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.

 

[Trippa]

Get a Cat??

As for the ants are they the big non-biting ants with a pale ass?? I have them on and around my plants and they are actually quite good for your soil (as they aerate it while burrowing into the bottom of your pots to nest) although they are a pain in the ass in terms of the mess they make with the disposed soil and you don't want ant nests everywhere (I have just accepted that they will come back and left them to it after months of trying to get rid of the little bastards)

Basically if you keep the soil moist they won't want a bar of it and will eventually leave but I like to let my pots dry out between watering if possible. Hence where the issues arise.

I have never seen any evidence that the ants on my plants harvest aphids either (as I have never seen an aphid yet) so I think they use the canopy as a travel route more then anything else and they must get something from the flowers I assume too??

 

[stickman]

Get a Cat??

As for the ants are they the big non-biting ants with a pale ass?? I have them on and around my plants and they are actually quite good for your soil (as they aerate it while burrowing into the bottom of your pots to nest) although they are a pain in the ass in terms of the mess they make with the disposed soil and you don't want ant nests everywhere (I have just accepted that they will come back and left them to it after months of trying to get rid of the little bastards)

Basically if you keep the soil moist they won't want a bar of it and will eventually leave but I like to let my pots dry out between watering if possible. Hence where the issues arise.

I have never seen any evidence that the ants on my plants harvest aphids either (as I have never seen an aphid yet) so I think they use the canopy as a travel route more then anything else and they must get something from the flowers I assume too??

I think they do... Bog knows every time I've gone out to my chiles on a sunny day they're in the flowers. I've never seen a bee or beetle on them, so it must be the ants that are pollinating.

 

[Mezo]

Get a Cat??

As for the ants are they the big non-biting ants with a pale ass?? I have them on and around my plants and they are actually quite good for your soil (as they aerate it while burrowing into the bottom of your pots to nest) although they are a pain in the ass in terms of the mess they make with the disposed soil and you don't want ant nests everywhere (I have just accepted that they will come back and left them to it after months of trying to get rid of the little bastards)

Basically if you keep the soil moist they won't want a bar of it and will eventually leave but I like to let my pots dry out between watering if possible. Hence where the issues arise.

I have never seen any evidence that the ants on my plants harvest aphids either (as I have never seen an aphid yet) so I think they use the canopy as a travel route more then anything else and they must get something from the flowers I assume too??

I think they do... Bog knows every time I've gone out to my chiles on a sunny day they're in the flowers. I've never seen a bee or beetle on them, so it must be the ants that are pollinating.

The owner doesn't like cats Trippa, she`s a dog person? i like both.

My concern is that these ants may possibly cross pollinating the plants? they are tightly packed in the tent for winter & they started budding, so thats why i was trying to get rid of the pesky things.

These are tiny little black ants.

 

[Mezo]

Ooh, ten days since my last update, tut tut tut.

Well its only seven days to the winter solstice (shortest day) and then its bring on spring.

Well i was going to go & take some snaps this morning, just started & the internal lens on the camera fogged up, does it every time i go in the tent, so i only got three snaps & ill wait till later & do some more.

Bhut here is my powdered peppers (Bhut Jolo`s) i brought an electric herb/spice/coffee grinder & run the generator for 20 mins to chop them all up, word of caution,,,don't inhale whilst doing this (like i did & suffered)

Ive got more in the dryer on yonder hill & still more ripening on the plants (in the background) plus more that are ripening on the plants i moved inside (pics later when the fog clears).

Surprisingly im still sprouting new born`s, a few of my own Bhut`s & Cayenne, some of Kings & Ben`s Hungarian Cherries.
They are so very slow to sprout & grow (cold) but they are (just).

And the start of the week was wild, lots of rain & very strong winds, tore up the tent a bit & had to cable tie it all back together (yet again) knocked a fair few pods off as well, even upturned a couple of smaller plants i have outside.

So im looking forward to the "superposed" weather coming our way, yet to see a forecaster get it right though to this day.

Oh nearly forgot, look at my new home i got yesterday.

Needs a fair bit of work, more pics here.

Mezo.

 

[Trippa]

Thats a nice update. It was worth the 10 days Mezo. Especially that bag of Bhut!!

 

[Ringside]

Wow what grinder did you get? I'm looking for one too.

 

[Mezo]

Wow what grinder did you get? I'm looking for one too.

A sunbeam EM0405, says coffee, herbs & Mezo`s Bhuts grinder on the box.

And cheers Trippa, that bag should keep me going for a while.

Mezo.

 

[Durham Bull]

great update & nice color on that powder...
Sy

 

[Mezo]

great update & nice color on that powder...
Sy

Cheers Sy, they kept there deep red & the smell is divine.

OK,,,"Warning warning Will Robinson (flailing robot arms) Aphid Attack, Aphid Attack Will Robinson"

You young ones are going WTF?

Yep i went in to the magical wedding marquee (i call the tent) to take a few more progress snaps, just finished & was going out the door (a zip) when i spotted something on my leaves? i thought it was just dust or something.

I had to really get up close & focus, and bugger me ive got dam aphids (in winter) on my chilli plants?

Anyone know what this is? it looks pretty big right? wrong,,, it took me ages to get that snap as the AF on the camera was saying "What? what do you want me to focus on there's nothing there?" it wasn't until i put a 1/4" drywall screw next to the thing then the camera said "oh the screw? you want me to take a picture of the screw right?"

Anyhow those little bastards are getting nuked tomorrow lunchtime.

So the reason i went in was to show you my Bhut Jolokia`s fruit ripening (unaffected by the aphids).

A winters crop if you will, and a general shot of the aphid infested jungle.

Have not watered this lot in two weeks, and at least another week or more before i do.

Mezo.

 

[gnslngr]

Your plants are lookin good over there...

Trippa:"I have never seen any evidence that the ants on my plants harvest aphids either (as I have never seen an aphid yet) so I think they use the canopy as a travel route more then anything else and they must get something from the flowers I assume too?? "

You are lucky, they are aphid ranching fools over here...I always thought they were pest controllers, until started staking them out ....with us its fire ants.

No argument on that beautiful bag of bhut flakes...or the breathing at the same time!
CRAP-that giant aphid pic is scary ....but a hell of good pic .
I have aphids again as well-unfortunately I noticed when scanned some pics taken after I was out in the middle of the Gulf.

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HOPEFULLY YOU USED THAT SELF THREADING SCREW ON EM AFTER THE PHOTO SHOOT!

 

[Mezo]

Stop pointing that thing at me, or ill stuff a flower down yer barrel.

Mezo.

 

[gnslngr]

no issues as long its a fresh flower.

and the post won't delete, so you'll have to settle for an "unfollow".

 

[nee]

Well its only seven days to the winter solstice (shortest day) and then its bring on spring.

Music to my ears!! Although i found it weird here in Australia that the seasons all start on the 1st of the month, unlike the UK, which technically doesn't put summer or winter solstice bang in the middle of the season. Well, i guess someone thought there was some logic in it, eh!?

As for the aphids, what's your plan of attack?

Oh, and ants...damn...never seen this many in winter here. We've still got shed loads of ants in our kitchen and the kids bedroom...really annoying. I blitzed the ones near my vertical grow-chamber and luckily they've not been back...

 

[romy6]

Plants are looking great Mezo. And here is why ants and aphids love each other.

[background=#ffffff]


Aphids exude a sweet liquid which is a good food source for the ants, who look after the aphids and 'milk' them with their antennae to get the honeydew. The ants protect the aphids from other predators, and will even herd them around, moving them from one colony to another.

The relationship is called mutualistic, as both species benefit. The ants get food, the aphids get protection

Read more: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_symbiotic_relationship_is_there_between_aphid_and_ant#ixzz1xmH8sRhG[/background]​

 

[saugapepper]

Plants are looking real good! Love the dried Bhuts... I will be growing a few next year to make some powder.

How are your Black Prince tom's doing in the depths of the Australian winter?

 

[TheFinnishChiliParadise]

Looking good! Nice Bhut's!

 

[PIC 1]

Nice bag shot!

Thaose flakes are worth their wait in Gold......well lets just say the Red is pretty dam tasty...

Good luck with your winter seasonal crop

Greg

 

[Mezo]

no issues as long its a fresh flower.

and the post won't delete, so you'll have to settle for an "unfollow".

There ya go, looks much better.

As for the aphids, what's your plan of attack?

Dunno Neil, just something that will get rid of them? see what the store sells.

Plants are looking great Mezo. And here is why ants and aphids love each other.

Cheers, romy, still going to nuke them though.

Plants are looking real good! Love the dried Bhuts... I will be growing a few next year to make some powder.

How are your Black Prince tom's doing in the depths of the Australian winter?

Both are flowering, both the same height, but one pots not happy & the leaves don't look very healthy? not sure why as i used the same mix, the same ferts & the same water regime? i will take a close up Conor & see what you reckon.

Looking good! Nice Bhut's!

Thank you.

Nice bag shot!

Thaose flakes are worth their wait in Gold......well lets just say the Red is pretty dam tasty...

Good luck with your winter seasonal crop

Greg

And thank you too, i am looking forward to when i have lots of bags of different powders & can start mixing them (blending powders). I am aware (right from the offset) im not growing enough yellow variety's, Judy had sold out of the ones i was chasing.

Hopefully the International Seed Train has some yellows on board?

Mezo.

 

[Mezo]

Ok, Nuked.

Had a chat with with the chap down the produce store (he`s pretty clued up on growing) i showed him the pic of the little bugger & told him about the ants as well, and its true the ants actually farm aphids on your plants, they also bring the eggs to your plant.

So we went through the usual brands you can buy from anywhere, he said "your the bloke growing hundreds of chilli`s right?" Yep a wedding marquee full of them so im going to need a shit load of this stuff, so he grabbed a 5ltr one of the top shelf thats normally used in them big ag spraying machines, it worked out so much cheaper this way.

a 200ml bottle was $20.00 (ten applications) and this big five liter one was $40.00 & will make 250 applications.

Its handy living in these country locations, you would never get this at Bunnings at that price, farmers are tighter as a fishes arsehole & certainly not stupid when it comes to money..

Mezo.

 

[Ferrero]

Thats right Mezo ants farm aphids, had them all over my lemon tree till I sprayed it a few times, I read ya thread earlier on my phone at work figured I would wait to post till I got home, Awesome buy...