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

Hi all! Although i've been into hot sauces / chillies for a long time, a Google regarding "growing chillies in Australia" led me to this site......and onto amazing people here in Australia, who have inspired me to grow my own!
There's not a lot to report as of yet, but here's my story so far! Please feel free to give advice to a newbie, as i really want this human vs chilli relationship to work out!

The story so far....

Pre-soaking my chilli seeds. I have 14 or more varieties to sow: From top left to bottom right....

Habanero Chocolate
Scotch Bonnet TFM
Bhut Jolokia
Macedonian
Pimenta da Neyde
Magnum Habanero
7 Pod Jonah

Habanero White Giant
Hot Fish
Cili Goronong
7 Pod Red crossed Yellow
Manzano
Fatalii
Habanero White JellyBean

Cutting the seeds from a Yellow 7 Pod....this time with GLOVES!! lol I have a load of extra seeds saved...just in case the winter grow doesn't work out, and i need to replant in the spring.

Week 1....seeds are in a propagator, kept at a constant 25 degree's thanks to the cable modem it's sat on! I don't expect any change for 4 weeks or so....fingers crossed!

 

[nee]

Small update...

2 of my biggest plants so far....the Fatalii and my Hot Fish. I chucked a Jiffy in the pic for a size comparison.
These are now getting too big for the area where the lights are, so these will have to find a windowsill in the next few days..
Obviously these have been under lights for 18 hours a day, but do you think they're developed enough to withstand cooler temps in a windowsill now? I'm not too bothered that they grow any bigger really, as i just wanted a bit of a head start for when spring comes, but i'm just worried that having lows of possibly 13 or 14 degrees and less light is going to kill them.
Any thoughts on this?

Looks like i have flowers starting on my Hot Fish...?

I've heard it's best to pull these off, but as it's the first thing i've ever grown from seed i can't bring myself to do it...so i might just let this one go and see what happens, and then pick the ones on the other plants when the time comes.

 

[PaulG]

Hey, Neil, way to get control of your potting mix - the starts and
transplants look great! I can see variegation on your Fish! I know
what you mean about pinching the flowers. I did it for a while
under the lights, but as greenhouse time came closer, there were
too many to pinch, so I just let 'em go. Time will tell.

Keep up the good work.

@ Meez - Purple veins Haha

 

[Mezo]

I would worry to much about the temps Nee, as i sit here typing right now its only 4°C (no heating) brrrrr.

The sun will be up soon enough to get it back to 20°C, im even sprouting seedlings in the tent with these temps, go figure? All of mine are budding/flowering as well, im just going to let them do there thing.

Mezo.

 

[nee]

Hey, Neil, way to get control of your potting mix - the starts and
transplants look great! I can see variegation on your Fish!

Hi Paul! I have another Hot Fish that looks exactly the same as that one...so i'm guessing they're meant to be variegated!?

I would worry to much about the temps Nee, as i sit here typing right now its only 4°C (no heating) brrrrr.

The sun will be up soon enough to get it back to 20°C, im even sprouting seedlings in the tent with these temps, go figure? All of mine are budding/flowering as well, im just going to let them do there thing.

Mezo.

Wow...4 degs is chilly!! And nice one for getting new sprouts too, as i can't seem to get anything going right now!

 

[Mitch_from_OZ]

Small update...

2 of my biggest plants so far....the Fatalii and my Hot Fish. I chucked a Jiffy in the pic for a size comparison.
These are now getting too big for the area where the lights are, so these will have to find a windowsill in the next few days..
Obviously these have been under lights for 18 hours a day, but do you think they're developed enough to withstand cooler temps in a windowsill now? I'm not too bothered that they grow any bigger really, as i just wanted a bit of a head start for when spring comes, but i'm just worried that having lows of possibly 13 or 14 degrees and less light is going to kill them.
Any thoughts on this?

Looks like i have flowers starting on my Hot Fish...?

I've heard it's best to pull these off, but as it's the first thing i've ever grown from seed i can't bring myself to do it...so i might just let this one go and see what happens, and then pick the ones on the other plants when the time comes.

Hey mate,

great grow log you have going here. That hot fish is going to produce a tonne of pods!!! Well done! I am 30 mins northwest of Melbourne and I have started my germination for this season. I germinate on a home brew (beer) heated mat, it stays around 24-26 degrees which works great. After they germinate in the cells I transfer to 10 cm containers. My temps are very low at night as I have them in a shed which must drop to 5-6 degrees some nights. They will tolerate anything down to that range, just so long as its not for long periods of time. They will grow quicker in warmer conditions and 13-14 degrees isnt anything to worry about at all, as Mezo said. I am growing under CFL for 14 hours a day, so you can bump up to around 14-16 hours, which is a good range.

Cheers

Mitch

 

[nee]

Many thanks for that Mitch! I potted up some of the plants that were still in plastic cups tonight, so i was forced to move some into the bathroom...where it seems to stay between 15 and 20 degrees. I must admit im quite pleased with this, as every time i go past the 'grow area' i always take a peek and see if theres anything new to see, and this means there's one more room to 'have a quick peek'!!
Whereabouts are you in VIC Mitch??...as my work takes me all over the place (usually between Ballarat / Frankston / Doreen ) , and it would be cool to pop in and say hello / and chat chilli stuff if you're about some day?

Also...good call on the home brew mat! I brewed my own for a while, and keep meaning to get back into it again....one day!

 

[PaulG]

Hi Paul! I have another Hot Fish that looks exactly the same as that one...so i'm guessing they're meant to be variegated!?

From what I have seen on glogs, that is true. The variegation seems
to show up after they grow a bit, as I understand it. Shane could tell
you more about it; I think he's growing them.

 

[Trippa]

Yeah the hot fish has plenty of variegation usually when they older and often dependent on light conditions in my experience. In the brighter sunshine you tend to get a lot more white on the leaves. The pods are often striped/variegated too until they are fully ripe when they are completely red.

 

[nee]

Hi Paul! I have another Hot Fish that looks exactly the same as that one...so i'm guessing they're meant to be variegated!?

From what I have seen on glogs, that is true. The variegation seems
to show up after they grow a bit, as I understand it. Shane could tell
you more about it; I think he's growing them.

Sorry to sound thick, but who's Shane on here? I only know people by their usernames currently (except for a few!)

I was also super stoked today, to finally see on of my Pimenta De Neydes have germinated when i got home from work today! I thought i had one germ last week, but it didn't end up happening
This one was sown when i first started my glog on 9th March.....so i guess it pays to be patient, as that's a whopping 91 days!! I almost chucked them a few times, but couldn't bring myself to...."just in case" lol

 

[PaulG]

Sorry to sound thick, but who's Shane on here? I only know people by their usernames currently (except for a few!)

I was also super stoked today, to finally see on of my Pimenta De Neydes have germinated when i got home from work today! I thought i had one germ last week, but it didn't end up happening
This one was sown when i first started my glog on 9th March.....so i guess it pays to be patient, as that's a whopping 91 days!! I almost chucked them a few times, but couldn't bring myself to...."just in case" lol

Sorry, Shane is Stc3248, down in SanDiegoUSA.

Way to play the patient game;
91 days - wow, that must be some kind of record

 

[Mezo]

91 days - wow, that must be some kind of record

Well i put a load of Bhut`s on Jiffy`s the day after Nee, and one popped up this week (three months).
Ive got the same with Kings seeds here, nothing in weeks & then "PoP" another variety came up yesterday.

But yeah like you Nee, its very slow now.

Mezo.

 

[nee]

I finally got round to attending to my fungus gnat issue by using Hydrogen Peroxide added to water, and giving all my plants a good soaking with the stuff. So far so good, and i haven't seen one since. I intend to follow it up with another go next week just to be sure i got all the larvae.

Here's a few pictures from tonight...as we all love pictures around here

Since my last post, the first flower has since opened up on my Hot Fish....and i've counted at least another 8 on the way! I've read something about self pollinating using a damp cotton bud, but can someone tell me if i need more than one flower to do this (ie to transfer the pollen between the flowers) or can you do it with just one (sorry, to the more seasoned growers this is probably a no-brainer...but i really have no clue...lol)

Chuffed to bits that one of my Pimenta De Neydes finally sprouted after 90 days of germination.

A few of the new additions...these are the ones i grew to replace the plants i lost earlier on, due to bad potting mix / overwatering etc
7 pot red crossed yellow / fatalii red / cili goronong

A few more newbies...
Another 7 pot red x yellow / manzano red / Bhut Jolokia Asaam / Manzano Yellow

A few of the bigger ones

I love the way the manzano's are really hairy! It really puts the MAN in MANzano!

A couple of randoms..

And there's (of course!!?) ...still a few germinating on top of the flouro's...

Plus i now have some of the bigger plants in various windowsills around the house. Im 100% going to run out of room soon, especially when the ones under the lights get to a decent size....but i intend to keep them all going by juggling them around a bit!! lol
Will post more pics soon.

Neil

 

[Mezo]

Looking real good Nee, glad you never gave up & waited for spring.

Cant help thinking you will need ten Bhut Jolokia plants once you have tried them in cooking.

Mezo.

 

[Sanarda]

Your plants look incredible.. Well done on the come back and well done on the new ones.. Keep it up!!!!

 

[Trippa]

I put the comeback down to the friggin laser beams

 

[Mezo]

Yeah talk about using a carrot to lure viewers on his thread, i was expecting a laser light show.

Mezo.

 

[PaulG]

Looking good, Neil! Healthy and happy plants all around!
The Fish and the Fatali look especially nice!

 

[nee]

Thanks Paul (and lol Mezo & Trippa!)
Yeah, it's going nicely at the moment!

I meant to take some pics of the ones in the bathroom window, but i'll do that tomorrow!
They are doing surprisingly well, as It's not a 100% great location...and it gets a little cold there at night, but it's the only windowsill where we dont have any blinds getting in the way (the windows are sort of high up / frosted glass things) and all of the other windowsills are really narrow, and you have to move the plants to close the blinds every night.
I do have to keep turning them every day, as the plants sort of want to 'bend over 90 degrees' to get the most from the light...but i can put up with that!
Counting the days until spring here!

Looking real good Nee, glad you never gave up & waited for spring.

Cant help thinking you will need ten Bhut Jolokia plants once you have tried them in cooking.

Mezo.

Oh deffo Mezo! I still have a lot to sow once the conditions get a bit more favorable!! Space here is at a premium, so i have the max amount of plants that i can cope with indoors for now...but nearer springtime i will be going guns-a-blazing with the Jiffy's!

 

[nee]

Wooooop!

Zee Hot Fish has now produced 4 flowers, and there's a heap on the way! I'm not 100% that i know what i'm doing, but this evening i used a damp cotton bud to gently swab the insides of the flowers to help pollinate them. If anyone can advise more on this that would be great
Does anyone know roughly how long it takes from the flowering stage to start seeing pods? Also, what exactly happens next? Do the flowers drop off and then pods start growing? Any info or links appreciated...

Really starting to run out of room here..lol
Plus there's 4 in the bathroom and kitchen, which i keep meaning to photograph....

Not chilli related, but today i recieved 30 "sensitive plant" seeds, which i reckon our kids are going to love! I whacked them in the propagator and will see how they go!

 

[Mezo]

sensitive plant? whats that then Nee, your not allowed to shout at them or they will cry?

Yeah the flowers will die & shrivel up & then the pod starts pushing through from behind, so don't be knocking any flowers off as that is one pod less.

Mezo.