plant-care Winter-Summer in OZ "Comparison" / Aussie Blabberers

[RaelThomas]

Hi all Merry Xmas!

Sorry to hear that Milk... :-/
I was in Melbourne (driving) when the hail hit... Holy shit, I thought it was the apocalypse . Had to pull in to an alley and sit tight for about 15 mins.
Luckily the storm didn't pass over Daylesford in a big way.

 

[gasificada]

Geez, MM, that sucks to say the least. How'd things turn out?

Thankfully so far it hasn't been much of a storm season up this way. Unfortunately still having my battles though... broad mite are out of control ATM!

I think I'm gonna change my grow season to Autumn/Winter... little bastards are not so active during this time and are *much* easier to control. With our climate up here, and after experimenting with growing last Winter, I reckon it's doable. The plan is to start sowing beginning of Autumn and hopefully by Spring, plants will be big enough to pump out production.

As for this current season, well, at this point it looks like it's pretty much gonna be a write-off. The best I can hope for is to keep broad mite under some control so at least they don't kill my plants, and hopefully shit will start happening once the weather starts to cool down a bit (and this damn humidity--which broad mite seems to love--f s off).

 

[Jayman]

Sorry to hear that Gas, I'm hoping the samething don't happen to me, my habs all seem to have some leave curling going on and I'm not sure what it is. Still the plants don't look all that bad, and most of my older plants are now flowering. So with any luck I will have Orange, Yellow, and choc habs. Zimbabwe birdseyes, and serrano's too. Growing in the off season is a real opportunity for you up there, so long as the nights don't get too cold. Maybe try get varieties that are better cold weather plants.

 

[harry]

Sorry to hear that Gas, I'm hoping the samething don't happen to me, my habs all seem to have some leave curling going on and I'm not sure what it is. Still the plants don't look all that bad, and most of my older plants are now flowering. So with any luck I will have Orange, Yellow, and choc habs. Zimbabwe birdseyes, and serrano's too. Growing in the off season is a real opportunity for you up there, so long as the nights don't get too cold. Maybe try get varieties that are better cold weather plants.

Do you have any photos of the curling leaves?

 

[Jayman]

Just went to get some pics, had to delete most as they were rubish, I had about 10 mozzies attacking me while I was doing it. Time to buy some Aerogard.

These pics are of my Yellow Habanero

Heres some pics of my first ripe pod that I ate yesterday. Was hottest thing I've had in awhile. Was as hot as your average birdseye only with more of a sting. Kept the seeds as this was my first pod from this plant and don't think it will have been crossed.

 

[Pablo_h]

Has that plant been out roasting in the sun?
If so, that's just damage from the sun. The younger growth looks OK still, and the older damaged leaves won't recover, they'll stay like that.

All my younger plants have leaves that look like that due to sun damage when they spent a day outside in the sun.

Looks like a burn or bacterial leaf spot on one of the leaves on yours too. And if it hasn't been out in direct intense hot sunlight to burn and wilt the leaves, then you might have some disease or mineral deficiency.
My year old hab had to be binned, and another one looks like it's going too. Out of the three plants I bought in February, only one survivor, the others went out similar to how yours looked.

Edit: I kept them alive somehow for 3 months, and they started looking healthy, but in the end, nothing worked, the the pods went all light coloured and soft and squishy, so no good keeping them.
The last of them did survive though and is podding a lot right now, despite whatever made it lose a lot of leaves.

Got my first choc hab/SB yesterday

 

[gasificada]

I'm getting some very similar looking damage, Jayman, but in my case I think it's cyclamen mite (yaaaay more mites).

Around the damage zones on my plants I am seeing very very tiny white spots (i.e. definitely mites) but the damage doesn't look like broad mite damage... meaning either something else is causing the damage and broad mite are for some reason attracted to the area, or like I said, another type of mite.

I don't think your damage is quite the same as mine (plus I can't see any signs of mite in your photos), but just to be on the safe side, I would have a real good look around the damaged leaves for tiny tiny white spots that look like dust (a magnifying glass or something will help). Better to be safe than sorry.....

 

[Pablo_h]

Do you make up a mite to suit your symptoms, or is it that badly stuffed up there for mites!
Wasn't it you whole grew at their parents house because your own house is full of mites or something?

I'm not making light of the situation, I've lost plenty of plants that may have had mites and I never knew that was why. Maybe there's a crap load of mites in australia and only a few people know, people like yourself who are professionals at mite detecting/guessing.

Seriously though, I wish you all the best and maybe you'll find out a way for mite control with your current plants and some pro active solution for any future plants. It seems strange that chillies are supposed to be in a warm humid enviroment for best growth, and you that has that seems to suffer the most setbacks. Condolences dude.

 

[Jayman]

Could be from heat, although it hasn't been all that much hot weather here of late. When the sun does come out, their in the sun from dawn to about 3PM. The leaf curl has been like that for sometime and the plants don't seem to be affected by it. I'm just hoping that the flowers on my Habanero's don't fall off this time due to cold weather again.

 

[JungleRain]

Sorry to hear about your damage Milk, I saw that storm coming, but luckily it went around us
did you loose Much....any pics?

 

[MiLK_MaN]

I'm driving back from Adelaide today, I'll have some pics up by tomorrow.

 

[gasificada]

Do you make up a mite to suit your symptoms, or is it that badly stuffed up there for mites!

The symptoms (and evidence--i.e. presence of actual mites) points to mites.

Wasn't it you whole grew at their parents house because your own house is full of mites or something?

Nah, I grow there due to the possums at my place. In actual fact, my mum's place is where I have the most trouble with broad mite.

The second mite (not entirely sure yet if it is even cyclamen mite or not) has appeared at my place. I thought it might have been tomato/russet at first but after doing a bit of research, it sounds more likely that it is cyclamen mite. Not totally ruling out broad mite either. Perhaps as growing conditions are different here than at my mum's, damage may manifest in a different way, or like I said, maybe the damage I am seeing here is from something else and maybe broad mite is attracted to it for some reason... I really dunno at this point. Hopefully with a little more research and study of my plants, I will soon get to the bottom of it. One thing is for certain though... whether I have a second mite or not, my plants are still crawling with broad mite. (and that's more than enough mite trouble!)

I'm not making light of the situation, I've lost plenty of plants that may have had mites and I never knew that was why. Maybe there's a crap load of mites in australia and only a few people know, people like yourself who are professionals at mite detecting/guessing.

I wouldn't say professional but I've definitely had experience.

You might be onto something there though. Damage from mites you can't really see (e.g. broad mite, cyclamen mite, tomato mite) can easily be mistaken for something else (e.g. virus, herbacide damage, etc).

Seriously though, I wish you all the best and maybe you'll find out a way for mite control with your current plants and some pro active solution for any future plants. It seems strange that chillies are supposed to be in a warm humid enviroment for best growth, and you that has that seems to suffer the most setbacks. Condolences dude.

Thanks, Pablo. I just wish there was a magic cure but all solutions seem to require a lot of time and effort... unfortunately two things I don't have a lot to spare of ATM.

 

[MiLK_MaN]

For reference, here's what they looked like on 3rd of Dec. They had doubled in size since this pic before I left on Christmas Eve.

This season is pretty ruined now I reckon. But I will experiment with using some Seasol + Powerfeed + Molasses spray over the next few weeks to see how quick I can get these guys back on track.

 

[Trippa]

I reckon they will spring back faster then you think. They were healthy plants to start with so they should have a good root structure to get them growing again quickly.
All the best with the recovery bro.

 

[JungleRain]

They do look bad after that smashing but I agree with Trippa, with a bit of love they'll come back fast and strong...you can do it Cameron

 

[gasificada]

Heartbreaking, MM.

Hit 'em with that TLC!

And speaking of heartbreaking stuff, the situation over my way is worse than I thought (if that is even possible)...

The mites are absolutely murdering my plants! Nuked 'em with Rogor about a week ago but it appears they have grown resistant to it. Hit 'em with Sulfur yesterday and removed all the affected growth (more heartbreaking stuff) but might have to give Malathon a go or something. Shame about the Rogor as it's systemic properties really packed a punch and produced results. Anyone know of any other systemic chemical miticides?

On the upside, it appears that the mites are favouring my new plants and have *so far* left my overwinters alone. It looks like the season may not be a *total* write-off after all....

(Assorted Bhuts)

And surprisingly even seeing a few pods from some of my mite affected plants too.

Purple Jalapeno:

Chenzo:

Apache:

And just a little bit of showing-off to boost my spirits. I am BUMMED.

 

[megamoo]

It looks like everyone is having problems and I'm not the only one. Most of my plants are stunted and are dropping leaves. I used Chilli Focus and they dropped a whole bunch of leaves. This isn't the first time either. i'm beginning to suspect that I have a bad batch or it really isn't suited for soil plants. Or perhaps it doesn't work with plants that are already suffering.
When I started the season I was using it and I had problems. All my good growth came when I stopped using it. I'm not saying its completely to blame because there were a million other things that were causing problems, but I'm going to lay off the chilli focus for a while.

Forecast is for 39 today. I felt sorry for my plants so I rigged up something

If your plants are looking all dry and hot like this:

Then you need megamoos overhead misting system!

Cheap bubble hose + some cable ties = tropical relief.

 

[Trippa]

nice work mega!!

Gas maybe get some lacewings and go for the long term approach, rather then trying the short term kill-em all Metallica approach

Maybe give a eco-amino gro/seaweed/fish emulsion/worm vermicast combo a go and get the plants some get up and go to get over the stress they are under at the same time as hitting the pests which combined might just be enough to start tipping the balance your way in the fight.

Trouble with using the chemicals is that it just leaves a blank slate for the next problematic pest to get established without any natural defence systems and the plant already under stress so pests just keep hitting you over and over again.

And Gas Rogor (and the other systemic pesticides using the same active ingredient are no longer approved for use on food crops!!! http://www.richgro.com.au/my_vegetable_garden/pest_disease.php) Thats some nasty Nerve gas bro!!

 

[Pablo_h]

Nice work mega!
Yeah I mist mine during the day as well, but just use a hose gun with a mist setting.

 

[gasificada]

Gas maybe get some lacewings and go for the long term approach, rather then trying the short term kill-em all Metallica approach

Maybe give a eco-amino gro/seaweed/fish emulsion/worm vermicast combo a go and get the plants some get up and go to get over the stress they are under at the same time as hitting the pests which combined might just be enough to start tipping the balance your way in the fight.

Trouble with using the chemicals is that it just leaves a blank slate for the next problematic pest to get established without any natural defence systems and the plant already under stress so pests just keep hitting you over and over again.

And Gas Rogor (and the other systemic pesticides using the same active ingredient are no longer approved for use on food crops!!! http://www.richgro.c...est_disease.php) Thats some nasty Nerve gas bro!!

Yikes! Last I heard was that Rogor was under review but didn't realize it has since been banned for use on food crops now. Oh well, no reason to even use the stuff now that the little bastages have grown resistant to it anyway....

I've seriously considered natural predators but can't really afford them at this point in time. I was thinking Cucumeris mites as not only are they supposed to be good against broad mite but apparently they also eat pollen--so as long as plants are flowering, they will still hang around. Or even better, maybe a combination of natural predators... (hoping of course they won't eat each other!)

Yeah, been hitting my plants with a regular Worm Jizz / Seasol / Go Go Juice combo already. (Thought about trying out that amino-gro stuff too but haven't got that far yet.)