• Blog your pepper progress. The first image in your first post will be used to represent your Glog.

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

The is thread with the humungous solar dehydrator. :D

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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.

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And average monthly rainfall.

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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.

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

Mezo.
 
Take no prisoners Mezo. This is a Search and Destroy mission. J

I have some bean plants at the end of my deck that the kids started growing and promptly forgot about and I just noticed some little ants on them. No aphids seem to be there but I’m about to fire the artillery on the whole yard. Hopefully controlling the surrounding area like you’re doing around the outside of the tent will prevent anything getting to the plants that matter. Now we’ll see who draws first blood.
Using a howitzer to swat mosquitoes, eh? The aim is tricky but it sure takes care of the mosquitoes!... or aphids in this case...
 
Ah, grubs... I've had some turn into really beautiful Scarab beetles... makes it feel kind of magical with them buzzing all around my plants... they don't seem to kill them...
 
Having a bit of a nightmare with my Black Prince Tom`s, ive just noticed the stems are bending with the weight of the fruit.
Ive lost one lot as the stem had rotted where it had bent & ive tried to tie up the other bent stems.

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And ive got a brown fungus/mold on the plants as well, here`s a tom that had succumbed to the mold.

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Ive gone through & given all of them a swift haircut, there are still hundreds of flowers on the plants that are over head height now.

Mezo.
 
Not sure why but the vine stem has not grown strong enough to take the weight of the fruit, may loose a few toms.

On the aphid/ant side of things i found the nest, it was in a motorbike seat hanging up, so i removed that & the ants moved to the next seat, so i moved that outside as well, Ive got a ton of coffee grounds outside the tent (all the way round) and ive covered the inside of the tent floor with yet more.

Its defiantly ants its the problem, have ants, have aphids.

Mezo.
 
How much wind movement do they get in the tent mezo?? Could be that they simply haven't hardened up enough from a young age and subsequently can't handle the added weight
 
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Mezo, just read something very interesting and thought you might like to give it a read.

http://www.doityours...nsect-repellent

http://www.ehow.com/how_4453129_use-mint-as-insect-repellant.html

Mint, who would have thunk it? Apparently ants skeeters and flies don't like the stuff. I'm wondering if it'd help with the white flies we get here in Florida. Might be just the ticket for the Ant problem your having.

Mint for the ants and coffee for the aphids and you should be set. Nice part is no harmful chemicals to mess you up.

Cheers mate
RM
 
How much wind movement do they get in the tent mezo?? Could be that they simply haven't hardened up enough from a young age and subsequently can't handle the added weight

Yep i think your bang on the money mate, no wind at all in there (apart from the odd fart).

Ah, thats handy to know in hindsight, as during the summer here we get loads of ants. Will try and control them this year

If you see them on the tips of the plants Nee (new growth) thats the warning sign.

Mezo, just read something very interesting and thought you might like to give it a read.

http://www.doityours...nsect-repellent

http://www.ehow.com/...-repellant.html

Mint, who would have thunk it? Apparently ants skeeters and flies don't like the stuff. I'm wondering if it'd help with the white flies we get here in Florida. Might be just the ticket for the Ant problem your having.

Mint for the ants and coffee for the aphids and you should be set. Nice part is no harmful chemicals to mess you up.

Cheers mate
RM

Cheers for the tip, i have loads of mint growing so ill try that.

Mezo.
 
Well been busy today, i think i found out where this mold is coming from, its the coffee grounds i shoveled inside the tent. !!

I did notice mold on the grounds but didn't take a whole heap of notice to be honest, first i saw mold on my Tom`s & now is spread to my chilli`s, so i can`t remove the grounds they are squashed in to the floor (mud) so ive gone over the top with sugar cane mulch.

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I also opened up both ends of the tent to get some flow happening & ill be doing that for the next week or so & hopefully any spore will blow right out the door.

Mezo.
 
good thinking on that cane mulch. I like the look of it and it looks like it will lock down really well too.

Dang, I haven't seen the coffee doing that but when I pick up my grounds I throw them into the freezer when I get home if I'm not using them right away. The air flow should help alot to and I bet the plants like having some fresh air too.

Best of luck with it Mezo
RM
 
What are the properties of sugar-cane mulch? Haven't had any experience with the stuff. Hopefully the mold doesn't like it.
 
Mez, hold on for 6 more weeks and that warm weather will start up. You are going to have so many bloody pods this summer... I love it! Did you get my latest package yet?
 
Mez, just tried those St. Helena peppers. They aren't overly hot, first bite tasted like a bell pepper and then after about 10 seconds the heat started to kick in... less fiery than a piri-piri. Worth the grow because of the story. I'm going to powder them.
 
Damn Mezo. Sorry to hear about you troubles. Hope that does the trick!

Cheers Dave, it seems like one thing after another & ive still not beaten the ant/aphid thing by any means. Im now nipping the tops off the smaller plants where they have now moved to, not a bad thing i used to nip my Jamaican Tomatoes the same way to make them bushier as i do with my Avocado`s.

good thinking on that cane mulch. I like the look of it and it looks like it will lock down really well too.

Dang, I haven't seen the coffee doing that but when I pick up my grounds I throw them into the freezer when I get home if I'm not using them right away. The air flow should help alot to and I bet the plants like having some fresh air too.

Best of luck with it Mezo
RM

Cheers RM,

Yep the grounds were sealed in air tight garbage bags & when i opened them they were covered in fungus/mold, and when i went & spread the non moldy grounds around within days they started to fur up.

What are the properties of sugar-cane mulch? Haven't had any experience with the stuff. Hopefully the mold doesn't like it.

From what ive heard its pretty good stuff & we have ample cheap supplies which normally just gets burnt, they are now urging the cane farmers to stop the burning & recycle/sell the waste product, personally i love to see a cane field burning at night.

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Mez, just tried those St. Helena peppers. They aren't overly hot, first bite tasted like a bell pepper and then after about 10 seconds the heat started to kick in... less fiery than a piri-piri. Worth the grow because of the story. I'm going to powder them.

Interesting, have you posted any pics on your glog Conor?

Mez, hold on for 6 more weeks and that warm weather will start up. You are going to have so many bloody pods this summer... I love it! Did you get my latest package yet?

And no not yet, but as you know the mailbox is a mile away down the drive so i don't check it every day, and yep if i dont get eaten out by pest i should have a real good harvest & that dryer will come in real handy. And the temps have risen already mate, im in shorts & t-shirt & the tree`s are blossoming already.

2 cents about mint...make sure it's containered...it will spread like mad.

Cheers Lunchbox,

Yep we have them containerized, but its not a problem if it does go wild anyhow.

Thanks lads,

Mezo.
 
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