MisterNo's 2013 glog - still harvesting/processing... :)

MisterNo · May 8, 2013

Thanks Rick.

I was up potting some of the plants today, and I was curious about my DIY air pots, so up potted Wiri Wiri Ma and Orange Manzano to bigger air pots, just to see root system

Since you guys say Manzanos can get really big, it will be good to have extra litres of soil

Wiri Wiri Ma got 20 liter air pot and Manzano 25 liter. I also up potted some other plants.

Look at the root system of air potted Wiri Wiri Ma

And Orange Manzano

Only tiny pieces of root ends, no root ball. It looks like it's working

Also, I potted up Bhut Jolokia Indian Carbon to air pot, and i have one in plastic pot, to compare growth.

Yellow Trinidad Scorpion FG and Wiri Wiri Ma in bigger air pots, and Fatali Yellow in smaller one.

MisterNo · May 10, 2013

Only one they after potting up Manazano has ''forked'', and with two new buds

I also made a kitchen veggies pot for my wife, not sure if it will big enough for all the plants (basils, spinach, dill, mustard, brussel sprouts..), I will pot up some of the veggies when needed

I wish nice and successfull weekend to all if you

MisterNo · May 20, 2013

Hi guys, long time no glog for me. Here's a little update, with pics.

Plants are growing nicely, all bigger plants have buds now.
I started making AACT last week, hope it shows soon

Bhut Jolokia Indian Carbon in plastic pot. Had problems with lice, I took care of it, but had to cut few leaves.

Bhut Jolokia Indian Carbon in geotex pot

Butch-T, getting bunch of new growth underneath the big leaves

The Manzano beast, with 10 buds

Although, the newer leaves are still curled up, not sure why. I checked and there is no lice.

Maybe calcium deficiency? It shouldn't be to much fert, I only gave them AACT once in last few weeks.
I'll try epsom salt tomorrow

We have cold wave coming by the end of the week, with the possibility of frost, hope it will pass without frost.
I have 100 peppers in ground, can't do much for them if frost comes.

Today we had hail in some parts of the town, mine just had a few rain drops

stickman · May 20, 2013

I like the plant pics Robert, but not the possibility of frost. We're pullin' for ya here! I've had ants climbing all over my chiles the last few years, but no aphid problems yet. I always plant a few of the edible plants that attract lacewings and ladybugs in the garden so they can hunt there. Some good examples are dill, caraway and fennel. A nice yellow ornamental flower that does the same is yarrow.

MisterNo · May 21, 2013

Hey Rick, thanks for advice.
I have funnel and dill planted near the peppers..

Lices are common enemy here, year after year, when we are having warm weather with a lot of moisture and rain like last month.
But they arerather easy to get rid off in early stage, with lady bugs or natural pesiticides like ones made from Tanacetum cinerariifolium (or Chrysanthemum cinerariifolium). It's an indigenous plant in Dalmatia region in Croatia, and a natural source of pyrethrins.

But when it comes to large infections or if they are not treated early, there is really no choice but to use powerfull chemical insecticide.

I also had few incidents with snails, they've eaten ten of my smaller peppers in just two nights.

Frost has also become a regular thing here, for the last few years it always comes late in May.

MisterNo · May 30, 2013

Hey guys, just a little update.

Frost danger is over - there was no frost, though we had a few cold mornings with 42F, but nothing dangerous.
Weather is still strange, with a lot of rain and few sunny days.

Since there was no frost, I made some trouble for my peppers - Calcium overdose

I had a lot of Blossom End Root problems last year I came to conclusion that the soil has a Ca deficiency.
So I bought CalMax:
http://www.omex.co.uk/agriculture/ProductItem.aspx?id=270

I decided to experiment on some of my pot plants, and I gave them a foliar spray of CalMax diluted in water 1:20 according to instructions on the bottle.
Problem was - dosage was mistranslated, it should have been aprox. 1:200, that's the dosage on the manufacturers web page.
The day after foliar Ca feeding we had a very hot and sunny day, and some of the leaves with a Ca film were burned heavily.

So, I had a little burn out few days ago

Luckily, plants are recovering fine, but they lost a lot of new leaves and buds, so I'm set back few weeks for those 10 plants.

Here are few pics:
Wiri Wiri ''Ma''

Orange Manzano

Butch T

Bhut Jolokia Indian Carbon

The rest of the gang is doing fine

stickman · May 30, 2013

Hi Robert
Good thing you only tried the Calcium amendment on a few of your plants! I'm relieved that the Guinea Pigs will all survive. That would have been a real bummer otherwise... I managed to send a few of my seedlings into Chlorosis this winter too, but I was using powdered Dolomitic lime added to ProMix. I didn't realize at the time that the ProMix was already buffered, so it kicked the pH up to 7.6

MisterNo · May 31, 2013

Thanks Rick.

I guess mine experiment didn't change pH too much, I aplied Ca via foliar feeding, and just a little bit in the soil, I used 2 litres for 10 plants.
If they show any signs of new chlorosis or too much alkalinity, I'll add some humus/compost to even things up.

It's a good thing we are ahving a lot of rain these days, it will give my plants a good recovery time

stickman · May 31, 2013

Yup... having the rain wash clear our mistakes is a godsend...

MisterNo · Jun 7, 2013

Just a little update, we are still in tropical weather, large amounts of rain with sun every day, so my in-ground plants are having problems - chlorosis due to too much water.
My mother already lost 5 big grown sweet peppers.

Gonna give them AACT, it seems they like it a lot

stickman · Jun 7, 2013

Hi Robert,
I'm liking the tea but not the chlorosis... Man, it must be hard growing peppers in clay soil with so much rain. Do you and/or your parents have a compost pile? Adding compost to the soil every year would go a long way toward improving the drainage and it would add more nutes to the soil.

MisterNo · Jun 7, 2013

Hi Rick.

I'm actually planning a composter for next season for the pot plants, but it's an excelent idea to upgrade soil quality with compost. Thanks

I could also add humus from the local forrest.

We are not really used to this heavy rains situation, but since the weather is changing last few years, we will have to adjust. It doesn't effect all the plants - Anuums are mostly without problems, growing fast and flowering. Chinensis are having a hard time.

MisterNo · Jun 8, 2013

Happy to see first pod forming (one month later then last season, due to cold weather - Jalapeno M is the first one.

Although peppers are growing slow, tomatillo seems to like large amounts of water, they are getting very big and flowering all over

stickman · Jun 8, 2013

Alright Robert... Pods! I'm definitely liking that. Those Tomatillos are also looking like beasts! Have you ever grown them before, or cooked with them? All you need is a short row of Cilantro and a few sweet onions and you're all set for Salsa Verde. Cheers!

MisterNo · Jun 8, 2013

Thanks Rick.

I've grown purple ones, this season I added green ones mostly because of salsa verde. Been wanting to try that one for a while

I'm also growing few varieties of sweet onions, with cilantro I always have problems, cant buy seeds here (I forget to order them online), so I buy plants in local stores, but the plants are mostly bad quality. Last one was good but got eaten by lices while I was out of town

stickman · Jun 8, 2013

You should have said something... That's no problem from this end. Has your mailing address changed?

MisterNo · Jun 8, 2013

Thanks very much Rick, but don't bother. I'm just not into new germinations at this time of season

Will buy some more plants here.

HabaneroHead · Jun 8, 2013

Hi Robert,
Beautiful plants, especially the tomatillo-beast!

The Bhut Jolokia Indian Carbon is one of my favourite, so far they are the biggest in my garden, and yours are looking very good, too!

Balázs

stickman · Jun 8, 2013

MisterNo said:
Thanks very much Rick, but don't bother. I'm just not into new germinations at this time of season

Will buy some more plants here.

Good enough... you're the boss.

MisterNo · Jun 15, 2013

Hi guys, thanks for stopping by!

Just a little update - first pod of the year - a Poblano pod

First chinensis flowers:
Bhut Jolokia Indian Carbon

Chocolate Fatali

And a nice detail

I've seen some ladybugs on the leaves also, controlling the pests