trade Trade List / Help Rebuilding after Disaster
- Thread starter laserguy
- Start date
UPDATE:
Woo-hoo!
For well over a year now, I have been fighting an on-going war against aphids on my indoor pepper plants. I have been trying various homemade remedies and contact-based poisons, in a futile attempt to kill these buggers off!
But no matter WHAT I tried, all I could accomplish was a short-term win - constantly drenching all my plants was a chore, and as soon as my back was turned for even an instant, the dang aphids would re-surge and kill off a few more of my pepper plants!
Well, I am now very happy to report that I have found a PERMANENT cure for my aphids problem, and ELIMINATED 'em from all my indoor pepper plants!!!
And with the aphid-induced plant stress gone, plants that were formerly on death's doorstep are now starting to take-off! For example, this plant, which had been reduced to a stick by the aphids, is now taking-off with healthy new growth!
Even better, while due to the aphids killing-off nearly all of my full-size plants, combined with their affinity for flower stems, has resulted in no fruit set on any of my pepper plants for well over a year now -
(Capsicum flower stems - filet mignon for aphids!)
But with the aphids gone, one of my pepper plants already has fresh podage!!!
I am SO happy right now!
So, what was the miracle cure? Will be posting all the details in the aphid thread, but one magic word...Acetamiprid!
May even start one of those Grow Log thingies, now that I've got something besides death & destruction to report!
Going full steam ahead on trading now - plan is to get stuff started NOW, and get 'em big enough to overwinter before it gets too cold. If all goes well, hoping to see pods (maybe not ripe) perhaps in time for Xmas???
I see some of the people here that grow outdoors on a more "normal" schedule are showing-off harvests already, so hopefully this should be a good time to find seeds as well!
Anyways, wanted to share the good news with y'all!
Woo-hoo!
For well over a year now, I have been fighting an on-going war against aphids on my indoor pepper plants. I have been trying various homemade remedies and contact-based poisons, in a futile attempt to kill these buggers off!
But no matter WHAT I tried, all I could accomplish was a short-term win - constantly drenching all my plants was a chore, and as soon as my back was turned for even an instant, the dang aphids would re-surge and kill off a few more of my pepper plants!
Well, I am now very happy to report that I have found a PERMANENT cure for my aphids problem, and ELIMINATED 'em from all my indoor pepper plants!!!
And with the aphid-induced plant stress gone, plants that were formerly on death's doorstep are now starting to take-off! For example, this plant, which had been reduced to a stick by the aphids, is now taking-off with healthy new growth!
Even better, while due to the aphids killing-off nearly all of my full-size plants, combined with their affinity for flower stems, has resulted in no fruit set on any of my pepper plants for well over a year now -
(Capsicum flower stems - filet mignon for aphids!)
But with the aphids gone, one of my pepper plants already has fresh podage!!!
I am SO happy right now!
So, what was the miracle cure? Will be posting all the details in the aphid thread, but one magic word...Acetamiprid!
May even start one of those Grow Log thingies, now that I've got something besides death & destruction to report!
Going full steam ahead on trading now - plan is to get stuff started NOW, and get 'em big enough to overwinter before it gets too cold. If all goes well, hoping to see pods (maybe not ripe) perhaps in time for Xmas???
I see some of the people here that grow outdoors on a more "normal" schedule are showing-off harvests already, so hopefully this should be a good time to find seeds as well!
Anyways, wanted to share the good news with y'all!
So, what was the miracle cure? Will be posting all the details in the aphid thread, but one magic word...Acetamiprid!
I would not call Acetamiprid a miracle... is still a pretty strong and nasty pesticide... but I agree with you 100% about its effectiveness. And… of all the ones I could find in the big box stores, Acetamiprid seemed by far the least harmful and persistent. It saved my plants this season. I was totally against using non-organic prevention but after loosing 2-3 months of spring growing to aphids and tons of non-working organic sprays (I did not try ladybugs) I gave in to the dark side. It was at least 3 months between when I sprayed and my first pod so I think 99.99% of it was gone by the time I harvested. Next year, I may use it even earlier then switch to organic to control any outbreaks closer to fruit set. I also may try ladybugs 1st but it is so windy here in Mar-April-May that I think the lady bugs would have a hard time. Congrats on getting your Aphid problem solved... I know exactly how good it feels once that finally happens.
I actually have you to thank for this miracle cure, Beaglestorm, as it was your post in the Aphid thread that pointed me in the right direction!
But before I finally broke-out the tactical nukes, I did a lot of research on safety, as whatever product I decided on, was going to be used INDOORS. So nasty chemicals like Malathion were out. Ladybugs were a non-starter for the same reason - can you imagine releasing thousands of ladybugs inside your home!
But in researching this, it turned-out that Acetamiprid is actually less toxic than some of the "organic" remedies that have been suggested! It is also derived from the natural pesticide which is naturally produced by Tobacco plants - Nicotine.
It also breaks-down quickly in the environment, so it is safe to use 7 days before harvest for peppers (not a problem in my case - as the aphids had prevented any flowers from setting!)
And because it is so effective against insects, the consumer-use version is extremely diluted - only 0.006%!
I figured I probably get more nicotine into my system just by walking into the local bar and inhaling!
I also tested it extensively against the latest fad "organic" solution - and it won hands-down!
I will be posting all the details in the aphid thread, but in researching this and the organic alternative, I ended-up learning so many new things, that I am having trouble condensing it all down into manageable bite-sized portions for posting there!
One of the things I did learn was this whole "natural" vs. "chemical" argument is actually a myth! Just because something is "organic" or "natural", does NOT automatically make it better/safer!
Yea, I have been fighting these guys since last season. Not only did these dang bugs manage to virtually destroy a pepper plant collection it took me nearly a decade to build, but they also prevented the few remaining plants from setting fruit and producing anything!
Pepper plants but no podage - it was like I was growing a bunch of sickly houseplants!
And then to see a plant that had not produced a single pod in well over a year, to see it go from death's doorstep, to flush with buds, flowers, and even new pods...it's hard to put that feeling into words. Literally going from not being able to enjoy the fruits of your labors, to suddenly having the freedom to grow & enjoy your own peppers again! I felt like I had just escaped from some kind of chilehead hell, like I had just been released from Podless Pepper Prison!
But after living through this nightmare for so long now, and having finally won the war against these bugs, and seeing my plants spring back to life again, you can understand why I am not willing to just wait around until next year to get started re-planting!
Luckily, one of the nice advantages of growing peppers indoors is that I have a lot more flexibility over the start date of my growing season.
But before I finally broke-out the tactical nukes, I did a lot of research on safety, as whatever product I decided on, was going to be used INDOORS. So nasty chemicals like Malathion were out. Ladybugs were a non-starter for the same reason - can you imagine releasing thousands of ladybugs inside your home!
But in researching this, it turned-out that Acetamiprid is actually less toxic than some of the "organic" remedies that have been suggested! It is also derived from the natural pesticide which is naturally produced by Tobacco plants - Nicotine.
It also breaks-down quickly in the environment, so it is safe to use 7 days before harvest for peppers (not a problem in my case - as the aphids had prevented any flowers from setting!)
And because it is so effective against insects, the consumer-use version is extremely diluted - only 0.006%!
I figured I probably get more nicotine into my system just by walking into the local bar and inhaling!
I also tested it extensively against the latest fad "organic" solution - and it won hands-down!
I will be posting all the details in the aphid thread, but in researching this and the organic alternative, I ended-up learning so many new things, that I am having trouble condensing it all down into manageable bite-sized portions for posting there!
One of the things I did learn was this whole "natural" vs. "chemical" argument is actually a myth! Just because something is "organic" or "natural", does NOT automatically make it better/safer!
Thanks!
Yea, I have been fighting these guys since last season. Not only did these dang bugs manage to virtually destroy a pepper plant collection it took me nearly a decade to build, but they also prevented the few remaining plants from setting fruit and producing anything!
Pepper plants but no podage - it was like I was growing a bunch of sickly houseplants!
And then to see a plant that had not produced a single pod in well over a year, to see it go from death's doorstep, to flush with buds, flowers, and even new pods...it's hard to put that feeling into words. Literally going from not being able to enjoy the fruits of your labors, to suddenly having the freedom to grow & enjoy your own peppers again! I felt like I had just escaped from some kind of chilehead hell, like I had just been released from Podless Pepper Prison!
But after living through this nightmare for so long now, and having finally won the war against these bugs, and seeing my plants spring back to life again, you can understand why I am not willing to just wait around until next year to get started re-planting!
Luckily, one of the nice advantages of growing peppers indoors is that I have a lot more flexibility over the start date of my growing season.
@Dshlogg - Received your seeds in the mail today! Thanks for Trading!
------------
Here's another recovering plant! This is actually 3 "back-up" plants that had all been reduced to mere sticks by the aphids - 2 of 'em had been killed outright by the aphids already,
and the 3rd plant was about to follow...but with the aphids now gone, the lone surviving "stick" is now bursting forth with new, vigorous growth! -
This is a unique variety with ginormous pods that I haven't seen around lately - I'm glad to see it survived!
I think it's time to pot this baby up!
------------
Here's another recovering plant! This is actually 3 "back-up" plants that had all been reduced to mere sticks by the aphids - 2 of 'em had been killed outright by the aphids already,
and the 3rd plant was about to follow...but with the aphids now gone, the lone surviving "stick" is now bursting forth with new, vigorous growth! -
This is a unique variety with ginormous pods that I haven't seen around lately - I'm glad to see it survived!
I think it's time to pot this baby up!
Here's a picture of a better-looking pod, for those wanting to trade, and wondering what this variety looks like -
For a plant that is still trying to recover from it's near-death experience, this guy's going absolutely NUTS with the podage - 6 ripe pods, plus another 7 new pods, plus even more flowers and buds - at this rate, the plant is gonna have more pods than leaves!
What's left of this plant is really rather small (about 22"x12"x8") compared to it's original size, and it is actually pumping most of it's energy into growing more pods rather than new leaves! I'm considering giving it a shot of high-Nitrogen fert to encourage it to "shift gears" and grow larger instead, but at the moment I am enjoying all this new podage too much!
My Red Savina "big stick" plant (first pic on this page) is doing the exact opposite - it is growing lots of foliage, but nary a bud in sight! It also seemed to be suffering from some sort of leaf problems - lots of falling leaves, some leaf spotting, leaves dying from the tips up. Not sure of the exact cause, but I went ahead and removed a bunch of leaves, then sprayed the whole plant down with my homemade mite killer spray as a preventative. I've also decided to cut-off nutes (was giving it a heavy dosage to get it re-growing from just a stick), as now that I remember it, that plant was overly sensitive to fert burn!
My "little stick" plant (pic in post #47 above) is also going crazy with new foliage, but no sign of buds yet. Perhaps if I upsize it into something bigger than a Cup-'O-Noodle, it will reward me with new flowers?
--------
@hixs - follow-up PM sent!
Thanks Again!
For a plant that is still trying to recover from it's near-death experience, this guy's going absolutely NUTS with the podage - 6 ripe pods, plus another 7 new pods, plus even more flowers and buds - at this rate, the plant is gonna have more pods than leaves!
What's left of this plant is really rather small (about 22"x12"x8") compared to it's original size, and it is actually pumping most of it's energy into growing more pods rather than new leaves! I'm considering giving it a shot of high-Nitrogen fert to encourage it to "shift gears" and grow larger instead, but at the moment I am enjoying all this new podage too much!
My Red Savina "big stick" plant (first pic on this page) is doing the exact opposite - it is growing lots of foliage, but nary a bud in sight! It also seemed to be suffering from some sort of leaf problems - lots of falling leaves, some leaf spotting, leaves dying from the tips up. Not sure of the exact cause, but I went ahead and removed a bunch of leaves, then sprayed the whole plant down with my homemade mite killer spray as a preventative. I've also decided to cut-off nutes (was giving it a heavy dosage to get it re-growing from just a stick), as now that I remember it, that plant was overly sensitive to fert burn!
My "little stick" plant (pic in post #47 above) is also going crazy with new foliage, but no sign of buds yet. Perhaps if I upsize it into something bigger than a Cup-'O-Noodle, it will reward me with new flowers?
--------
@hixs - follow-up PM sent!
Thanks Again!
Just learned about an annoying "bug" with this forum's software...
You ever send someone a PM, and then later find-out they never received it?
Well, I just discovered one way that can happen...and how to avoid it!
You know how that big red "X" in your "My Conversations" page marks PM conversations that have been deleted? And if you view a deleted conversation, how it physically prevents you from sending any kind of reply?
Well, it turns-out that the "X" only shows-up if the other person was the one who originally started that conversation.
If YOU were the one who originally started that conversation, and then the other person later deletes the conversation, then there is no indication in your "My Conversations" page that that conversation is now deleted - no red "X" is displayed!
Now that's merely confusing - the REAL problem is what happens when you access that normal-looking (but actually deleted) conversation - the forum will still let you send PM replies!
The problem is, the other person will never receive those PM's!
A bit of research revealed that this is a known bug with the (older) version of the forum software that THP is currently using -
http://community.invisionpower.com/tracker/issue-26528-pms-between-two-people-when-one-has-left-the-conversation-can-be-continued-to-added/
which has since been fixed on more recent versions of this forum software.
If you suspect someone never got your last PM, there is a way to check if this problem may have happened to you!
With the conversation open, look on the left edge of the screen, for the small box where it lists the participants, the part that says the last date/time each person read that conversation. In tiny text, instead of a date/time for the other person, it will have the words "Has left the conversation".
If you see that, then they probably never got that last PM you sent them!
Nor can you re-invite them back into that conversation either, as the system will then give you a very confused error msg that claims they are already participating in the conversation!
The only solution is you have to create a whole new PM conversation with that same person.
To prevent your PM's from getting "lost" in this way, you should get into the habit of checking that "Last Read" date before sending a PM reply to any existing conversations, at least until THP updates their software and this bug is fixed.
This bug caused me some grief, and I see others here posting comments on profile pages about PM's that were sent but never received, so I figure y'all might find this info useful!
Anyways...
---------
@hixs - follow-up PM re-sent as new conversation!
Thanks Again!
You ever send someone a PM, and then later find-out they never received it?
Well, I just discovered one way that can happen...and how to avoid it!
You know how that big red "X" in your "My Conversations" page marks PM conversations that have been deleted? And if you view a deleted conversation, how it physically prevents you from sending any kind of reply?
Well, it turns-out that the "X" only shows-up if the other person was the one who originally started that conversation.
If YOU were the one who originally started that conversation, and then the other person later deletes the conversation, then there is no indication in your "My Conversations" page that that conversation is now deleted - no red "X" is displayed!
Now that's merely confusing - the REAL problem is what happens when you access that normal-looking (but actually deleted) conversation - the forum will still let you send PM replies!
The problem is, the other person will never receive those PM's!
A bit of research revealed that this is a known bug with the (older) version of the forum software that THP is currently using -
http://community.invisionpower.com/tracker/issue-26528-pms-between-two-people-when-one-has-left-the-conversation-can-be-continued-to-added/
which has since been fixed on more recent versions of this forum software.
If you suspect someone never got your last PM, there is a way to check if this problem may have happened to you!
With the conversation open, look on the left edge of the screen, for the small box where it lists the participants, the part that says the last date/time each person read that conversation. In tiny text, instead of a date/time for the other person, it will have the words "Has left the conversation".
If you see that, then they probably never got that last PM you sent them!
Nor can you re-invite them back into that conversation either, as the system will then give you a very confused error msg that claims they are already participating in the conversation!
The only solution is you have to create a whole new PM conversation with that same person.
To prevent your PM's from getting "lost" in this way, you should get into the habit of checking that "Last Read" date before sending a PM reply to any existing conversations, at least until THP updates their software and this bug is fixed.
This bug caused me some grief, and I see others here posting comments on profile pages about PM's that were sent but never received, so I figure y'all might find this info useful!
Anyways...
---------
@hixs - follow-up PM re-sent as new conversation!
Thanks Again!
Does a slight change of environment make a big difference for SuperHots?
OK, I've got a bunch of seeds I planted over the past two weeks, that weren't sprouting quite as quickly as I had expected. Out of 14 different varieties, only 2 of them had anything sprout - and one of those two wasn't even a pepper!
Granted, pepper seeds can take their own sweet time to germinate. But with the germination method I use, I'm used to seeing at least some sign of life on many varieties after about 7-10 days?
But then a couple days ago, I happened to notice the out-of-the-way spot I had stashed all these guys was near an A/C vent.
Now, it's been so dang hot out here all year, that germination temps haven't really been much of a concern. And where the seeds were located didn't feel any cooler. But perhaps a little passing breeze from the A/C was causing some problems?
So I put the dozen unsprouted ones in a box so I wouldn't accidentally kick them over, and moved them into the back room with the computer where it's a bit warmer -
And the very next morning, I was greeted by this! -
That was yesterday. Today, all the others still have no sign of life, so perhaps that was just mere coincidence?
I have been growing habs & other peppers for many years, but this is my first year growing SuperHots. What has been your experience with sprouting these SuperHots - do these guys seem to take longer/harder to germinate, than other C. Chinense?
Thanks All!
OK, I've got a bunch of seeds I planted over the past two weeks, that weren't sprouting quite as quickly as I had expected. Out of 14 different varieties, only 2 of them had anything sprout - and one of those two wasn't even a pepper!
Granted, pepper seeds can take their own sweet time to germinate. But with the germination method I use, I'm used to seeing at least some sign of life on many varieties after about 7-10 days?
But then a couple days ago, I happened to notice the out-of-the-way spot I had stashed all these guys was near an A/C vent.
Now, it's been so dang hot out here all year, that germination temps haven't really been much of a concern. And where the seeds were located didn't feel any cooler. But perhaps a little passing breeze from the A/C was causing some problems?
So I put the dozen unsprouted ones in a box so I wouldn't accidentally kick them over, and moved them into the back room with the computer where it's a bit warmer -
And the very next morning, I was greeted by this! -
That was yesterday. Today, all the others still have no sign of life, so perhaps that was just mere coincidence?
I have been growing habs & other peppers for many years, but this is my first year growing SuperHots. What has been your experience with sprouting these SuperHots - do these guys seem to take longer/harder to germinate, than other C. Chinense?
Thanks All!
In case you were wondering what the variety I mentioned sprouted quickly and "wasn't even a pepper" was, it was one of the items available from my Trade List: Eyeball/Toothache Plants! (I'm trying to get some "eyeballs" growing in time for Halloween! ) Here's a couple close-up shots of some of these freshly-sprouted bad boyz...
Even as newly-born seedlings, these things look like alien plants! And as they grow up, they get even weirder-looking...and that's before the eyeballs pop up and start staring at you!
DEFINITELY a good Halloween plant! I wonder how they would look under a black light... 
BTW, now that the aphids are finally eliminated and it's safe to start seedlings again, I am also following-up on some of the older trade discussions / offers to help that got put "on hold" until after I could get the dang bug problems solved.
@Tonly - trade follow-up PM sent!
) Here's a couple close-up shots of some of these freshly-sprouted bad boyz...
Even as newly-born seedlings, these things look like alien plants! And as they grow up, they get even weirder-looking...and that's before the eyeballs pop up and start staring at you!
DEFINITELY a good Halloween plant!
I wonder how they would look under a black light... BTW, now that the aphids are finally eliminated and it's safe to start seedlings again, I am also following-up on some of the older trade discussions / offers to help that got put "on hold" until after I could get the dang bug problems solved.
@Tonly - trade follow-up PM sent!
"I THINK I can, I THINK I can!"
As previously mentioned, most of the remaining survivors from my original collection were babies & cuttings. Here's a pic of one of the later, check-out what he's doing now!
"The Little Engine That Could"
For scale, that's an 8oz styrofoam coffee cup! And yes, those are flowers, and YES, that's a new pepper pod!
Before anybody says this must be one of those pequin or miniature varieties, that cutting was taken from a plant that was about 3' tall by over 4' wide!
This plant is a C. chinense variety called Aji Limon (Note that contrary to what some eBay sellers would have you believe, this is NOT the same variety as Lemon Drop! It is a completely different species, has different pods, and is much hotter!
)
The pods are also typically much larger than this...but then again, so are the plants!
This pic is actually from a few weeks ago - I need to get a new pic & post it, as this little guy gave me a nice Thanksgiving surprise!
I have a few seeds of this variety available, if anybody wants to trade for it.
----------------------
Speaking of Thanksgiving day surprises, I woke up today to find this -
Houston, we have liftoff!!
That's a mythical White Bhut Jolokia seedling! This is my second attempt trying to sprout these guys, my first attempt was a miserable failure (planted back in Sept., still 0% germination!)
I only got a few of these guys in trade, so I had to make this second attempt count! So I opted for a dilute hydrogen peroxide pre-treat, to improve my odds (This approach is something I have been researching heavily lately - will post a thread about that topic later!)
Anyways, I was quite dismayed when I went to soak these guys, and saw that all of the seeds floated! Bad seeds could certainly explain the previous failure, and with not a single seed sinking, I was worried I might get the same results again.
But that H2O2 pre-treat really seemed to do the trick - not only did it get one of these questionable seeds to sprout, it also appears to have sped-up the germination time! I did not expect to see any sign of life until at least this weekend (and after seeing all the seeds float, had basically written-off these guys), so seeing that hook today was a really nice surprise!
As previously mentioned, most of the remaining survivors from my original collection were babies & cuttings. Here's a pic of one of the later, check-out what he's doing now!
"The Little Engine That Could"
For scale, that's an 8oz styrofoam coffee cup! And yes, those are flowers, and YES, that's a new pepper pod!
Before anybody says this must be one of those pequin or miniature varieties, that cutting was taken from a plant that was about 3' tall by over 4' wide!
This plant is a C. chinense variety called Aji Limon (Note that contrary to what some eBay sellers would have you believe, this is NOT the same variety as Lemon Drop! It is a completely different species, has different pods, and is much hotter!
) The pods are also typically much larger than this...but then again, so are the plants!
This pic is actually from a few weeks ago - I need to get a new pic & post it, as this little guy gave me a nice Thanksgiving surprise!
I have a few seeds of this variety available, if anybody wants to trade for it.
----------------------
Speaking of Thanksgiving day surprises, I woke up today to find this -
Houston, we have liftoff!!
That's a mythical White Bhut Jolokia seedling! This is my second attempt trying to sprout these guys, my first attempt was a miserable failure (planted back in Sept., still 0% germination!)
I only got a few of these guys in trade, so I had to make this second attempt count! So I opted for a dilute hydrogen peroxide pre-treat, to improve my odds (This approach is something I have been researching heavily lately - will post a thread about that topic later!)
Anyways, I was quite dismayed when I went to soak these guys, and saw that all of the seeds floated!
Bad seeds could certainly explain the previous failure, and with not a single seed sinking, I was worried I might get the same results again.But that H2O2 pre-treat really seemed to do the trick - not only did it get one of these questionable seeds to sprout, it also appears to have sped-up the germination time! I did not expect to see any sign of life until at least this weekend (and after seeing all the seeds float, had basically written-off these guys), so seeing that hook today was a really nice surprise!
I've got two bits of good news, both photography-related:
First off, When my old PC/hard drive died early this year, one of my most upsetting losses was 10 years worth of pepper pictures!
Well, I was looking thru the sub-directories of a filled-up flash drive recently (looking for things I could delete, to free-up space), and found a few of my old pepper pics!
I have Pepsi to thank for this.
A few years back, Pepsi had this contest with "Pepsi Points", where you could type cryptic #'s from bottles into their web site, and use accumulated points to buy cool stuff.
I got a keychain photo album gizmo - I had the idea of putting some of my pepper pics on it, so I could show-off my pepper pron to my friends!
But like most stuff you get for free, this toy had some issues - one of which being that you couldn't upload individual pics, you had to upload all the pics at once, so if you wanted to add new pics to it, you needed to have the original copies of your already-added pics handy.
So to make things easier while I was experimenting with this thing, I had copied a few of my better pepper pics into this gizmo's directory on my hard drive.
Well, it turns-out that pepper pics shrunk to the size of a postage stamp on this low-res device was not nearly as impressive as I had hoped
, so eventually I abandoned the idea. A few years ago, I guess I decided this program was taking-up too much space on my hard drive, and moved this gizmo's directory over to a thumb drive.
Which because of this device's quirks, still also included full-res copies of some of my lost pepper pics!
Back when I took some of these pics, I also had access to much a better camera (Nikon) than what I've been struggling with lately, and this quality really shows-up in some of this older pepper pron.
So prepare to be amazed.
These also included pictures of some of the varieties from my old pepper plant collection that did not survive the great aphid war, including some I currently have seeds available for trade.
So for those of you wondering what a "Zimbabwe Bird Pepper" looks like, here ya go! -
and I'm almost 100% sure this is a Zimbabwe Bird Pepper flower -
(click to view better!)
Second bit of good news coming up! (gotta take a couple new pics first)
First off, When my old PC/hard drive died early this year, one of my most upsetting losses was 10 years worth of pepper pictures!
Well, I was looking thru the sub-directories of a filled-up flash drive recently (looking for things I could delete, to free-up space), and found a few of my old pepper pics!
I have Pepsi to thank for this.
A few years back, Pepsi had this contest with "Pepsi Points", where you could type cryptic #'s from bottles into their web site, and use accumulated points to buy cool stuff.
I got a keychain photo album gizmo - I had the idea of putting some of my pepper pics on it, so I could show-off my pepper pron to my friends!
But like most stuff you get for free, this toy had some issues - one of which being that you couldn't upload individual pics, you had to upload all the pics at once, so if you wanted to add new pics to it, you needed to have the original copies of your already-added pics handy.
So to make things easier while I was experimenting with this thing, I had copied a few of my better pepper pics into this gizmo's directory on my hard drive.
Well, it turns-out that pepper pics shrunk to the size of a postage stamp on this low-res device was not nearly as impressive as I had hoped
, so eventually I abandoned the idea. A few years ago, I guess I decided this program was taking-up too much space on my hard drive, and moved this gizmo's directory over to a thumb drive.Which because of this device's quirks, still also included full-res copies of some of my lost pepper pics!
Back when I took some of these pics, I also had access to much a better camera (Nikon) than what I've been struggling with lately, and this quality really shows-up in some of this older pepper pron.
So prepare to be amazed.
These also included pictures of some of the varieties from my old pepper plant collection that did not survive the great aphid war, including some I currently have seeds available for trade.
So for those of you wondering what a "Zimbabwe Bird Pepper" looks like, here ya go! -
and I'm almost 100% sure this is a Zimbabwe Bird Pepper flower -
(click to view better!)
Second bit of good news coming up! (gotta take a couple new pics first
)
Glad to hear LG. Sounds like a big ol' nasty headache. Like the time I got crabs from that hooker in Jamaica and my wife found me with one leg on the counter in the bathroom going to town like it was all you can eat crab night at Red Lobster.....no this never really happened...but It compares. 
The other piece of good news I have is likewise photography-related. You may have noticed that some of the pics I've posted this past year have been so-so quality-wise. This was not (hopefully) a lack of my photog skillz, but rather due to the crappy camera I've been struggling with lately, a Chinese spycam DVR -
(note the custom macro lens & viewfinder attachments)
It's a neat little toy, but is built using surplus cheap cellphone cam parts, and takes REALLY crappy still pics. To get a halfway-decent picture out of this thing required such an extensive & convoluted process (involving things like "web cam" mode, a laptop, a homemade tripod, supplemental lighting, & PhotoShop), that I will spare you all the mind-numbing details in this thread. Suffice to say it took an hour or more just to get a single halfway-decent pic as an end result!
I've been looking for a nice but affordable digital cam for a while now. Unlike many other electronic devices (where features keep increasing & prices dropping), digital cams seem to be bucking this trend the past few years. Prices for a decent yet cost-effective cam have if anything been increasing, while features (other than megapixels) have been decreasing - camera manufacturers have actually been eliminating features from their more affordable product lines, in an apparent attempt to force their more experienced customers to migrate to their pricier DSLR models.
For example, just a few years ago you could pick-up a decent, name-brand digital cam, with features like aperture-priority, shutter-priority and full-manual exposure modes, as well as manual focus capability (great for those tight macro shots, or for avoiding the famous "hand in the pepper pic" syndrome), for about $100+ street. Today, you can spend twice that or more for a camera with NONE of those capabilities - basically an automated digital version of a Kodak Instamatic!
This backwards trend in camera technology has actually resulted in some of the older (and more capable) digital models now selling for considerably more today than they first came out years ago!
My wallet can't afford anything close to a DSLR right now, hence the reason I've been trying to make due with that Chinese POS until I could find a camera worth buying.
Well, my other good news is that I managed to pick-up an older model full-featured name-brand digital cam for a song!
It's a little dinged-up, but it's got ALL the features I was looking for - including zoom, macro, full auto, programmed AE (with multiple metering modes), Aperture Priority Mode, Shutter Priority Mode, Full Manual Exposure Mode, even a Full Manual Focus Mode - that extends all the way from Infinity to Maximum Macro!
The only thing that is even mildly disappointing feature-wise is that the macro isn't as tight as I'm used to (that Nikon's excellent macro capability really spoiled me!)
But I solved that too - picked-up a nice set of Vivitar Macro Lenses, going up to +10 diopter -
Just waiting on the adapter tube to arrive now. But I already tried playing-around with holding them in front of the lens in "macro" mode, and it looks like these are gonna work pretty sweet!
Anyways, remember when I said I needed to get more recent pic of my little Chinense cutting, as it had given me a nice Thanksgiving surprise?
Well, here it is...one of the very first pics with my new camera! -
The White Balance was a little off (taken under Daylight 6500K CFL's), the pod is actually a bright yellow color - still getting used to all the options on my new camera!
(In addition to "auto", the camera actually has a special manual setting just for "Daylight" fluoro's, as well as a cool custom White balance mode.)
Here's a more recent pic, which shows the true color of these guys -
and of the whole plant -
That tiny pod has now dropped-off. But see all those new flowers? I have been hand-pollinating those, and this cutting now has a replacement new (and much larger) pod growing already!
UPDATE: TWO new pods now!
This guy was deliberately kept small, and originally was for use as a back-up plant or to give away. But with the parent now dead, perhaps I should put this pepper-producing cutting into a REAL pot, and see what he does for me then?
(note the custom macro lens & viewfinder attachments
)It's a neat little toy, but is built using surplus cheap cellphone cam parts, and takes REALLY crappy still pics. To get a halfway-decent picture out of this thing required such an extensive & convoluted process (involving things like "web cam" mode, a laptop, a homemade tripod, supplemental lighting, & PhotoShop), that I will spare you all the mind-numbing details in this thread. Suffice to say it took an hour or more just to get a single halfway-decent pic as an end result!
I've been looking for a nice but affordable digital cam for a while now. Unlike many other electronic devices (where features keep increasing & prices dropping), digital cams seem to be bucking this trend the past few years. Prices for a decent yet cost-effective cam have if anything been increasing, while features (other than megapixels) have been decreasing - camera manufacturers have actually been eliminating features from their more affordable product lines, in an apparent attempt to force their more experienced customers to migrate to their pricier DSLR models.
For example, just a few years ago you could pick-up a decent, name-brand digital cam, with features like aperture-priority, shutter-priority and full-manual exposure modes, as well as manual focus capability (great for those tight macro shots, or for avoiding the famous "hand in the pepper pic" syndrome
), for about $100+ street. Today, you can spend twice that or more for a camera with NONE of those capabilities - basically an automated digital version of a Kodak Instamatic!This backwards trend in camera technology has actually resulted in some of the older (and more capable) digital models now selling for considerably more today than they first came out years ago!
My wallet can't afford anything close to a DSLR right now, hence the reason I've been trying to make due with that Chinese POS until I could find a camera worth buying.
Well, my other good news is that I managed to pick-up an older model full-featured name-brand digital cam for a song!
It's a little dinged-up, but it's got ALL the features I was looking for - including zoom, macro, full auto, programmed AE (with multiple metering modes), Aperture Priority Mode, Shutter Priority Mode, Full Manual Exposure Mode, even a Full Manual Focus Mode - that extends all the way from Infinity to Maximum Macro!
The only thing that is even mildly disappointing feature-wise is that the macro isn't as tight as I'm used to (that Nikon's excellent macro capability really spoiled me!)
But I solved that too - picked-up a nice set of Vivitar Macro Lenses, going up to +10 diopter -
Just waiting on the adapter tube to arrive now. But I already tried playing-around with holding them in front of the lens in "macro" mode, and it looks like these are gonna work pretty sweet!
Anyways, remember when I said I needed to get more recent pic of my little Chinense cutting, as it had given me a nice Thanksgiving surprise?
Well, here it is...one of the very first pics with my new camera! -
The White Balance was a little off (taken under Daylight 6500K CFL's), the pod is actually a bright yellow color - still getting used to all the options on my new camera!
(In addition to "auto", the camera actually has a special manual setting just for "Daylight" fluoro's, as well as a cool custom White balance mode.
)Here's a more recent pic, which shows the true color of these guys -
and of the whole plant -
That tiny pod has now dropped-off. But see all those new flowers? I have been hand-pollinating those, and this cutting now has a replacement new (and much larger) pod growing already!
UPDATE: TWO new pods now!
This guy was deliberately kept small, and originally was for use as a back-up plant or to give away. But with the parent now dead, perhaps I should put this pepper-producing cutting into a REAL pot, and see what he does for me then?