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.

 

[simon]

Cool bananas.

What do you have to do differently now to what you did in Perth with respect to growing Mezo?

 

[Mezo]

Cool bananas.

What do you have to do differently now to what you did in Perth with respect to growing Mezo?

Not over water them mainly, these Bhut`s dont like to much sun so id be wary of that in Perth.

Ive got these ones shaded till about middy & then the sun hits them, i found the leaves were wilting if i gave them all day sunshine, i will move them again as the summer goes & winter approaches

Mezo..

 

[frenzix]

Thanks for sharing Mezo.. looks good, welcome to this part of the world.

 

[kiddc]

Looking good, Mezo. The intro post was a great read, especially the part about chili powder + water to stop an oncoming heart attack.

All the best!

 

[Mezo]

Crap !! im in the middle of a huge storm, a big lump of wood has come off the roof & smashed my Jolokia terocotta pots to bits, i doubt whether there will be anything left once the storm has passed, the rain is so intense, i should have pulled everything indoors while i had time, i could see it half an hour away on the radar but it didnt look so bad.

I dont think anything could survive this sort of rain, its certiainly knocked all the flowers clean off, even if the plants survive.

Bugger.

Mezo.

 

[Trippa]

No storm here on the gold coast yet bro .... although they look like they are coming.... gutted about the smashed pot ... hopefully the plant can be saved.

 

[Mezo]

Well i woke up early this morning, i thought did i dream what happened last night? looked out the window & saw the smahed pot.

You can see the roots had just started to find there newly repotted home as well, gutted.

So i picked up the broken limbs & decided i may as well try & save some of "gods cuttings" and try them with some rooting powder.

I have had mixed results in the past doing this, hopefully i can save one or two & they will come back? such as shame as there were so many flowers & yound fruit on the limbs that came off.

Well i wasnt expecting to be doing this today, lucky i had nothing planned anyhow so no harm.

Mezo.

 

[Mezo]

Well four hours later & ive done the best i can do with the broken bits, dont hold much hope but worth a try i guess.

Ive since plucked the bigger leaves from the main stem of this larger limb below to give it more of a chance.

So i had a couple of fruit knocked off as well, so i thought may as well try saving some seeds & tasting it for the first time.

My mate calls these "my f**kin mongoid looking chilli`s"

So i donned my latex gloves & got my X-Acto knife (like a surgeon) and carefully disected them, the seeds look a bit green but i thought nothing to looses & planted them,

So i got 30 seeds in the pots & we will see if they sprout or not? the taste test was fun, nothing happened at first,,,,
then i got a warm feeling, then i go the heat.

Mezo.

 

[Mezo]

Am i talking to myself here?

Sat here having a bevvy & noticed these marks (obvious pests) on my other Bhut`s.

What on earth can live/feed on these things? im so amazed to find bugs on them? would a chilli/galic spray deter any more further pests?

One good thing this weekend, and i need some posotive,,, the seeds i planted the other day are sprouting already.
That was wednesday (four days ago) just direct in to seed raising mix & three or four are popping up already.

Mezo.

 

[simon]

Short term pain might be long term gain! Good luck.

 

[Mezo]

In the meantime, i tried to air dry some chilli`s last month, thought it would be hot enough 30+ & strang them undercover but outdoors with some fishing line, but they went moldy.

So after reading on this forum seems everyone uses a dehydrator, great except i dont have elctrickery for starters or a spare hundred bucks for a decent one, so i did some reading & found you can knock up your own solar dehydrator.

So i rumaged around the yard to see if i had the gear needed to make one, and found this lot which i laid out to give a rough idea of size etc.

Im basing my build on something along these lines.

So i got busy today knocking up the collection chamber, lucky for me i have four bits of black powder coated sheet steel,
four bits of alloy angle, some rivets, timber & a roll of black 2" PVC tape, and some sating black spray paint.

And heres the days work, having made it out of thin steel its lighter & it radiates the heat better than timber.

Theres timber boxing tip & bottom for support & to keep it rigid, next up will be the window & an adjustable intake vent.

Mezo.

 

[simon]

very sustainable! Good work. Look forward to the finished product and seeing how it operates.

 

[Mezo]

Sunstanable yes but little choice, i guess over the years it will save a heap of electicity (if it works).

Got some new seeds yesterday, cant wait to start them off.

And a couple of freebies thrown in as well, although im not sure what "most prolific" is supposed to be? anyone?

Ive got some other varietys coming from Judy as well, im also chasing some of the Hungarian waxes if anyone knows where i can get a good supply here in OZ? i got my Bhut Jolokia from The Chilli Seed Bank & ive been on Hippyseeds site as well.

Best place to source Hungarian varietys guys?

Mezo.

 

[Mezo]

Well ive started my germination of the seeds, lets see what happens.

My "unknows" below are doing great, they have grown to this in just over a week, direct in to seed mix.

And my attempt at saving the broken limbs from the storm dameage looks like its going to fail, but i thought it may, oh well.

Mezo.

 

[hotjohn9]

Advice? Cut the leafs off so all the energy and food goes to rooting. They will have a better chance of cloning if you get rid of the leaves

 

[Mezo]

Advice? Cut the leafs off so all the energy and food goes to rooting. They will have a better chance of cloning if you get rid of the leaves

Thanks for the advice.

Mezo.

 

[PaulG]

Great shots of those mean lookin' pods! Your greenhouse is great -
looks like you can get some great results in there!

 

[Mezo]

Your greenhouse is great -
looks like you can get some great results in there!

Cheers Paul, its a seconhand wedding marquee (big one) one of the cheap Chinese ones off ebay, works so well as a greenhouse (by chance) and when the plastic finally falls to bits in a few years time from the UV exposure were going to cover it with shade cloth.

Mezo.

 

[Mezo]

Quick update on the "Glog"

My Bhut Jolokia`s (4 & 5) the ones the chickens got to are doing fantastic, they are the same height as the first lot (1,2 &3) no fruit yet but the buds are flowering.

I have remade my bird proof fence as well, took a while but let any of these little sods in for two mins & your whole crop is gone (loaded rifle at the ready).

Put the windows in on my collector as well, silliconed up the joints & gave it a touch up with some black spray paint, i used multiples instead of one whole bit for a simple reason, its free this way.

So this is my "free engine" no electric bills & its should cost just a couple of bucks.

My "neighbour chilli`s" are going fantastic, still dont know what they are but again this weekend we had a feed & they are hot enough.

My Avo`s are doing well, im getting so much better results just putting them direct in to the pot, this BS about toothpicks & a cup of water is just that its bullshit.

My Asparagus are doing fine, ive got around a 150 or more?? and ill be planting them in to the garden in the spring.

Ive got so many things on the grow i cant keep up to be honest, this lots is just the nursery then there are two main veggie patches as well.

Thats Rocket & Basil (from my own seeds) growing under the table.

And ill be planting out more string beans/runners in the morning, this is all seeds from my own stuff, we have had a good feed already this year but theres still a couple of months+ growing so i thought id be cheeky & get another crop in.

And as for my "New" superhots, well they are still germinating, cant wait to see some action with them so i can get them started before winter hits, phaa winter here 20˚C sunny days.

Gotta love this Aussie climate.

Mezo.

 

[Trippa]

Most prolific is on her site. I have it growing as a freebie at the moment. No idea on taste or growth habit but supposedly hot and high production. Seems like a winner to me