Hi everyone,
First of all I would like to say I am no expert, this is just here purely to help out a few inexperienced people out there, like myself
I would like to share some tips I learnt during my first grow. Hopefully they can help you on your way to success. I have many ideas for my new grow season which is about to begin.
These tips are in no particular order.
TIP 1: Soil, watering and fertilisers
I used a mix of the following:
80% potting mix with slow release fertilisers.
10% perlite
10% vermiculite
This is a simple mix, but it worked well for me. However, this season I am considering dumping the vermiculite and using more perlite.
I mulched with woodchips which worked well, however, this season I may use pine needles (hoping it will be hard for slugs ans snails to pass over).
I watered only when needed, careful not to overwater. Once the seedling were 6 inches tall I watered with seasweed solution every two weeks for extra nitrogen. Then once the buds were about I watered with half strength tomato feed every two weeks for extra potassium.
TIP 2: GROW YELLOW 7 POTS!
Cant speak highly enough of this plant. The most delicious chilli I have tried and it packs plenty of heat. Here are some of mine from the season:
TIP 3: Damn snails and slugs.
I attempted to grow not only in pots (which were successful) but also in the ground (very unsuccessful).
The snails made light work of the seedling within days and I couldnt stop them. I think they travelled over the black plastic too easily. So this year I will try again but ditch the black plastic and use pine needle mulch. Apparently the rougness of the pointy needles makes it hard for snails to travel across. Also I will be hunting them late at night with a torch which I have heard works well. The damn possums are also a problem, nailing plants overnight, down to the ground. My pots are safe as they are in a court yard close to the yard and the possums wont go there.
TIP 4: Aphids
Aphids were a bit of an issue. Particularly for my fatali and butch t. They overan both plants at one stage. So I decided to cut back severly. It turn out to be a very good idea. So if you have any infestations, perhaps consider cutting down. Particularly if its early in the season. My plants recovered very very well!
cut back fatali
cut back butch t
recovered butch t (left) and fatalia (right)
TIP 5: Some other plants to consider.
Scotch Bonnet (red): love the flavour of this chilli and the heat is great, not overpowering. My second favourite chilli for the season.
ripening scotch bonnet
Aji Amarillo: These are a great chilli. I would have got at least 250+ chillies of my plant in a 10 litre container. They ripen to yellow and are nice
TIP 6: Get a dehydrator
I was overun with hundreds of chillies and still am in the freezer. However, I purchased a dehydrator and I love it, great for drying chillies. Making flakes or then turning into powder
TIP 7: Grow in BIG pots
If you have the chance and space, use big pots to grown your chillies in. They will love you for it. By providing more room for nutes and roots they will grow bigger and produce more pods. However, I have allot of chillies in 10 litre pots which did quite well
Im at my image limit, so if you want to see some more pics I took (loads more) post a reply.
Hope some of this stuff has helped you out. If you have any questions let me know
Cheers
Mitch
First of all I would like to say I am no expert, this is just here purely to help out a few inexperienced people out there, like myself
I would like to share some tips I learnt during my first grow. Hopefully they can help you on your way to success. I have many ideas for my new grow season which is about to begin.
These tips are in no particular order.
TIP 1: Soil, watering and fertilisers
I used a mix of the following:
80% potting mix with slow release fertilisers.
10% perlite
10% vermiculite
This is a simple mix, but it worked well for me. However, this season I am considering dumping the vermiculite and using more perlite.
I mulched with woodchips which worked well, however, this season I may use pine needles (hoping it will be hard for slugs ans snails to pass over).
I watered only when needed, careful not to overwater. Once the seedling were 6 inches tall I watered with seasweed solution every two weeks for extra nitrogen. Then once the buds were about I watered with half strength tomato feed every two weeks for extra potassium.
TIP 2: GROW YELLOW 7 POTS!
Cant speak highly enough of this plant. The most delicious chilli I have tried and it packs plenty of heat. Here are some of mine from the season:
TIP 3: Damn snails and slugs.
I attempted to grow not only in pots (which were successful) but also in the ground (very unsuccessful).
The snails made light work of the seedling within days and I couldnt stop them. I think they travelled over the black plastic too easily. So this year I will try again but ditch the black plastic and use pine needle mulch. Apparently the rougness of the pointy needles makes it hard for snails to travel across. Also I will be hunting them late at night with a torch which I have heard works well. The damn possums are also a problem, nailing plants overnight, down to the ground. My pots are safe as they are in a court yard close to the yard and the possums wont go there.
TIP 4: Aphids
Aphids were a bit of an issue. Particularly for my fatali and butch t. They overan both plants at one stage. So I decided to cut back severly. It turn out to be a very good idea. So if you have any infestations, perhaps consider cutting down. Particularly if its early in the season. My plants recovered very very well!
cut back fatali
cut back butch t
recovered butch t (left) and fatalia (right)
TIP 5: Some other plants to consider.
Scotch Bonnet (red): love the flavour of this chilli and the heat is great, not overpowering. My second favourite chilli for the season.
ripening scotch bonnet
Aji Amarillo: These are a great chilli. I would have got at least 250+ chillies of my plant in a 10 litre container. They ripen to yellow and are nice
TIP 6: Get a dehydrator
I was overun with hundreds of chillies and still am in the freezer. However, I purchased a dehydrator and I love it, great for drying chillies. Making flakes or then turning into powder
TIP 7: Grow in BIG pots
If you have the chance and space, use big pots to grown your chillies in. They will love you for it. By providing more room for nutes and roots they will grow bigger and produce more pods. However, I have allot of chillies in 10 litre pots which did quite well
Im at my image limit, so if you want to see some more pics I took (loads more) post a reply.
Hope some of this stuff has helped you out. If you have any questions let me know
Cheers
Mitch
