Trippa's 2011/2012 Grow log....

Over the coming days I will be attempting to log my grow so far.

It won't be as big and spectacular as most peoples here (in fact it isn't big or spectacular) but I am proud of what I have done so far with my very limited space and love my chilli's (I am sure) as much as the next person.

I have had a few small problems so far but a Massive thank you has to go out for the help so far from people like Nova, Gas, JR, Micca, Wildfire in helping me get started on growing something other then long red cayennes or other common types and answering my many questions and the generous man JR with his huge contribution to my seed stocks.

Like I said this will be an ongoing process to get this thread up to speed so bear with me while I populate the pages over the coming days ...

 

[LanMan]

Very nice pics.

 

[Trippa]

Thanks for the compliment bro.

 

[Trippa]

I am a little limited with my photography equipment at the moment what I really need is a macro lens for these shots, but an extra grand on my kit at moment isn't an option. Dreams are free though

Just in the process of trying to find a good organic all round liquid fertiliser as my old one is running out and I can't find any replacement stock anywhere. But good news is I have found a local supplier on the gold coast for liquid worm vermicast who will deliver free so pretty stoked with that.

 

[Trippa]

So I just got my delivery of worm extract and liquid compost . Have to give big wraps on the service as they delivered to my door for free . So if anyone is looking at worm extract in the area I could recommend them highly based on service alone at the moment (as I have yet to use the product)

Also made some Jerk Sauce (apparently a very good authentic recipe but I have no idea really) tonight for the first time. Except I had an oversupply of choc Habeneros so I used them instead of the Scotch Bonnets. Hope it doesn't make too much of a difference. It tastes bloody good so I can't wait to marinate some nice steak or Pork in it.

The choc habs from my harvest had an insane amount of yellow capsaicin oil inside them ... literally oozing out of the sides and placenta. I got some photos (but not having macro they are a little hard to see). Will post them soon

 

[PaulG]

Hey, Trippa! I was amazed by your pepper plant and pod pictures,
salivating and knowing that the same varieties I'm growing won't
look like those Then I came to the plate of pods you harvested
and my jaw hit the deck Great work both digitally and horticulturally!
Thanks for posting...

 

[Trippa]

Hey, Trippa! I was amazed by your pepper plant and pod pictures,
salivating and knowing that the same varieties I'm growing won't
look like those Then I came to the plate of pods you harvested
and my jaw hit the deck Great work both digitally and horticulturally!
Thanks for posting...

Thanks Paul! ! Yeah I was pretty happy myself with my little micro harvest (compared with most people here!!)
Thanks for the compliments on both the pods and photography.
I am sure you will have as good if not better pods by the way you are already going this season.
It will interesting to see how the plants bounce back from the harvests coupled with the ongoing mite issues. Hopefully the worm extract and a few other changes get them through for another round of pods or 2 before winter.

 

[JungleRain]

I loved those group shots of the family.

 

[Trippa]

I loved those group shots of the family.

Thanks JR much appreciated

 

[PIC 1]

Was the " Jerk " concoction a marinade, sauce or a paste?...........I make a paste for chicken, Put half on and let the chicken rest in the fridge for 2 days. I'll loosen up the remainder of it with some lemon and lime juice and use it to baste the chicken while on the grill.........(preferably a roasting chicken on the rotisserie)..................pork sounds traditional, also

Greg

 

[benzo]

cool pics Trippa really they're great, love the colour contrast with the choc and yellow. Seems ur using a DSLR of some type, I wanted a Nikon D3100 for xmas but santa obviously thought I was a naughty boy coz I didn't get one.

 

[Pr0digal_son]

Trip... I am guessing you can grow year round being on the coast? You are pretty far north?

 

[Trippa]

Was the " Jerk " concoction a marinade, sauce or a paste?...........I make a paste for chicken, Put half on and let the chicken rest in the fridge for 2 days. I'll loosen up the remainder of it with some lemon and lime juice and use it to baste the chicken while on the grill.........(preferably a roasting chicken on the rotisserie)..................pork sounds traditional, also

Greg

Its a marinade or rub. Very thick consistancy here's the reciple

Use this authentic spicy jerk rub on chicken, pork, fish, or vegetables. If you have any leftover sauce, refrigerate it. It will keep a very long time. Be sure to wear gloves when cleaning the peppers and putting on the marinade. The peppers will mellow a bit with heat.

Prep Time: 15 minutes


Yield: About 1 cup

Ingredients: 1/2 cup ground allspice berries 1/2 cup packed brown sugar 6 to 8 garlic cloves 4 to 6 Scotch bonnet peppers, seeded and cored (wear gloves!) 1 Tablespoon ground thyme or 2 Tablespoons thyme leaves 2 bunches escallions (green onions) 1 teaspoon cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg Kosher salt and black pepper to taste 2 Tablespoons soy sauce to moisten Total Time: 15 minutes


Preparation:

Place allspice, brown sugar, garlic, Scotch bonnet peppers, thyme, scallions, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, pepper, and soy sauce in a food processor and blend until smooth.

You may use whole allspice berries, if available, but use enough to give the equivalent of 1/2 cup ground. (Allspice berries and scotch bonnets are key ingredients.) Keep this sauce refrigerated and it will virtually keep forever. Feel free to increase the hot peppers and garlic.

Rub the meat (chicken, pork or beef) with the seasoning. If using a pork shoulder, score the fat and rub in. With chicken, be sure to rub under skin and in cavities. The jerk sauce may also be used with fish, but use a firm-fleshed fish like grouper.

Marinate overnight. Grill over a low fire until done. Charcoal is best, but not essential. Meat will be smoked "pinkish" when done, and the skin will be nice and dark. Chop meat into pieces, and serve traditionally with hard-dough bread and Jamaican Red Stripe Beer.

cool pics Trippa really they're great, love the colour contrast with the choc and yellow. Seems ur using a DSLR of some type, I wanted a Nikon D3100 for xmas but santa obviously thought I was a naughty boy coz I didn't get one.

Thanks Benzo. Yeah I use a canon EOS 7D at the moment. Always on the lookout for upgrade options though.

Trip... I am guessing you can grow year round being on the coast? You are pretty far north?

Yeah we could grow year round in a good year (last year got pretty cold in winter compared with normal here.)
Things may slow down a little but it hardly gets what you would call cold in most places . (Down to around 8-10 degrees C in winter min but usually still in the mid to high teens and sometimes into the 20s during the day (Celsius)

 

[Trippa]

Ok ... just some pictorial updates (nothing major)

So this is my latest product in the quest for plant health and Its local so its an added bonus.
I have used it in addition to my normal fert routine a few days ago and so far so good. Plenty of new growth also much higher then normal fruit set (from the few plants which are flowering at the moment). I know this could well be environmental but It will be interesting to see if in the coming 1-2 months I continue to get the better fruit set that I have been striving for.

These are the photos of my Choc Habeneros that I used in my Jerk Sauce mixture the other day.
If you look closely at 1-2 of the photos you can see the yellow cap. oil (although in person it was a lot more obvious and pictures don't really do it justice)

On my Chilli chopping board

Oil Droplets on the pods

More oily shots ...

My chilli cutting board and double handled rocking cutting blade was a christmas present from my wife... great gift!

My other choc habs hadn't had anywhere near the amount of oil that was present in these ones ... the hotter weather must have brought out more oils I think??

Still to use my Jerk Sauce/marinade ,... may have to give it a go this weekend

 

[benzo]

very nice bro, u can definately see the oil drops Time to send them habs to work in the jerk

 

[Trippa]

thanks Benzo!

 

[Trippa]

Hmmm working remotely from home again today and just saw a filthy crow eyeing up my chillis. Watched him walk about and he kept looking up at me and then back to the chillis.

Then he went in to land on top of one of the plants and it obviously couldn't hold his wait and flapping around he managed to get back to the edge of the balcony.

I thought (it is pretty windy here today) he might just be trying to look for shelter. However the cheeky prick eyed them again and found a bamboo stake to rest on and then reached over and chomp .... one perfectly ripe red chilli down his hatch ....

F*%king furious I ran over to the door yelling and screaming .... and he flew off ... trouble is I bet he will have a taste now and will be back when I am not here.

I am going to go and pick all of the ripe chilli's today so that if he does come back there will be nothing to catch his eye. Only thing is I have 3-4 ripening prized (my supposed to be and not trinidad scorpion butch T's and Bhut Jolokia Assams) chilli's which I don't want to pick yet as I want to get the seeds from them. If he finds them I will be livid! Does anyone know if they usually only go for the red chilli's or will they go for the yellow and orange as well??

 

[harry]

I've been lucky here in that the birds have not showed much interest in my ripe chillies. I'm uncertain about crows but can say other birds have damaged unripe fruit and fruit that is ripening.

Do you have any rags or old cloth that you can fashion into some baggies for the ripening pods?

 

[Mezo]

I cant wait till spring to get my Choc Habenero`s ripening, looking at yours they look yummy.

Its pouring down here mate (west of you) and its heading your way, if its not already raining there?

Mezo.

 

[Trippa]

I cant wait till spring to get my Choc Habenero`s ripening, looking at yours they look yummy.

Its pouring down here mate (west of you) and its heading your way, if its not already raining there?

Mezo.

Yeah they are great chilli's. Great flavour, easy growing and produce well. Not to mention amazing heat.
Cheers for the heads up regarding the rain. Haven't had any as yet but it is friggin windy.

I've been lucky here in that the birds have not showed much interest in my ripe chillies. I'm uncertain about crows but can say other birds have damaged unripe fruit and fruit that is ripening.

Do you have any rags or old cloth that you can fashion into some baggies for the ripening pods?

I thought you meant some old rags to mop up the blood if I catch the bastards .

I have picked most of them now just 4 ripening chillis left that need to get through the next 4-5 days unscathed so I can get them for seeds.

I have a mate with a Malagueta chilli plant and the crows just go nuts for it ... luckily it produces well so he always has plenty but he loses 70-80% of the ripe chilli crop sometimes to the murder!! He has shifted not long ago and luckily the local crows haven't since found his plant.

 

[Trippa]

I have just noticed another interesting thing in my little garden. I got some bonus seeds and they were labeled 'most prolific' (a cap. Chacoense var.) so I planted 2 lots of them. Now the growth habit and appearance of the plants is also identical.

However they are currently both flowering and podding up and I have noticed one has pods that hang down and have a purple hue along with purple tips on the flowers. Very cool looking plant actually. Now the other has pods that are upright and are a bright green (pea like) and the flowers are plain white. I believe the latter is the more typical appearance for this var. I am wondering if anyone else has seen variations in this type of wild or have I got a purple phenotype thanks to a cross somewhere??

Will post some photos onThursday ... too dark and windy here for good photos today.