4 seasons in one day..

I'm renaming the four seasons into;

Rain

Gloom

Muggy

Caterpillars

30C day today, hard sun, rain, high humidity, then grey.

Re-potted the last 4 and Ive waited too long.. the Bonda ma Jaque looks on the way out..

Howling... this and the Choc Hab I was most looking for sauce wise..

Choc Hab is doing well, as are most plants.

 4 seasons in one day

Go!

It's been just 8 days since most of the plants were transferred in to the larger pots, and they are all doing well.

The 'Big Red' is going nuts. I'd estimate somewhere between 1 1/2 and 2 inches?

This Choc Habanero has also put on some height and also a lot of foliage.

All the plants have coped just fine, and this pot mix suits them perfectly.

The last of the smaller plants will be repotted hopefully this weekend.

Shove...

Got to shove the plants into their new home today.

Another day of warm weather and no rain thank christ..

A compressed block of coir, a couple of bags of Perlite, 8lt pots, 300mm trays and a wheelbarrow...

Soaked the coir for 10 mins, broke it up, added more water til the lot was wet. Tilled it with my hands until it was all wet and loose.

Half filled each pot then mixed in a heap of Perlite

Here's the Naga (which I knew had root probs) and kicked my arse into gear...

After they were all potted, a weak mix of Growth Technologies 'Foliage Focus' that filled the trays and now (8 hours later), no evidence of shock.

An outdoor hydro setup!

Shove - L7

Yesterday my life was filled with rain......

...well, not at all actually. We've only had intermittent showers each day, mostly fine and the temps are up to 26-27C each day. Perfect weather really.

 Long time since last update - not a great deal has changed other than some nice steady growth. Got some wee caterpillars appearing, so will look at some preventative treatment sharpish.

A couple of pics to illustrate how they are going;

  

That Big Red has me stuffed. In some ways it's looking a little leggy, a little unstable yet it just powers on... Bear in mind it was one of the last seeds that were put down to germinate, and some of the other varieties are 6 weeks or so older!

 It looks a little limp as it has had a full days sun and I'd just removed it into the shade. Can't wait to see what this bugger does.

Well, tomorrow is the day... I'm getting the coconut peat (coir), perlite, and some 10lt pots and transplanting all the plants. Fair to say that I'm shitting myself. Mostly at the cost, but partly due to worrying whether this is the right way to go. I have had good advice, so I don't doubt that, just...it's natural I'm sure.

For anyone that reads this, I'll do some detailed posts on the process and the leadout...

Wish me luck!

Yesterday my life was filled with rain

I can see clearly now the rain has gone...

Gale force winds all night and today, but blue skies and its warm. Not for long, but I'll take this weather with grateful hands! The plants are all getting good sun, but sheltered from these crazy winds.

Had quite a few people thru today and my collection of plants is somewhat smaller... 

  

After having to run like mad every time a storm hit, my task will be much easier now!

Got to meet some really great people and got some unexpected gifts as well.

Tony and Jan from AntJan Sauces gave me some Strawbz dessert sauce and Yikes Hot sauce.

 I tried the Yikes just after they left, and have fallen in love. Check the Sauces category on www.thehotpepper.com for a review.

 Dave (Sci) also gave me some of his homemade sauce which was very tasty with a nice Hab burn also. My first thought was a glaze for roast pork... Neil from THSC tried it and strongly suggested producing it commercially. Its good!

He also gave me a bottle of some homemade Bourbon (which Im enjoying with some Soda as I type). Nice way to finish a really cool day.

So to all I met today and got to have a chat with and swap ideas...

CHEERS!

Gonna be a bright, bright, sunshiney day

Now its raining in my heart....

Nuts. Nuts to this f***ing weather.

We've had nearly 3 days of rain, and as I type, its belting down. 

Last night the rain came down harder than Ive heard it in years, the winds were almost knocking the windows in... these are photos taken this morning (not by me) at Rocklea - 10 mins from here;

I knew what we were in for and brought my plants in last night, flooded in the morning, and put them outside once the water subsided. Cleaned all the debris that washed in under the back fence from the culvert behind and then the winds came back... brought all the plants in again...one gust was so strong it knocked the lid off a kettle BBQ! Scared the shit out of me too...then the driving rain with everything bobbing around on around 80-100mm water.

Water subsided and the conditions have eased, so the plants out once again and I just can't be arsed cleaning up the crap. Again. 

 I've got three plants to send to Mel from the hot pepper forum, started to worry about the lack of light over the last few days and then I noticed some Yellow Bhut and Big Reds that have germinated and are looking leggy...

So, next to the one fluoro in the house. Up on top of the cupboard. Everyone seems happy with the arrangement! haha

Rain, it's on my mind, everyone's first topic of conversation and it seems that for 6 weeks, every time I look out the window......gloom.

 I don't consider myself a whinging Pom, but I could have this weather in my beloved Newcastle (UK) and at least get to see NUFC play every other week!

  

 Where is the love?

From little things, big buggers grow...

Another few varieties planted out today;

 Cili Goronong

 Yellow Bhut 

Yellow 7Pots

7Pot Jonah

I also planted out the last of the Red Habs and 'Big Reds' that I got from Moshman on thehotpepper.com

Im keeping a close eye on the 'Reds, as they are aggressive growers and whilst still plenty hot, they sound like they get big enough to stuff! And I gots me a recipe in mind... ;)

Weathers good - up to around 27/28C and so far no rain for 2 days. Strange but true. Supposed to be storms late afternoon, but nothing yet. Shitty weather is forecast for the rest of the week tho'.....

Peri Peri are still going beserk, and most varieties have their standout plant. Douglahs are the slowest of the lot tho'. They were amongst the first to germinate too!

Here's one of the Scorps;

And a cracker Chocolate Hab;

Gave all the plants a 'medium feed' on Monday (1 1/2 tsp per litre) of the Growth Technologies product I mentioned last update, and quite a few plants have really taken off. Whether its the good conditions, the product or both, I don't know.

What I have noticed is that the amount of plants on their second and third true-leaf  has better than tripled over the past three days.

Once the roots of the plants are heading out of the peat pots, they are into shit potting mix, so having the product in the mix will help. Good re Nitrogen, but lower on Potassium and Phosphorous.

Onwards and upwards.

From Little Things Big Things Grow - Paul Kelly and Kev Carmody