Lots of commercial growers in OZ use this system, star picket bashed in to the ground with a poly pipe arched over, they go one step further & have smaller pipes the other way to give rigidity (with rope inside) then put shade cloth over the whole thing.

You can make mini versions using PVC conduit (sparky`s pipe) search on yourtube & you will see how they make them.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3OHjiwHqGc&feature=related

Mezo.

 

[Durham Bull]

Good haul with the pots!

 

[Peakey]

Yep i have that cool stuff like Kangaroo`s hopping past my door (no Koala`s though round here) snakes & Goanna`s a plenty.
Mezo.

Your Goanna's aren't doing their job if the snakes are around. I always found it comforting seeing a Goanna around when walking through long grass, maybe my faith was misplaced .

 

[Mezo]

Your Goanna's aren't doing their job if the snakes are around. I always found it comforting seeing a Goanna around when walking through long grass, maybe my faith was misplaced .

The Goanna`s spend there day raiding the chook house of eggs, when the dogs see one (and there big) they go nuts chasing it up a tree. Last time i saw a snake i came face to face with one, i was hunting in an esky bag in the shipping container for some part for the irrigation system, i opened the bag & looked in & there was a dam snake sleeping inside (inches from my face) i screamed like a little girl, dropped the bag & run out of the container like an Olympic 100m sprinter.

We have Carpet snakes here (boa`s) and here`s me prodding one with a stick.

Mezo.

 

[RocketMan]

Mezo, that looks like a really good 12 Gauge situation. Me and snakes get along real good so long as they stay at least a kilometer away from whereever i am.