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

DocNrock · Oct 23, 2012

Good to know there is no international boundary for pests and big box stores! Sorry to hear it Neil (and everyone else!).

Checked out the vids, Neil. Nice. I raced BMX from 1980 to 1988. Got out of it just before I went off to med school. As I remember, freestyle was just coming up. Never got into that side of it, but I've seen that side of the sport evolve into some crazy trickage. If I tried stuff like that now, I'd probably break a bone or three! Anyway, good times.

nee · Oct 23, 2012

PaulG said:
That quadruple pod is amazing! I've seen doubles a few times, but that is
very cool. Will be great if all the 'lobes' actually become ripe pods. Sometimes,
on my doubles, one kind of takes over and the other either stays teeny, or shrivels up.

Weirdly enough, i checked that plant out again this evening, and it looks like the only other pod forming on it is also a quad! I'll take some pics tomorrow

DocNrock said:
Good to know there is no international boundary for pests and big box stores! Sorry to hear it Neil (and everyone else!).

Checked out the vids, Neil. Nice. I raced BMX from 1980 to 1988. Got out of it just before I went off to med school. As I remember, freestyle was just coming up. Never got into that side of it, but I've seen that side of the sport evolve into some crazy trickage. If I tried stuff like that now, I'd probably break a bone or three! Anyway, good times.

Hey Doc! Me and a couple of mates went to the USA on a bit of a bmx road trip back in 1999...and we were stoked to be able to see Eddie Fiola and Martin Aparijo still riding!! I think the skatepark was somewhere in Orange County? I raced a few times, but where we lived in the UK it just wasn't a big enough scene racing-wise.
And yeah, the tricks they are pulling these days are just madness. There's a skatepark a few miles from here that i went to a few years ago, when we first moved to Australia.... I went to ride and have a bit of fun, but got all depressed when a load of 12 year olds showed up and started doing backflip tailwhips....so i left....lol

Oh, but there is still hope though! Here's a guy called Rob Ridge who i used to ride with occasionally when we lived in the UK. He is over 40, and sadly his wife passed away a couple of years ago from an illness out of the blue. He is a gasfitter by trade, and an all round nice guy bmx'er the rest of the time. I could watch Rob ride for hours...Enjoy!!!

http://youtu.be/VUVLFrNoJ48

nee · Oct 24, 2012

Well, today i had a day off mid-week, which was nice!!
I went out to check the plants and found a load of aphids on my Pimenta De Neyde, which i suddenly remembered had spent a lot of time sat next to the Bunnings-bought capsicum plant that brought the aphids here...so i blitzed them with a spray, pronto!

With the Neem type sprays (mine is like Neem but a bit cheaper) do they actually kill aphids or just make them move on?

Also, regarding my 2nd Hot Fish (Fish Pepper) plant.....i have no idea whats going on here, as a few days ago i posted a photo of a quad pod....and after looking over the plant today i discover that all the pods this plant is producing is either a quad or a triplet...lol

Here's the one i spotted last week, and 2 more pics from today..

nee · Oct 25, 2012

I wish this bloody wind would piss off....

Just got back from work to find my most mature 7 pot had blown over onto the most mature Jolokia Assam. The 7 pot just lost 1 branch thankfully, so I'm hoping it'll survive, but the Assam broke just above the 2 nd from bottom set of leaves, so it's basically just a stick.
Grrrrrr.

stickman · Oct 25, 2012

That sucks about losing a plant to the wind... Same thing happened to me late in the season. I lost one of my poblanos that was topheavy with nearly ripe pods when a fresh breeze came up and snapped the main stem off flush with the ground. I staked the remaining plant so that couldn't happen again, but I lost a big branch the same way later. Maybe you could make a windbreak with some long, sturdy stakes and some shade cloth.

Mezo · Oct 25, 2012

Dip the broken limb in rooting powder & plant it Nee, i did that last year & have a Bhut Jolokia clone now.

Mezo.

gasificada · Oct 25, 2012

nee said:
With the Neem type sprays (mine is like Neem but a bit cheaper) do they actually kill aphids or just make them move on?

It's not eco-oil, is it? If so, use sparingly! The stuff leaves a thick-ass coating on the leaf and can "suffocate" the plant.

This is what they say about neem: http://www.discoverneem.com/neem-oil-insecticide.html

I'm skeptical. Even if the claims are true, by the time the neem oil reaches you, I assume it would have degraded considerably.

More than anything, it's probably the "suffocating" affect that really does anything.... but then I find soap to be much more affective at doing that than oils.

nee said:
I wish this bloody wind would piss off....

I HATE the wind. >.<

We had a bloody windy arvo the other day... and of course it had to be the day my predator mites arrived. Releasing them was a painstakingly long task. Wait for a break, tap some on a leaf, hold leaf and shield until they scurried off... repeat. Took about five hours or something stupid like that. >.<

nee · Oct 26, 2012

Mezo said:
Dip the broken limb in rooting powder & plant it Nee, i did that last year & have a Bhut Jolokia clone now.

Mezo.

Hi Mezo..

Yeah, i reckon if i caught it at the time it happened it might have worked...but by the time i got home from work and found it, the broken limb was really limp...it may have made it i guess, but i didn't think to do that. If it happens again i'll give it a shot

gasificada said:
It's not eco-oil, is it? If so, use sparingly! The stuff leaves a thick-ass coating on the leaf and can "suffocate" the plant.

This is what they say about neem: http://www.discovern...nsecticide.html

I'm skeptical. Even if the claims are true, by the time the neem oil reaches you, I assume it would have degraded considerably.

More than anything, it's probably the "suffocating" affect that really does anything.... but then I find soap to be much more affective at doing that than oils.

I HATE the wind. >.<

We had a bloody windy arvo the other day... and of course it had to be the day my predator mites arrived. Releasing them was a painstakingly long task. Wait for a break, tap some on a leaf, hold leaf and shield until they scurried off... repeat. Took about five hours or something stupid like that. >.<

Damn, yeah....its eco oil! Hopefully i've not overdone it. The plants seem fine so far anyway :confused:

Im still finding aphids, but now its only one or 2 here and there, so fingers crossed....

5 hours releasing mites!? Thats commitment

It deserves to work for ya

gasificada · Oct 26, 2012

nee said:
Damn, yeah....its eco oil! Hopefully i've not overdone it. The plants seem fine so far anyway

One or two applications shouldn't cause any probs. It was when I was used it three or four times with only a few days in between that I had issues. Use with caution and you should be fine.

If your leaves start mysteriously dropping though, you know what's up.

nee said:
5 hours releasing mites!? Thats commitment It deserves to work for ya

Well, actually, I may have taken a few small breaks in between.

The wind was really doing my head in and I had to keep stopping to cool down or I was gonna lose it!

PaulG · Oct 26, 2012

Neem apparently works by messing with the hormonal system of the sucking/chewing
insects, causing them to stop eating. You can buy concentrated pure Neem oil and
make your own mix. Much better than the pre-mixed stuff. I have used Neem for
several years, and had no issues with coating leaves and compromising the transpira-
tion process. It is supposed to enter the surface tissues of the plant, and then be eaten
by the critters, so it won't work for any insect or larva that is inside a pod, or deep in the
plant tissue, according to the information I have read. I know some folk use it as a soil
drench/systemic, but I have no experience with that. As with any 'chemical', organic
or synthetic, caution is the norm. I use it sparingly and at the earliest sign of insect
damage. I sprayed once with it this Spring, aside from a spot application or two on green-
house plants, and out of all the pods I harvested, I doubt I had more than a dozen-and-a-half
pods that had chew holes in them. It's the only insect control I use, now.

Oh yeah, love your mutant fish plant!

Trippa · Oct 27, 2012

You don't live near Fukushima or Chernobyl by chance Nee

All those mutants ... must have something to do with the environment or pests would be my best bet

nee · Oct 27, 2012

Trippa said:
You don't live near Fukushima or Chernobyl by chance Nee All those mutants ... must have something to do with the environment or pests would be my best bet

oioi Trippa!!

Yeah, the 2nd Fish Pepper is deffo an oddity alright!

The first plant set very ordinary pods...but this one from the same batch of seeds decides to set tri-pods and quad-pods!

Time will tell on these!

PaulG · Oct 27, 2012

A lot of desirable (to humans) plant traits, like variegation, are
caused by benign viruses in plants according to my horticulturist
buddy. Perhaps that's the case here.

Maybe he's pulling my leg.

In any case, it will be fun seeing what happens.

nee · Nov 2, 2012

PaulG said:
In any case, it will be fun seeing what happens.

Hi Paul....

Well, to be honest, not a lot has happened regarding the tri / quad pods! They haven't gotten any bigger in size, but are starting to go orange and ripen!! This is a weird Fish Pepper for sure, as today i spotted about 10 micro-ripened pods too! They are about the size of a pinhead!! No idea what's going on with this plant now....everything about it is just weird!

Here's one shot i got tonight of one of it's micro ripe pods!

Other than that, things have been up & down here lately. I found a few aphids last week, so i sprayed my plants with some "eco-oil".....and then we had a few days of 30+ degrees out of the blue, and i think the oil has exaggerated my leaf burn, and to really annoy me, i'm still finding aphids. Not too many though, thankfully. I think i'm on top of them, and i find only 10 or so in total per day over all of my plants (which i now just squish) Hopefully that problem is contained for the meantime....

The weather here has been a bit of everything. One day it'll be 18 degrees...the next 32 degrees...and the day after back to 18 and horrendous wind, which knocks my babies around something chronic. But they seem to still be coping ok.

Here's a few pics from tonight

A few of the plants on the West side of the house. I put a lot of the leaf drop / leaf yellowing down to that eco oil spray, plus the crazy winds we seem to keep getting here lately. But at least the new growth seems to be plentiful....and green!!!

The Bhut Jolokia Assam below took a real beating with the wind, as one of my 7 pots fell right onto it and knocked it over..Before this was one of my tallest plants, but about 2/3 got snapped off when it fell..but again, at least the new growth since it happened seems promising

Before i discovered this forum i would probably have ditched the plant....but the advice on here has really helped me re-evaluate what's savable. Thanks guys

The plant below is one of my 7 Pot Red x Yellows. This was the plant that fell onto the Jolokia in the pic above. It lost a branch full of small unripened pods, but it's great to see that it's a survivor, and currently holds my biggest 'prize' so far

Loads of pods happening!

The plants on the East side of the house! These are the ones that just get morning sun..and seem to be doing ok from it..

The Macedonian below is still producing lots of pods! They are not mega-hot, but i'm glad i grew this one as when cooking it's something that i can cook with and not have my family saying "aaargh....this is way too hot!"
My 7 year old daughter loves this plant to bits, and is always keen to cut another pod from it when i'm cooking!

The pics below are from the few plants i have in the front garden. It's all still very experimental out the front, as they don't really get too much direct sunlight after about 10am....so i was reluctant to plant too much out there just yet. I ended up planting a Yellow Manzano / Red Manzano / Bishops Crown / Dorset Naga....and i have to say that the latter 2 plants don't really like it there at all, but the 2 pubes (Manzano's) seem to be doing just fine there. I had a peek earlier and spotted a couple of lovely purple flowers on the Yellow Manzano. I have read that people have had probs actually getting the flowers to produce peppers, so i will let you know how i get on.

(below) Bishops Crown / Yellow Manzano / Dorset Naga / Red Manzano

Flower from my Yellow Manzano

Thanks for reading....will post more soon

Neil

DocNrock · Nov 2, 2012

Looks like your grow is coming along, Nee. Weird about the Fish pepper. Mutant? Good luck on the pubes! Everything looks great and well-primed for a good season!

cbradac · Nov 4, 2012

Hey nee, I'm back. Just had a quick browse through your thread. You've had lots of growth. And some crazy wind.

Same happened to me, the strong winds detached the rear corner of the greenhouse and the dogs got in and started to eat the dirt, as they do. But all is good.

My indoor plants are even producing pods, I came to find about 10 red habanero pods when I returned from thailand! pretty happy with that.

nee · Nov 12, 2012

cbradac said:
Hey nee, I'm back. Just had a quick browse through your thread. You've had lots of growth. And some crazy wind.

Same happened to me, the strong winds detached the rear corner of the greenhouse and the dogs got in and started to eat the dirt, as they do. But all is good.

My indoor plants are even producing pods, I came to find about 10 red habanero pods when I returned from thailand! pretty happy with that.

Hi mate!! Sorry, i meant to reply ages ago, but totally got busy with everything and forgot!
Sorry to hear about the winds...it was pretty windy here today too, but thankfully my plants are coping with the strong gusts much better now. And good news on the pods...makes the work worthwhile!!

A few pics from today...

I've just bought a nice big section of shadecloth for one of my grow areas. For some reason my plants have never thrived under full sun, so i'm much happier with the grow area now.

Below is one of my 7 Pot Red x Yellow. Can someone confirm for me that these go red and then ripen to yellow? Or do they just go from green to red?
I've still yet to witness any of my super hots produce a ripe pod of a decent size! I'm hoping the next wave start getting bigger!

Mag Hab below...pods ripening, but are teeny weeny

Hoping the Fatalii pods below get bigger before ripening!!!

A few of my new plants. Doing well apart from bloody aphids..

A few plants on the other side of the house. Its pretty shady here but i'm reluctant to move them yet as they seem to like it here.

Macedonian below, still fruiting. Not super-hot by any means, but i like this plant as i know where i am with it!! It's trusty and reliable!! lol

A familiar sight lately. Aphids. The pic below is from my Pimenta De Neyde...i squish as many as i can but there's always more the next day.
I'm NEVER using Eco-Oil again though...it's hammered the leaves on a lot of my plants, either turning them yellow, or giving the leaves major sunburn issues.

I'm thinking of trying the garlic / chilli spray method......and maybe add dishwashing liquid? I will do a bit of reading up as i know many of you have been through this lately too...but if anyone wants to post here whats worked for them it would be cool

Finally, meagre pickings from today. A Macedonian and a puny 7 pot..lol I finely chopped the 7 Pot and sprinkled it over dinner tonight....and it was great.....but i just wish there had been MORE of it...lol

Cheers all....will post more soon

Trippa · Nov 12, 2012

The pods will get bigger as the weather warms up and your plants become bigger. Start of season and end of season pods always tend to be a little smaller and often not uniform or typical shapes. Just stick with it and things will be fine

Mezo · Nov 12, 2012

I love the colour of that C.Chinense Orange Biccius. :party:

Im using dishwash liquid now & have no ill affects so far, i have to keep re-applying it once they return (and they do) but im not going very hard with it, its a concentrate & i just squirt a small amount in to a 1ltr pimp spray.

Im using this particular brand Nee (Earth Choice) Lemon & Basil cos it smells nice, its plant based & low in sodium.

Mezo.

nee · Nov 12, 2012

Thanks for that Mez... That's what we use at home too, so if the stuff I jus bought (beat a bug) doesn't work, I will give that a go.

My works ute now stinks of garlic though, as the lid wasn't done up very well.....argh!