Monday, September 27, 2010

Sunshine and Lollipops...

A few days of good sunshine is really making a difference....



This Naga is just powering along, as is the Red Congo below;

 I had some seeds arrive from AjiJoe in Pennsylvania (cheers mate!) yesterday too - some Yellow Bhut and another Im not 100% sure of yet. This week could also herald the arrival of some seeds from Patrick in Nebraska, and I'll call it quits at that.


Put down the Yellow 7Pots that Dave gave me last week as a back-up, as I hadn't seen anything from the originals I put down late August, and of course....yesterday one of the originals came up and another today!
It only leaves the White Habs to go (plus the newly planted seeds.
Happy days.

Sunshine and Lollipops - Lesley Gore

Saturday, September 25, 2010

Grey skies above....

The weather is still mostly miserable. Grey gloomy days and a good amount of rain... the sprouts dont seem to mind tho', and there's some obvious growth.

 Most have their first 'true' leaves and some on their second set.


With these conditions, Ive noticed a brown fungus appear that I'm not too concerned with at the moment, but I'll look into it anyway.

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Rollin' rollin' rollin'...

...and so it is. I was at the point where I felt everything was established enough to start 'culling' some. Not killing them, but giving them away.
Met Dave (Sci) from thehotpepper.com and had a great chat and shared some info - this was the main reason I wanted to give some stuff away, so as to get to meet chilliheads local to me. Dave brought me some 7 Pot Jonah and Yellow 7's (which I still haven't managed to raise from seed thus far) so Im grateful.

I also received some seeds from Moshman, incl. some monster Reds that are pretty mysterious!

On the growing front, its rollin' (as the title suggests). No sign of any Yellow 7s nor White Habs and Ive managed just two Barrackpore 7 pots...

 Elsewise, most seedlings are getting their first 'true' leaves and there's marked growth. Ambient temps around 25c of a day, a fair bit of rain. I'm looking forward to the next few weeks!

Monday, September 13, 2010

Ya gotta keep 'em separated...

Basically, I am a cheap bastard. Well, not so much cheap as just downright broke.

Rather than sticking to the golden rule '1 seed per pot', I bought less Jiffy Pots and stuck 2-3 in each...and I suffered the consequences.

And did I mention I'm heavy-handed too?

Some of the pots pushed as many as 5 seedlings up...and they kept on coming....
There's lots of debate as to when the best time to separate is, I couldn't reach a decision and so I figured I'd experiment yesterday morning.
Found that most strains were still attached to the husk (which to my mind suggests safety, as transplant shock results from damage to/or exposure of roots.

Having said that, the Douglahs already had a good root system, and the Nagas... they gave me a headache! 1 big tap root that ran the depth of the jiffy.

So I did the rest of them this morning!

But I was gentle, patient and calm...haha ... some were not even sprouting fully and at last glance this afternoon, they were up and getting the twin leaves about to appear.

I'm happy...80 odd plants in total...with a few possibly coming through...but no White Habs yet.. and only one Barrackpore 7Pot.

Can't complain about that ;)


  

Friday, September 10, 2010

....back in 1965

Well I wasnt born in 1965, but I did get all the new sprouts into pots today. Bit early?

Nah, outdoor temps around 24 and full sun has these taking big steps..


Tray 1


Tray 2



 Tray 3



Just noticed a B'pore 7 is coming through in the tub, so only the White Habs to make an appearance.


Happy days....

In the beginning...

I started with 12 varieties this season, all of them chinense with one exception.
The seeds were sourced from Novacastrian and Aji Chombo from thehotpepper.com
Also have some pre-existing  pubescens, baccatum and chinense from last season, but I wont focus on them.




All seeds planted into 'Jiffy Pots' (3-4 per pot) on Monday 30 August, into 20lt tubs, and over a 4m heat cord designed for reptiles.

Tubs/cord were insulated from the cold ground with newspaper and the tubs themselves covered in it, whilst allowing ventilation.

Pots kept moist, ambient temps from 13-26C (55-78F), but with the heat cord, I was maintaining a fairly level 28C. Tub was humid and warm.

Tuesday 7 Sept saw the first Naga rise.

 Plus a few Douglah and a lone Red Congo....

Over the past few days, most has come up (close to a 90% success rate per pot), and only the Barrackpore 7s and White Habs yet to make an appearance.