I bought some Bhut Jolokai seeds and some Orange Habanero seeds on eBay a
couple of weeks before Christmas, but was unable to plant them when the
weather became cooler and wet on the Gold Coast. Last Sunday I went to
Bunnings, after the promise of warmer weather, and bought a mini green house
with twenty four segments for planting seeds, plus a small bag of seed
raising mix, and set about planting twelve of each seed. From what I'd read
via Google, they should sprout after two to four weeks.

As I've never done anything like this before, I approached the venture with
failure foremost in my mind. Today, however, a little baby Bhut Jolokai
popped its head above the soil from the seed known as BJ10 - just a couple
of hours more than a week since it was planted. I'm hoping that its eleven
siblings and twelve cousins won't be too far behind.

After that long-winded preface, I have a few questions:

Does anyone here have experience with growing these chillis, particularly
the Bhut Jolokai?

I have the vents closed on the mini green house to keep in the heat and
moisture. My little green friend probably has different requirements now,
such as a fresh supply of oxygen. My concern is that the mini green house
can only provide one environment at a time, so I don't want the seedlings to
suffer while I wait for the stragglers to catch up. At what point should I
transplant the seedlings?

What should I transplant into? I'll be using pots, and I read a page that
said to have a pot at least 60cm wide. Is that correct?

Apparently they prefer soil with pH around 6. What sort of soil or potting
mix should I use, and what additives would you suggest to get the pH to the
desired level?

Should I actually measure and monitor the pH level, or am I just being an
over-protective "parent"?

As I'm not endowed with a green thumb or two, I'd appreciate any guidance
you could give me.

Thanks

--
Lawrence
"You can just hang outside in the sun all day tossing a ball around, or you
can sit at your computer and do something that matters." - Eric Cartman - 4
October 2006

Lawrence Logic wrote:
I bought some Bhut Jolokai seeds and some Orange Habanero seeds on
eBay a couple of weeks before Christmas, but was unable to plant them
when the weather became cooler and wet on the Gold Coast. Last
Sunday I went to Bunnings, after the promise of warmer weather, and
bought a mini green house with twenty four segments for planting
seeds, plus a small bag of seed raising mix, and set about planting
twelve of each seed. From what I'd read via Google, they should
sprout after two to four weeks.

You are a bit late in the season but if it stays warm and you are not in a
frost area you might get them to maturity before winter.

As I've never done anything like this before, I approached the
venture with failure foremost in my mind. Today, however, a little
baby Bhut Jolokai popped its head above the soil from the seed known
as BJ10 - just a couple of hours more than a week since it was
planted. I'm hoping that its eleven siblings and twelve cousins
won't be too far behind.
After that long-winded preface, I have a few questions:

Does anyone here have experience with growing these chillis,
particularly the Bhut Jolokai?


Nope I am talking about chilli plants in general.

I have the vents closed on the mini green house to keep in the heat
and moisture. My little green friend probably has different
requirements now, such as a fresh supply of oxygen. My concern is
that the mini green house can only provide one environment at a time,
so I don't want the seedlings to suffer while I wait for the
stragglers to catch up. At what point should I transplant the
seedlings?

Don't keep them too moist or you will get fungus. You would be better off
opening the vents and checking for water each day. Transplant when the
second pair of true leaves appear.

What should I transplant into? I'll be using pots, and I read a page
that said to have a pot at least 60cm wide. Is that correct?

For how many chilli plants each? A 30cm pot would do for one. You could
get 3 in a 60cm if the mix was good and rich. Bigger pots have the
advantage that they don't dry out as quickly as small ones. Mulch the top.
Keep in filtered sun until they take.


Apparently they prefer soil with pH around 6. What sort of soil or
potting mix should I use, and what additives would you suggest to get
the pH to the desired level?


Most potting mix is slightly acid which is what you want but it may be
already limed so don't start adding lime etc unless you are sure the pH is
wrong. If it isn't on the bag the manufacturer may tell you.

Should I actually measure and monitor the pH level, or am I just
being an over-protective "parent"?


I wouldn't worry too much, if the pH is 5 or 7 they will still do OK. If
you are likely to grow other things in future or really want to know the pH
get one of the dye indicator kits (about $15) not a meter.

As I'm not endowed with a green thumb or two, I'd appreciate any
guidance you could give me.

Thanks

Enrich your potting mix with horse or cow manure or compost before you
plant. After they have taken move them into full sun and check the moisture
daily as they will dry out quickly in a pot especially on hot days and very
especially on exposed balconies or verandas. Chilli plants like heat but
not to dry out and wilt.

David

"David Hare-Scott" wrote in message
...
Lawrence Logic wrote:
I bought some Bhut Jolokai seeds and some Orange Habanero seeds on
eBay a couple of weeks before Christmas, but was unable to plant them
when the weather became cooler and wet on the Gold Coast. Last
Sunday I went to Bunnings, after the promise of warmer weather, and
bought a mini green house with twenty four segments for planting
seeds, plus a small bag of seed raising mix, and set about planting
twelve of each seed. From what I'd read via Google, they should
sprout after two to four weeks.

You are a bit late in the season but if it stays warm and you are not in a
frost area you might get them to maturity before winter.


I live at Nerang. I wouldn't expect any frost for quite a while, if I get
any at all.

As I've never done anything like this before, I approached the
venture with failure foremost in my mind. Today, however, a little
baby Bhut Jolokai popped its head above the soil from the seed known
as BJ10 - just a couple of hours more than a week since it was
planted. I'm hoping that its eleven siblings and twelve cousins
won't be too far behind.
After that long-winded preface, I have a few questions:

Does anyone here have experience with growing these chillis,
particularly the Bhut Jolokai?


Nope I am talking about chilli plants in general.


Understood.

I have the vents closed on the mini green house to keep in the heat
and moisture. My little green friend probably has different
requirements now, such as a fresh supply of oxygen. My concern is
that the mini green house can only provide one environment at a time,
so I don't want the seedlings to suffer while I wait for the
stragglers to catch up. At what point should I transplant the
seedlings?

Don't keep them too moist or you will get fungus. You would be better off
opening the vents and checking for water each day. Transplant when the
second pair of true leaves appear.


I've opened the vents and I'm administering a gentle spray of water each
evening. The sections of the "green house" are usually pretty dry when I
get home each afternoon now that the vents are open.

Six of the Bhuts have sprouted now. What do you mean by "true leaves"?
Does that exclude the pair of leaves that open when these babies first
sprout?

What should I transplant into? I'll be using pots, and I read a page
that said to have a pot at least 60cm wide. Is that correct?

For how many chilli plants each? A 30cm pot would do for one. You could
get 3 in a 60cm if the mix was good and rich. Bigger pots have the
advantage that they don't dry out as quickly as small ones. Mulch the
top. Keep in filtered sun until they take.


I was going to have one pot each. I'll still have one pot each, but I'll
probably compromise and have pots somewhere around 45cm in diameter. I want
them to have enough room to spread their roots and grow as much as they can.
The pots are still on the "to buy" list, so I haven't committed to anything
yet.


Apparently they prefer soil with pH around 6. What sort of soil or
potting mix should I use, and what additives would you suggest to get
the pH to the desired level?


Most potting mix is slightly acid which is what you want but it may be
already limed so don't start adding lime etc unless you are sure the pH is
wrong. If it isn't on the bag the manufacturer may tell you.


So you'd advise that I use a potting mix rather than digging soil from
somewhere and trying to treat it to satisfy what I think the plants will
require? My intention is to get good results, so I'll buy whatever I need
to achieve that.

Should I actually measure and monitor the pH level, or am I just
being an over-protective "parent"?


I wouldn't worry too much, if the pH is 5 or 7 they will still do OK. If
you are likely to grow other things in future or really want to know the
pH get one of the dye indicator kits (about $15) not a meter.


I'll consider getting a kit. If I monitor what's going on, at least I can
use my experience from this attempt to make a better fist next time in the
event that everything turns to fertiliser!!

As I'm not endowed with a green thumb or two, I'd appreciate any
guidance you could give me.

Thanks

Enrich your potting mix with horse or cow manure or compost before you
plant. After they have taken move them into full sun and check the
moisture daily as they will dry out quickly in a pot especially on hot
days and very especially on exposed balconies or verandas. Chilli plants
like heat but not to dry out and wilt.


I don't have a balcony or a verandah. I have places to strategically locate
the pots so that the sun exposure can be controlled to a point. That's why
I'm using pots rather than planting them in the garden where they'll be in
the sun all day.

Thanks very much for your advice, David. I'll let you know how things
progress.

--
Lawrence
"If I don't see you in the future, I'll see you in the past" - Tommy Bolin -
Melbourne 1975

Lawrence Logic wrote:
I have the vents closed on the mini green house to keep in the heat
and moisture. My little green friend probably has different
requirements now, such as a fresh supply of oxygen. My concern is
that the mini green house can only provide one environment at a
time, so I don't want the seedlings to suffer while I wait for the
stragglers to catch up. At what point should I transplant the
seedlings?

Don't keep them too moist or you will get fungus. You would be
better off opening the vents and checking for water each day. Transplant
when the second pair of true leaves appear.


I've opened the vents and I'm administering a gentle spray of water
each evening. The sections of the "green house" are usually pretty
dry when I get home each afternoon now that the vents are open.

Six of the Bhuts have sprouted now. What do you mean by "true
leaves"? Does that exclude the pair of leaves that open when these
babies first sprout?

Yes, those are called cotyledons, see

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cotyledons


What should I transplant into? I'll be using pots, and I read a
page that said to have a pot at least 60cm wide. Is that correct?

For how many chilli plants each? A 30cm pot would do for one. You
could get 3 in a 60cm if the mix was good and rich. Bigger pots
have the advantage that they don't dry out as quickly as small ones.
Mulch the top. Keep in filtered sun until they take.


I was going to have one pot each. I'll still have one pot each, but
I'll probably compromise and have pots somewhere around 45cm in
diameter. I want them to have enough room to spread their roots and
grow as much as they can. The pots are still on the "to buy" list, so
I haven't committed to anything yet.


Apparently they prefer soil with pH around 6. What sort of soil or
potting mix should I use, and what additives would you suggest to
get the pH to the desired level?


Most potting mix is slightly acid which is what you want but it may
be already limed so don't start adding lime etc unless you are sure
the pH is wrong. If it isn't on the bag the manufacturer may tell
you.

So you'd advise that I use a potting mix rather than digging soil from
somewhere and trying to treat it to satisfy what I think the plants
will require? My intention is to get good results, so I'll buy
whatever I need to achieve that.


No I only mentioned potting mix because you did, sorry I missed the "soil
or" part. If you are going to do this regularly it is much cheaper to get a
load of good quality loam delivered in bulk rather than buy soil or potting
mixt in bags, cheaper still if you have (or can borrow) a trailer and save
the delivery fee. Even so you will want to enrich it.

Should I actually measure and monitor the pH level, or am I just
being an over-protective "parent"?


I wouldn't worry too much, if the pH is 5 or 7 they will still do
OK. If you are likely to grow other things in future or really want
to know the pH get one of the dye indicator kits (about $15) not a
meter.

I'll consider getting a kit. If I monitor what's going on, at least
I can use my experience from this attempt to make a better fist next
time in the event that everything turns to fertiliser!!


It will last for years and do many tests before the chemicals run out.

As I'm not endowed with a green thumb or two, I'd appreciate any
guidance you could give me.

Thanks

Enrich your potting mix with horse or cow manure or compost before
you plant. After they have taken move them into full sun and check
the moisture daily as they will dry out quickly in a pot especially
on hot days and very especially on exposed balconies or verandas. Chilli
plants like heat but not to dry out and wilt.


I don't have a balcony or a verandah. I have places to strategically
locate the pots so that the sun exposure can be controlled to a
point. That's why I'm using pots rather than planting them in the
garden where they'll be in the sun all day.

Thanks very much for your advice, David. I'll let you know how things
progress.

Provided you can prevent them from drying right out and wilting they will
grow best in full sun once the roots are established. Using pots does allow
you to control things to some extent but the disadvantage is that they dry
out much more quickly than plants in the ground.

Plants that produce fruit are high energy users and high energy builders.
Annual plants that fruit are more so. That's why you need rich soil, full
sun and planty of water. If you want to see this taken to extreme grow
pumpkins but leave word of your whereabouts before you enter the pumpkin
patch so a rescue can be mounted if you don't get back.

David

"David Hare-Scott" wrote in message
...
Lawrence Logic wrote:

Six of the Bhuts have sprouted now. What do you mean by "true
leaves"? Does that exclude the pair of leaves that open when these
babies first sprout?

Yes, those are called cotyledons, see

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cotyledons


Thanks David. That takes me back to my agriculture class in high school. I
actually had the word "dicotyledon" going through my head when I saw the
sprouts, but I didn't really know why. Thanks for the link.

Nine of my twelve babies have popped their heads up, but one had an
unfortunate skull-cap. The seed husk was sitting proudly on top. When I
saw the same on the only Orange Habanero to reveal itself, I removed it and
was greeted by a couple of first leaves. The Bhut didn't fare so well and
just has small first leaves. I'm hoping that it'll catch up.

I was expecting these seeds to take a while to germinate but now I'm
thinking only negative thoughts about those that haven't presented
themselves yet. It's still only 17 days since they were planted. Should I
remain optimistic about the stragglers? Can my negative waves have an
adverse affect on them?

--
Lawrence
"Butters, we're done talking about girls' balls right now. Pay
attention!" - Eric Cartman - 14 November 2007

Lawrence Logic wrote:
"David Hare-Scott" wrote in message
...
Lawrence Logic wrote:

Six of the Bhuts have sprouted now. What do you mean by "true
leaves"? Does that exclude the pair of leaves that open when these
babies first sprout?

Yes, those are called cotyledons, see

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cotyledons


Thanks David. That takes me back to my agriculture class in high
school. I actually had the word "dicotyledon" going through my head
when I saw the sprouts, but I didn't really know why. Thanks for the
link.
Nine of my twelve babies have popped their heads up, but one had an
unfortunate skull-cap. The seed husk was sitting proudly on top. When I
saw the same on the only Orange Habanero to reveal itself, I
removed it and was greeted by a couple of first leaves. The Bhut
didn't fare so well and just has small first leaves. I'm hoping that
it'll catch up.
I was expecting these seeds to take a while to germinate but now I'm
thinking only negative thoughts about those that haven't presented
themselves yet. It's still only 17 days since they were planted. Should I
remain optimistic about the stragglers? Can my negative
waves have an adverse affect on them?

I cannot recall the usual time for chillis but 17 days doesn't seem over
long. A degree of variation in emergence time is normal. The slow ones may
be genetically inferior or slowed down by the environment (in a dry corner
or planted too deep for example). If you are short of starters plant out
the runts anyway as they may recover and go on the give good yields. You
can always select later by saving the seeds of the healthiest plants. If you
have plenty cull them.

You should avoid discouraging your plants with negative thoughts. For those
gardeners with a predisposition to anxiety and negativity this force can be
counteracted in a number of ways.

A pyramidal hat can have a shielding effect. I have also heard that the
same can be achieved by only wearing underpants made of natural fibres or
better still none at all.

You could try combining the two effects if you can find a seamstress who
will stitch you some pyramidal hemp undies. I am not certain if the
direction of the apex is important, you and she may have to experiment with
orientation. Or forget the stitching and just fructify the fields together
at the next full moon.

David

"David Hare-Scott" wrote in message
...
Lawrence Logic wrote:
"David Hare-Scott" wrote in message
...
Lawrence Logic wrote:

Six of the Bhuts have sprouted now. What do you mean by "true
leaves"? Does that exclude the pair of leaves that open when these
babies first sprout?

Yes, those are called cotyledons, see

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cotyledons


Thanks David. That takes me back to my agriculture class in high
school. I actually had the word "dicotyledon" going through my head
when I saw the sprouts, but I didn't really know why. Thanks for the
link.
Nine of my twelve babies have popped their heads up, but one had an
unfortunate skull-cap. The seed husk was sitting proudly on top. When I
saw the same on the only Orange Habanero to reveal itself, I
removed it and was greeted by a couple of first leaves. The Bhut
didn't fare so well and just has small first leaves. I'm hoping that
it'll catch up.
I was expecting these seeds to take a while to germinate but now I'm
thinking only negative thoughts about those that haven't presented
themselves yet. It's still only 17 days since they were planted. Should
I remain optimistic about the stragglers? Can my negative
waves have an adverse affect on them?

I cannot recall the usual time for chillis but 17 days doesn't seem over
long. A degree of variation in emergence time is normal. The slow ones
may be genetically inferior or slowed down by the environment (in a dry
corner or planted too deep for example). If you are short of starters
plant out the runts anyway as they may recover and go on the give good
yields. You can always select later by saving the seeds of the healthiest
plants. If you have plenty cull them.

You should avoid discouraging your plants with negative thoughts. For
those gardeners with a predisposition to anxiety and negativity this force
can be counteracted in a number of ways.

A pyramidal hat can have a shielding effect. I have also heard that the
same can be achieved by only wearing underpants made of natural fibres or
better still none at all.

You could try combining the two effects if you can find a seamstress who
will stitch you some pyramidal hemp undies. I am not certain if the
direction of the apex is important, you and she may have to experiment
with orientation. Or forget the stitching and just fructify the fields
together at the next full moon.


I'm not sure about pyramidal hemp undies, David, but I went to work on
Monday wearing a tin-foil hat and a pair of hand-knitted underpants made
from organic potato peels. Yesterday I wore much the same but dispensed
with the underpants. Alas that's all I actually wore, which is why I'm not
at work today and able to spend more time attending to the chillis.

My research into germination times has returned differing results, including
one site that suggests that Bhuts and Habaneros take at least three weeks.
I'm ahead of the game, based on that, and there's a full moon on Saturday.

I took the lid off the mini green house and gave my babies about an hour of
mid-morning sun today. One can only assume that they appreciated it because
they're still alive to tell the tale. They usually have abundant light and
warmth, but nothing direct or very bright/hot.

--
Lawrence
"Noooo! That's ignorant! I'm not dead. I just have a skin condition." -
Michael Jackson - 7 October 2009

My chillis are still small and most don't have their second leaves. Those
that do only have a third leaf rather than a new pair, while some others
started developing a third leaf which has since disappeared. Are they in
peril? I'm sure that the cooler damp weather in South East Queensland isn't
doing them any favours.

From the twelve of each planted, I have eleven Bhuts and two Habaneros. It
would be a shame if I ended up with none.

Also, will they still be viable (assuming that they survive) next "chilli"
season?

Thanks

--
Lawrence
"Paul Watson was an unorganised incompetent media whore who thought lying to
everyone was OK as long as it served his cause" - Larry King - 28 October
2009