Trippas Organic story of 2012/2013....things could be worse ...

So far my season has gone like this ... goood ... average ... great ... bad .... things are on the up ... and today .... pretty f&^%king annoyed and frustrated ....so many pests ... and the plants are looking much worse then this time last season (when I had no pests to speak of). I had aphids early on during winter ... they were easy to clear off and didn't bother me too much ...

but I have since been having major issues with thrips and broadmites?? (some sort of mite anyway) tiny little buggers which are about the size of a spec of flour (smaller then two spotted or spider mites). So My plants lurch from looking good to looking really terrible and then they bounce back for a while only to be hammered all over again.

Anyway through all of this I am getting some pods to eat so that is a bonus I suppose.

My grow list is as follows

7 pod/pot "Primo" (Junglerain)
Cili Goronong (Junglerain)
Jalapeno "HTM" (Sourced myself)
Prik Luang (Junglerain)
Fatalii (Pepperlover)
Trinidad Seasoning (Pepperlover)
Kerinting (Pepperlover)
Kerinting (Accidental Hybrid Unknown??) (Pepperlover)
2 x Mystery Superhots (1 maybe Trnindad Scorpion "Sunrise"? From Jungle Rain)
Chocolate Bhut (Bonchi)(THSC)
Yellow 7 pot/pod (THSC)
Super Chilli (THSC)
Explosive Ember (THSC)
Trinidad Scorpion Morouga Blend (Junglerain)
Scotch Bonnet TFM (Bonchi)(Junglerain)
Pimenta De Neyde (Soon to be Bonchi)(Junglerain)
Bhut Jolokia 'Assam' (Junglerain)
Bahamian Goat Pepper (Junglerain)
Habanero Chocolate (Bonchi)(Junglerain)
NTR's (THSC)
Douglah 'Alphanerdz strain' (THSC)
Wild Brazil (Pepperlover)
Birdseye HTM (Sourced myself)
Serrano (THSC)
7 Pot (Large) (Pepperlover)
Naga Morich (Pepperlover)
Bonda Ma Jacques (Original seed from THSC but this seed from saved pods from last season)

All of them are strictly organically grown in soil in containers in the limited space of my apartment balcony ...

I am not much of a wordsmith so I usually like to post plenty of pictures of pods (if I have any in the coming months!!) so come and enjoy/share the frustrations of growing in the most pest ridden area in the world ... I will post a few photos I shot today later this evening ...

Also thought I would link to my old glog as well just for posterity and self indulgence

http://thehotpepper.com/topic/26495-trippas-20112012-grow-log/page__st__240

 

[KiNGDeNNiZ]

theres no rest for the wicked..... all year i had pests.. and i hope to have a little less pest this yeAR... keep positive and you should yield greater!!

 

[Trippa]

theres no rest for the wicked..... all year i had pests.. and i hope to have a little less pest this yeAR... keep positive and you should yield greater!!

Hey kingd thanks for stopping by and the words of encouragement.
Don't worry I won't let those dam pests get me down

 

[stickman]

To keep the temps down in the root zone of the potted plants... have you thought of wrapping the outside of the pots with aluminum foil or aluminized mylar? Shane (stc3248) had a similar problem with his potted plants in the sun, and solved it at least partially by wrapping his pots in white plastic to reflect sunlight..

 

[Trippa]

Thanks stickman. Yeah lots I could do but my wife has plenty to say about aesthetics of my grow because its on our balcony where guests sit. I am going to grab some Lucerne mulch for the top of the pots at least. We'll see how that goes ...

 

[Trippa]

http://grounds-mag.com/mag/grounds_maintenance_biostimulating_turfgrasses/

Some interesting reading I just did. Not on Chilli's per-se but interesting none the less

 

[Trippa]

http://www.pvamu.edu...us (Banks, 1904)%20(Acari%20Tarsonemidae).pdf

Gassy wrap your eyes on this ... liquid sulphur and canola oil look like the best organic controls. neem is way down the list for broadmite ... right I am off to get some Magnesium Sulphite (Epsom Salts) as a starting point. (actually more sulphur then magnesium in epsom salts)

 

[stickman]

Hi Trippa
I don't think epsom salts are what you want to use for liquid sulfur. In the study they used Calcium polysulfide mixed at the rate of 500 cm/100 L water. It's really not the same thing. Cheers

 

[Trippa]

Hi Trippa
I don't think epsom salts are what you want to use for liquid sulfur. In the study they used Calcium polysulfide mixed at the rate of 500 cm/100 L water. It's really not the same thing. Cheers

Cheers Stickman. I do realise its not the same thing however its too hot here at the moment to be using a liquid sulphur spray safely without risking major damage to my plants and so the 13% sulphur in Magnesium salts is my next best option. I will be using neem/dishsoap at some stage when it cools some more as well as a further attack, but its currently 9pm at night and its still 22.5C (72.5F) and 85% humidity and is not expected to drop much more tonight. Too hot for sleeping and will be hitting over 30C tomorrow and will be high humidity unless the promised storms start hitting ... only thing for me to do is drink a Espresso and then sup on a pint of guiness while I sort some seeds for sending.

Yes Stickman your seeds should be in the post on Monday (I would post them tomorrow but I would prefer to keep them out of a hot mailbox for the weekend)

Sorry I have taken a while but I had to wait for them to dry out a little especially the Douglahs

 

[stickman]

Hi Trippa

Cheers Stickman. I do realise its not the same thing however its too hot here at the moment to be using a liquid sulphur spray safely without risking major damage to my plants and so the 13% sulphur in Magnesium salts is my next best option.

Cheers, let's see what happens...

I will be using neem/dishsoap at some stage when it cools some more as well as a further attack, but its currently 9pm at night and its still 22.5C (72.5F) and 85% humidity and is not expected to drop much more tonight. Too hot for sleeping and will be hitting over 30C tomorrow and will be high humidity unless the promised storms start hitting ... only thing for me to do is drink a Espresso and then sup on a pint of guiness while I sort some seeds for sending.

Wow... it's almost -3 degrees C. here right now, and going to get much colder before it starts to warm up again. Summer seems pretty remote right about now...

Yes Stickman your seeds should be in the post on Monday (I would post them tomorrow but I would prefer to keep them out of a hot mailbox for the weekend)

Sorry I have taken a while but I had to wait for them to dry out a little especially the Douglahs

No worries... and thanks so much for saving out the seeds. I appreciate it! Hope the ones I sent work out for you. It's probably too late for you to start them this season, but will be checking in to see how they're doing for you in the next.

 

[Trippa]

Yeah might not be this season stickman but I will never say never .... just gave my plants an Epsom salts and dishwashing liquid spray. Hopefully it helps them out alongside the neem I had been giving them it at least might help with any magnesium issues and give them a little boost even if it doesn't necessarily take care of the broad mites

 

[Trippa]

All right a small pictorial update .

Not too much more to report and please excuse the samey nature of some of these photos and pods/varieties but I am fairly limited this year in my selection and amount of pods to take photos of so far (hopefully that improves if the plants get some of their mojo back)

7 pot "Primo" Upside down Cleavage, Nutsack or Ass (Sorry Gas no faces well maybe some peoples )

Bahamian Goat Pepper

Bonda Ma Jacques

Jungle Rains Mystery Superhot #1 (No Idea what it is)

Jungle Rains Mystery Superhot #2 (Maybe Brainstrain??)

Mystery Pod/plant out of Pepperlovers Kerinting Seeds

Po Cheong

Prik Luang Just Starting to Ripen (I think this type of pod would make great Paprika/Powder)

Cili Goronong

 

[gasificada]

7 pot "Primo" Upside down Cleavage, Nutsack or Ass (Sorry Gas no faces well maybe some peoples )

No, no... cleavage and/or buns is good! (But nutsacks? Maybe not so good. )

 

[Trippa]

Last Seasons Chocolate Bhut Jolokia Early Stage Bonchi

Last seasons Scotch Bonnet TFM Early Stage Bonchi

Yellow 7pot/pod

Trinidad Scorpion Morouga Blend

Trinidad Scorpion Morouga Blend

 

[gasificada]

Bonchis... sweeeet! Looking forward to watching 'em come along. I've been planning on starting one of my own for a long time now. I wonder if I will ever get around to it!

And ripe Morugies...

 

[Trippa]

Yeah I have been planning them for a while. I hope I can get them twisted and contorted into some gnarly mini tree shapes

 

[Trippa]

No, no... cleavage and/or buns is good! (But nutsacks? Maybe not so good. )

I have been standing on my head all morning ... its definitely an upside down cleavage with low cut top

 

[ThePepperManiac]

nice pictures great info

 

[Trippa]

nice pictures great info

Cheers for stopping by bro and thanks for the compliments

 

[gasificada]

Jungle Rains Mystery Superhot #2 (Maybe Brainstrain??)

Or a TS Morugie maybe? Either way, it looks gnarly!

Mystery Pod/plant out of Pepperlovers Kerinting Seeds

Yeah, that's looking a lot like my Chenzo.

 

[Portuge]

Amazing pod shots as always Trippa... wish i had a camera like yours...