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)