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.

New Dehydrator...

A friend of ours, in BKK, found a genuine food dehydrator at Verasu; a high end kitchen appliance store.

It's 13-1/2" in diameter (34.3 cm.) and each of the 4 trays will hold 1-1/2 lbs. (600g.) of product. Suffice to say, it will be a long time before I have enough pods to fill it to capacity.

The quality seems very good (it was made in Germany) with 3 heat settings; #1 (20c above ambient temperature); #2 (40c above ambient temperature); and #3 (60c above ambient temperature). Included is a timer in 1 hour increments to 12 hours.

I'll do a working review of this in a few days; when I have enough pods for one full tray.

Habanero Gold Jelly...

As per my previous post; here's the use of frozen Habaneros for jelly. With such a sporadic harvest, freezing is the only viable option when one has enough powdered Habaneros.

Because canning jars are extremely difficult to find; I decided to use parafin for a seal after sterilizing and filling these Mason Jars. I'm going to use straight sided glasses in the future.

I've noticed as the jelly ages the heat builds and the Habanero flavor comes out in a very nice way. Excellent on toast and cream cheese and assorted meats. Cheers.

A Very Long and Wet Rainy Season

This has been a year of The Weather and there is no end in sight.
Last summer was the hottest in 60 years and now we're enduring the worst flooding in 50 years.
North, south, and east of us is under water to greater and lesser degrees. While we're not flooded here we are getting a lot of rain every day. The plants in the ground are faring far better than my potted plants; which are in a holding pattern. I have lost a few pods to rot (2 or 3), but the rest are slow to ripen. Those that do are going into the freezer for jelly or sauce.
Unfortunately there is no immediate end in sight. Typhoon Megi has slammed the Philippines and is headed for China; we'll get more clouds and rain over the next week for certain.
A structure is in the works which will allow me to control not only the amount of sun the plants get but rainfall as well using a removable, clear, plastic tarp.

My Profound Apologies to Those Who Asked for Help in the Comment Section

I just figured out how to check "comments" left here for me. Some have requested help based on older posts made by me and I hadn't checked back; I now know how to do that.
I promise to do a much better job from today forward; thank you so much for checking my blog.
Kindest regards, Verne.

Today's Grow List...

Following is a list of what I've got growing and their status;
1) Bhut Jolokia (young plants)
2) Dorset Naga (setting pods)
3) Fatalii (yellow) (seedlings)
4) Jalapeño (Early) (setting pods)
5) Habanero (chocolate) (young plants)
6) Habanero (orange) (harvesting pods)
7) Habanero (Costa Rican red) (harvesting pods)
8) Habanero (yellow) (seedlings)
9) Habanero (Paper Lantern) (seedlings)
10) Tepins (Chiltepin) (seedlings)

Harvesting and Preserving...

...when one finds themselves producing more than they can consume. I should think this is every grower's dream; but it can present problems if one doesn't have anywhere to move the product. This is where preservation becomes a solution.
The options are many; freezing, drying, pickling, canning, giving away to neighbors, and selling (if one has a market). A market is in the works; the neighbors think Habs are too hot, I can't find canning supplies, pickling is not an option at this time; so, freezing, drying, and powder are easy answers. Here's some pictures of my efforts so far;

Orange Habanero dried pods above and powder below.

I haven't yet used the dried pods for anything except powder. The powder is excellent; as hot as expected and a slightly smoky flavor, delicious. This may be my favorite form because of it's versatility and unique flavor. Cheers.

Going Organic

Everything I do in growing capsicum is organic, except 1 thing; insecticide (I've only used it 3 times in 6 months)!
That's about to change: because today I found "Neem" oil (actually my friend Colin found it); you've probably heard of it before.
Neem oil is an extract of the seeds of the neem tree. These trees grow from India to Vietnam and thankfully here in Thailand as well. In Thai it is called Sadao and the oil is "oui Sadao". A 150ml bottle is ฿50.
I have a recipe (which I need to find) which I will post here asap. I can say it involves garlic, ginger, neem oil, and one or two other ingredients. I seem to remember there is a fermentation process as well.
Recipe coming soon. Cheers.

It Seems the Plants Produce More When the Harvest Begins...

One of the reasons I'm experimenting with drying is that as I've begun harvesting on a daily basis, the plants seem to start producing more. I've gotten 35 pods in the last 3 days and tomorrow there will be more.
I'm looking into a proper dehydrator because this rainy season is wetter and higher humidity than I've seen for my many years here. It's all good and too many pods is certainly better than too few. Cheers.

A Kradong in the Sun or; Drying Pods Naturally

I took a few pods today to try sun drying. My wife bought me a couple of Kradongs (bamboo drying baskets) to dry my pods naturally in the sun. I've never done this before so I didn't commit all of the harvested pods to this first attempt. Here's a picture; (click for a larger image)

As luck would have it; others were interested in my harvest;

There, that should fix'em!

Today

Click the image to enlarge it;

There are 5 red and 16 orange Habaneros. Cheers.

Today's Harvest...

Actually it's 2 days worth of harvest and probably a few more later this afternoon. Heat and flavor have proven to be as expected. I gave a couple of orange Habaneros to a Thai couple who had done some work for us. This was 4 days ago and I saw the wife today and asked her if they had eaten them. I got a good laugh from her answer and facial expression; "phet mak mak, tao wah, arroi!"
Here's some pics; click the image to see a bigger version;

3 reds and 6 orange Habaneros. They're going into a Habanero, garlic sauce. I'll post the recipe when I know what is is for sure. Cheers.

Update: Here's the recipe;

3 red Habaneros

6 orange Habaneros

8 cloves of garlic

2 tbsp. vinegar

1 tbsp. water

1 tbsp. raw sugar

1/2 tsp. salt

Combine all ingredients in a food processor (blenders don't work well with so little liquid) and pulse until everything reduces to a paste and then run steady until you get the texture you want. I prefer some body so I don't completely liquefy the mixture. Cheers.

Fertilizers, Numbers, and Nutrition...

The further I get into growing C. chinense, annums, and baccatums the more I'm not impressed with numbers like 16-16-16, 8-24-24, 0-10-30, and 3-2-2.  Numbers are akin to steroids and have little to do with nutrition. The only non-organic nutrient I've used is Fetrilon-Combi 1 which is a source of magnesium, iron, zinc, boron, copper, etc.,etc.. Soil in my region of Thailand is deficient in many of these micro-nutrients; thus the use of this product. But Fetrilon isn't food; it's more like vitamins/minerals.
For food I'm using compost, wood ash, and cow manure. This feeds the plants and builds a healthy soil with a thriving community of healthy microbes.
Recently I've learned of Vermi-Compost Tea. It is rich in beneficial bacteria. Three days ago I bought the equipment to make some. The equipment is an air pump (the kind used for aquariums) and a couple of air-stones. Here's the recipe;
1-1/2 c. Vermi-Compost
2 tbsp. molasses or raw sugar (food for the microbes)
1 gal. chlorine free water
Combine all ingredients in a bucket w/lid and run air through it for 24 hours. Strain the solids out (cheese cloth works) and mix 1 part tea with equal part water and spray foliar or pour in the soil.
I had made 4 gallons which yielded 8 gallons when mixed 1:1 with, in my case, rain water. I fed the tea to all 30 of my plants. Here's a pic of the pump set-up. Click on the picture for a larger image;

Everything in the picture cost a total of ฿500 (which is about $14 USD).
Cheers.

Recipe; Habanero/Garlic/Tomato Salsa

Ingredients

5 or more orange Habaneros (all I had or there would be 8)

5 ripe, medium tomatoes

1 bulb garlic (12-14 cloves)

½ c. fresh lime juice

½ medium onion

3 tbsp. tomato paste

2 tbsp. Gebhardt’s Chili Powder

1 tsp. salt

1 tbsp. raw sugar

1-1/2 tsp. black pepper

I used a food processor to chop everything. Don’t overload the processor or you’ll chop everything too fine. I like about ¼” for the tomatoes and onions, and about 1/8” for the Habaneros and garlic (a little smaller won’t hurt).

Mix all ingredients in a medium bowl and chill in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour, 2 is better. Cheers.

Harvested My First Orange Habanero Pod

The thing I learned today is that I'm out of shape; I ate 1/4 of the pod with a full placental rib. It was bloody hot! It's been about 8 years since I'd eaten an orange Habanero due to their lack of availability here. I had eaten some fried rice an hour or two earlier but it still hit my stomach fairly hard, but no problem. The flavor was just as I remembered, which is why I like Habaneros so much.
The burn lasted about 6 minutes and set off some endorphens which was nice, very nice. I don't normally eat raw pods by themselves; I usually make a salsa, put them on pizza, or in a dish like chili con carne.
Anyway, it put a big smile on my face; it appears I've got a good crop. 
Here's a pic;

Pods Turning Color on my Orange Habanero

I came home in the early afternoon to a very pleasant surprise; two pods are turning color. This should be the beginning of a steady stream of ripe pods over the next few months. Here's some pics of just where things are at as of today.
To see a larger image; left click on it;

The Thais have a saying: If the thing is not in your hand; you don't have it. Life here has taught me that this is so...

We'll see in a few days and coming weeks how this all plays out. Cheers.

First Jalapeño Pod Today; More to Follow

My two favorite peppers are Habaneros and Jalapenos and not necessarily in that order. It's been almost 8 years since I've had a fresh Jalapeño and 5 months since I harvested the 4 Habaneros (7 years without before that). I'll post some picks here in the next few days.
Update:  All 5 Costa Rica Red Habaneros and all 7 Orange Habaneros have pods. At last count/estimate there are well over 100 pods. I'm expecting the first ripe ones sometime next week.

Update: Emergency Transplant Procedures...

Remember this Costa Rica Habanero? Remember to click the image to see a larger version;

This was 21 days ago. Here is the same plant today;

This Costa Rica Hab hasn't looked this good for over 4 months. I expect it to start producing again sometime next month. 

While the procedure is extreme; it shows that when plants are ailing they can be saved by timely action and the proper treatment. Cheers. 

Dorset Nagas

These sprouted on the 26th & 30th of June respectively, thus their slightly different sizes. This chinense briefly held the worlds hottest pepper title at over 1,000,000 SHU (Scovile heat units).
Remember to click on the image if you'd like to see a larger picture;

This guy is 6" across and 2-1/2" high. Great proportion IMO.

Bhuts & Nagas and Germination...

On June 7th I planted 4 Bhut Jolokias and 4 Dorset Nagas. Nineteen days later 1 Naga sprouted. On the 23rd day one more sprouted. On the 28th day 1 Bhut Jolokia sprouted and on day 29 the 2nd Bhut sprouted. Then on day 34 2 more Nagas sprouted.
That was it until today; 42 days after planting, 1 more Bhut and 1 more Naga sprouted. I had given up and just by chance I checked my mini green-house (Tupperware container) and to my total surprise there they were.

The moral is to not give up and keep the planting medium viable. Bhuts are notoriously slow to germinate, bhut this is ridiculous.  ;)  Happy growing.

Wednesday July 21: Update; day 44 and two more Chocolate Habanero and one more Bhut Jolokia have sprouted for a total of 31 plants.


Wednesday August 4: Update; day 58 and one more Dorset Naga sprouted. I have 2 more Nagas and 4 more Bhuts that have not yet sprouted.   

5 Plants Go In My Raised Bed

For the last couple of months I've been building and grooming a raised bed for 5 of my Habaneros; 2 Costa Rican Red and 3 Orange. I have added composted leaves, grass, kitchen waste (no meat), wood ash, and general yard debris. I also added about 2, 5 gal. buckets of medium coarse coir, to help keep the soil from compacting too much.
Yesterday the Habaneros went in the ground and I top dressed aged, dried cow manure around all of the plants. Last night we had a really good rain, so the plants are looking perky this morning. Here's some photos.
Click picture to see larger image;

Picture Update of the Capsicum I'm Growing

All of the pictures are captioned and if you want to see a bigger shot just click on the picture;

There are 31 30  plants comprising 6 different cultivars of Capsicum; 5 chinense and 1 annum (Early Jalapeño).

Emergency Transplant Procedures...

...for really serious issues regarding soil, roots, over feeding, and general health problems with ones plants.
The original Costa Rica Red Habanero I started with became ill from a collapse of the soil in which it was potted. I transplanted it to the front yard (in the ground) with some potting soil, cow manure, and top dressed in some milled egg shells. That was many months ago and as you can see (pictures below); it's looking pretty pathetic. I fed it everything known to be good nutritionally; nothing helped. Finally, I backed off and have ignored it for more than 2 months. Again, nothing. All it's done is stay alive; that in itself is an accomplishment. Four days ago I decided I'd give it one last try to get it back from the brink. Today I acted and here's the process; from the ground to a pot...
To view a larger picture, just click on it.

This was done yesterday on the 6th of July; I'll update with photos showing the progress of my oldest plant. It produced 4 beautiful and delicious Habaneros before things went downhill; so it's worth saving if I can.

Saturday July 10th 

Update;

This is day 4 after the bare-root transplant. I pruned the plant today to give it a better shape/bushier profile;

 

My Grow List for 2010 and Beyond...

Update today Sunday, August 1st, 2010;
Just a short post today. Here's what I've got growing now;
5 2 Chocolate Habaneros
5 4  Dorset Nagas
3 2 Bhut Jolokias
6 Costa Rica Red Habaneros
8 Orange habaneros
8 4 "Early" Jalapenos (very hot for Jalapenos-30,000 Scovile)

Pictures will follow in a few days.

Coming soon;
Bhut Jalokia
Fatalii Yellow
Paper Lantern
Tepins (very hot wild Mexican pepper)

Soil

Unless one is growing hydroponically one needs a medium in which to grow plants. That medium is soil, whether one plants in pots or in the ground. Here in Central Thailand soil presents a challenge for those wanting to grow Capsicum chinense. Various Annums and frutescens are common cultivars here in Thailand and having had a little experience with them I can say they are relatively easy to germinate and grow. Capsicum chinense, on the other hand, presents a true challenge and proper soil is at the top of that list. Next in order is obtaining the proper nutrients; I prefer organic and that will be my preferred method. Somewhat surprisingly temperature is the third biggest challenge; for at least a few months of the year it's too hot and the plants may not form buds, flowers, and thereby no pods. This is likely in the months of March, April, and possibly May and June (more about that later).
Check my previous post for this:  http://preview.tinyurl.com/Soil-Map-Thailand 
This will tell you the likely soil type in your area.
Soil: here in central Thailand the soil is clay and acidic. C. chinense is best suited to a soil ph of 5.5 to 6.5. After our house had been built we had topsoil brought in; so we have 8 to 12" of good soil. That's fine for growing a lawn but not too good for a decent garden. If that is your situation then pots are the answer and a commercial potting soil needs to be found. I have never bought a soil sight unseen; always ask to open a bag so you can look at it, feel it, and smell it.
A good soil should be a well mixed loam;
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Loam field

"Loam is soil composed of sand, silt, and clay in relatively even concentration (about 40-40-20% concentration respectively).^[1] Loam soils generally contain more nutrients and humus than sandy soils, have better infiltration and drainage than silty soils, and are easier to till than clay soils. Loams are gritty, moist, and retain water easily."

"Loam is considered ideal for gardening and agricultural uses because it retains nutrients well and retains water while still allowing the water to flow freely. This soil is found in a majority of successful farms in regions around the world known for their fertile land. Loam soil feels mellow and is easy to work over a wide range of moisture conditions.There are many different types of loam soils, each with slightly different characteristics, and with some draining liquids more efficiently than others."

"Different proportions of sand, silt, and clay give rise to types of loam soils: sandy loam, silty loam, clay loam, sandy clay loam, silty clay loam, and loam.^[1] A soil dominated by one or two of the three particle size groups can behave like loam if it has a strong granular structure, promoted by a high content of organic matter. However, a soil that meets the textural definition of loam can lose its characteristic desirable qualities when it is compacted, depleted of organic matter, or has clay dispersed throughout its fine-earth fraction."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


The best soil I have found comes from Kanchanaburi Province; it meets the 40%-40%-20% criteria for a good loam. It does tend toward compacting over time. This is easily avoided by adding 30% by volume of a rinsed, coarse (medium coarse), coconut coir. Coconut coir is available as fine, medium and coarse. This is available from any nursery selling a broad range of plants, pots, fertilizers, and soil.


In the end, one may have to accept a soil that is available but not ideal for any number of reasons. If that's the case, there are many things one can do to make it work.  Be sure to ask if it has any fertilizer in it; the seller almost always says yes; that may or may not be true. Do Not Add Any Fertilizer! Wait until it's obvious the plants need feeding.
Composting; is one of the best ways to get some top quality soil. Good, properly done compost can be planted directly, but is most economically used by mixing with lesser quality soil thereby making it a productive planting medium. One doesn't need any fancy barrels or other commercial composting containers to make compost. My wife collects leaves, grass clippings, twigs, general yard debris, and we throw our kitchen scraps/waste on the pile also. This is an open pile in our yard. Every few days she turns the pile over with a hoe, moving the pile a little each time. If it gets too dry, water it. It doesn't smell and after 4 - 6 months we have usable compost. Once you've got a working colony of micro-organisms keep feeding them and do not use up all the compost at one time. It's kind of like a sourdough starter. We now have some very healthy worms which I hadn't seen before.
Manures; cow, horse, chicken, duck, bat, and pig will all work very well and are readily available here in Thailand. All manures need to be aged and composted well before applying to the soil. Cow and horse manure have a high fiber/organic content and add a lot to soil quality as well as nutrients for the plants.
Wood ash; is a great source of calcium, phosphorus, potassium, magnesium and sulfur. All of these are critical nutrients for successful growing of Capsicum.
Eggshells; are another source of calcium re a previous post.


Having good quality soil here in Thailand is relatively easy; after a lot of research, some failures, and some sore back muscles. 
The purpose of this blog is to create a shortcut to a successful crop.
Cheers.
     


   

Germinating Seeds

In my experience, here in Thailand, DO NOT use soil for seed germination. I have tried 6 different types of commercially available potting soil and only one was successful for germination and that was for a Thai pepper of the annum family. Out of 100+ chinense seeds (mostly Costa Rican Red) only 1 germinated. Recently my wife did get 2 orange Habanero seeds to germinate in our top soil (from our yard) but only 1 survived and it's growing very, very slowly.
The greatest success has been from coir pucks; roughly 90+%. Out of 20 successful germinations 17 have survived (pics in a previous post of some) and are growing well.
Chinense are notoriously slow to germinate and one did take 27 days (for 4 Costa Rica Red Habaneros) to pop up; I had almost given up on them. My experience with Nagas, bhuts, choc Habs, orange Habs, and red Habs has been from 5 days to 27 days and I've heard of longer, so don't be too quick to give up.
Be sure not to let the germinating medium dry out, but avoid outright wetness; damp is ideal.
I would also recommend NOT using tap water because it is likely very alkaline. Rain water, distilled water, or RO (reverse osmosis) water is best and that would go for normal watering also. I save as much rain water as I can in large barrels. I have noticed a marked increase in growth since the rainy season started.
After germination, soil is the next most important item. That will be my next post.

Making Calcium Phosphate

Here in Thailand I have yet to find a calcium supplement for my plants. I did some research and asked questions on The Hot Pepper Forum (great resource) and have the recipe for making calcium phosphate;
1. Roast/toast crushed eggshells. I used a dry wok. Heat the finely crushed shells until they are black. Don't do this in the house unless you have a really good exhaust fan.
2. Soak roasted eggshells in equal volume of vinegar for two weeks until the vinegar dissolves the eggshells. The mixture will bubble and foam for a few minutes so don't immediately tighten the lid of the jar.
3. Dilute 1:20 parts water (2 tbsp/gal.) and spray on plants or water into the dirt around the plants.
4. This is best used during a specific period in the plants growth; such as just before flowering/fruiting. That said; calcium is important throughout the entire growing cycle.

 


This is a pretty easy process and takes about 30 minutes the first time. Don't forget; let the mixture sit for 2 full weeks.