Nee's first pepper season. (Australia) Pics, vids & banter.. yey! \\(^o^)//

nee · Sep 16, 2012

OK, the weekend sort of slipped away from me for some reason, and i didn't get round to building my new 'thing' for outside...i might still yet do it, but i'm now thinking i'm over-engineering things. Basically, along the side of our house at the back, there's a spot along the side wall of the house that gets a couple of hours of morning sun, and is then shaded for the rest of the day. I was thinking it's an ideal place to start my plants outdoors, and get them some natural sunshine, but without the intense afternoon sunshine.... And seeing as though i'm not there during the daytime i was going to build a little raised decking thing on castors, so that if it started raining really heavy, my wife who is at home with the kids, could easily just push the whole thing easily into the carport next to it. I may still make this yet....i'll see how it goes.

I repotted one of my Fatalii's into one of the huge pots i have, and it's spending it's first night outside. It's not totally outside though, it's guarded from the rain under the carport, but in an area where it will get a couple of hours of early morning sun and then be sheltered from the afternoon sun. If this works out i will probably move it a couple of feet each day so that it gets a little more sun each day, and then do the rest of my plants this way.
Hopefully that'll be cool.
It's really hard at this stage of my grow to imagine how on earth any of these plants are going to be able to cope with all day sunshine, as i've witnessed what a couple of hours of harsh sunshine can do to them....but i guess they will at some point?!
I'll whack some pics up in the next day or 2...

gasificada · Sep 16, 2012

Give 'em a good feed of Seasol and boot 'em outta the nest, nee.

That's what I had to do when I was growing at two locations (starting plants at my place and then sending them on to my alternate growing location). Sunscald is a given but as long as your plants are kept well watered, they should be fine and bounce back. Mulch might be a good idea too to keep the roots as cool as possible. Simply snip any damaged leaves. Plants will look like crap for a little while, but the snipping is good in the long run as it encourages the plant to grow more.

The spot you have in mind sounds great (morning sun/afternoon shade).

I don't know what your sun is like down there, but hardening off will only do so good as far as our sun up here goes. There comes a time when you just have to take the plunge.

nee · Sep 17, 2012

Righty.....
I've taken the plunge and some have left the nest!

The pic below shows the 4 on the left that spent last night under the carport are now properly outside, whilst there is one still under the carport on the right of the pic as i've just brought this one outside. Probably makes no difference, but keeps me happier about it...lol
Honestly, i feel like i'm abandoning a loved one... hahaha

It's kinda sheltered from the elements under the eaves. We had a bit of rain earlier and the plants stayed dry. Obviously it's down to which way the wind is blowing, and if i have any incline that it's going to be a bit wild and windy i'll probably drag them all under the carport.
I'll be bringing most of my larger plants out here in the next day or 2, probably when they need potting up to a decent sized pot...that way i know that there's a bit of weight in the pot so it won't blow over in the slightest breeze.

Here's a close up of the 4 intrepid explorers...

There's meant to be some heavy rain moving down from Sydney way tomorrow, so my dear wife has agreed to keep an eye on what's happening outside, and pull them into the carport should it get too gnarly for them out there!

stickman · Sep 17, 2012

Good on ya Nee, releasing your chiles into the wild where you hope they'll find a mate and have lots of little ones...

gasificada · Sep 17, 2012

Good luck, nee!

nee said:
Honestly, i feel like i'm abandoning a loved one... hahaha

How do you think I felt after I dropped my babies off at my alternate grow location where I would only see them once or twice a week? "Sorry guys, I'll see you in a few days... I promise!" And it would always be so lonely at my place for a few days after that..... :lol:

Lavatung · Sep 17, 2012

Nice to see you washed those pots nee

nee · Sep 19, 2012

Lavatung said:
Nice to see you washed those pots nee

hahah!! It's function over fashion around these parts Lava

OK, we had a torrent of rain here yesterday, and after dithering about it for 10 minutes i decided to pull the outside plants in under the carport....and i'm so glad i made that executive decision, as it absolutely hammered it down here for about 4 hours solid, and there's no way my plants would have coped with so much rain at this early stage of being outdoors.

So that got me thinking about my 'giant skateboard raised decking idea' again.
Plus yesterday whilst on a building site i managed to 'find' 2 lengths of structural timber....so with all to gain and nothing to lose...i may as well have a go..

Basically it's just for the interim, whilst the plants get used to being outside / rain / storms etc......

This is how we roll.....

I have yet to put the decking on the top yet....but it rolls into the carport like a dream!! So now on heavy rain days my dear wife can just cart the whole lot into the carport for shelter in one hit

I'll rig up some sort of handle for it too.
Also, yesterdays rain brought all the slugs and snail out, and i found loads of leaves nibbled when i checked my plants this morning. I'm kinda hoping that this might help by having the pots raised from ground level and with only 4 small points (the castors) that they can get access!

Will post pics of the final thing once i've completed it :dance:

stickman · Sep 19, 2012

Nice Nee, that should solve the overhead cover problem...

nee · Sep 20, 2012

I just finished the decking on castors this evening!

Here's a few pics:

The ones in the back porch still going well

Somethings been nibbling in the mini greenhouse.....grrrrrrrr

Overall they're still doing well. Going to have to get them out of there soon...maybe this weekend.

Here's my newbies... mainly Bishops Crown (man, these things grow like weeds!!! The germination rates on these are crazy!) plus a couple of Trinidad Scorpion Sunrise and a 7 pot rxy.......and some coriander!

And of course.....YET MORE germinating on the modem!

Thanks for stopping by

Mezo · Sep 20, 2012

The trolly looks the biz mate, you going to put a handle on it?

Mezo.

nee · Sep 21, 2012

Mezo said:
The trolly looks the biz mate, you going to put a handle on it?

Mezo.

Hi Meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeez

Yes, the handle is part of the next stage

I chucked a load more plants outside this eve....
It's only whilst doing this that i noticed that my Cili Goronong has a heap of pods on the way, and that another of my Mag habs is also producing pods...i will post sum pics tomorrow

All in all, it's such an exciting time of the year for me here...i have had the outside plants out for nearly a week now and they are loving their new surroundings! I still have many new seedlings to pot up too...

OK, i admit, i have WAY too many plants on the go.....well, more than i anticipated anyway....but it'll be fine i'm sure!

More pics soonio

megamoo · Sep 21, 2012

I will also say that the rolling plant deck is just plain cool.

You better get on with making the handle so the missus can do some work!

gasificada · Sep 22, 2012

nee said:
i have had the outside plants out for nearly a week now and they are loving their new surroundings!

They always love it better outside....

How are they doing? No sunscald or anything?

Go the rolling deck! Bet that will make things much easier! :cool:

nee · Sep 22, 2012

gasificada said:
They always love it better outside....

How are they doing? No sunscald or anything?

Go the rolling deck! Bet that will make things much easier!

Hi Gas!
Yeah, all fine & dandy here so far! No sunscald currently....probably due to the fact that they only get direct sunshine until about 11:30am, then the rest of the day they are in the shade. I will increase this at some point, but for now they seem happy enough with that so i don't want to push it.
The next week or so here is a bit up & down weather-wise. It's showers until Wednesday, and then it looks like rain from then until at least next Tuesday (that could change though)

Bernard (el hombre chilli) and his wife were round earlier and i grabbed a couple of Aji Pineapple / Goat Pepper seeds, which i will sow in the next day or so. We also decided to try one of the Macedonian peppers from my plant....still green, but the temptation was too much! They pack a fair bit of heat, nothing too extreme though, and we were surprised at how sweet they were. The heat for me was mainly in the throat, but Bernard got it in the tongue!
I was amazed too at how many seeds were inside for such a small pepper....must have been a good 20 or so...

gasificada · Sep 22, 2012

Does the sun get very intense down there? Up here it gets brutal. My plants always do far better only getting that morning sun and then spending the afternoon in the shade. I wouldn't be in a hurry to push 'em any further either... especially if they are thriving in what they are getting ATM.

They say chillies prefer full sun but I contest that and say semi-shade... at least as far as growing in pots goes and especially under harsh conditions.

Is that the Macedonian from Grant? I got it for that exact reason (sweet with heat). Can't wait to try 'em but unfortunately I've been having a bit of trouble getting one going.

megamoo · Sep 23, 2012

gasificada said:
Does the sun get very intense down there? Up here it gets brutal. My plants always do far better only getting that morning sun and then spending the afternoon in the shade. I wouldn't be in a hurry to push 'em any further either... especially if they are thriving in what they are getting ATM.

They say chillies prefer full sun but I contest that and say semi-shade... at least as far as growing in pots goes and especially under harsh conditions.

Is that the Macedonian from Grant? I got it for that exact reason (sweet with heat). Can't wait to try 'em but unfortunately I've been having a bit of trouble getting one going.

I hate that broad "full sun" statement they have on plant labels and garden guides n such. I'm sure it comes from some gardening authority in the north of Scotland or something. Even when they say Australian conditions that could mean anything. The zone maps of Australia I think are too general as well. You just have to grow it yourself and learn by experience what works. I've come to learn that in Perth "full sun" really means half day sun at the most.

nee · Sep 23, 2012

gasificada said:
Is that the Macedonian from Grant? I got it for that exact reason (sweet with heat). Can't wait to try 'em but unfortunately I've been having a bit of trouble getting one going.

Hi Gas....yep, everything thus far has been from Grant

It's odd that you're having problems getting them going as from memory i think this was the second plant i had germinate.
If you want to try sowing some more i could always send some of the fresh seeds i have here, just yell out if you want me to send some up.

megamoo said:
I hate that broad "full sun" statement they have on plant labels and garden guides n such. I'm sure it comes from some gardening authority in the north of Scotland or something. Even when they say Australian conditions that could mean anything. The zone maps of Australia I think are too general as well. You just have to grow it yourself and learn by experience what works. I've come to learn that in Perth "full sun" really means half day sun at the most.

Yeah, i'm dubious about that too.....although Grant seems to have no bother growing in full sun, as his are in the middle of the garden without any shade that i can tell. (Grant may be able to advise more!)

It appears that on Tuesday morning it's meant to be going down to about 3 degrees here. Hopefully there'll be fewer of these lows from thereafter! I'll probably pull them under the carport on Monday night, just to keep any potential frost off them.
Other than that, all is well! I meant to take some more pics this weekend, but didn't get round to it.
I did spot that my Cili Goronong is starting to produce quite a few baby pods. It did have one pod starting a while ago, whilst it was still indoors under the lights, but it vanished somewhere between indoors / outdoors!
I did a Google for Cili Goronong just now, as it's not one that seems to get talked about much on here and i had no idea what the pods look like....and they look really cool!! Can't wait for them to start getting to a decent size

stc3248 · Sep 23, 2012

Those Bishop's Crowns won't slow down all season! I have a plant up over 8 ft tall. Like the sled you built as well. Yours will be one to watch this northern winter!

DocNrock · Sep 24, 2012

The Goronong is a cool looking pod. Mine spit out three tiny pods, then went into growth mode. They tasted pretty good. Not a superhot, but definitely plenty hot!

Great sled!

nee · Sep 24, 2012

stc3248 said:
Those Bishop's Crowns won't slow down all season! I have a plant up over 8 ft tall. Like the sled you built as well. Yours will be one to watch this northern winter!

Man, i just had a look through your glog....that BC of yours went nuts!! Amazing!

DocNrock said:
The Goronong is a cool looking pod. Mine spit out three tiny pods, then went into growth mode. They tasted pretty good. Not a superhot, but definitely plenty hot!

Hi Doc! Yeah, the CG are meant to be a bit like a Fatalii from what i read? Still plenty hot enough for me as a newbie! I'm hoping to build my tolerance up a bit this year, although i might not be like some of you on here eating whole fresh super hots!! We'll see....i never say never, but at the same time i'm not a huge fan of pain

A few pics from this evening for your eyes...

The Macedonians are still going really well

Actually, someone can probably answer a question for me?
This plant has now ceased to produce any more flowers / pods. Am i right in thinking it's due to the plant putting all effort into ripening whats already there.....and if so, once the pods are ripe and i pull them, will it then grow larger and set about flowering again? I guess i can search for it, but i thought i'd ask whilst it's fresh in my head!

Here's the first pod i found on the Cili Goronong. One day i will have impressive pics of pods....but for now you're going to have to make do with these wee lil nipper pics!! lol
After a good look around the plant it appears i have about 10 around the same size....they seemed to appear overnight!?

The first Mag Hab getting bigger.....and again, it seems like there's a load more joining it now too..

I had a couple more nice surprises earlier too, the first is finding a few pods forming on a 7 Pot Red x 7 Pot Yellow...

...and also found the first pods forming on my Bhut Jolokia Assam.

Overall the plants seem to love being outside....which is great news, as i was a bit worried, as i never got round to adding a fan whilst they were inside and i was worried about them being a bit frail. Maybe going from inside, then to the back porch helped?...sort of took little steps at a time to make it less of a shock?

Here's the outside crew..

Plus i had to make use of the wheels tonight, as it's meant to get down to about 4 degree's here tonight...so just in case of frost i wheeled them into the carport

As it's my first year of growing, i can't say i've really taken much notice of the Spring temps here before....are these really cold night-time temps normal for September?
Like i say, tonight is 4 degrees....then on the long range forecast i noticed that next Tues is 4 degrees...and Oct 2nd is 3 degree's!!? Arghh! When does it start staying out of the single figures for good!?

Also, my cousin has been after Olho De Peixe (or Fish Eye) peppers after consuming them whilst in the Amazon, and despite a few posts on here, nobody seemed to have any. (although now that i've posted that, i bet i'll get a heap of posts saying "oh, i have loads of these seeds"....lol)....but i finally found some last night. It's on Ebay mind you...so i'm hoping they'll turn out to be the right seeds, but they're coming from Brazil so i'm pretty confident....and the pic looked the real deal.

Thats all for now folks