The 2010 Chilli growing thread - it's scorching!

Err I have got a ridiculous amount of nagas.. plant one has 24 now, so I think I'm now getting towards 40 or 50 in total!

The first naga fruit is now darkening and has a glossy shine to it. So I don't expect it to be too long before it start turning orange.. the last time that happened they started looking ickky as the orange started from the inside out.

Will charge the camera and do a montage tomorrow!
 
Ok.. 21 in this one:
M1.jpg


18 in this one:
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19 in this one:
M3.jpg


21+18+19 = 58 so far from three plants! :D

Hopefully I've not repeated any and I think I have missed a few small ones.

edit: bah! Just spotted one repeat!
 
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It's difficult to compare.

The artificial light brought them from seedlings to initial harvest of only about 7 fruits. I used to give them 12 hours of light but it was all from one light and top down.
Last year I had to cut them right back and effectively start them again to hold their flowers :/

In the windowsill they're broadsided with good prolonged daylight. The overwintering results in an established plant with roots etc all ready. So after getting the foliage produced it can use all the energy for flower/fruits.
They did drop quite a few flowers but once they started fruiting that was it!

I would say that the sunny, hot summer we've had has helped. The plants have been taking a lot of light (the room is cooler than last year for example).
 
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hmm i just tryed a green jalapeno and it smelt like a bell pepper when i cut it open, hardly any flesh on it either. i took one bite and its made my mouth burn for a few minutes :\ im abit surprised by the heat of it, but its not as hot as that econa pepper sauce im always eating. tastes like a green bell pepper too, not very interesting taste.
*edit* picked my nose and now it burns :'(
 
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Well going on from when I asked a while back about growing chilli's late on in the season, my Sister had started growing some Cayennes from one of those grow your own pots you get in supermarkets, anyway cut a long story short, she let me have them as she was neglecting them.

Here is a picture of one of the plants in my little "greenhouse"

cimg7262.jpg


I've also started a Hydroponic setup (DWC) and growing one Cayenne plant and 5 Scotch Bonnet plants.

Cayenne

cimg7264.jpg


The lighting is actually a lot brighter but it doesn't show up on the camera, probably wrong white balance. The plant seems to be growing slower in the Hydroponic setup than the ones in the greenhouse but I am using a compact florescent light which is said to be less productive than halide and sodium bulbs, although I must admit the plant is a lot less stalky, time will tell though.

Here is one of the Scotch Bonnet plants, sown about 3 weeks ago.

cimg7265.jpg


edit: I am using a dual spectrum bulb
 
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zipp0r said:
hmm i just tryed a green jalapeno and it smelt like a bell pepper when i cut it open, hardly any flesh on it either. i took one bite and its made my mouth burn for a few minutes :\ im abit surprised by the heat of it, but its not as hot as that econa pepper sauce im always eating. tastes like a green bell pepper too, not very interesting taste.
*edit* picked my nose and now it burns :'(
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There are so many types of Jalapeno. My 'Caldero Jalapeno' peppers last hear had a reasonable amount of flesh on them. They tasted peppery but not particularly interesting.

I believe that econa pepper sauce is Halabanero based - so you'll know for next year's crop :D

@MarkST - nice hydro setup! I tried both types of bulb and would just run with the dual spectrum to be honest. The metal halide puts out a really cold stark blue-white light and the plants go nuts making foliage but they don't make flower buds! I had to hack the plants back and use a dual spectrum instead (the light is very orangey compared to the halide). They then started producing buds along with the foliage..
 
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NickK said:
@MarkST - nice hydro setup! I tried both types of bulb and would just run with the dual spectrum to be honest. The metal halide puts out a really cold stark blue-white light and the plants go nuts making foliage but they don't make flower buds! I had to hack the plants back and use a dual spectrum instead (the light is very orangey compared to the halide). They then started producing buds along with the foliage..
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That's interesting to know because buying new bulbs and ballast can get quite expensive.

This year is essentially just a trial run for me just to see how things go. One thing I'm going to change for the next lot is what nutrient I use, at the moment I'm using "Chilli Focus" which can be used in hydro setups but isn't as good as dedicated hydro nutrients such as "General Hydroponics Flora Nutrients" but they can be expensive and then on top of that I'll need an EC metre, although I think I could do with one now, but again they can be expensive (£70) for a good one!
 
MarkST said:
That's interesting to know because buying new bulbs and ballast can get quite expensive.

This year is essentially just a trial run for me just to see how things go. One thing I'm going to change for the next lot is what nutrient I use, at the moment I'm using "Chilli Focus" which can be used in hydro setups but isn't as good as dedicated hydro nutrients such as "General Hydroponics Flora Nutrients" but they can be expensive and then on top of that I'll need an EC metre, although I think I could do with one now, but again they can be expensive (£70) for a good one!
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I have photos in the old thread of the HPS setup. Just normal potted plants rather than hydro but I also looked into hydro. It'll get expensive if you start creating a tent with airflow to cool the bulb and to keep the moisture to a reasonable level.

Chilli Focus works better than Tomato feed but for proper hydro you need pumps, barrels etc and they use a proper nutrient especially for it. It's odd as the roots don't sit in the solution from what I understand - instead the roots are bathed in the solution every 15 minutes or so and the solution runs off and is collected.

The expense is what put me off hydro to be honest. It's expensive enough with artificial light running at 400W!
 
From what I've seen there are quite a few type of hydroponic systems and some seem quite complicated, that's why I opted for a deep water culture because its simple, air pump, water and nutrients! Obviously there is a bit more to it, but not much.
 
Well this little surprise greeted me this evening..
IMG_1630.jpg


One of two but the other is not in the right place with the failing light this evening :D
 
I cheated and just moved on to the end result. Bought myself some 6.4 million scoville unit "sauce", it's insane stuff. We tried a tiny tiny amount, really small each and nearly died. When we went to wash up the utensil which had a slightly bigger amount on it still, the steam from the hot water made us evacuate the kitchen!

We'll be making some traditional texas chilli with it, and some sort of burger sauce most likely. Should give a bit more of a kick than our ghost chilli dry rub we did earlier on in the year, that had people in tears but by the time we ran out we were almost used to it!
 
My ex's pal gave me a chilli plant as a little thank you for helping her more her shed. She can't remember what type they are, so I have this green looking leafy thing sitting out in the garden with not a scoobie doo what to do with it! So my question to you my little green fingered pals is this ...

1: If I post a picture of the plant here then is there any chance that you could tell me what type it is?

If you can't then what is generally the best way to look after them? Do I need to keep it indoors? Near a radiator? Or will it flourish simply by playing classical music next to it? I thought Canon in D Major (or is it Minor?) would be a good one to start with and then some Lady Gaga for a little change.

PS ... On most of my posts lately I have been a tad under the influence of the devils drink and all I've done is act like a right arse. But just so that you know I'm not taking the Michael ... I will post a pic tomorrow if that helps to show that this post is not a wind up.

I realise now that playing Lady Gaga is just plain stupid ... should I make a CD up instead of me being really positive to the plant and giving it lots of words of enouragement. A bit of positive mental attitude can't do it any harm surely :D



I just can't help myself can I? :D
 
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Don't play Lady gaga anywhere near chilli plants. They hate it. One of mine died that way :mad:.

Post a pic up, but its very hard to tell what type of chilli plant it is as they all look very similar.
 
Mark A said:
Don't play Lady gaga anywhere near chilli plants. They hate it. One of mine died that way :mad:.

Post a pic up, but its very hard to tell what type of chilli plant it is as they all look very similar.
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Thanks Mark. I'll pop a picture up tomorrow if my hands are steady enough to hold the camera ;)
 
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