This forum has taught me why some of my observations and experiments worked or failed, and taught me things I really needed to succeed.
So I joined. Thanks guys!
I live in Southern California.
As a total newbie I bought Chili plants from Target last year and put them into Self-Watering containers - Cayenne and Thai Dragon - so I could use organic for my salsa.
At the end of the season, they had no heat, so I threw them into a trash bag in the fall and never got around to throwing them out. Not only did they not die, the seemed to get stronger, so, I planted them in the ground, hoping Sun and soil would do their magic. (My first lesson in Wintering, btw.)
Nope. I stressed them this summer, and can pick one off the vine and barely get heat from most. The smaller one seems to pack more power tho. Hmmm.
So mid-season I bought seeds for Habanero from various sources, after reading, "grow the hottest you can find." Sounded reasonable.
Then I discovered Bhuts, so a bought 2 plants; they arrived thin, but had 5 nice pods, and lots of buds. I thought I would have lots of chilies.
Nope.
All the flowers dropped, until I finally bought some BudSwel organic Phosphate. Boom, now I'm getting pods :-)
In early May I planted Red Hab from rareseeds.com, directly in the potting soil in my self-watering container outside. Red Habs seem to sprout quickly. They are now my best plants, and after 2.5 months, the best of the lot have split and are budding. I write this July 31; heat is coming, as August/September tend to be the hottest months. Decent growing Heat can last into November here.
I'm not sure if other families of chili are like this, but my bhuts and habs do seem to like shade. Best seems to be early sun with afternoon shade; then when shade hits, they really took off once I began misting them after the sun/into the shade.
Having said that, I was able to harden my bhuts to be fine in full S. Calif summer sun all day. But took several weeks. Not bad for plants raised back east and imported to the west coast. I'm now working the same process with my Red Habs.
I'm still learning, having had a 'black thumb' all my life.
Will post more later with pictures.
I learned a lot from this forum, so felt the need to contribute my learning experience.
So I joined. Thanks guys!
I live in Southern California.
As a total newbie I bought Chili plants from Target last year and put them into Self-Watering containers - Cayenne and Thai Dragon - so I could use organic for my salsa.
At the end of the season, they had no heat, so I threw them into a trash bag in the fall and never got around to throwing them out. Not only did they not die, the seemed to get stronger, so, I planted them in the ground, hoping Sun and soil would do their magic. (My first lesson in Wintering, btw.)
Nope. I stressed them this summer, and can pick one off the vine and barely get heat from most. The smaller one seems to pack more power tho. Hmmm.
So mid-season I bought seeds for Habanero from various sources, after reading, "grow the hottest you can find." Sounded reasonable.
Then I discovered Bhuts, so a bought 2 plants; they arrived thin, but had 5 nice pods, and lots of buds. I thought I would have lots of chilies.
Nope.
All the flowers dropped, until I finally bought some BudSwel organic Phosphate. Boom, now I'm getting pods :-)
In early May I planted Red Hab from rareseeds.com, directly in the potting soil in my self-watering container outside. Red Habs seem to sprout quickly. They are now my best plants, and after 2.5 months, the best of the lot have split and are budding. I write this July 31; heat is coming, as August/September tend to be the hottest months. Decent growing Heat can last into November here.
I'm not sure if other families of chili are like this, but my bhuts and habs do seem to like shade. Best seems to be early sun with afternoon shade; then when shade hits, they really took off once I began misting them after the sun/into the shade.
Having said that, I was able to harden my bhuts to be fine in full S. Calif summer sun all day. But took several weeks. Not bad for plants raised back east and imported to the west coast. I'm now working the same process with my Red Habs.
I'm still learning, having had a 'black thumb' all my life.
Will post more later with pictures.
I learned a lot from this forum, so felt the need to contribute my learning experience.
and hope you have a bountiful harvest.
