overwintering Winter-Summer in OZ "Comparison" / Aussie Blabberers

[gasificada]

are you saying that general organic potting mix is no good to sprout chillies in? i just bought some general veggie and plant potting mix from bunnings.

Unfortunately most of the commercial stuff in Australia is crap. Some of Debco's products are probably the better of the lot if you can find them (and surprise, surprise... Bunnings no longer stock any of it).

It seems like Bunnings are only sourcing the cheapest of the cheap now (at least that's how it looks). The cheaper they can get the product, the bigger the markup they can put on it? Just a theory.

You use jiffy pellets right (or fothergills versions)?
Why not reuse the netting from them?

If I was using jiffies I'd be saving the netting for seed isolation and anti fruit fly netting.

That's an idea but probably too small I reckon. The thing with fruit fly exclusion is you don't want any fruit touching the sides of the bag. Apparently grubby fruit fly will still get their stingers in.

Mum went and bought me a few metres of tulle netting today anyway. Bless her heart.

 

[megamoo]

The bunnings near me in bibra lake has debco stuff still. I got a big bag of debco seed raising mix the other day, for my other veges. I am germinating my chilli seeds in coco coir, which is basically the type of stuff in the jiffy pellets.

If you buy jiffys you are paying for the convenience of having it in a little plug / bag so you don't have to transplant, you just put the whole thing in a pot when its ready. If you don't mind repotting then you'd be better off buying the coir in bulk. They sell a coir seed raising brick at bunnings from memory. They also have different brands of seed raising mix in small bags.

ferozaj I wouldn't recommend sprouting or growing chillies in general potting mix because it is either cheap and nasty or optimised for plants with different requirements than chillies. It may still work but theres a good chance it will retain too much water and drown the roots or dry out and repel water.

If you are having germinating problems I've found that a constant temp of 29 and constant humidity is more important to get right than the mix. And also presoaking the seeds if they are particularly well dried helps a lot. Once they've sprouted and start to grow the soil mix becomes far more important.

 

[ferozaj]

Ahh ok, i work down in bibra lake might hit up the bunnings at some stage.

I have a range of germinating methods, both in the dirt/potting mix and in cotton balls.

Ive had no luck with any of them for bhuts, im waiting ot see if the cayennes go ok.

I guess since my razzamatazz have sprouted then i need to replant them as the germinating tray in teh green house is really wet.


You are most liekly right about the potting mix retaining water, could be why my potted ones started looking unhealthy...might as well put them all in the ground if i had the room.

I just need to learn to water them less...

 

[Mezo]

Can your mum buy me a few hundred meters whilst she`s at it. LoL

Mezo.

 

[nee]

I was passing a 'Masters' store today and pretty sure i saw that Debco potting mix there.
I'd already bought and potted up with a few bags of those MG "with organics" mix....so fingers crossed it's ok.

 

[gasificada]

Can your mum buy me a few hundred meters whilst she`s at it. LoL

Mezo.

I could ask.... but I reckon you got buckley's and none.

I was passing a 'Masters' store today and pretty sure i saw that Debco potting mix there.
I'd already bought and potted up with a few bags of those MG "with organics" mix....so fingers crossed it's ok.

Masters here has some Debco stuff but it's only the Terracotta and Tub mix and the Rose mix. I probably would give the Terracotta and Tub mix a burl if it didn't contain ferts and water crystals. I've been hoping if they were stocking those two, the range might grow come Spring. No sign of new additions at this stage.

Hey, does anybody know what the hell this thing is?

Strange looking thing!

 

[ferozaj]

Well in relation to the recent conversations about potting mixes and stunting growths etc i thought stuff it ill tip one of my plants out too see.

This was the bulgarian carrot that managed to overwinter, lost all its leaves but they are now sprouting back.

Thing is it also looks like it has hit a wall, same as my smaller jalapenos that germinated.

What i did was tip it out to take a look.

Below you can see the nice potting mix...maybe perfect for something other than chillis...

The thing that shocked me was the lack of roots..this plant has been alive for say 6 months or so and thats all the roots it has...It did produce a few pods this year...


Do you think this has anything to do with the potting mix?? ive likely used this same one in all my potted plants maybe thats why they are all stunted and going no where...


Ive planted it in the ground in a mix of sand - small amount of potting mix and some mulch...hopefully that helps it..will be a good experiment.

I will be posting this also in the growing section i think to get a good all round idea..
Before

I have small hands for a tall guy.. so this root ball is very small...

Annnnnd in his new home.

Id love to get some ideas....what can i put these in that would be betteR??? maybe a mix with some blood and bone and half sand??

 

[megamoo]

Ahh ok, i work down in bibra lake might hit up the bunnings at some stage.

I was passing a 'Masters' store today and pretty sure i saw that Debco potting mix there.

Ok now that I think about it I might have seen the debco stuff at the masters store on north lake road about 1 minute away from bunnings bibra lake. They definitely used to have it at bunnings. I get confused cos they are basically the same thing except one is blue and the other green

ferozaj

When the leaves dropped from the plant did they yellow first? Or did they look healthy and green and otherwise perfect but just fell off? I'm assuming that the older lower down leaves fell off first?

If they yellowed first it indicates a nutrient deficiency could be to blame.

But if they fell off and looked otherwise perfectly healthy with no spots or wilting then I believe that is an overwatering problem. Not so much that you applied too much water to the pot but the water was not draining away from the root zone and allowing air in. So the roots suffocated. When this happens to larger plants the older leaves will also yellow before dropping, smaller plants will drop leaves that look fine.

If you repot it it will burst into new growth, and look great because of all the air that has been let into the root zone. But if it is potted back into a nondraining mix the burst of growth will be short lived and the plant will go back to being a stick.


How do I know this??

From painful experience

 

[ferozaj]

aww they dont look so healthy...

They definitely yellow'ed withered then fell off starting at hte bottom.

Thats what all the current ones are doing too.

Would it be usefull to mix in some finer mulch to get some more air in there??

I didnt before, but as for the last month ihave been using seasol seaweed and some worm tea on them weekly...

Wondering if i was watering too much as i would generally fill the pot with water and let it all flow in.


Could using the seaweed and worm tea be causing damage if i used it once a week??

Im only using it at hte lowest concentration it says (the worm team im using a fair bit but what i do is pour liek 5 or so litres through the worm cafe and then just collect it at the bottom and use that.

 

[Lavatung]

That looks like a Xmas spider Gas.

Ferozaj, from my experience Bhuts have a real slow germ rate. Mine took about 3-4 weeks to hook. Hang in there mate they will sprout.

 

[ferozaj]

The end of the seed looks open and it looks like there is a little tongue inside...ill see what happens

Otherwise my jungle rain package was sent today that means i have a few special ones coming and that white chilli which looks cool...

Oh and that special limited sauce that has like a handfull of the hottest chillis in it

 

[Micca302]

Talking about potting mixes.
Iv'e used the Debco Organic mix and is pretty darn good. The only thing is the price woahh!!!!!

For people in perth this place is excellent and is also totally organic. Price is way better too!

http://www.greenlifesoil.com.au/soils.htm#vegetablemixsoil

The best thing with these guys are if you have a trailer(they lend trailers out but need to be lucky to get one) you can buy bulk

Micca

 

[harry]

Talking about potting mixes.
Iv'e used the Debco Organic mix and is pretty darn good. The only thing is the price woahh!!!!!

What was this impressive price? I found tiny (10 kg) bags of Debco Seed Raising Mix at one Mitre 10 shop for $1/kg.

Spotted this crittor on my plants:

Maybe native bee?

 

[Micca302]

I’m not too sure what their seed raising mix is worth but that sounds pretty good there Harry.
I was talking about their Potting mix. I used to get the Debco Organic Potting mix(I think it was 25Lt Bag) but it was costing me 15 bucks a bag at Bunnings.
The Greenlife soil co is still NASAA certified to be Organic but doesn’t cost so much.

Micca

 

[Micca302]

Unusual Bee there Harry, very nice!

Here is a bit of a compaison.
Debco Organic Potting Mix(NASAA) - $15
Bailey Premium Potting Mix(Excellent mix) - $10.50
Green life soil co organic vege potting mix(NASAA) - $10.50
Also I found seed raising mix at Greenlife soil co that was $10.50 for 25Ltrs.

Just it adds up when you are buying something like 20 odd bags or more to do your pots.
Hope this explains things a bit.

Micca

 

[megamoo]

Micca do you plant your chillies into the straight green life soil co organic vege potting mix ? or do you cut it with anything?

 

[nee]

Hopefully it won't bite me in the bum, but as the pot sizes are getting ever bigger, i have been buying 4 bags of decent stuff, and mixing 2 or 3 bags of cheap (but not the cheapest!) mix to try and eeek it out a bit.
I have loads of nutes like chilli focus etc should i need to add stuff due to me 'diluting' the nutes in the mix, but i reckon they should be fine as is...fingers crossed...lol

 

[Micca302]

Megamoo,
I do usually put in a small amount of Perlite/Vermiculite mix. I do that with all my potted ones.
More boggy the soil I tend to add more Perlite/Vermiculite.
This year I might just go Perlite without the Vermiculite.

Micca

 

[Mezo]

Ive been having a word with my local NORCO bloke about buying in bulk, he said i can buy a pallet of potting mix if i want, which made me think why dont we do a group buy? obvious city by city but whats stopping us buying bulk from the supplier?

Mezo.

 

[ferozaj]

Just headed down to masters bibra lake. Didnt have an vermiculite or pearlite though...

I had a thought please tell me if im wrong -

There was some cutting mix there for cuttings, i saw an open bag and it looked quite coarse, had a mix of sand and what looked like compost.

I know it said in the pack promotes root growth as i guess when you are doing cuttings thats what you need since you start with no roots.

Here is a rough idea what i thought for my potted plants to get them going -

-Some of this cutting mix
-cow manure
-sprinlke of blood and bone
-some top soil compost from my garden
-finish with some seasol seaweed/worm pee.

ideas?? i thought the compost and cutting mix will help with the air gaps, whilst the cow manure should be a good source of some nutes/kick started with blood and bone and seaweed mix...