Mitzi's 2019 - Grow, grow, grow your Bhut

Devv · Mar 30, 2019

Hmm, just got bounced to nowhere...after typoing a whole bunch...LOL

OK, Please forgive me for not answering, I just haven't the time to keep up with all the glogs..sigh.

The BT will only kill caterpillars, be them from moths or butterfly's. And it's safe to use, an organic, naturally occurring product. It will not harm any other critters. I use it all the time as here in Texas we have all kinds

The powder works the best, versus the liquid.

Mitzi · Apr 16, 2019

Second generation of ladybird larvae is starting to make itself known. The aphids are still really bad but maybe just starting to get under control. Unfortunately one or two of the seedlings downstairs now seem to have a few aphids on them. I suspect they may have hitched a ride on me / my clothes, even though I've tried to observe good biohygiene practices. Annoying.

Most of my 2019 plants are looking rather sick as a consequence of the aphids. There's still some evidence of caterpillar damage on the overwinters but I haven't found any of the little green monsters for quite a while. Several of the overwinters are looking sick. Only the Bahamian Goat and the Carolina Reaper are really thriving. The Cappuccino Scotch Bonnet is definitely dead. I reckon if I repot the ones that are surviving but not thriving, give them some fresh compost and slightly bigger boots, they might just perk up. It will be difficult to find the space for them, though.

Still haven't managed to pot up the seedlings in Jiffy 7s that I mentioned before going to Montenegro. They survived that trip as I had turned off the propagator and had watered them well just before going away. However, the weekend before last we went away (nowhere glamorous - Manchester!) I left the heat on and hadn't watered them for a couple of days before going. Came back to half of them looking dead. Much soaking and tender loving care later, most of them picked up. Just as well we were only gone two days.

This is all quite similar to last year, when I never got round to potting up the last batches of seedlings. Some went straight outside into big pots from their little Jiffy 7s. They didn't do very well. So I am determined to pot them all up over Easter, to give them a chance.

Basket of Fire has set a few pods. Overwintering Bahamian Goat (now in its third year) is the only other plant currently flowering. Hoping to get some isolated seeds saved from that; it's in a different room from the Basket of Fire so not much risk of cross pollination.

Mitzi · Apr 25, 2019

Still haven't done the potting up and the few aphids I'd spotted on the seedlings seem to be increasing. This morning I took all the seedlings from downstairs, put them in the bath, and gave them a good spray with SB Invigorator. I hope it will do the job - the plants weren't overrun by any means so there must be a chance it will work.

Over the weekend the ladybirds have gone from being absolutely everywhere to pretty much gone. :cry:

I released some outside on about Friday because I had so many, and lots of larvae everywhere so decided I didn't need the adults any more. Then we had the mini heatwave. I took quite a lot of the plants from the Grow Room outside to bask in the sun for several days (bringing them in again at night) and now I don't seem to have any ladybird larvae and only a couple of adults. This could be a disaster in the making!

Weather has turned cold again so all the plants are back indoors for the time being.

More plants are flowering - of the overwinters, the Nagabrain Chocolate and the Carolina Reaper in addition to the Bahamian Goat. No pods set as yet, that I can see. Of the 2019 plants, one of the baccatums (either Guyana Rush or Havana Gold) plus one of the bonnets.

I have been varying the feeding. Sometimes Chilli Focus, sometimes Liquid Seaweed and most recently Miracle Grow. Some plants still look sick.

podz · Apr 25, 2019

More photos, please? If the plants are looking sick, would be interesting to see what is going on with them.

Mitzi · May 9, 2019

Haven't been on here for a while, sorry, but my grow is continuing. More adult ladybirds have appeared - I think they were pupating when I wrote that the larvae had all disappeared. D'oh! So the aphids are not 100% gone but definitely under control.

I've continued to feed with Miracle Gro because the plants seem better on it. I think they needed the extra nitrogen. The overwinters which were looking sickly a month or two back have pretty much all put on lots of new growth and most of them have flower buds coming.

Still haven't managed to get all the Jiffy 7 seedlings potted up. They haven't been fed enough so they are small and weedy looking with yellowing leaves and have even dropped loads of leaves. Poor little things; I'm such a neglectful mum, someone would have called Social Services on me if they were children. I managed to pot up 10 of them a fortnight ago and another nine last night. They were all looking fairly similar before being potted up but the ones done a fortnight ago are now looking healthy, green, and twice the size of the ones I did last night. They have got plenty of roots showing through the sides of the pop bottles. So hopefully the latest ones will also flourish in the same way. Over a dozen still to do, but I'm going away for the weekend so no chance until next week, if they survive that long.

Don't know if I mentioned it already but I've been offered the use of a friend's small greenhouse - they use it for raising their bedding plants in spring, but come summer when the plants go outside, it's empty. It's in the village but not very close, so I couldn't go there to tend the plants every day, it would be more like once or maximum twice a week. Because of this, I initially said "Thanks, but no thanks" because I thought the plants would die in between visits. Now I'm wondering if plants in Chilligrows might last long enough between waterings to make it worth trying. Obviously Quadgrows with the extra reservoir would be ideal but that's an expensive outlay that I can't afford right now, whereas I've already got the Chilligrows. Maybe also a couple of the Stewart Balconniere pots. I have two plants of some of my chinense varieties so could always risk one in the greenhouse and one outdoors at home, which should cover the two extremes of weather (greenhouse plant should do better in a poor summer and the outdoor one will do well if we have another scorcher like last year.) Worth a try?

Mitzi · May 9, 2019

podz said:
More photos, please? If the plants are looking sick, would be interesting to see what is going on with them.

I know this glog would be much better with more photos but I don't find it easy posting them. I have come to the conclusion that the overwinters needed more nitrogen feed to get their growth going. This year's plants were really hammered by the aphids but now that those are almost gone, the new growth is looking healthier.

podz · May 9, 2019

Plant a bunch of chives in each chili pot to keep the aphids away?

Mitzi · May 20, 2019

Went to see the greenhouse on Saturday. It’s tiny, just 6x4 with the door in the long side. It has staging but the shelves can be removed so I’ll put the chillies on the floor. There’s room for a Chilligrow at each end and two or three of the Stewart pots between them.

In the Chilligrow pots I’ll put CW red and yellow (I think these might be Morugas - very hot anyway,) Moruga caramel, Bhut Jolokia peach and white and an overwintered Brazilian Ghost. In Stewart pots Carolina Reaper and Dorset Naga.

Hope to get them in there next weekend.

Pods starting to set now, mainly on the overwinters. None that I can see on Bahamian Goat or Reaper, despite them having been flowering for ages. However, several on Nagabrain Chocolate, Nebru 7 and PdNxSB7J. On this year’s plants I have the first ones on Heefy’s Guyana Rush and another baccatum which may be Havana Gold or another Guyana Rush. More setting on Basket of Fire and the Apache is just starting to set.

It’s so exciting seeing the tiny little pods starting to form. Hoping for a good year.

Mitzi · May 28, 2019

We've just had a long weekend and I had planned some massive potting up sessions and getting everything outdoors. In the event, the weather forecast changed to cold nights (down to 6*C) so I did some potting up Saturday and Sunday but put most of it on hold because I don't want to risk my precious babies getting chilled. It's worth being patient just a week longer.

I did put the plants in my neighbour's greenhouse on Saturday. Two chilligrows, containing the plants listed in my previous post, with the exception of the Dorset Naga which doesn't seem big enough to put out yet. It will be going into a large Stewart pot (approx 20 litres I think) and it was only in a porridge pot (about 1/2 litre or less.) So I've left it indoors but potted it up into an 8" square pot (maybe around 6 litres?) as an intermediate step. In very exciting news, it has set its first pod. Yay!

I potted up 10 plants on Sunday, four into the big Stewart pots and the other six into flower buckets. Last year I found that plants in the big pots grew bigger but took much longer to produce ripe pods. Some of the rocotos didn't ripen by the end of the season. Only got one rocoto this year but I'm keeping it in a smaller pot to give me a better chance of getting a harvest.

I have three pods set on the PdN, at long last. (Didn't get a single pod last year.) A few on the MoA SB. I noticed that the one pod on the (probable) Havana Gold had a hole in it. Cut it open and found a horrible caterpillar making itself all cosy inside the pod. Squish! But the pod is a write-off. So sick of the caterpillars. Every time I think I have eliminated them they reappear. Two or three pods on the white bubblegum. The red BBG7 plant is looking very healthy since being potted up a month ago.

Devv · May 28, 2019

I'm sorry you're having the pest issues!

I grow organic, so I lose some to the pests. I guess we have to share, but not that much!

Wishing you great success, and never give up!

PaulG · May 30, 2019

Hang in there Mitzi. Sounds like you are doing
the right things to get your plants back to healthy
and productive. will be interested to see how the
little greenhouse works for you, and how the
Chiligrows and Stewart pots do in there for you.
I hope you find lots of nice surprises when you
visit the greenhouse again!

Mitzi · Jun 17, 2019

Nothing to report. The weather has been cold and wet, seemingly for weeks. No sun. So much rain.

All my outdoor plants are stalled - no growth, not many flowers, no pods setting. The purple-leafed plants (PdN, Purple Tiger and PdN x BMJ) are reverting back to green because they've not been getting any sun at all. Even the plants in the greenhouse aren't doing much, although a few tiny pods have set on the two bhut jolokia plants. Too early to tell if they look right.

The indoor plants are all overcrowded and aphid-infested. Some pods set but because the plants are in such small pots, they can't really grow to their potential. Also because they are overcrowded and the branches are overlapping, there's a high chance that some will have crossed with each other when I shake the plants to aid pollination. The ones on windowsills are leggy from lack of sun.

Last year we were in the middle of a heatwave at this time and the plants were loving it.

nmlarson · Jun 17, 2019

I liked your post, but not really, only that you posted an update. The weather has been crazy everywhere, I suspect. Here in Pennsylvania, we had more rainy days than any May on record. Here's hoping your sun comes out eventually!

PaulG · Jun 18, 2019

+1 Nancy!

Mitzi · Jun 20, 2019

So, Tuesday was really nice weather all day... until I finished work and was five minutes away from home, when it started raining. Managed to get all of two plants potted in light rain, then it started really throwing it down so rain stopped play. Wednesday was mostly dry, so I got another seven potted up, then I had to go in for tea. This morning some of them had flopped / blown about so I tried to stake and tie them before work but, guess what, I'd only done two and it started raining again. So sick of it!

My red bubblegum plant is flowering now but, despite tickling them with a cotton bud, the flowers just keep dropping off. They don't look particularly bubblegummy to me. I shall be so upset if that one isn't a BBG either, given that my white one turned out to be just a hab.

I still have over 20 plants needing potting up, and I go away next week. I don't think I'm going to have chance to do them all so I have to think of how I'm going to deal with it e.g. capillary matting or just putting them on the north-facing windows so they don't get too hot. Or maybe even just outside in their little pots and pop bottles and hope the gardener waters them properly (unlikely.)

Mitzi · Jun 25, 2019

Another grey, gloomy, wet day today. Forecast to become hot and sunny by the weekend. Unfortunately I'm going away for a fortnight and so just when I wouldn't mind it being cool and damp, it's going to be scorching and my plants will all get cooked and die. I can't win.

PaulG · Jun 25, 2019

Not really liking your situation, Mitzi.

I tried to mow our lawn today. Guess what?
Two minutes after I started, it started raining.

Our weather systems must be connected. I
haven't seen a decent June weather-wise in
four seasons.

Trident chilli · Jun 27, 2019

Its heating up Mitzi .... will someone water your plants

Mitzi · Jul 13, 2019

LONG AND BORING - DONT WASTE YOUR TIME READING THIS

Thankfully the vast majority of my plants have survived my two week absence although very few of them are thriving. It's not a good year for me so far. Two possible casualties - the Chupetinho and the Nagabrain Chocolate. The latter was severely wilted and lots of leaves dropped. After a good soaking some of the leaves have perked up while others remain shrivelled. The scary part is that even the leaves that appear to have rehydrated are continuing to drop off the plant. At least I should have plenty of seeds from the pods that are already ripe. Think I need to remove as many pods as possible so the plant can concentrate on its recovery but most of them are still green so I'm a bit reluctant to pick those. I suppose I could pick the brownest ones, see how many seeds are in them, then if I've got plenty, pick the others green or just turning instead of waiting for them to be fully ripe.

The Chupetinho is in a very sorry state indeed - every single leaf is shrivelled to virtually nothing. I don't know what has happened to it because it looks to have died of lack of water but the compost is quite wet. It was behind some other pots so maybe the person watering didn't notice it at first and then watered it just before I came back. Alternatively it may have been overwatered and the roots rotted, in which case there is no way back for it. I haven't had chance to tip it out of the pot to take a look yet.

My old favourite SB MoA (2017 plant) is starting to ripen some pods. Bahamian Goat (same age, in same Chilligrow) has produced lots of great long branches but few pods. It's far too big for the windowsill but I don't want to cut it back because the branch tips are covered in flowers. I don't want to put it outside in a big pot either because after all my caterpillar problems, I'm definitely NOT bringing outdoor plants in to overwinter, so putting it out would be a death sentence (come the frost.)

The plants outside are making very slow progress. Even the annuums haven't set any pods other than the Basket of Fire and Apache which already had pods before I planted them out. The overwintered Nebru 7 and PdNxSB7J have ripening pods but again, they were set indoors before I potted them up and put them out. The MA SB and WHP SB MOA X have set a few more pods so I'm pleased with them. Heefy's Guyana Rush has set some pods but they were open pollinated so no good for seed saving. The earlier isolated pods have mostly shrivelled and dropped although hopefully I will still have one or two for seeds. Rocoto Canario Yellow has set its first pods but they are absolutely tiny and I know I will have to wait months for them to ripen.

I'm having a lot of problems this year with things not turning out as they should. I've already posted about my white bubblegum not being a bubblegum at all. The red one still hasn't set any pods but the flowers don't look like a bubblegum to me either. A plant which is either 7 Pot Burgundy or Peach Fatalli are producing pods that look like neither; they look like little grapes or jelly beans, very smooth (no grooves) and rounded. Another has gone weird and very bushy and doesn't look at all normal. It's just started flowering so it remains to be seen what the pods will be like. Plants that are supposed to be Bhut Jolokia are producing squat, hab-shaped pods. I'll try to get some photos and post them sometime but basically most of my 2019 grow is either not what it should be or else it's not fruiting. Only the overwinters are doing what they should.

I haven't had chance to visit the greenhouse yet but I hope those plants are doing better than the ones at home. Had a message from the greenhouse owner to say they are fine.

Today Ive harvested all the Nagabrain Choc pods that had any colour as well as a few SB MoA, Nebru 7 and PdN x SB7J. They are all overwintered plants. Not many seeds in them except the Nagabrain. Dehydrator is fired up and the kitchen has an overpowering smell of chillies for the first time this year. So it begins.

Realised I didnt take a picture of the harvest. Idiot!

Devv · Jul 13, 2019

Mitzi said:
LONG AND BORING - DONT WASTE YOUR TIME READING THIS

Thankfully the vast majority of my plants have survived my two week absence although very few of them are thriving. It's not a good year for me so far. Two possible casualties - the Chupetinho and the Nagabrain Chocolate. The latter was severely wilted and lots of leaves dropped. After a good soaking some of the leaves have perked up while others remain shrivelled. The scary part is that even the leaves that appear to have rehydrated are continuing to drop off the plant. At least I should have plenty of seeds from the pods that are already ripe. Think I need to remove as many pods as possible so the plant can concentrate on its recovery but most of them are still green so I'm a bit reluctant to pick those. I suppose I could pick the brownest ones, see how many seeds are in them, then if I've got plenty, pick the others green or just turning instead of waiting for them to be fully ripe.

The Chupetinho is in a very sorry state indeed - every single leaf is shrivelled to virtually nothing. I don't know what has happened to it because it looks to have died of lack of water but the compost is quite wet. It was behind some other pots so maybe the person watering didn't notice it at first and then watered it just before I came back. Alternatively it may have been overwatered and the roots rotted, in which case there is no way back for it. I haven't had chance to tip it out of the pot to take a look yet.

My old favourite SB MoA (2017 plant) is starting to ripen some pods. Bahamian Goat (same age, in same Chilligrow) has produced lots of great long branches but few pods. It's far too big for the windowsill but I don't want to cut it back because the branch tips are covered in flowers. I don't want to put it outside in a big pot either because after all my caterpillar problems, I'm definitely NOT bringing outdoor plants in to overwinter, so putting it out would be a death sentence (come the frost.)

The plants outside are making very slow progress. Even the annuums haven't set any pods other than the Basket of Fire and Apache which already had pods before I planted them out. The overwintered Nebru 7 and PdNxSB7J have ripening pods but again, they were set indoors before I potted them up and put them out. The MA SB and WHP SB MOA X have set a few more pods so I'm pleased with them. Heefy's Guyana Rush has set some pods but they were open pollinated so no good for seed saving. The earlier isolated pods have mostly shrivelled and dropped although hopefully I will still have one or two for seeds. Rocoto Canario Yellow has set its first pods but they are absolutely tiny and I know I will have to wait months for them to ripen.

I'm having a lot of problems this year with things not turning out as they should. I've already posted about my white bubblegum not being a bubblegum at all. The red one still hasn't set any pods but the flowers don't look like a bubblegum to me either. A plant which is either 7 Pot Burgundy or Peach Fatalli are producing pods that look like neither; they look like little grapes or jelly beans, very smooth (no grooves) and rounded. Another has gone weird and very bushy and doesn't look at all normal. It's just started flowering so it remains to be seen what the pods will be like. Plants that are supposed to be Bhut Jolokia are producing squat, hab-shaped pods. I'll try to get some photos and post them sometime but basically most of my 2019 grow is either not what it should be or else it's not fruiting. Only the overwinters are doing what they should.

I haven't had chance to visit the greenhouse yet but I hope those plants are doing better than the ones at home. Had a message from the greenhouse owner to say they are fine.

Today Ive harvested all the Nagabrain Choc pods that had any colour as well as a few SB MoA, Nebru 7 and PdN x SB7J. They are all overwintered plants. Not many seeds in them except the Nagabrain. Dehydrator is fired up and the kitchen has an overpowering smell of chillies for the first time this year. So it begins.

Realised I didnt take a picture of the harvest. Idiot!

Mitzi, keep your chin up!

It's now mid July, I'm hoping for some positive news soon

Edit: I did read it all, hugs...