New Crop on the way...

As may be remembered, I dehydrated about a kilo of reds, chocolates, and orange Habaneros. I gleaned seeds from those pods and to my surprise they are germinating. There are 4 reds in the garden and they are doing well so far.
My wife has been making compost for almost 2 years now and we've added it into 3 large beds as well as individual plantings.
I recently met an Aqua-culture scientist who told me about a product which is a bio-cide/fungicide soil treatment made from the waste of ocean products (fish, etc.) and I will post more information as I can get it as well as a product name.
I'll post pics as appropriate and try to update on a regular basis. Cheers and Happy Trails...

Update (07-23-11): re: my previous post in April, Dang (the scientist) indicated the soil was the problem in-so-much as harmful bacteria and nematodes in the soil are the problem with my plants. Chitosan is the treatment he gave me for the problem; time will tell if he's correct, but it's certainly worth a try. More later as things develope.

Well here I am; all my plants have expired...

...and the worst of it is: I don't know why.
It seems they do well through their first crop and steadily go down from there. I've got 6 seedlings (Costa Rica Red Habaneros) ready to plant in the next week. I'll follow that up with some Orange Habaneros and possibly a few Chocolates after that.
My dream of ever-bearing C. chinense here are tempered by a different reality; so be it.
Cheers.

Soil, Mine; the continuing saga...

Well, the blisters are almost gone and the "soil project" moves forward. Wednesday the 19th Ajarn Oot will come over and shepherd me through using an auger (1-1/2" dia.) to bore many holes in the garden area. We will then fill the holes with water which should then flood the sub-straight, thereby softening the soil. At least in theory.
Frankly, the few square meters I've dug up already are the most difficult (translate=hard) soil I've ever worked and I'll take all the help I can get.
More later. Cheers.

Soil, Mine, Continued...

Last Sunday we had a master gardener and his wife (our friends) over for early morning coffee and cornbread.
Visiting my raised beds Oot (his nickname) squatted down and picked up some dirt and immediately said it was no good. No surprise there; but he had/has a remedy.
Early that same afternoon we went over to his house which is located on a few acres (4 - 6 rai) of beautiful property. He does everything organically and mixes his own dirt. It should be noted here that in our area the "dirt" is riven with clay and when it's dried out is as hard as concrete. That said; his diagnosis of my problem is the clay and I haven't broken it up enough and thoroughly mixed it with humus. So, when my beds dry out they become raised concrete/soil beds. The result is the roots have no where to go. I confirmed that last week when I dug up and re-potted 2 of my bedded plants (2 Costa Rican Reds). They appear to be recovering in their new "homes".

Oot's formula for dirt is as follows:
1. Dig down 1 foot and break up the hard pan. Make it as fine as possible (nothing bigger than course salt).
2. Mix in an equal amount of milled cow manure and an equal amount of milled coconut coir.
3. The ratio of dirt, coir, and manure is 1:1:1.
4. The raised bed should go down 30cm (1 foot) below ground level and extend about 12-15cm (6 in.) above ground level.
5. Make the beds about 2 meters wide for planting a double row. Capsicum roots tend to spread out as opposed to going deep; so it's important not to make the beds too narrow.

I've started digging up my first new bed and even with the ground wet, it's still quite a job. I've got to toughen up my hands again; blisters are us. It's slow going at the moment.
I've laid in all of the supplies (milled manure and coir) and dug up about 2 sq. meters of bed.
It seems odd to begin all over again after 14 months of growing; but I'm confident I'm finally on the right track. Oot's capsicum are looking great (as they should) so I know he know's what he's doing.

I'll be following up on this thread as things develop and will post pictures where appropriate.
It's a new year and time for some new challenges. Cheers and Happy New Year.

Soil, Mine, is Problematic...

...and one by one I'm putting my plants back in pots.
Wood vinegar, EM (essential micro-organisms), hydrogen peroxide, and various fertilizers have failed to keep my plants viable. I've lost 4 plants so far; these are mature plants, not seedlings. One Dorset Naga and 3 Caribbean Red Habaneros. Ouch!
I think insects did in my Dorset, but soil was a factor in the other 3. My Jalapenos are struggling, so I recently transplanted 2 back into pot's with a new dirt. My remaining 2 Reds are also back in pots, but for one it may be too late, we'll see. I'll wait until I see some results before digging up everything; that said, I'm not sure I have/see any other options.
Cheers and may the coming seasons find you all well.

Malathion; Aphids and White Flys

Unfortunately I've had to temporarily abandon organic growing because of a very serious Aphid and White Fly infestation. I had to act quickly because the organic remedies were not working.
Having used this product in the states I am familiar with it and it's relatively low toxicity to humans and other mammals. Malathion also degrades fairly quickly in sunlight and air exposure.
It acted immediately upon application and totally eliminated the aphids and white fly's. I had used Carbosulfan (carbamate) before but was never comfortable with it because it's considerably more toxic than malathion.
Malathion is available here in Thailand as malathion in the larger agricultural supply shops. As with any insecticide/herbicide/fungicide follow the directions on the label and do your home-work researching the Internet.
A recommended veggie and fruit wash is a vinegar/water solution; 1:3 vinegar to water.

Wood Vinegar; Food and Pest Control

A friend of my wifes (in the Ag department of her school) gave her a bottle of wood vinegar to use on my C. chinense. I just started using it yesterday as an insecticide and foliar feed @ 1:100 dilution ratio (wood vinegar to water). 
I'm still having soil issues which don't show up until about 3 months after planting. This is true for both my potted plants and the plants in the ground. In one of the links I found (it's at the bottom of this thread), it talks about chili plants and Nematodes. This may be a problem here; so, today I mixed a 1:100 ratio (wood vinegar to water) and watered 4 of my worst plants; soaking the entire root zone to see if it will help.  
Wood vinegar can also be used as a pre-treatment for Nematodes 10 days before planting by treating the planting hole and dirt. This is @ 1:50 dilution ratio (wood vinegar to water).Here's the link;
http://cukayu.blogspot.com/2008/09/typical-consumption-and-dilution.html

I will update this post as time goes on; this is a new product for me and hopefully will see some good results.
Update 17.11.10: 
I treated all 3 raised beds this morning. It's apparent all of my C. chinense and 3 of 7 annums (Jalapenos) are suffering the same problems. I applied @ 1:100 dilution at the rate of 1+ liters/square meter.

Habanero/Garlic Sauce...

This is my first attempt;

It actually turned out pretty well; it's really quite a simple sauce. It consists of 4 main ingredients; Habaneros, garlic, pumpkin, and tamarind. 

Habaneros (33 and 1 small Bhut Jolokia) are the predominate flavor with garlic (60 cloves) present behind the peppers. The heat level is hard to judge because I can handle quite a bit, so for me, it's maybe 5 or 6 on a 1-10 scale; but some people would consider it very hot (maybe an 8 or 9). 

I need to sit down with this sauce over the next few days to get an overall impression and decide if the recipe is a keeper. Cheers. 

Update:  It's been a week and I have been using my sauce almost everyday; dip for chips, dip for chicken, dip for fried garlic pork, added to Minestrone soup (delicious) and as a covering for baked chicken breast and potatoes (baked together). The sauce flavor holds up very nicely and it is very versatile as well. 

The only thing I'd do differently is to add more pods to get a bit more heat. My wife doesn't agree with that; she thinks it's plenty hot but, as a true chili-head, I'd like more heat. Cheers.  

Gelatin

With the help of my friends at the Ratpack Forum here in Thailand I found gelatin today at a bakery supply shop.

The bag is 500g and cost me ฿165 (about $5.50 USD). Between the Sure-Jell I have and the 1/2 kilo of gelatin I can make jelly for the next 2 years. Cheers.

Dehydrating the First Batch of Pods

The first batch of Habaneros is in the dehydrator this morning;

A mixture of red and orange Habaneros.

And now operational;

Much better picture than the previous thread. Cheers.

Update; it's been 24 hours and the pods are retaining their color and almost dehydrated. It is taking a little longer than I expected, but I'm using the lowest temperature.