Friday, September 30, 2011

Dropped 9 Pods in a Week? Ouch!

My Costa Rican Reds:
The first 2 were showing signs of rot before they dropped. Over the course of a week 9 hit the ground including 1 that was almost ripe.
Fertilizer; check.
Magnesium; check.
Calcium; none.
Hmm, BER (blossom end rot) is a sure sign of a calcium deficiency, especially if the plants are getting a proper dose of magnesium.
I applied an organic fertilizer I found here that includes bone meal (calcium source) and within 4 days the pods stopped dropping and no sign of BER.
It's now 7 days and the pods are looking good and haven't lost any more.
So, a heads-up out there regarding the importance of calcium.

My Orange Habaneros:
I lost one orange Habanero plant to....something? I could not see any insects on the plant.
I've been treating with Chitosan and the other 5 are looking fine. They are budding up and will be producing in a week or 2.




Tuesday, September 13, 2011

State of The Garden; Such as it Is...

Progress at last as the red Habs produce some monster pods (for here) and the orange Hab seedlings are growing quite well. Some pictures from this morning;

A 5.5cm dia. red Hab pod;


My most productive plant so far;


The Red Bed;


And my Orange Bed; remember these little guys?


So far so good; it might be worth noting; the orange Habs are 1st or 2nd generation Thai and the reds are 3rd or 4th generation Thai. I'm hoping over time they will fully acclimate to the soil and basic weather (temp/humidity/sun) here in the LOS.
I made a delicious salsa fresca using of the first two red Habs. They were the perfect heat for about a liter and a half of finished salsa. Very spicy but leaving ones head intact, so-to-speak.
Cheers.




Sunday, September 4, 2011

Applied Chitosan Again Sunday Morning...

...because the plants are starting to exhibit leaf curling and some yellowish looking leaves.
The pods are growing huge and all of the red Habanero plants are now producing.
The 6 orange Habanero plants look very healthy and are doing quite well at this point. It will probably be a couple of weeks before they'll start flowering.
I haven't yet tried the first pod yet; got a small batch of salsa coming soon that it will go into; maybe tomorrow...