May 14th 2016

So it's been a pretty unremarkable season so far - most things have germinated well and grown on without too much drama.

I've lost a couple of plants, given loads away and I've just finished potting the last few plants on into their final pots. For some reason it feels like I'm behind where I normally am for mid-May, but in other ways it feels ahead. I think it's time to go back and check some old photos to see where I was at the same stage in previous years.

The greenhouse is slowly filling up - tomato plants are growing on nicely, two bamboos that I grew from seed last year are filling out nicely, and a whole selection of odds and ends are coming back to life. Although I'm not so sure about the dahlias this year, most of them look pretty dead with signs of life only visible on one plant so far. Well, time will tell.

So a few views on the greenhouse. Nothing remarkable yet, but plenty of growing time to come. 

2016 Progress

This year I have started just a few days earlier than usual, but apart from that it's business as usual.

Seeds were soaked for 24 hours and then into Rootriot cubes on the 21st Dec, with the lights on at night and the heated propagator on for 30 mins of every 45. Two seeds per cube gives me six chances of 16 varieties for 96 possibles. Enough chances for two of each for me and plenty to give away.

First to germinate was one seedling of Fidalgo Roxa on Christmas Day and then it's been a case of seeing up to ten a day for a little while. Now on New Year's Day I can safely say I've got at least one of everything up. I don't think that's ever happened before.

Roll on spring.

2015

So last year was hard work. Great weather in April, some greenfly in May and then poor weather when we needed it most.

Resulting in a poor year and a poor harvest.

A few things did better though - the 7 pot gave a good harvest of bright yellow pods and the Rocotto Aji Largo plants were superb with a massive crop of hot red pods. The Goronong did better than when I grew it last time, and everything else was fairly unimpressive.

Enough pods to dry for a few gifts and that was that.

2016 will need to be a lot better.

54 and counting

A few more days and a lot more seedlings.

Currently there are 54 up and more subsurface hoops visible. So far the only no shows and no hoops are the Neon Habanero, the Fatalii and the Goronong - the Rocotto's not up yet but there are definite hoops to be seen, so I'm far from worried.

Here's to the next week or so.

Another Year

2014 whizzed by for a number of reasons and although the chilli crop was good it wasn't great. Too many reasons to go into, but hopefully 2015 will be better and I might get a little more blogging time. Maybe.

So 2015. The only plant I decided to overwinter was the Giant Rocotto, my 2013 plants were disappointing in 2014 so I decided to limit myself to one plant that was interesting but not highly productive in the hope of a better second year, we shall see what comes of it.

This season has followed my standard germination process - seeds from semillas.de soak for 24 hours, plant in rootriot cubes on 23/12/14 (thanks to my little helpers) in the heated propagator (pulse  heating only) and lighting for 10 hours overnight per day. The only difference is that I've put two seeds per cube not one. I double planted like this for some mystery seeds last year and they turned out fine (provided you cut the cube in two at an early stage) so in the interests of getting at least two of each variety up and still having plenty to give away this is the plan. However this means I could have close to a hundred seedlings soon... and space could get quite challenging. But, as they say, that would be a nice problem to have.

So the news.

4 days in and there were signs of subsurface hoops.

5 days in and there were 5 germinations. (The hoop has to break the plane of the rootriot cube for me to count it)

6 days in and there are over 25 germinations. Hopefully it's going to be a bumper year.

One of my little helpers checking on the germination to date

My germination sheet - this is the easiest way to keep track of what came up when

What's up Doc?

So a little progress to report, in fact quite a lot, in fact probably the best germination I've ever had. Pulsing the heat to the propagator has kept the temperature at a better level, and by swapping the trays from inside to out, all the seeds have had a bit of heat and the germination levels are very high. And two of the rows which were initially in the warmest spot have had 100% germination in less than 10 days - I've never had that level of success before.

So far it's as follows:

Pinzón 0/3
Jellybean 3/3
Purple Habanero 2/3
JAFSH 2/3
Peruvian Golden - PI 238052 3/3
Beni Market - PI 543205 3/3
Cumari 2/3
Aji Cochabamba 2/3
Pimenta da Neyde 3/3
Aribibbi Gusano 2/3
Scarlet Lantern 2/3
Giant Rocoto 0/3 (two subsurface hoops visible)
Trinidad Perfume 1/3
Bunte Mischung (x6) 6/6
Gumdrop (x5) 0/5 (old seed)
CGN 21500 0/3 (old seed)

Looks like I will have a surplus of plants this year... I just hope the four no-show varieties make an appearance in the coming weeks.

A little action

16 seedlings have now popped up. Mostly concentrated in the right-middle area of the propagator.

I shall see what happens in the next few days, but it might be time to swap the trays over to spread the heat around a bit.

This is considerably better than where I was in the previous two years. 2012 and I has 12 up and 2013 it took two weeks to get to this point. Hopefully this means that the new heating process is better - the internal thermostat is in the mid 20s when the light is off, and showing 90% humidity most of the time. The seedlings that are up seem to be loving it.

It looks like my target of 90% germination for this year could be very achievable.

Signs of Life

The first hoop appeared yesterday (28/12/13) a little earlier than yesterday. By 4pm the hoop of one of the Beni Markets was clear of the rootriot cube, and by 8pm I had seed leaves showing and another Beni Market hoop as well.

As of this morning I had two Beni Markets up, plus a Bunte Mischung and about a further 10 subsurface hoops visible. Hopefully by tomorrow it'll be double figures. Interestingly the germination appears to be from the middle out, which support the hypothesis that I was running too hot last year when only the outer edges germinated.

I shall watch with interest.

This is what we all want to see in the morning.

First two Beni Market seedlings

2014 Season

Started on 21-12-2013 with the seeds in soak for 48 hours. I know 24 hours is more customary, but I prefer two days as I find it can take almost a day for all the seeds to sink.

The seeds were placed in the rootriot cubes on 23-12-2013 and left to do their thing in the propagator. This year I'm only heating the prop half of the time (15 mins on, 15 mins off) to prevent over-heating as happened last year. I'm hoping for 90% germination this year.

Seeds in soak. This year I'd pre-written out the labels which was better than placing these on a sheet of paper.

A propagator full of dreams

So the grow list for the year... mostly sourced from semillas.de plus a few other bits and pieces I have lying around. There is one more variety to go yet, but that assumes I can find the seeds - try as I might I couldn't find them in my box, so another good look is required.

So, in no particular order:

• Pinzón
• Jellybean
• Purple Habanero
• JAFSH
• Peruvian Golden - PI 238052
• Beni Market - PI 543205
• Cumari
• Aji Cochabamba
• Pimenta da Neyde
• Aribibbi Gusano
• Scarlet Lantern
• Giant Rocoto
• Trinidad Perfume
• Bunte Mischung (x6)
• Gumdrop (x5)
• CGN 21500

Generally I've sowed three of each, except where noted. Most of these were picked from the website as being interesting, with a couple other reasons.

• CGN21500 - having failed to get a proper crop in 2012, this is a second go 
• Pimenta da Neyde - same as above. I gave up on this one in 2012 and found a couple of pods as I composted it. So now I wanted to give it another go with fresh seeds. 
• Trinidad Perfume - I'm growing these for a friend at work, she really liked the flavour of the pods last year and is no great fan of heat, so these will be given to her once they reach a decent size. 
• Giant Rocoto - I've only ever got one rocoto to germinate, and then it wouldn't set pods, so this is another try to get a rocoto pod of my own. I may put this outside in the peak of summer to help with fertilization (assuming it grows in the first place). 

End of 2013 season

Ok, it's been hard keeping the blog going this year, but thankfully the chilli plants did get my attention and a chance to do their thing.

So first, the general comments:

It's been a hard year weather wise, although July was an absolute scorcher the rest of the year was a bit below average. Net result was smaller than average plants that took a long time to flower, this in turn led to a late crop that arrived over a 8 week period starting in late September. Normally I would hope for a larger, longer crop but you have to take what you can.

The crop was not bad - not huge pods or huge amounts, but enough for me, and plenty of surplus to take into work and so on.

So, a few photos of the crop:

 From top left - Trinidad Perfume, Serrano, Inca Red Drop, Santa Rosa, Ecuadorian Brown, Fatalii, Bunte Mischung, Butch T, 7 Pot Barrackpore

Main Crop being washed

Main crop drying out

Some chilli porn - notice the black naga pods

More chilli porn

So my notes and memories of the year:

• It was great to grow some 7-pots after previous years a low crops. It was probably the seed quality with the earlier plants. 
• I used chempack 5 as feed throughout - this seems just as good a chilli focus and a lot cheaper. I will use this again in 2014.
• The holiday watering system I rigged up seemed to work - if anything a little too well, more on this another time.
• I still suspect I have a dead spot in the greenhouse, where nothing will get pollinated. Next year I will put some plants outside from time to time. Removing some panes of glass has helped here, but not entirely cured the problem. 
• I took some chillis into work. I told them the fatalii were hot. Very hot. But someone decided (after some goading) to try a bite. Apparently he nearly passed out. I missed seeing this myself. Gutted. 
• The Peruvian Purple in the office was growing very well, but would not pollinate properly. Within a week of bringing home it was covered in pods - clearly there are limits to what you can achieve at work. 

I will post a variety by variety review in due course. 

4th July 2013

So a quick update...

When you venture down the greenhouse once or twice a day it's difficult to notice that things are growing. But when I look back at the last post from about 2 weeks ago, I can clearly see that everything has bulked up. The weather has not been great, but it's been good enough and the proof is there to see in the greenhouse.

So what's new? Well there are buds on almost every plant, flowers on most things and pods on a few varieties so far. Pods are most apparent on the 7 pot Barrackpore, Inca Red Drop, Serrano, Trinidad Perfume and Bunte Mischung. I'm hoping to add the Black Naga and Ecuadorian Brown to that list soon.

I've also been lucky enough to have a few ripe pods off the Peruvian Purple in the office in the last week or so. This has grown really well, but despite my best efforts the pollination level is low and there is severe flower drop. Still, as a novelty it is holding its own.

So latest pictures:



Greenhouse LHS 4-7-13



Greenhouse RHS 4-7-13

Peruvian Purple at Work

A few photos

So, finally I managed to get me, the camera and the chilli plants in the same place at the same time. So voila, a few photos.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Where did that go?

Time waits for no man and I'm afraid this blog has been a little neglected of late.

I blame myself.

However, the chilli year marches on, albeit in fits and starts. The weather has been cold and wet (April was ok, but May was poor and June has been mixed so far).

Well, lowlights so far:

A lot of the seeds didn't germinate. I suspect the heated prop is too hot, in the end I had to fit a timer and oscillate between on and off. Major hassle. I did a second sowing and this has resulted in most varieties coming up - but these plants are definitely behind the first batch.

Nothing survived the over-wintering process. I have no idea what happened, but zero survival rate is unheard of. I will have to try something different next year.

After a month in the greenhouse, nothing much had happened and the early leaves were looking shabby - I suspected red spider mite, but couldn't see any evidence, but gave the plants a quick spray anyway.  They do seem to have perked up in the last weeks or so, but the new generation of leaves are smaller (and greener) than the ones they replace. Hmm.

Generally the plants are a lot smaller than last year, but here's hoping for a bit of catch-up

I tried to get my usual supply of Chilli Focus - but was quoted £20 a bottle (I usually pay £15) so I refused on principle. This year I am therefore using Chempak 4 instead. I hope I wont regret this.

Highlights:

Well, not many.

I have a few pods on 7-pod barrackpore and on bunte mischung, with flowers appearing on a few more plants.

Some of the varieties are looking better than others - I'll endeavor to do the camera thing at some point - hopefully a switch in the weather will help. Come on sun.

Last autumn I took a Peruvian Purple into work - I have a very warm office area that  hits thirty degrees in the morning when the sun is on it. The plant loves it. It struggled through the winter, but now the light levels have got better the plant has just gone crazy. The only downside is the lack of flower pollination (despite my best efforts) means not too many pods. However, as an experiment you have to say it's been a great success.

Ok... so that's the update for now. Hopefully pictures and more commentary to follow.

Germination Progress

Interestingly I've had a fair few germinated seeds, but they all seem to be at the edges of the propagator. This seems to suggest that the prop is running a little hot, and the cooler outer edges are better.

To compensate for this I've set up a spare timer on the prop - 15 mins on and 30 mins off repeated throughout the day. This will give the heat a little boost without the risk of cooking the seeds. Hopefully this will help.

So far the following are up:

Bido Tacana (2/3) 1/1 and 6/1
Butch T (2/3) 4/1 and 6/1
Bunte Michung (2/6) 3/1 and 5/1
Trinidad Perfume (2/3) 31/12 and 3/1
7 Pot Barrackpore (2/3) 2/1 and 5/1
7 Pot Primo (1/3) 7/1
Black Naga (1/3) 4/1

(2/3) means 2 out of the 3 sown have germinated, the figures following are the dates they come up, e.g. 6/1 = 6th January. 

No shows yet on the other varieties (it's only been two weeks, so plenty of time yet).

There are also subsurface hoops visible tonight for one Prairie Fire and one Wahaca Serrano. I only count the plant once the hoop has broken the plane at the top of the cube, so maybe these will be up tomorrow. 

First one up

31-12-12

First signs of life from one of the Trinidad Perfumes, and a hint of life from one of the Bido Tacanas.

It's been a long week to get any germination and I suspect that the prop may be running a little warm, so I've turned the heating off for now. We shall see what the next few weeks bring.

Sowing

24-12-12 the seeds have been soaked for 24 hours and are planted out in the propagator. I've had the prop on for 24 hours to raise the heat levels ready.

I've sown two seeds in some of the Rootriot cubes - the serrano, prairie fire, bunte mischung and CAP 253-C have two seeds each in a domino pattern. This reflects the age of the seeds and/or likelihood or germination issues.

Seeds in Soak

Propagator prepared

Everything sown and labelled

2013 season starts

23-12-12 and the seeds for the season are put into soak for 24 hours. This year I've picked a few varieties from semillas.de along with some other bits and pieces.

Nothing really remarkable, but a good mix never-the-less.

I've over-wintered four plants, but I suspect two haven't survived. The mini rocotto and CGN 21500 are the survivors, the Naga Morich and Marouga Yellow appear to be the casualties.

Varieties for this year:

• Prairie Fire
• Pimenta De Neyde
• Criolla Sella
• Inca Red Drop
• 7 Pot Primo
• Santa Rosa Blanco
• Ecuadorian Brown
• Serrano (from Wahaca restaurant, Kensington)
• Cap 253-C
• Bunte Mischung*
• Fatalii
• Bido Tacana
• Trinidad Scorpion Butch T
• Black Naga
• Trinidad Perfume
• 7 Pot Barrackpore

* Bunte Mischung - this is a freebie mystery mix from semillas.de - I prefer this name to mystery plants, so am using with name for now. 

The End

My 2012 season was bought to a premature end at the beginning of December when the heating system failed. I was thinking about closing the greenhouse down around that point anyway, but this gave me no options.

In all the season had been very tough - the wrong weather at the wrong moments in time meant I had low crop levels with some varieties just not pulling their weight.

So a last few photos and then it's time to draw a line under 2012.

 

 

 

Been a bit busy

So I've been a little busy over the summer and so updating the blog's been a bit of a struggle. However, I thought I'd better put up a few of the highlights and lowlights of the last few months.

It's been an awful summer in many respects. May to July was cool and wet, and although I had good growth rates from the plants, flowering was very poor and so was the setting of pods.

In fact, where as I would normally expect to be harvesting from July onwards, not a lot seemed to happen on the pod front until August.

Late September finally started to produce a few ripe pods - certainly enough for my own needs, but nothing like I was hoping to see. The images below show how well things grew, just a shame there weren't any more pods. The lower photo is the fatalii - not a single pod to be seen.

This was the September harvest - heavy on the Marouga Yellow and a few other things, but not exactly the piles of pods I was expecting to see.


October demonstrated that a few of the varieties were doing something, but some were not, so I took out the secateurs and anything that didn't have a pod on it at that point was cut back. The mini-rocotto, despite it's many flowers had no pods, the fatalii similarly and many of the others had a hair cut. it was a shame that such large plants were unproductive, but that's that.
 
Mid-october also saw the re-introduction of the heating. With a few cooler nights forecasted I set the thermostat to 6 degrees and this seems to have extended the season as usual.

Today (1st November) I've just been down for a tidy up and harvest. There's still much more to do, but hopefully I can spend some time over the next few days getting back on top of things and getting ready for the winter. 

Here are the photos from today:

PI260560 has been quite prolific later on in the season, producing many medium sized red pods. The plant is quite busy and tangled, so would be best well staked and tied in for better results.

CGN 23258 has produced a good head of small round pods, but only a few have ripened so far.

Probably the most productive of all my wild plants this year, CGN 22871 has produced many pods like these and is continuing to do so. Only issue is that they do not seem to store well - best to dry or freeze these fairly quickly.

Habanero Cristina - small pods trurning creamy yellow as they ripen. Quite productive, but struggling with the poor weather this year.

PI 260504 is covered in these tiny yellow pods. I haven't tried any yet though, but picking could be a tediously slow exercise.

CGN 21500 was billed as a spectacular plant, and I can see that (kind of) but for me it's not been that productive. Maybe next year.

Fatalii red has done quite well this year. Not massively productive, but better than last year.

A few 7 pods have started to ripen. Better than last year, but not amazing. This wont get grown again.

The harvest today (mostly the species shown above with a few Nagas and Marougas thrown in). There's still more to come.