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

DocNrock · Feb 16, 2013

That's awesome, Neil! Congrats to both you and Tom!

Mezo · Feb 16, 2013

stickman said:
You're going to put it in his college fund, eh?

Nah, buy a classic car like a Holden Sandman or VW Combi & start doing it up now ready for when he`s 17 :party:

Mezo.

stc3248 · Feb 17, 2013

AWESOME! Congratulate that boy! That vid was amazing!!! How'd he pick that up?

nee · Feb 19, 2013

stc3248 said:
AWESOME! Congratulate that boy! That vid was amazing!!! How'd he pick that up?

Thanks guys!

He picked it up after watching a few Youtube video's of the college kids playing beer pong trick shots etc...
Never thought anything would come of it, but it goes to show that something can come from absolutely nothing!!

Anyway, after a much alcohol fuelled celebratory weekend it's back to normality here for a while

Plants seem to be doing ok.... although if someone can tell me how often i should be hitting them with the sulher spray to keep the mites away, then that would be helpful!

No pics today unfortunately, although i took a couple yesterday of 2 redbacks that were hiding under the lip of one of my pots....and to think how many times i've moved that particular pot without gloves :confused:

Killed them, but now can't help but see loads of other suspicious webs all around!! Paranoia!!

My Pimenta De Neydes are FINALLY showing signs of production after what seems like an eternity. I have had many flowers in the past, but they always drop off before anything gets going, but i spotted 3 or 4 tiny pods coming through and a heap more flowers that don't seem to be falling yet! I'm not sure what these taste like, but i just love the look of the plant and the pods look great too, so i was keen for it to do something.
The Bishops Crowns are growing really well. I have a few large pods now, and the plant looks quite healthy.
My Scotch Bonnet has finally produced it's first flower too, so i'm hoping to see some pods from that one soon as well.

I will try and post a few pics tomorrow evening

Cheers all :onfire:

Trippa · Feb 19, 2013

I only used the lime sulphur once this season so far (2-3 months ago) just on the worst effected and smaller plants. As a last resort ... you will see the results fairly quickly and if in 14 days you still see new mite damage hit them again.
I also have noticed that if you get ruthless and as soon as you see mites/damage on growing tips cut them off along with the top most leaves and the plants don't seem to get as effected overall and bounce back nicely (especially the annuums)

Congratulations to your son as well. Nice work

stickman · Feb 24, 2013

Hi Nee
I got the seeds you sent in good shape, and started some of the Macedonians and Fish Peppers a few days ago. Nothing up yet, but probably in the next few days. Cheers!

nee · Feb 26, 2013

stickman said:
Hi Nee
I got the seeds you sent in good shape, and started some of the Macedonians and Fish Peppers a few days ago. Nothing up yet, but probably in the next few days. Cheers!

Nice one!! Keep me posted on the Macedonians as they were really fast to germ for me

OK, i haven't posted many pics for a while, so here's some from today

After spraying for possible broad mites, the new growth seems to be going ok. Not all of my plants seemed to suffer, but a fair few did.
I'm still getting pods, although nothing like the harvests i see on here daily, but just enough to keep me in pods for the winter months as the freezer seems to be stacking up nicely now!
I'm just really grateful that i could learn so much from everyone on here.....and realistically i knew that my first season was going to be more about learning for my 2nd season than expecting everything to go without a hitch! (obviously the latter would have been a bonus, but i can't say i'm disappointed with what i've picked already!)
So next season i will be armed with a lot more knowledge that hopefully i can put into practice

OK....some piccies!!

My Macedonian plant is starting to flower for it's 3rd wave of peppers this season. The red chilli at the bottom is the last to pick from the 2nd round. It looks a bit sick due to something attacking it (broad mites?) but luckily the new growth seems to be turning out ok.

Getting a few pods on my 7 Pot 'Madballz' plant now...

These are going really well.... Getting a few nice sized pods from my Bishops Crown plant.

Finally my Pimenta De Neyde is starting to fruit! I have had numerous flowers come and go for ages, but they all usually drop off. Now it's got quite a few chillies on it....
Question....bearing in mind the pods start off purple and not green, how do you tell when they are ripe? Do they change to a different colour?

The Cili Goronong plant has perked up again and is producing a few pods. Hopefully there will be a bit more heat in these now as the ones from the first wave of pods weren't really that hot at all.

A general view of my main grow area...

These are the plants i chucked into soil at the front of the house. They have remained there forever, not really doing much....i only watered them when they were looking really bad (must be only 4 or 5 times all summer?) as this area gets very little direct sunlight. I have just discovered that the Manzano Red has started producing pods now, as has the Dorset Naga. At one stage the Manzano was basically a stick with shelled leaves where the caterpillars had gotten to it. It's amazing how these things bounce back...

Small pods forming on the Dorset Naga

First Manzano Reds

I had a visitor! Is this a baby praying mantis??!

megamoo · Feb 27, 2013

Good photos. You are having success

Well done on the manzano, they can be tricky to get to pod.

That looks like a mantis to me, nice!

Plants will grow some places and not others despite what you do. The trial and error can go on for a long time as you find out what they like, but if you save the seeds from the plants that do well you will get ones that like your specific climate.

Pepperhead · Feb 27, 2013

[sup]I'm trying Dorsets this year and I hope they make it as far as yours. Out of 10 that I planted, only 1 or 2 look healthy enough that they stand a chance.[/sup]

stickman · Feb 27, 2013

Nice pics Nee! I think you picked the perfect spot for the Manzanos in your yard. Not a lot of sunlight is perfect for your growing conditions. Well done... I have yet to get any Manzano hooks, and I've been trying for the last 8 weeks.

nee · Mar 2, 2013

Hi Stick.....yeah, the Manzano's are a funny bunch aren't they? From memory, my Manzano's were a pain to get going too....and even when they were looking established, the flowers would all drop off rather than pollinate. I guess it makes it all the more special when they do though

I have a quick question if anyone would be kind enough to answer for me.

I have 3 or 4 pods on one of my 7 Pot plants that are still green, but have strange 'black' marks around the top of the pods. I can take some pics tomorrow if needed, but was just curious to know if this could be just sunburn, as it seems to have only affected the pods towards the top of the plant, the rest are fine.

DocNrock · Mar 2, 2013

Things are looking great, Neil. Love the Manzano pods, nice going! Some plants just like to grow and some don't. I accept that now. I believe it was you who said that it's best to leave the plants alone, that they can sort out problems for themselves. I've applied that with decent success.

nee · May 1, 2013

Hi all!! Sorry for not keeping up with my glog, but it's not really gone as well as i'd have liked, hence the lack of updates!

I HAVE got peppers....and enough to keep me going throughout winter, but nothing like i expected. I have been keeping up with other peoples glogs here, and personally used Mezo's as a reference point, but have nowhere near the scale of harvest that he's enjoying unfortunately.

I do have about 1kg of pods in the freezer, so i can't complain... but no single big harvest worthy of a bunch of images and a post! I have harvested a mixture of 7 pots / Macedonian Heirloom / Dorset Naga / Fatalii / Bhut Jolokia Reds and Assam's / Bishops Crown / Pimenta De Neyde and a few other random pods.....plus somehow i now have pods ripening on both my Manzano Reds and Yellows, which is a bonus!

I will try and over-winter a few choice "more established" plants, as i'm sure that if they can get through the winter then they will have a heap of pods to give next season!

I have learnt a lot from my first grow, and wonder whether my bad choice in potting mix very early on in my grow this year has infected my long term season? Well.....that and overwatering early on!!?

My Fish Pepper was the first plant to give me a pod, but produced only one other pod to date! The rest have been tiny / disfigured.

Pretty much all of my plants have suffered with small leaves the whole time....maybe down to mites...or maybe just me not treating them well early on? But i caught up with Grant Jungle Rain a month or 2 back and he wasn't doing too well with his plants this year either, which hopefully means that it wasn't just down to my treatment of the plants, but just a strange growing season here in Victoria.

Surprise plants of the year were my Orange Hab that i got seeds from Ebay, giving me well over 150 decent sized pods that i dehydrated and made into powder......and the disappointment plant was my Scotch Bonnet TFM, which was one of my most healthy looking plants that just never flowered

With winter fast approaching here, i am now ever keener to get things right for the next growing season.....and am currently planning what i wish to start under lights! I can't wait to start the whole process all over again with more knowledge, and will start a new thread when i start the seedlings off

Thanks too all who have posted comments and advice.....it has really helped me along the way....and here's to next season!!!

Neil

stickman · May 1, 2013

Hi Nee
Glad to hear you got at least a kilo of peppers to see you through the winter. I tried to get the seeds for the Macedonian to pop, but no dice... I did get one fish pepper, though it's still pretty small. We'll see if it gets any size this year, and if not, I'll get some seeds from Seed Saver's Exchange and try again next year.
How's the "special pepper" you and your wife are working on coming along? Cheers Mate!

gasificada · May 1, 2013

Nee, amigo, last post 26 Feb?? You are as bad as me!

Pods is pods, hermano. You didn't do too badly for a first season!

My Hot Fish actually gave me a decent handful of pods but they were such small pods. I was expecting larger but looking at other pics on the nets now, I might have got the perspective wrong. They don't appear to be too large pods or anything.

My Scotch Bonnet TFM did pretty much nothing for me all season too but now has decided to surprise me with three or four little autumn pods.

I did actually get one pod near the end of summer but the fruit fly were very quick to snap it up. Although... the SB TFM has nothing on my TS ButchT in it's first season. It was one of the first plants I started that season and it didn't give me pods until that autumn! The SB TFM can be forgiven as it was a relatively late start after all. And OK, I will forgive Butchy too, I guess... over the years it has more than made up for it's unwillingness to start straightaway.

What Trips said back then, off with the broad mite damaged growth! The toxin the broad mite inject can really stuff up a plant... even after successful erradication. How is the battle against the bastages going anyway? You smashed 'em, I hope!

Did you figure out when your PDN pods were ripe? While sometimes mine get an ever so slight purple tinge to them when they are ripe (ever so slight--and only sometimes!), the only real way I have found to determine ripeness is when they come off the plant easily when you give them a soft tug upward. But even then a had a few premmies pop off too.

Now the question is... are you ready to do it all over again??

EDIT:

Whoops, ignore the question above. I missed this:

nee said:
With winter fast approaching here, i am now ever keener to get things right for the next growing season.....and am currently planning what i wish to start under lights! I can't wait to start the whole process all over again with more knowledge, and will start a new thread when i start the seedlings off

megamoo · May 3, 2013

Any pods are good pods and gardening is a learning experience. Your first season was better than my first season, and way way way better than my second season! Keep at it and if something doesn't work then try something else. (see the Churchill quote in my signature

)

gasificada · May 3, 2013

megamoo said:
Your first season was better than my first season

(I too will admit the same!

)

Mezo · May 3, 2013

nee said:
and personally used Mezo's as a reference point, but have nowhere near the scale of harvest that he's enjoying unfortunately.

Feel for you buddy, only thing i can think of is climate difference? not sure if you read Jeff`s (spicychicken) recent posts on topping the seedlings? i think that has to be the best thing ive learned on this forum, kicking myself i never did it.

Mezo.

stickman · May 26, 2013

Hey Nee
Just checking in to see how it's going... hopefully this finds you well. Cheers