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

stickman · Jan 4, 2013

You'll get there Nee... Your plants look nice and healthy. It's just a matter of time. My orange habs seemed to be taking forever to ripen last year, but when they finally started to color up I got a handful every day 'til the end of the season. The space I have to plant chiles in the ground is fully booked for this year. I still want to grow more though, so I'm going to be paying more attention to the grows of you folks who plant them in pots to try to get a handle on that aspect of growing. No worries about seeds guy... what will be will be. Cheers!

DocNrock · Jan 4, 2013

Looks like they're coming along, Neil. The Bhut Assam is very nubby. Probably gonna be a HOT one! Macedonian looks very productive. You say the plants aren't loaded yet, but in some of the pics I see a lot of buds forming. Your second wave may be pretty sweet!

Trippa · Jan 4, 2013

Looking great nee!! You will love the "Assam" ... hot, fruity and great looking ... one of my favourites

gasificada · Jan 5, 2013

nee said:
Now this was a nice surprise! I check my plants like 3 times a day, but only just spotted this beauty! It's a pod on my Bhut Jolokia Assam...and i'm guessing it's gonna be pretty HOT!

Finding stealth pods is the shiznit!

40-something degrees....?? Pwoar! Highs here have been around 30

and what should be a comfortable 24 right at this moment is being spoiled by 76% humidity.... blurgh! We are supposed to hit 37 on Wednesday but at least the humidity is only supposed to be around 50%. Heat doesn't bother me.... humidity does!

Mezo · Jan 5, 2013

Patience Nee they will start happening soon, what fertz are you using by the way? i use slow release tomato granules sprinkled on the top, i think when i was using liquid i was overdoing it a tad (over loving) but i must admit looking at your pics there doesn't seems to be a lot of flowers & i think by now you should have heaps.

Mezo.

nee · Jan 7, 2013

Mezo said:
Patience Nee they will start happening soon, what fertz are you using by the way? i use slow release tomato granules sprinkled on the top, i think when i was using liquid i was overdoing it a tad (over loving) but i must admit looking at your pics there doesn't seems to be a lot of flowers & i think by now you should have heaps.

Mezo.

Hi Mez! OK, recently i noticed a few of the plants were going a bit yellow on me. So after browsing the forum for a while i decided that they were lacking in iron, so i hit them with some MG tomato fert and the new growth seems to be green again as opposed to yellow, and in the last day or 2 i have noticed a lot more flowers. So i'm hoping that i've sorted the problem and that things will be happening a bit faster!!

Trippa · Jan 7, 2013

If you want to increase fowering nee you need to cut back on nitrogen frets and increase pottasium and phosphorus calcium and silica and magnesium. Best thing to do is give them a mix of bat/bird guano on the soil and a foliar spray of fulvic acid, Epsom salts and kelp/seaweed this boosts all the vital elements in a good balance (important not to overdo one element or you risk lock out) and ensures good uptake by the plant (the fulvic)
Also this heat you are getting is not likely to allow any flower set anyway

nee · Feb 1, 2013

Hi guys!!

As it's been yonks since i last updated this, i thought i'd grab a vodka or 2 and go through some recent pics to share with you all

I'm forever thinking that my grow isn't going as well as i'd hoped....but just when i think that, i take a better look at my plants and discover new pods that have been hiding from me!
So with that said, i'm really pleased with how things are going here at the moment.
Here are some pics i took earlier this evening.

OK, the Fatalii Yellow turns out to have been a Fatalii Red

The Macedonian is still pumping out lots of delicious pods! I love this plant to bits, and although not super hot, the flavour is awesome and it's nice to have a plant that i can use to cook stuff that the whole family can enjoy! I highly recommend this plant, and will deffo be growing a lot more than 1 plant next season

(Stickman....your Macedonian seeds were posted 2 days ago...really sorry for the delay on this, but trying to get a chance to get to the PO has been a trial.....and i'm also a bit slack :rolleyes:

Hopefully these are sent in time for you to still be able to grow them for your coming season, and that my slackness hasn't stuffed it up for you)

OK, i have had a couple of plants go a bit weirdy on me....like, the top lot of leaves have gone, but don't seem to be replaced with anything. It's been suggested that mites might be the cause, but if so, it's odd that it's just happened to a couple of my plants and not the majority. What do you guys reckon?

Some new 7 pots (Red x Yellow)

Still waiting for this one to ripen. Currently my glory pod due to it being the biggest one i've had so far... Bhut Jolokia Assam

Found a few more tonight...

A general overview of what's currently growing. I have a few others elsewhere around the place too

The smaller plants on the shelving are causing me pain, due to constantly finding aphids on the damned things. I have sprayed and sprayed, and squashed, and flicked them off, but they always return. They only seem to go for the immature plants though....none of my more mature plants have any on at all.
I'm not too fussed if the smaller one's don't get through it, although there's a couple of varieties that i'd like to see make it, like the Trinidad Scorpion Sunrise and the Ohlo De Peixe.....but if not, there's always next year

These Bishops Crowns are sneaky aren't they!? For ages they just didn't seem to be growing at all, and then "whoooosh!".....off they go!! Plus they are really lanky plants...lol
I've heard of people having a good yield from these, so i'm keeping my fingers crossed. There's been a heap of flowers lately, all of which have seemed to have a stack of pollen....way more than any of my other plants, so we'll see how it goes.

One of my Mag Habs has a shed-load of flowers on it. If all of them take then this is going to be a huge harvest from this one.

So in a nutshell, all is well with the grow so far! Maybe not as many ripe ones for this point in the season, but i'm just thankful that things now seem to be going along without too much trouble!
The plant i can't seem to get anything from is the Pimenta De Neyde....it always produces flowers, but none seem to pollinate (even with intervention), but again...it might be just down to patience on my part!

A few of my plants are looking a bit yellow, as we caught the tail end of a storm here in VIC, and it rained a LOT! It will all even out though, i'm sure

Thanks for looking....,also, i'd like to whack another image up, but i don't think i can until someone bumps for me as i have reached the limit on pics per post!!

stickman · Feb 1, 2013

Hi Nee, glad to see you back in the saddle again!

Bump...

Not to worry on when or if you send seeds... I won't be planting my Annuums for 2 - 3 weeks anyway.

Great looking pics! Those Bhut Assam chiles look huge. Deffo want to see what they look like ripe. Some of your Ozzie buddies have been fighting aphids and mites with predatory mites with apparently good results. The only other non-toxic methods I've heard of for dealing with them is to dust with flour or diatomaceous earth. Flour dries them out and diatomaceous earth cuts them up.

nee · Feb 1, 2013

Hi Stick....yes, it's deffo WHEN i sent the seeds as opposed to IF now...lol

Yeah, those Assams are beasts compared to the size of my other pods...can't wait to sample them!!!

And thanks for posting, as it means i can post a pic of my new seedling. It won't fruit until early August though, but will be eagerly anticipated to join the other 3 we are already blessed with...

Have a great day folks

stickman · Feb 1, 2013

Congrats Nee! Much becomes clear... when you're "dancing attendance" at a time like this it's hard to pull away... Cheers!

megamoo · Feb 1, 2013

You have been busy! Congratulations

Plants are looking good too.... except the one with the leaf drop. I know I suggested mites but it could also be a virus or fungus?? I would definitely advise isolating it away from the healthy ones if at all possible. I have one plant that is close in with all my others and its completely withered to a stick and died but the ones around it are untouched. Could be anything.

DocNrock · Feb 1, 2013

Congrats on the bun in the oven, Neil! I had been thinking that I hadn't seen anything from you in a while. Now I get it.

Looks like things are going pretty well. Sucks about the aphids. I've been seeing them in my g-house and keep squishing them, but then they pop up on other plants. Keep on keeping on. Some predatory bugs might be the ticket. I'm thinking about some, myself.

The pod shots look great. Love the Assam. Not sure what is going on with the one dropping leaves. My Caribbean Red was doing that so finally I just cut it back and it seems to be doing OK. But I'm in winter still, you are still in summer, I believe. I'm wondering if it is something going on with the root system in your case. Best wishes in sorting it out.

Trippa · Feb 1, 2013

So that last pod nee looks quite special indeed ... what method did you use to pollinate it :rofl:

. Just joking bro nice work and congratulations!!! As for the plant with dropping leaves it could well be fungal in conjunction to root bound

nee · Feb 3, 2013

Thanks all!

My 7's are just starting to ripen! Went out today and a load of them were half green / half red. Happy days! Will post a few more pics in the next day or 4...

nee · Feb 4, 2013

Here's a few from this evening...

Ripening 7 Pots..

I was thrilled to see that my 7 Pot "Madballz" is now flowering....hoping for some nastiness from this quite soon!

These Bishops Crowns are a sneaky one. One minute they appear to be laying dormant, and the next they are starting to tower above your other plants and produce flowers galore!
Here's a shot of one of my first emerging pods on the Bishops Crown. It appears that every flower on this plant is producing a pod, a bit like my Macedonian. Can't wait to try these..

That is all... lol

DocNrock · Feb 4, 2013

Awesome to see the ripening Red 7. And really looking forward to the pod shots of the Madballz!

megamoo · Feb 5, 2013

Nice pics. Look high quality. Sorry if its already been said but are you using a `good` camera?

stickman · Feb 5, 2013

Hi Nee
Just wanted to thank you for sending those Macedonian seeds. I got them today all right and tight, and looking forward to growing them out. Cheers mate!

nee · Feb 9, 2013

megamoo said:
Nice pics. Look high quality. Sorry if its already been said but are you using a `good` camera?

Hi Moo!

Many thanks mate...
I'm using a Nikon D5000 (digital slr)

I love it to bits....

It can be a chore carrying such a bulky camera on family outings etc but you get used to it!

Anyway, here's a shot of some decent sized &'s that i pulled today.. There's another 10 or so ripening on the plant too, all around the same size.

My Bishops Crowns are doing really well, with a stack of pods coming through and flowers that produce a heap of pollen.

The not-so-good news is that i have finally given in and ditched a load of my more immature plants due to aphids. I have tried and tried to kerb the aphids, but it's ended up with plants with really twisted and distorted leaves after the constant spraying of Beat A Bug and other sprays....yet STILL the aphids return. So to try and limit them spreading to my decent plants i chucked a load earlier on. It's cool though, as i still have more than enough healthy plants to keep me going...

Talking of aphids, wtf is going on here!? Before i ditched this plant i HAD to get a short video of it....as i have found aphids on my leaves before, but this was well odd! The top lot of aphids 'jump' and then that sets the bottom lot off and they jump after! Is this some sort of egg-laying ritual or something?

http://youtu.be/RqJjqbgctnY