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

[megamoo]

Nasty. Don't have a story that would compare but two houses ago we would get some wasps hanging around the kids trampoline. So I tracked them back to their nest under some big piles of timber on the block. Stood up there with two cans of crawling insect spray and jumped and jolsted the wood so they'd come out and I nailed them when they did. Once they catch a taste of that spray they don't think about stinging you. Couldn't quite get to the nest but got most of them and didn't see them for two years after that.

 

[ferozaj]

^^^ this guy is nuts standing up to a wasp nest with a couple of cans haha...

 

[gasificada]

Aphids going full pelt here.

My aphids are getting to the point of "OK, this might need attention now". I guess the reason I never had a problem with 'em in the past was because I must have been wiping them out same time as I was trying to battle broad mite.

And speaking of broad mite, two confirmed small outbreaks now. Both plants showing signs had whiteflies hanging around the other day. F ing whiteflies. Time for another Californicus drop methinks. Seems as though, after doing their job, the other lot must have moved on. F ing whitefly, f off.

I damaged this seasons seedlings using pyrenthum to ward of the first wave as I didn't have the time/inclination to let it go. No idea what happened but I stuffed them up, most leaves dropping off and plants sick.

Yeah, I had a bad experience with pyrethrum. It actually killed some of my plants last season. Won't touch the stuff again.

Why does it have to be so hard?

We must have wronged somebody BAD at some stage, Pablo!

 

[harry]

I had to bring out the big guns against aphids yesterday. The sap sucking bastards will not quit. This time around they decided to have a party on my over wintered Choc. Scorpions plus one spawn of Not Locato #2.

 

[MiLK_MaN]

It looks like the bed of Bhuts that I had may have all survived the winter. I grew the seeds from pods that I had grown in 2010, so perhaps they have altered slightly to survive the shitty Melbourne winter.

Anyway, I've either had some sort of bug/disease/something in soil that has caused me a significant issue in my seedlings this year. I think I should have enough to put in the beds + pots, but I'm really shitty that I can't pinpoint exactly what it was even after spraying with white oil and even confidor as a last resort.

 

[gasificada]

Had a run in myself with wasps when I was a little fella. Long story short: swing set, nest in the chains.... and I think you can put the rest together. But right now, I want to marry the buggers and make babies with 'em......

Discovered THAT before. Aphid mummies.

Mixed feelings though. Freakin' awesome parasitic wasps or something.... but how the hell did that many aphids escape my attention??

And I stuffed up. As soon as I saw 'em, not knowing that they were aphid mummies at the time, I freaked out and sprayed the plant with pyrethrum (after just saying I would never use it again ). Way to go and kill the good guys, gas! It looks like half of the mummies already have exit holes though, so hopefully whatever was inside is already away from the plant and safe from my idiocy.

Perhaps this is more the reason aphids aren't a real problem here and not so much my past spraying for broad mite. The wasps aren't around during Winter, aphid population builds a little, Spring arrives and BOOM!

 

[ferozaj]

interesting to see if the same thing happens to me.

I have a spider that has made its home in my jalapeno plant.

There is no way im moving him off it, he can keep anything at bay.

 

[Pablo_h]

Had a run in myself with wasps when I was a little fella. Long story short: swing set, nest in the chains.... and I think you can put the rest together. But right now, I want to marry the buggers and make babies with 'em......

Discovered THAT before. Aphid mummies.

Mixed feelings though. Freakin' awesome parasitic wasps or something.... but how the hell did that many aphids escape my attention??

And I stuffed up. As soon as I saw 'em, not knowing that they were aphid mummies at the time, I freaked out and sprayed the plant with pyrethrum (after just saying I would never use it again ). Way to go and kill the good guys, gas! It looks like half of the mummies already have exit holes though, so hopefully whatever was inside is already away from the plant and safe from my idiocy.

Perhaps this is more the reason aphids aren't a real problem here and not so much my past spraying for broad mite. The wasps aren't around during Winter, aphid population builds a little, Spring arrives and BOOM!

I've seen those brown things! I never knew what they were, I normally just pick them off.
For aphid haters, get your hate on, I found this video: http://video.nationa...wasp_parasitic/

Went to the local bunnings today, I never go there because I know it's crap, but had no choice. Other bunnings stores are better, but too far away. My local one is tiny.
Wanted to get some organic mix, that bunnings had nothing but regular baileys or rich grow, or organic miracle gro. It seems they have got rid of amgro and debco and replaced it with miracle gro.

Oh well, I bought miracle gro organic, looks pretty crap, the coles mix is better! It's just compost it seems to me, nothing really in it to help drainage, the debco one I used last year was much nicer.
But I'm giving the MG a go with some plants I don't care about with some perlite.
Cost $10 as well, not worth it. I should have just bought the $3.50 regular rich grow potting mix and added my own bone and bone and dynamic lifter as I got heaps of it.

As far as pyrenthrum, never had a problem with it before. I used it all last year, and used in on old plants this year. I just think it has to be either not used on seedlings, or made to a weaker strength. Plants are stuffed, aphids back again anyway making the plants even worse, so not worth using it on seedlings.
I did a winter grow all outdoors this year, never again. Going to pay for the electricity and keep them indoors away from slugs, snails and aphids next time (if I'm still living here) This place has a really really old garden that hasn't been maintained for 20 years, so every pest imaginable thrives here.
Already seen some fruit flies...

Nice sunny weekend in Perth, 28C.
Next week is rain with a chance of a storm and showers every day

 

[gasificada]

I knew they were aphid related. My first thought was big fat pregnant ones or something. So I'm just like, alright, stuff this, DIE! Turns out they were already dead... I was wondering why they weren't moving when I poked 'em.... thought they were so fat they couldn't even move.

Yeah, the small amount of good stuff Bunnings had (not that it was much to begin with) is now gone. Their current range is disgusting. Poor quality utter crap. I saw the Miracle Gro stuff last time I was there but walked straight past it when I noticed swarms of fungus gnat buzzing around it. I don't even know why I bother going in there anymore.

Saw my first fruit fly the other day too. Found these at the $2 shop....

Some kind of fine mesh bag. They will do the job of bagging for now.

 

[nee]

Sorry...what are the bags for Gas?

 

[gasificada]

To bag pods to stop fruit fly getting at 'em.

 

[Pablo_h]

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.

 

[nee]

To bag pods to stop fruit fly getting at 'em.

Ahhhh okey doke!! It seems there's an increasing number of pests i have to watch out for here! Learning of more daily.....

 

[harry]

Has anyone tried Manutec Tomato Food 14:7:24?

The details on the back of the box are as follows:

ANALYSIS ....................... % W/W
TOMATO FOOD 14:7:24
Nitrogen (N) as Urea ............. 6.8
Nitrogen (N) as Nitrate .......... 6.1
Nitrogen (N) as Ammonium ......... 1.1
TOTAL NITROGEN (N) .............. 14.0
Phosphorus (P) as Water Soluble .. 7.0
TOTAL PHOSPHORUS (P) ............. 7.0
Potassium (K) as Nitrate ........ 18.0
Potassium (K) as Phosphate ....... 6.0
TOTAL POTASSIUM (K) ............. 24.0
Maximum Biuret ................... 0.4
TRACE ELEMENTS
Calcium (Ca) as EDTA Chelate ... 0.100
Magnesium (Mg) as EDTA Chelate . 0.030
Magnesium (Mg) as Sulphate ..... 0.144
Sulphur (S) as Sulphate ........ 0.186
Iron (Fe) as EDTA Chelate ...... 0.065
Manganese (Mn) as EDTA Chelate . 0.026
Copper (Cu) as EDTA Chelate .... 0.015
Zinc (Zn) as EDTA Chelate ...... 0.015
Boron (B) as Borate ............ 0.011
Molybdenum (Mo) as Molybdate ... 0.004

I picked out a couple of plants to test it on (SBTFM plant #3 and Rocoto, Orange plant #4).

 

[Pablo_h]

I want to speak to someone that makes these ferts on day, to ask why they chose the ratios they do.
As far as I know, you need a high nitrogen and phosphorous content early on, nitrogen for green growth, phosporous for root growth, and not much potassium, but some is needed, along with fe, mg, mb, mo, cu, ca, s, zn, B etc
Then when flowers and fruit are forming, you need to lay off the nitrogen (too much causes flower drop anyway), it's a bit late for phosphorous (root are good by that stage or they are not), and potassium is the most important of the major elements, plus all the minor elements.
So 14:7:24 to me means flowering/podding type fert but still really really high in nitrogen for some reason? No reason to be so high in potassium unless it's for fruiting, but no reason to be so high in nitrogen then. No reason to be so high in nitrogen for growing if it's so low in phosphorous.

Like I said, one day I'd love a pro to state why they choose the ratios they do so we could get a better idea. I could be wrong, but what I beleive has always worked, ie dump blood and bone and pot ash on a tree that hardly flowers (so giving it not much nitrogen or phosphorous, but heaps of potassium and calcium), has alway got the plant to flower. And people with too much nitrogen in the soil have always had flower drop.

 

[megamoo]

It's got a crapload of potassium. I'm not sure that chillies benefit from that much K in proportion to N & P

That's the same sort of reason that packaged potting mixes are unsuitable for chillies. The majority of plants people grow in potting mixes and buy ferts for need different things than chilies.

 

[ferozaj]

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.

Thats all i ahve at home and i feel like my little chillies have hit a brick wall..

some have only had their baby leaves or dropped them off and got new ones multiple times, after about 2-3 months they are still only about 4-5cm tall with 2 leaves...they wont grow anymore ><

one of them took off last week though and got its next set of leaves so it has four now.

I think was overwatering them though cause they all went brown, including a few of their big brothers.. there are brown marks on th eleaves but the the new leaves are coming out a nice green...


Im kind of stagnant, i would have thought after 2 months or so jalapeno's grew more than 10cm tall at best

in good news it looks like my bulgarian carrot has a shite load of chilli's that have popped out of the flowers now. all the white petals have fallen off and the chilli stem still looks strong so i dont think they are going to drop.

I was tossing up whether to pinch them off and let the plant focus on growing taller, the plant is a bit over a foot now and quite bushy and dense so i didnt know if it would grow much taller?

i felt whilst its not too hot might as well take what i can get, i hope this forcast week of rain doesnt drown them again. Then again Perth soil is basically sand here at the airport, after i water it 10minutes later its all bone dry again

 

[harry]

It's got a crapload of potassium. I'm not sure that chillies benefit from that much K in proportion to N & P

That's the same sort of reason that packaged potting mixes are unsuitable for chillies. The majority of plants people grow in potting mixes and buy ferts for need different things than chilies.

The NPK is higher than I prefer and the ratio not what I would usually aim for in a fertilise for chillies. The choice of Potassium Nitrate as a possible compromise may be a reason for the higher N and K content. The context of my trial is the potting mix of my test subjects appears to be somewhat depleted.

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.

Does this potting mix have a model code? Does the bag exclaim it's water saving features?

Thats all i ahve at home and i feel like my little chillies have hit a brick wall..

some have only had their baby leaves or dropped them off and got new ones multiple times, after about 2-3 months they are still only about 4-5cm tall with 2 leaves...they wont grow anymore ><

I learnt from my experience a couple of seasons ago to avoid potting mixes that appear to be laden with fertiliser and water saving features. I tried my hand at sprouting starting plants in Brunnings Tomato Magic in my 2010/2011 only to end up with seedlings that did nothing until I rescued them with a good potting mix.

one of them took off last week though and got its next set of leaves so it has four now.

I think was overwatering them though cause they all went brown, including a few of their big brothers.. there are brown marks on th eleaves but the the new leaves are coming out a nice green...

Im kind of stagnant, i would have thought after 2 months or so jalapeno's grew more than 10cm tall at best

Are you wetting the leaves when you water them? I put a Jalape&ntilde;o plant in organic potting mix in my 2009/2010 that took a year to come good. I suspect some potting mixes are not allowed to compost well enough.

in good news it looks like my bulgarian carrot has a shite load of chilli's that have popped out of the flowers now. all the white petals have fallen off and the chilli stem still looks strong so i dont think they are going to drop.

I was tossing up whether to pinch them off and let the plant focus on growing taller, the plant is a bit over a foot now and quite bushy and dense so i didnt know if it would grow much taller?

i felt whilst its not too hot might as well take what i can get, i hope this forcast week of rain doesnt drown them again. Then again Perth soil is basically sand here at the airport, after i water it 10minutes later its all bone dry again

The Bulgarian Carrot plant you describe doesn't sound problematic. The plants that grew too tall here ended up being blown over by the wind.

 

[Pablo_h]

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.

Thats all i ahve at home and i feel like my little chillies have hit a brick wall..

some have only had their baby leaves or dropped them off and got new ones multiple times, after about 2-3 months they are still only about 4-5cm tall with 2 leaves...they wont grow anymore ><

one of them took off last week though and got its next set of leaves so it has four now.

I think was overwatering them though cause they all went brown, including a few of their big brothers.. there are brown marks on th eleaves but the the new leaves are coming out a nice green...


Im kind of stagnant, i would have thought after 2 months or so jalapeno's grew more than 10cm tall at best

in good news it looks like my bulgarian carrot has a shite load of chilli's that have popped out of the flowers now. all the white petals have fallen off and the chilli stem still looks strong so i dont think they are going to drop.

I was tossing up whether to pinch them off and let the plant focus on growing taller, the plant is a bit over a foot now and quite bushy and dense so i didnt know if it would grow much taller?

i felt whilst its not too hot might as well take what i can get, i hope this forcast week of rain doesnt drown them again. Then again Perth soil is basically sand here at the airport, after i water it 10minutes later its all bone dry again

You mention potting mixes and Perths soil, so not sure if growing in the ground or in containers. But you can get a way with a lot more if growing in the ground. I put some of last years plants that had pests or disease in the ground and they are doing better than a poor potting mix for sure. They need more watering though (due to sandy soil, hydrophobic soil - need soil wetting products) But impossible to overwater at least, and the insects and sandy nature keep the soil aerated.
You can't over fertilize with organics, they usually have an NPK of 2-2-2, that's the best part. Chillies really need stuff all, if the potting mix isn't 'spent', ie it's virgin, you're good to go. You only need more powerful ferts when planting in the same ground over and over again so everything is used up and you have to rebuild, or you are growing in hydro, coir, rockwool where there is no existing nutrients.
But in unused soil/compost, there should be enough nutrients for any plant. I buy organic potting mix for that reason. If you buy regular potting mix it's often just sand and wood chips. That is also empty, in fact wood chips absorb nutrients (existing and ferts you add), so that is pretty empty too, and their included slow release ferts are rubbish. Like I said before, if I was going to use a cheap potting mix, I'd be adding my own blood and bone and dynamic lifter, and well as seasol watering.

 

[ferozaj]

i water them with seaweed stuff from seasol. I was doing a small amount of that once a week on the weekend.

Maybe ive been overwatering them the whole time, ive tried to avoid watering them the past 1.5 weeks because they were out int he rain and got soaked.

Thats when i stared having problems with the bigger of the jalapeno plants just getting brown yellowish leaves and starting to drop. Since then its starting to get a lot more very dark green sprouts on top.

This morning my first razzamatazza chilli (i like ornamentals too) came out of the soil in my little greenhouse in side.

hopefully it grows well....none of the bhuts have come up, hence why i bought a bunch of seeds from jungle rain. Atleast i know then if they arent sprouting maybe im doing the wrong thing...




ALso some plants i have are in the soil some are in pots to answer your question, it appears the ones in the sandy soil and small amount of manure and blood and bone are doing better than the ones in the pots thats for sure... which is sad because i like the pots to move them around in the sun etc

its all too hard when you are a beginner to know why your plants arent growing ><