Birds and Insects; since I put the net around the pots, I've had no further problems from birds.
Insects are an unknown factor at this time. I haven't had anything (insects) attack any of the plants. It may be because it's not a native species, so there are no insect predators. Or, maybe it will take awhile for some enterprising insect to discover a new menu. There are many choices of herbicides and insecticides available here so I'm not too concerned. I'd rather deal with things naturally, but will do whatever it takes to bring in the crop.
So far so good.
Pots; previously I had mentioned I would be using non-glazed pots because it's very difficult to over water plants when using them. For germination, I will continue to use them; but for the final pot I changed my mind and have gone with 16" dia. x 12" dp. glazed pots with saucers. Heres why; occasionally I'll need to be away for a few days (up to 4 or 5) and if I use unglazed pots they're likely to go dry after 2-3 days. Glazed pots will hold water for a longer time, especially if I water until the saucers fill thereby giving a reservoir which will wick up into the pot and should give me 5-6 days before the plants would go critical. The other factor is that after the plants roots become bound by the limits of the size of the pot then over watering becomes almost impossible. Cheers and good growing. :)
Monday, January 25, 2010
Friday, January 22, 2010
Birds
Thursday I removed the baby net thinking my plants were big enough to face nature unprotected. Wrong! Birds got 3 leaves on one plant and 2 leaves on the other. No real harm done because they didn't top them. Here's my solution;
It's the plastic netting people use to keep dogs from going through fences and gates. When doing the wrap be sure to overlap by about 4 rows and get black wire ties (not the opaque ones) because they are UV resistant. Anyway, easy peasy and it doesn't block the sun.
It's the plastic netting people use to keep dogs from going through fences and gates. When doing the wrap be sure to overlap by about 4 rows and get black wire ties (not the opaque ones) because they are UV resistant. Anyway, easy peasy and it doesn't block the sun.
Monday, January 18, 2010
Growing More Than One Species of Capsicum at the Same Time
My friend Colin and I want to grow Habaneros and Jalapeños at the same time so we have choices on any given day. Therein lies a potential problem.
If one is growing for seed (we are) then cross pollination becomes a potential problem. If one just wants fruit and will use bought seeds for each planting; then no problem, grow as many types as you like.
In my research it has been suggested a distance of 300 meters between types is the minimum to avoid cross pollination.
Our solution, since we are 16k apart, is to each choose one variety. I'll grow one variety and he'll grow the other.
In the northern climes, capsicum is an annual; but here in the tropics it's a perennial and can produce for many years.
If one is growing for seed (we are) then cross pollination becomes a potential problem. If one just wants fruit and will use bought seeds for each planting; then no problem, grow as many types as you like.
In my research it has been suggested a distance of 300 meters between types is the minimum to avoid cross pollination.
Our solution, since we are 16k apart, is to each choose one variety. I'll grow one variety and he'll grow the other.
In the northern climes, capsicum is an annual; but here in the tropics it's a perennial and can produce for many years.
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Protect your new seedlings with this...
A Baby Net; available at Big C, Tesco, or Carefour for about ฿250. Colin lost 1 or 2 plants just after they sprouted, to birds. Wait until your plants out-grow the net and they should be ready to face nature.
Just after I wrote the above; a brown, thumbnail sized moth got under my net and decapitated my latest sprout; the one that came up this morning.
These damn moths fly fast and erratic and it went under as I replaced the net and I missed seeing it. Nuts!
Just after I wrote the above; a brown, thumbnail sized moth got under my net and decapitated my latest sprout; the one that came up this morning.
These damn moths fly fast and erratic and it went under as I replaced the net and I missed seeing it. Nuts!
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Welcome to my blog
Due to mis-labeled commercial seed packs from a company in the U.K. (Thompson-Morgan, Ltd.) we got a mis-start in our Habanero growing venture. I've deleted the irrelevant posts and kept the ones that generally apply to growing potted plants.
So after the false start we actually got going February 9th, 2010.
I've started growing Habanero peppers which I miss very much; because, I've never been able to get them in 7 years I've been living here. I've spoken to many people who have tried and failed to grow Habaneros here in LOS. A friend of mine and I now have 1 Habanero and things are looking good; at least so far.
I'm keeping a daily dairy of the process and will post as I go along. The one thing we've learned is; it isn't easy to grow them here due to many reasons; which I'll go into as things progress.
Hope to hear from you out there; feed back is a good thing and maybe together we'll figure it out.
Keep checking in for updates. Thanks,
Verne
So after the false start we actually got going February 9th, 2010.
I've started growing Habanero peppers which I miss very much; because, I've never been able to get them in 7 years I've been living here. I've spoken to many people who have tried and failed to grow Habaneros here in LOS. A friend of mine and I now have 1 Habanero and things are looking good; at least so far.
I'm keeping a daily dairy of the process and will post as I go along. The one thing we've learned is; it isn't easy to grow them here due to many reasons; which I'll go into as things progress.
Hope to hear from you out there; feed back is a good thing and maybe together we'll figure it out.
Keep checking in for updates. Thanks,
Verne
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)