Stickman's 2014 Glog- That's all folks!

stickman · Jan 11, 2014

WalkGood said:
Holy ~~moly~~ picante chilies you don’t slow down, not even in da thick of winter … great job on all da foodies, seedlings and OWs mucho success in 2014, I think you’ll hab an awesome season brethren!

Hab a great weekend!

Thanks for stopping by and the good vibe Ramon! Hope you get some surfing in this year despite being so busy...

JJJessee · Jan 11, 2014

I like your water bottle set up for the OW.
Youngins' are lookin' fiesty.

maximumcapsicum · Jan 11, 2014

Love the Donne sali and the king naga. King is already looking quite regal! How are the pods on that variety? Fleshier than other nagas right?

The OWs are going strong too. Fantastic. In dying to try those air pots... They look very neat, and you seem to have great results with them. Long term todo list I suppose.

Looking great Rick!

stickman · Jan 11, 2014

maximumcapsicum said:
Love the Donne sali and the king naga. King is already looking quite regal! How are the pods on that variety? Fleshier than other nagas right?

The OWs are going strong too. Fantastic. In dying to try those air pots... They look very neat, and you seem to have great results with them. Long term todo list I suppose.

Looking great Rick!

Thanks Adam, I've never grown either before, but the Frutascens varieties just seemed to be meant for making sauces and Lourens (PeriPeri) did a great job selling me on the Naga King with his video review last year. It should answer your questions I think... http://thehotpepper.com/topic/35248-periperis-grow-log-2012-south-africa/page-36#entry813333

I was intrigued by what I read about air-pruning pots in 2012 so I got a couple kinds to try. One was Hydrofarm Dirt Pots... http://www.hydrofarm.com/product.php?itemid=12490
and the other was the Airpots... http://www.airpotgarden.com/store/index.php?app=gbu0&ns=display&ref=distUS

JJJessee said:
I like your water bottle set up for the OW.
Youngins' are lookin' fiesty.

Thanks JJJessee, it's kind of an extension of my watering system from the past growing season, but I just cut the bottoms off of water bottles then and buried them almost completely. The Plant Nannies are a little neater for use indoors. http://www.uncommongoods.com/product/recycle-a-bottle-plant-nanny-stake-set-of-4

maximumcapsicum · Jan 11, 2014

You notice a big difference with the air pruning?

Devv · Jan 11, 2014

Sorry to read about your wife's tumble, the older we get the less we bounce. Ice falls can be especially serious as one's feet fly out from under them. I hopes she mends quickly.

The babies are looking good, and so are the OW's. Rick you're doing "true" OWing, so I would imagine some will not fair as well as others.

Fingers crossed for ya!

HabaneroHead · Jan 11, 2014

I wish all the best for your wife! :pray:

Balázs

stickman · Jan 12, 2014

My wife and I thank you all for your good wishes for her speedy recovery. She says she can feel the pepper energy! :dance:

Guess I jumped the gun when reporting a hook in the Aji Lemon pot... it's growing too fast to be a pepper and the cotys have the wrong shape. It's been a week since I sowed the round 2 seeds though, and they could show up any time.

The morning's entertainment was watching a Cooper's Hawk show up to chase the smaller birds and seeing it run off by one of the resident Squirrels. We both laughed out loud at that one.

meatfreak · Jan 12, 2014

stickman said:
My wife and I thank you all for your good wishes for her speedy recovery. She says she can feel the pepper energy!
Guess I jumped the gun when reporting a hook in the Aji Lemon pot... it's growing too fast to be a pepper and the cotys have the wrong shape. It's been a week since I sowed the round 2 seeds though, and they could show up any time.

The morning's entertainment was watching a Cooper's Hawk show up to chase the smaller birds and seeing it run off by one of the resident Squirrels. We both laughed out loud at that one.

Happy to hear your wife is feeling better, Rick!

chilli whisperer · Jan 12, 2014

Glad to hear your wife feels that special pepper energy.
And sorry to hear about that false alarm about the Aji Lemon,its always real exciting to see your seeds spout after a few days/weeks,it gets me real excited too.
Hmmm,a hawk? Over here we have a lot of hawks too,its always funny (but sad) to see them take on the rabbits,we have huge rabbits here,so its funny when they try taking off with them

stickman · Jan 12, 2014

maximumcapsicum said:
You notice a big difference with the air pruning?

As far as growing potted plants goes, I do Adam... especially for the varieties that grow large. Peppers need enough root fibers to support a large enough leaf canopy for making pods. If you plant in-ground they can grow root balls as big as conditions and genetics will allow, but when you cramp the roots up in a pot you often end up with stunted plants. What I like about root-pruning pots is that they force the plants to make more side-branching in the roots so you end up with more root fibers in a small space to support a bigger leaf canopy. The plants still don't get as large as they would in-ground, but bigger than they would in standard pots. Three gallon sized pots worked well for me with first-year Chinense plants. I'm going to repot them into five gallon pots this year. After that, we'll see...

you asked about epsom salt solution.. I just mix a teaspoon into a quart of water and apply it to the leaves with a pump-spray bottle.

Devv said:
The babies are looking good, and so are the OW's. Rick you're doing "true" OWing, so I would imagine some will not fair as well as others.

Fingers crossed for ya!

Thanks Scott, I knew going into this that some or all might not make it, but if even one does it's a win!

chilli whisperer said:
And sorry to hear about that false alarm about the Aji Lemon,its always real exciting to see your seeds spout after a few days/weeks,it gets me real excited too.
Hmmm,a hawk? Over here we have a lot of hawks too,its always funny (but sad) to see them take on the rabbits,we have huge rabbits here,so its funny when they try taking off with them

Hi Jacobus, welcome to the zoo!

I hear ya brother... I get excited too, but am striving for honesty in reporting...

What kind of Hawks do you have in SA? I've heard of Harpy Eagles, but that's about it. Bald Eagles are about our largest Raptors here, and you reminded me of the time I saw one that had caught a large Salmon in a lake nearby. It was trying for a good half an hour to fly away with it, but it couldn't clear the trees that grew around the edge of the lake, so it ended up dropping it back in the water and perching to rest and get its strength back.

chilli whisperer · Jan 12, 2014

LOL thanks,I'm glad to be in the zoo

I hear ya too,but you'll get sprouts soon.

I reaaaly don't know what kind they are,I'm new to the farmlife
and don't know what kind they are,it was hard getting
used to all the wildlife here,we even had to
study up to know wich snakes are wich since we have a lot
of snakes here too.
But there's a huge amount of different birds too.Hawks,owls,etc.

But its just so interesting seeing them here

All the birds look awesome..the only prob I have
is some of the birds eating my fruits..I'll have to cover
up on the peppers

stickman · Jan 12, 2014

chilli whisperer said:
I reaaaly don't know what kind they are,I'm new to the farmlife
and don't know what kind they are,it was hard getting
used to all the wildlife here,we even had to
study up to know wich snakes are wich since we have a lot
of snakes here too.
But there's a huge amount of different birds too.Hawks,owls,etc.

But its just so interesting seeing them here
All the birds look awesome..the only prob I have
is some of the birds eating my fruits..I'll have to cover
up on the peppers

I can see that it would be important to recognize snakes when it's likely you'll find them in the garden. Do you have any Kraits, Fer-De-Lances or Mambas?

Pinoy in Hawaii is having his troubles with birds eating his chiles too... probably because he planted a pepper that grows wild in his area that's eaten and spread by birds. He reports good results by hanging up old CDs near the plants where the wind can flutter them and make flashes of light that startle the birds. Garden supply houses here also carry a strip of aluminized mylar plastic that can be twisted and fastened between stakes that act in a similar fashion. Good luck with that...

chilli whisperer · Jan 12, 2014

I don't know what a Kraits or Fer-De-Lances is,but we have the green mamba,I've seen it before.
But we have a lot of puff adders and night adders. The hospitals don't have antivenom for puff adders,so
you gotta take the snake that bit you to the hospital so they can make it real fast.

I heard that some people take teabags,cut a small hole and shake the teak out and put it over the smaller peppers to prevent the birds from eating them,or they just put a small
plastic bag over the pepper,so I'll be trying that.

Thanks,goodluck with those seeds

stickman · Jan 12, 2014

Reading up on venomous African snakes I see the most venomous ones are further north, but it looks like the Cape Cobra and Green Mamba are quite venomous enough! Stay vigilant bro'...

I can see that bird brains might not be able to handle pepper pods in a wrapper... that would also be handy for isolating flowers to ensure they wouldn't cross-pollinate with other varieties.

chilli whisperer · Jan 12, 2014

Yes,cape cobras and green mambas are super dangerouse,if someone gets bitten by
one,you can start saying your prayers as we live 39 kilometers away from town.
A few weeks ago my friends and I were walking next to his house talking to each other,we
weren't looking infront of us,but as I looked up there was a cape cobra about
3 meters away from us. I emidiatly pulled him and ran back to go get the gun.
When we came back the snake started coming towards us,and when we started shooting
it went onto a hole,luckily no one got hurt.

Yea,wrappers seem good too,over here we have tried the old cd disks and shiny stuff,the birds
Are just TOO smart for us,so we'll have to do the teabag/wrapper thing

Jeff H · Jan 12, 2014

chilli whisperer said:
Yes,cape cobras and green mambas are super dangerouse,if someone gets bitten by
one,you can start saying your prayers as we live 39 kilometers away from town.
A few weeks ago my friends and I were walking next to his house talking to each other,we
weren't looking infront of us,but as I looked up there was a cape cobra about
3 meters away from us. I emidiatly pulled him and ran back to go get the gun.
When we came back the snake started coming towards us,and when we started shooting
it went onto a hole,luckily no one got hurt.

Yea,wrappers seem good too,over here we have tried the old cd disks and shiny stuff,the birds
Are just TOO smart for us,so we'll have to do the teabag/wrapper thing

Glad you were all safe. Don't know if you can get this in SA, but they make snake shot that makes aiming at snakes much easier. This happens to be 45Colt, but it is made in 38spl too.

chilli whisperer · Jan 12, 2014

Hey JeffH,thanks,it would be real trouble.
Never seen those,I'll have to look around.

It looks like those will be a big help,thanks for the tip

Hopefully one day,I'll be able to grow peppers so hot,it will
automatically repel the snakes

stickman · Jan 12, 2014

Jeff H said:
Glad you were all safe. Don't know if you can get this in SA, but they make snake shot that makes aiming at snakes much easier. This happens to be 45Colt, but it is made in 38spl too.

My uncle used to live in SoCal and went hunting snakes in the Mojave Desert in the 60's with similar loads in .22 magnum. I've got pictures of him holding up Sidewinders he bagged.

maximumcapsicum · Jan 12, 2014

Wow intense story!

On a site I visited in Gujarat, India, the workmen always complained about "flying cobras". Apparently there is a species there that would drop on folk walking under trees. No antivenom for miles, so I was told that if you were bit they'd shock you with a car battery to neutralize the poison.

Luckily never had to put this particular first aid technique to the test.

Good luck with the birds! Happy growin!