• 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.
 
There`s a firm here in OZ Gas who makes the shadecloth covers for them, you give them the dimensions & they stitch it all up ready to go over, blanked off at one end & a zip door at the other end, lasts for donkeys years & totally storm proof.

Mezo.
 
I did it even more simply this past spring...
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I used 10 foot lengths of half inch, schedule 40 PVC. Buried the ends a foot down and 4 feet apart to make hoops and spaced the hoops about 2 feet apart. I covered the hoops first with 4 mil poly sheeting, and when it had warmed up a little, swapped it out for Agribon 19 fabric. The hoops are only waist-high, so rather than staking the cover down to keep the strong spring wind from blowing the cover over, I used 16 pound sandbags. Rocks would do... The thing is, I didn't want to have to get down on my hands and knees to water the plants under the cover, so I just moved the weights off of one side of the cover and pulled the cover over to the other side until I had finished tending the plants. Then I put it all back. Cheap and easy...
 
Hey Mezz, did you ever post the plans for your solar dehydrator? I think I'd like to put one together for next season. Cheers!
 
Classic!

Thousands of pepper-heads on here posting sooo many articles / pictures / advice...but it took Mezo's ripped marqee to finally lure you in!! lol

I felt sorry for him! :P
I guess you can use tarps for it if you make sure its stretched tight enough to not give rain a chance to accumulate.
 
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Gaffa tape will hold a tarp on the underside, as long as its dry when applied, and the stress is acting on it in the same direction as the roof and not in an `unpeeling` right angle. I think the problem is the part that will be exposed to the weather. Not sure how to stop the wind n rain from getting under the roof and working the patch apart. You've got to keep it as tight as possible because if the join is allowed to flap at all in the wind it will wear it down.
 
Hey Mezz, did you ever post the plans for your solar dehydrator? I think I'd like to put one together for next season. Cheers!

I just made it ad-hoc as i went, if i made another id make it out of aluminium & id make it wider (double the width).

I had thought about automating the thing as well, using a Rasberry Pi & a Gertboard to run servo motors opening & closing the inlet & exhaust vents as the weather changed during the day, iv even come up with a idea of making the whole unit follow the sun as it makes it way across the sky (similar to how solar panels track) there is a very cheap gizmo that you can buy that does that.

Don`t think anyone has made an fully automated solar dehydrator yet?

Mezo.
 
Im so over these high winds, just had a "Willy Willy" come through the joint & totally wrecked the place, not happy. The tent roof is a write off, nothing can be salvaged the sun has done its damage & it needs a new roof.

On top of that ive lost at least 100+ plants to aphids or the crap that supposed to kill them, either way ive lost a shit load of plants. Ive been busy tossing out the dead plants & re-potting them with some junior ones.

This is what my dead uns look like.

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A peek through the tent door (excuse the phone pics)

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And from inside.

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Im just fortunate i grew loads earlier in the year so i can replace the dead ones.

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Im happy that one of my "Super Scorp`s" is doing real well.

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And ive got at least four Florida Wild that have sprouted.

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And this lot are my new babys, the Morouga`s, 7P Brown, Brain Strain Yellow, White Habs,

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So that`s me right now, battling aphids & strong winds ripping the place to pieces.

Mezo.
 
Ouch! Nobody likes to reboot just when things really start rolling.

I agree, that sux for sure.

On another note, since you started this grow log on the premiss of health reasons, how is that steady diet of super hots working out for you?
 
On another note, since you started this grow log on the premiss of health reasons, how is that steady diet of super hots working out for you?

Truth is im not eating enough, only had two superhot meals last week & i need to be eating it every day.
I notice when im not eating them, i feel gluggy inside, but its nice to have a break from them at the same time.

Mezo.
 
Sorry to hear about the wind/aphid troubles. You look like you have plenty of back up. I know its still disheartening to lose the babies. Keep up the good grow. Im watching impatiently :rofl: :onfire:
 
Thanks Pia,

Just spent half an hour flicking off baby aphids of my new seedlings, they are only tiny seedling just sprouting yet already the ants have started farming them, im using a watchmakers flat screwdriver to flick them all off.

Im just about to boil up a greener/natuaral spray solution to apply, using chilli powder, garlic & mint.

Mezo.
 
Bummer... sounds like you got a Murphy's Law grow happening there, Meez! (it's nice to know though that I'm not the only poor bugger.... :P)

Seriously, you need to drop a parasitic wasp bomb! I haven't seen a single aphid in a couple weeks now. Well, apart from the aphid mummies. :D

Sadly, doesn't mean sh*t though. My surprise pest for this season is thrips (it's a new bloody pest every season :banghead:). Friggin' things are starting to cause some real damage too. And by the sounds of it, it's only a matter of time before they bring a virus to my plants. Yaaaaay.... can't wait for that one! :dance:

So many predators around the garden now and it seems like not one wants a bar of the thrips.
 
Well that its Gas, last year not a single pest on any plant & this year aphids by the million??

I sprayed that solution on my plants & then went & made up a second batch, it was just cooling down ready for bottling a "Wonky" this little shit bantam chook decides to step on the saucepan looking for food on the shelves & knocks the whole lot over.

If i could have caught the little shit id have rang his little neck & fed him to Mr Fox, where`s the gun when you need it?

Im hopeful this stuff is going to work although its time consuming, if that fails its soapy water.

Mezo.
 
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Have you tried spreading dimataceous earth around the seedlings to stop the ants getting close? Actually I'm not sure if it works on ants but if it does its worth a try. Better than poisons.
 
Consume time cooking up solution... or parasitic wasps.

Consume time spraying plants... or parasitic wasps.

Consume time cooking up another batch after bloody chook knocks over batch... or parasitic wasps.

Consume time doing it all over again in a week or two... or parasitic wasps.

It's your choice...... :P
 
Moo the ants are everywhere (there`s one on my keyboard as i type) i kid you not, i get bitten in bed by them??

Yep these peppers should be worth a fortune for all the shit & hassle you go through to grow the frigging things, but there not. Im not a quitter rather a battler & ill continue my war to get my superhots, one thing i have is time on my hands.

Mezo.
 
Well that its Gas, last year not a single pest on any plant & this year aphids by the million??

Were you in NSW or Perth last year Mez? Just wondered if it's because you are now somewhere a bit more 'rural'...?

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it sorts out for you.
 
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