October the 5th and spring is starting to kick in here in NZ. I have 2 greenhouses that I grow my chillis in and by planting out on the 29th of sep I knew that I was pushing the boundries.
I live in New Zealands largest wine producing area, and at 4:30am this morning I was woken by the sound of Helicopters, many, many Helicopters. The local vineyards employ them at this time of year when a frost is likely to hit, the blast from the rotors breaks up the layer of cold air sitting at ground level with warmer air from above.
Leaving for work at 5:30am I had a quick check of the temprature in my houses.........it was sitting steady at 0 degrees celcius, or 32 fahrenheit!
But that is the least of my worries.
This year I have;
Red, yellow and chocolate bhuts
Moruga scorps
Butch T's
Rocoto
Jalapeanos
Carolina Reapers
Several types of Habs
A dozen varieties of wierd tomatoes
A dozen types of rare and odd capsicums
And possibly a couple of more varieties of chilli that I can't remember at the moment.
But i digress....
Cold tempratures aside a week ago we had a huge outbreak of aphids start. They were mainly after the Morugas, the question of fighting them with fire was louding and aggressively spoken of, but myself and Mrs DD came to the conclusion that we will stick by our guns, no sprays whatsoever.
Not even a dish washing liquid, we'd do it as nature intended, which basicaly ment me spending several hours after working picking the little $%!@%$ off by hand, or squashing as gently as I can without causing collateral damage to our babies. (I did)
But having a nosey after work today, looks like nature has come to our aid!
One of my greenhouses is swarming with baby Praying Mantis, the newer greenhouse that is up for it's first season had just a few, so some transplanting of critters took place.
Fingers crossed a balance will soon be reached, my ravenous little allies finding an equilbrium with the invading hordes.
We also found a large Mantis from last year on one of our Gooseberry bushes, who was moved to the new house lest she begin eating her young kin.
There doesn't seem to be much frost damage either, I spent the trip to work convinced all was lost.
I live in New Zealands largest wine producing area, and at 4:30am this morning I was woken by the sound of Helicopters, many, many Helicopters. The local vineyards employ them at this time of year when a frost is likely to hit, the blast from the rotors breaks up the layer of cold air sitting at ground level with warmer air from above.
Leaving for work at 5:30am I had a quick check of the temprature in my houses.........it was sitting steady at 0 degrees celcius, or 32 fahrenheit!
But that is the least of my worries.
This year I have;
Red, yellow and chocolate bhuts
Moruga scorps
Butch T's
Rocoto
Jalapeanos
Carolina Reapers
Several types of Habs
A dozen varieties of wierd tomatoes
A dozen types of rare and odd capsicums
And possibly a couple of more varieties of chilli that I can't remember at the moment.
But i digress....
Cold tempratures aside a week ago we had a huge outbreak of aphids start. They were mainly after the Morugas, the question of fighting them with fire was louding and aggressively spoken of, but myself and Mrs DD came to the conclusion that we will stick by our guns, no sprays whatsoever.
Not even a dish washing liquid, we'd do it as nature intended, which basicaly ment me spending several hours after working picking the little $%!@%$ off by hand, or squashing as gently as I can without causing collateral damage to our babies. (I did)
But having a nosey after work today, looks like nature has come to our aid!
One of my greenhouses is swarming with baby Praying Mantis, the newer greenhouse that is up for it's first season had just a few, so some transplanting of critters took place.
Fingers crossed a balance will soon be reached, my ravenous little allies finding an equilbrium with the invading hordes.
We also found a large Mantis from last year on one of our Gooseberry bushes, who was moved to the new house lest she begin eating her young kin.
There doesn't seem to be much frost damage either, I spent the trip to work convinced all was lost.
