Root Tower……

I have recently become friends with a guy named Andy Finch…….. nothing amazing about that, happens to people all the time. However, not only is Andy an amiable guy, he is also one of the top Hydroponic experts in the country, as well as the guy pulling the strings and levers at hanginggardenuk.com an established company in the West midlands, that has developed a revolutionary Hydroponic system, that allows you to grow food plants literally on the wall anywhere !

Crossing/Breeding chillis

There are 1000’s of varieties of chillis available, and a great portion of these, are Hybrids,…. which means Two varieties have cross pollinated.
This happens quite naturally most of the time, through natural movement of the plants, or via insect pollination. However, a lot of the time, it is done on purpose by the grower, who will take Two varieties of chilli……. with qualities they would like to have in One chilli, and cross-pollinate them by hand, before they get chance to pollinate naturally.
Here I am going to show you how to create your own crosses (Hybrids).

I’m Back !!!!

Yes folks….I’m back……. I apologise for my temporary disappearance, but I had some things going on, that prevented me from having the time to sit down and write. However, hopefully I can now keep the blog updated from now on.
So….just a quick update………Last season was an excellent one for me….all my plants stayed healthy, and produced loads of pods. Regular readers may remember, that I decided to use Tomorite only for feeding last year, and I have to say, I was very pleased with the results. Now I don’t believe for one moment it was this alone, as the weather was very kind and I didn’t have many slugs & bugs to fight against. But I do know, that by using Tomorite I raised loads of healthy plants…and saved a small fortune !!!

Guest Blogger….

I read loads of blogs, covering many different subjects. Most of them are chilli related or cover gardening in general.
One blog I go back to time after time is The Forget-me-Not Cultivation Blog written by a lady called Sophie Cussen. This lady really knows her stuff around the garden, and her blog is very well written, very informative and contains just enough humour to make it an enjoyable read.
So I was over the moon when Sophie agreed to write an article for my blog, have a read through and I hope you enjoy it….. and please make time to have a read of her blog The Forget-me-Not Cultivation Blog I’m sure you won’t be disappointed.

iggy 🙂

Quadgrow To Wilma Conversion…….

This is something I decided to do a while back, convert one of my Quadgrows into a 4 pot Wilma system. I was going to wait until the end of the growing season to do it, ready for next season….. however, I bought the bits I needed, and went ahead and did it today 🙂

Liquid Gold….

A couple of weeks ago, a few of my plants were looking like they needed a little extra nutrition. Instead of racing off to the garden centre and spending even more hard earned cash, I decided to use something I tried a few years ago…. Liqud Gold….. yes folks… URINE !!!

 
I know a few of you will think Yuk ! That’s gross !!! However, we have all used horse manure, bat poo & chicken poo in the past without a second thought.
Human urine is absolutely sterile when it leaves the body and therefore free from bacteria,in fact it’s so sterile that it can be drunk when fresh, and makes a very good fertiliser, urine is one of the fastest-acting, most excellent sources of nitrogen, phosphorous, potassium and trace elements for plants. It does need diluting at a ratio of about 10:1, i.e 10 parts water to 1 part urine, otherwise it would burn the roots of your plants.
SO I fed it to the plants a few times, and the new growth is coming through lovely, as you can see in these Two pics:

That aside, everything else is going pretty much to plan with the plants, they have all had a good trim to thin out the foliage, they are being fed weekly with Tomorite and most of them are carrying their first small pods. These pods may be small, but they still have terrific heat and once they are picked, the plants should produce proper sized pods.
All in all Im happy with their progress, and it is only June so there’s still plenty of time for them to grow dozens of pods…..hopefully !! All we need now is some sunshine 😉

Also as an udate…. my 2 year old Orange Hab Bonchi has quite a few pods on it, curiously…last year it produced 3 full sized pods, and this year it has produced so far 7 smaller pods:

Anyway….here’s a few pics of some of the plants for you to look at, any questions….get in touch.

Thanks for reading 🙂

iggy

GROWING MEDIA & NUTRITION

One topic that has cropped up quite a few times in the last couple of weeks, in conversation and on the Firefoods forum, is what is the best growing media for chilli plants ?
There are loads of different types, from specialist composts to clay balls….peat free, coir etc etc.
Now some people will have their favourites, which have produced good results for them and will stick with that type, and I’m talking about the hobbyist grower now, not the commercial grower, who will have different needs and costs to take into account.
However, for someone who is just starting in the hobby, it can be quite daunting deciding which one is best for them, and they will get different answers from different growers.

In the past I have used loads of different types, and had excellent & poor results,and if you are only growing a few plants, then I would suggest using the best compost you can afford, but when your growing 100+ plants it can work out very expensive to use a high grade compost.
For that reason, this year I am using a cheap Multi Purpose Compost ( MPC ), which I’ve used a lot in the past, and will rely on feeding and Nutrition to get the best from my plants.

This brings us onto another topic for debate……..what is the best thing to feed your plants ???? …. Do an internet search and you will find dozens of specialist feeds created for chilli plants, and some are really good. Again, people will have their own favourites and opinion, and yes…I’ve used some of these specialist feeds and had varying results, but this year along with MPC I will be going back to using good old TOMORITE.

It may lack a few trace ingredients compared to some available chilli feeds, but it’s cheap and goes a long way, and can give excellent results. Some growers advise using it at half strength and others use it full strength, I use it half strength in the early stages of the plant’s growth and then at full strength when the plants are flowering and podding.
Your plants will tell you if they are happy with how they’re being fed, nice green healthy looking leaves means they are getting the right amount of nutrition, however if the plants look weak and the leaves are discoloured, this can mean they are not getting enough nutrition, or too much…which can be just as detrimental to a plants health. Then it’s just a matter of adjusting the strength of your chosen feed until the plants are looking healthy again. A bit of practise is all it takes to get the best from your compost & feed, and chilli plants are not that fussy…..so it’s cheap & cheerful for me this year, and I’ll share the results with you later in the season 😉

Happy growing !!

iggy 🙂

Howdy folks ….!!!!

As you know, my season started on Halloween night when I made my first sowings…..not a lot has really happened between then and now, except for lovingly caring for, and feeding my young plants. Apart from the fact that I lost a full tray of seedlings over Christmas !!! Other things going on, and I forgot to water them under the lights…. a harsh lesson 😦

The plants that I overwintered, have survived and are growing well.

However, this time of year is when I really start getting a buzz, because its time for the plants to go into the greenhouses !! 🙂

So all the Hydro equipment has been fetched out of storage, and set up…

Also set up is a 4-pot Wilma and 3 Quadgrows

And the plants placed in them, I have a heater on hand….just in case of any late frosts !

The remaining plants have been potted into their final pots, and put in the large greenhouse.

Here’s a few pics… I’m not much of a photrographer, but I do my best 😉
I might have to think about starting a bit later for next season, the plants were ready to go out well before the weather was ready….and as a result a lot of the lower leaves fell off, but all new growth is fine 🙂

These 4 plants are overwintered

And here’s some more…

Hopefully, I’ll be able to keep on top of things now, and be able to update on a regular basis….including more pics, if there’s anything you would like to ask about my plants or growing methods etc, then please get in touch.

Happy growing !!!

iggy 🙂

It’s Been A While !!!!!

Well folks….as the title of this says, it’s been a while since I’ve written anything. I won’t bore you with the reasons…suffice to say I haven’t been well.
Anyway, what’s been going on the past couple of months ? Well….I helped my best mate Woody from Firefoods, at both the BBC Good Food Show & Lincolnshire Xmas Market. It was great chatting to fellow chilli heads, and sharing tips and advice.
Also, the first round of plants are growing nicely, all with good root systems. I know I keep repeating myself on the subject of root systems….but it really is vital to the plants future growth. This is more vital when the plant is destined for Hydroponic systems, that’s why I’m never in a rush to pot on into bigger pots.
Anyway…here’s a few pics for now, please excuse the lighting in some of them…but you’ll get the idea.

I will try and post some individual plant pics next time…also, I’ll be back to updating on a regular basis now…..So any questions or ideas you have, please get in touch.
Thanks for reading.
iggy 🙂

Growing chilli plants under lights…..

As I have mentioned before…growing chillis can be an all year round hobby, with the use of growing lights. Now before I go any further, can I just say….. this is by no means a tutorial, or how-to guide, it is just me passing on some ideas that have worked for me over the last few years.
Why grow under lights ? well, all plants need light to grow, and as chilli growers, it’s handy for us to grow under lights, as this means we can sow seeds and rear seedlings at a time of year when there isn’t much natural daylight.
It’s not as complicated as you might think, once you know which light will work best for you. Ok…blue spectrum light helps plants with growth, and red spectrum light helps with flowering….now that we now this bit of information, we can look at the different type of lighting to give us these spectrums.
The Two main types of lights used by chilli growers are: CFL (Compact Flourescent Lighting)….and HID (High Intensity Discharge)

Compact Flourescent Lighting (CFL)

These are what I use, and I would say they are probably the most popular. They come in blue spectrum, AKA daylight, and red spectrum AKA, warm white. I only use the daylight ones, they are great for placing over a propagator, or in a lightbox. They need to be quite close above the plants. I have never needed red spectrum lighting, because by the time the plants are ready to flower they are in a heated greenhouse getting natural light.

High Intensity Discharge (HID)

HID’s are usually more powerful than CFL’s, and are ideal for growing more plants…or growing indoors all year round. They also come in the red & blue specturms, and don’t need to be as close to the plants.

 

 

You can also get dual spectrum lights, which do the lot, however I’ve never used them, so wouldn’t like to comment on them.

Another type of lighting being used regularly by chilli growers is LED, Light Emitting Diode lights…..and I’ll be honest with you, I use these for all my newly sprouted seedlings. In fact…I use a set of 100 blue LED Xmas lights set into a board ! These are great for boosting plant growth and leaf development, are they are cheap to run.

I personally have my lighting set to a 16 hour cycle, using a digital timer to switch the lights on & off.

So, if you fancy having a go at growing under lights….I hope this article helps. One piece of advice I would give you, is shop around on the internet, and do try and get the best lights you can afford.

iggy 🙂