Try Turbo-1's Habanero Sauce - Hot Stuff!

[rhody]

yFL-jEkWSV8[/youtube] Before you....com/watch?v=yFL-jEkWSV8"]cutting propagation.
I am willing to bet most of you have never heard of indoleacetic acid in plants. It is a plant hormone.

Plant hormones are not nutrients, but chemicals that in small amounts promote and influence the growth,[2] development, and differentiation of cells and tissues. The biosynthesis of plant hormones within plant tissues is often diffuse and not always localized.

and

Hormones are transported within the plant by utilizing four types of movements. For localized movement, cytoplasmic streaming within cells and slow diffusion of ions and molecules between cells are utilized. Vascular tissues are used to move hormones from one part of the plant to another; these include sieve tubes that move sugars from the leaves to the roots and flowers, and xylem that moves water and mineral solutes from the roots to the foliage.

This is a start into a thought process that will hopefully lead somehow to me being able to graft different species of hot peppers onto fast growing root stock made of bamboo. I believe my best chance at success as usual is to work from the bottom up and see what I can invent, exploit coerce or otherwise experiment into my desired outcome, a co-mingled happy as a clam plant species. Even if it results in miserable failure, the knowledge I acquire may pay off in untold ways in the future. Abscisic acid, Auxins, Cytokinins, Ethylene, and Gibberellins (plant hormones) are all my new friends. Time for us to get acquainted. Let the games begin.

Rhody...

 

[rhody]

ACK ! Aphids. My experience with a heat mat and two mature (trimmed back but regrowing new leaves) went horribly wrong. They are both overrun with these terrible little buggers. I took them outside, stripped all the leaves and spray the remaining branches and dirt with the soap solution that is "supposed" to kill them. I am pretty sure had I not heated the soil in the pots with the heat mat this would not have happened. I show the results to a local merchant who grows plants and he suggested a local college with expert gardener's and greenhouses, so I constructed and fired off an e-mail to them. I would like to visit sometime and take my mature plants there and see what else I can do to protect them. If you are growing these things indoors, look under the leaves and check for any signs of them. They drink the water from the leaves, damaging them in the process. I have removed the heat mat from the two affected plants. Live and learn I guess.

The same thing happened late last spring, again, I trimmed the leaves off, and the plant came back. I would like to be able to kill them all, even in the soil if possible. Watch this video, this is why the infestation is so rapid, asexual reproduction by the female every 20 minutes ! Hmm.. this variety clones itself. I really need expert advice to know what aphid species I have. I hope the folks at the college get back to me. If not I will persist until I find the right person or professor to address the issue.

Rhody...

 

[Evo]

yFL-jEkWSV8[/youtube] Before you....com/watch?v=yFL-jEkWSV8"]cutting propagation.
I am willing to bet most of you have never heard of indoleacetic acid in plants. It is a plant hormone.


This is a start into a thought process that will hopefully lead somehow to me being able to graft different species of hot peppers onto fast growing root stock made of bamboo. I believe my best chance at success as usual is to work from the bottom up and see what I can invent, exploit coerce or otherwise experiment into my desired outcome, a co-mingled happy as a clam plant species. Even if it results in miserable failure, the knowledge I acquire may pay off in untold ways in the future. Abscisic acid, Auxins, Cytokinins, Ethylene, and Gibberellins (plant hormones) are all my new friends. Time for us to get acquainted. Let the games begin.

Rhody...

I've always used rootone for my plant propagation. I will look for you Rhody, but I am almost 100% positive that you cannot graft a a pepper plant onto a grass, but I haven't been into grafting since I had my large greenhouse and was really into grafting and rooting. But have fun with it. I wish I had my greenhouse back.

http://www.gardening123.com/productinfo/rootone/benefits.asp

 

[Ms Music]

I found this article interesting. I like innovative ideas. Thought some of you hot pepper folks might be interested also.

http://www.vegetablegardener.com/item/11658/diy-heat-mat-speeds-seed-starting/?utm_source=email&utm_medium=eletter&utm_content=20111221-heat-mat&utm_campaign=vegetable-gardener-eletter

 

[dlgoff]

I found this article interesting. I like innovative ideas. Thought some of you hot pepper folks might be interested also.

http://www.vegetablegardener.com/item/11658/diy-heat-mat-speeds-seed-starting/?utm_source=email&utm_medium=eletter&utm_content=20111221-heat-mat&utm_campaign=vegetable-gardener-eletter

A more efficient way, IMO, would to be to purchase Bulk Heating Tape.

http://www.heatingtapes.com/BulkProduct.gif

 

[rootX]

I was pessimistic so I put all in one pot but it seems like all the seeds have sprouted! That makes me a bit concerned because space might be issue now.

Rhody suggested a heating pad but I ended up relying on my 40-60W table lamp.

 

[rhody]

I was pessimistic so I put all in one pot but it seems like all the seeds have sprouted! That makes me a bit concerned because space might be issue now.

Rhody suggested a heating pad but I ended up relying on my 40-60W table lamp.

Way to go root... root... root... Now get a small spray bottle, and keep the light on them during the day, spray lightly in the morning and evening. Do not let them go without light watering for two days or more. THEY WILL DIE ! A heat mat is best too because the roots like 70F and above. Once they get a bit bigger, get some clear cups, 8 or 12 oz ones and drill some holes in the inner cup, put inside a good cup, and water about once weekly from the bottom. It takes patience and care to grow them to transplant in the late spring. Good luck. use good soil too, not cheap stuff, it has fungus, etc... and watch put for aphids, they can kill the young plants in less than a week. I am fighting them back now, and winning so far.

Rhody...

 

[rhody]

I found this article interesting. I like innovative ideas. Thought some of you hot pepper folks might be interested also.

http://www.vegetablegardener.com/item/11658/diy-heat-mat-speeds-seed-starting/?utm_source=email&utm_medium=eletter&utm_content=20111221-heat-mat&utm_campaign=vegetable-gardener-eletter

Interesting concept, Ms Music, however from your article:

DIY light heat mat
Surface temperature: 72-74
Soil temperature: 78-80
Bottom temperature: 105-110

The bottom temperature is too high for indoors. I would be concerned about melting the light tubes and starting a fire. I would consider something like this outdoors in cold weather in a non attached greenhouse structure to my house. Thanks for passing it on.

Rhody...

 

[rhody]

Here is a photo of three peppers, left to right, ghost pepper chocolate, trinidad scorpion (what a monster, leaves, and stalk), ghost pepper.
I am amazed at how large and vigorous the scorpion pepper is, aren't you ?

http://img268.imageshack.us/img268/1654/threepeppers.jpg

I gave a ghost pepper and a tri-color pepper about the same size as those in the picture to the owner of a store that sells grow lights, pots, hydroponic kits, fertilizer's etc.. He is going to see if he can accelerate the growth cycle by using hydroponics, and showed me a set up of 8 large pots all set up for hydro. You could grow small tree's in these things. He claims with large cuttings from a mature plant he can "clone" them quickly. He said if I bought a series of grow pots, piping, pumps, industrial grow light, and grow tent I could grow large plants the size of trees indoors without bugs or pests. Indoor greenhouse, he claims the electricity to run it would be less than fifty dollars a month. I could produce peppers year round this way.

He is waiting on the grow pot setup now, they just went into production. No one has them. He is going to try to get the ghost plant I gave him to grow large and tall and use it as a conversation piece for his shop. It won't hurt if I decide to launch a small business either. Using hydro to grow them is riskier than using dirt, the temp's and moisture levels must be tightly maintained, controlling pests is much easier because you don't have to worry about treating the dirt.

Rhody...

 

[Moonbear]

Even "good" soil can be a problem if not stored right at the store...even a small puncture in the bag can let in moisture, fungus and insects. You can try sterilizing the soil before using it, though I'm not sure what the best method is for small scale home growing. Maybe you can get sterilized soil from local greenhouse that has equipment to do it on a larger scale.

 

[turbo]

Even "good" soil can be a problem if not stored right at the store...even a small puncture in the bag can let in moisture, fungus and insects. You can try sterilizing the soil before using it, though I'm not sure what the best method is for small scale home growing. Maybe you can get sterilized soil from local greenhouse that has equipment to do it on a larger scale.

I'm not sure that you can get "clean" potting soil this way, anyway. Every greenhouse around here resorts to fungicides/herbicides, regardless of what they tell the public. It's a sad state of affairs.

I have a little mini-greenhouse, and the neighbor that built it for me has a small walk-in greenhouse. We can start most of the plants that we need to grow, but still it would be be nice to be able to grow more of our plants from seeds.

 

[Borek]

I always thought good soil is not sterile - it has its own microflora, which is one of its important features.

I remember seeing a documentary about terrains flooded in Poland in 2010. Some agronomist was explaining that after the flood soil microflora is changed, and it will take many years (around 15?) before it will be as good and productive as before the flood.

 

[rhody]

I always thought good soil is not sterile - it has its own microflora, which is one of its important features.

I remember seeing a documentary about terrains flooded in Poland in 2010. Some agronomist was explaining that after the flood soil microflora is changed, and it will take many years (around 15?) before it will be as good and productive as before the flood.

So does that mean that the production of whatever grows and sold to the open market in these areas should suffer as a result ? Has this been measured and reported ? I imagine there are a number of factors that contribute to it, weather, temperatures,m rainfall, etc, and that it is not easily measured.

Rhody...

 

[Evo]

I'm not sure that you can get "clean" potting soil this way, anyway.

You can buy sterile potting soil just about anywhere.

http://coopext.colostate.edu/4DMG/Soil/sterile.htm

 

[rhody]

You can buy sterile potting soil just about anywhere.

http://coopext.colostate.edu/4DMG/Soil/sterile.htm

Evo,

The plant supply shop owner says that all soil eventually when used over time gets infected with fungus and larvae of insects. I have read that if you use clear cups like I do, healthy roots are white, while roots that are stressed or have aphids in them are yellowish to brown. The have oils you can apply to the soil to kill most of them, you flush it. So far my roots look pretty good, but I will pay more attention as time goes on. It would seem logical to have large clear pots for mature plants as well, although I have never seen them sold anywhere.

Think about it, once a mature plant has soil that is infected somehow, and there is no physical way you can separate the plant from that soil, it is physically impossible. So you do the next best thing, you treat it as best you can without affecting the quality and safety of the peppers or whatever the plant is producing.

If anyone has a better, cheaper more efficient solution, I am all ears. Prevention from infestation is the best way to go, but, realistically I believe this is next to impossible. Agree, disagree ?

Rhody...

 

[Evo]

Evo,

The plant supply shop owner says that all soil eventually when used over time gets infected with fungus and larvae of insects.

Yes, but not initially, which is important to seedlings.

Think about it, once a mature plant has soil that is infected somehow, and there is no physical way you can separate the plant from that soil, it is physically impossible.

You remove the plant and hose the dirt off the roots, you can also trim or score the roots to encourage more root growth, then repot the plant in clean soil.

From a garden site incase you don't believe me.

I've washed entire plants including roots on many occassions...especially after purchasing a plant and found insects or when soil was drenched and needed fresh.

The easiest way to clean roots is by bringing the plant/s outside, remove from pot, and hose off old soil and insects.. If you're going to reuse the pot, it too should be cleaned w/soapy water.

http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/load/houseplt/msg0303101915189.html

 

[rhody]

Yes, but not initially, which is important to seedlings.

You remove the plant and hose the dirt off the roots, you can also trim or score the roots to encourage more root growth, then repot the plant in clean soil.

You have done with with success ? Nice to know. BTW, my two mature plants that I stripped the leaves from three weeks ago have not started any new leaves. I think I need to look at the roots to see if they are damaged. I am going to give them some more time, light, water and heat to see if they start again on their own. The heat mat was what appeared to "jump start" them last time. My other plant I have treated with organic "Concern" soap and it seems to be working so far.

Rhody...

 

[Evo]

You have done with with success ? Nice to know. BTW, my two mature plants that I stripped the leaves from three weeks ago have not started any new leaves. I think I need to look at the roots to see if they are damaged. I am going to give them some more time, light, water and heat to see if they start again on their own. The heat mat was what appeared to "jump start" them last time. My other plant I have treated with organic "Concern" soap and it seems to be working so far.

Rhody...

Stripping off the new leaves may have put the plant into shock. Do you see any undamaged leaf nodes on the stems?

I still say you should buy some ortho spray for aphids. The plants aren't setting fruit and the spray is out of the plant in ~30 days. It works immediately (a couple of hours and all aphids are dead and your problem is solved) I use it anytime I get bugs.

 

[turbo]

I'm not into paying hundreds of dollars for a little vial of pure cap, but I would love to visit the restaurants listed in this story.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/28/spicy-foods-waiver_n_1171501.html?ref=food

 

[rhody]

Stripping off the new leaves may have put the plant into shock. Do you see any undamaged leaf nodes on the stems?

I still say you should buy some ortho spray for aphids. The plants aren't setting fruit and the spray is out of the plant in ~30 days. It works immediately (a couple of hours and all aphids are dead and your problem is solved) I use it anytime I get bugs.

The leaf nodes are starting to sprout after a few days on the heat mat, so that proves that the plants flowering are heat sensitive because they weren't doing anything for about a month. You may be right in saying that stripping new leaves may have put the plant into shock though. I found out last year these things are tough, I wilted them repeatedly and then watered, they bounced back every time. I think the only thing that can do them in is severe damage to the roots from insects, and I will check that to be sure soon. I will compare the roots of the two I stripped to the one that didn't have bugs.

I'm not into paying hundreds of dollars for a little vial of pure cap, but I would love to visit the restaurants listed in this story.

Turbo,

Yeah, I would like to attend one of these chili events to see the carnage too.

Rhody...

 

[rhody]

Harvesting google alerts produced this:

Why aren’t all chillies hot?

Tewksbury studied wild chillies across 1,000 square miles of Bolivian rainforest. Those at the south-western corner are almost uniformly loaded with capsaicinoids, while most of those in the north-eastern corner aren’t hot at all. That seems puzzling: if being hot affords such valuable protection, why aren’t all chillies as pungent as possible?

Back in 2008, Tewksbury suggested that the fungus was responsible – it’s more common in the south-western area. With less pressure to defend themselves, the north-eastern chillies could afford to be milder. But this explanation was never entirely convincing. Even in the north-east, the fungus was still a significant threat. Now, Tewksbury has a different idea. He thinks that being a red hot chilli pepper comes at a price: hot chillies suffer when it’s dry.

and...

It might seem strange that hot flavours and drought tolerance could be so intimately connected. But Tewksbury thinks that the genetic changes which alter levels of capsaicinoids in the chillies’ fruits also affect the number of stomata in their leaves. He now wants to work out what these changes are.

On top of that, chillies produce capsaicinoids using the same sets of chemical reactions that produce lignin – the sturdy substance that coats their seeds. If they’re channelling their resources into defensive chemicals, they might not have enough to protect their seeds.

The fact that not all chillies are hot shows two important lessons about evolution. First, living things live in a world of varied restrictions, and something that’s adaptive in one place (like pungent chemicals) could be your downfall in another. Second, living things aren’t made from independent modules – it’s very difficult to tinker with one bit without affecting something else.

For the chillies, the ideal situation would be to pack defensive chemicals while still resisting drought – that doesn’t seem possible. People often think that evolution is about progress and improvement; in reality, it’s more often about compromise and trade-off

Interesting observation. I wonder if this partially explains why stressed plants produce more capsaicin, hotter peppers. I guess when grown by man who can protect them from fungus and insects, this is not a survival issue, but in a natural environment, it can mean the difference between survival and possible extinction.

Rhody...

 

[turbo]

Interesting observation. I wonder if this partially explains why stressed plants produce more capsaicin, hotter peppers. I guess when grown by man who can protect them from fungus and insects, this is not a survival issue, but in a natural environment, it can mean the difference between survival and possible extinction.

Rhody...

My chilies do better when it's relatively dry and hot. As long as I can water them and keep them from wilting, they are OK.

 

[rhody]

My chilies do better when it's relatively dry and hot. As long as I can water them and keep them from wilting, they are OK.

Keep your eye on how many seeds the stressed chilies produce versus unstressed ones. According to the research paper at the bottom of the link I provided, there should be a substantially noticeable smaller number of them, indicating the plant is heat stressed. This is a marker.

Rhody...

 

[turbo]

I may have to save more seeds if the Ghosts produce well. Normally, I don't cut open chilies to remove the placenta/seeds. I pop the stems off, rinse them, and toss them whole into the food processor when making my sauces and marinades. I made an exception for the Ghosts, so I could try propagating from seeds next season.

3 Ghosts in enough marinade/basting sauce for 1# of grilled shrimp seems about right, though I had removed the seeds to put them in my freezer seed-bank. We'll see what happens next year. I hope to have a good year for chilies. My Red Savinas were disappointing this year, as you can tell from the wimpy character of the all-green habanero relish that I sent you. I'd love to get into truck-farming, but I'd have to invest in a LOT of greenhouse space to avoid the vagaries of weather that have plagued me the last few years. Cold, cloudy, and wet, followed by drought... That does not work out well for chilies.

 

[rhody]

Look what can go wrong when the heat is too high for too long. Sad...

How to Grow the Hottest Chilli in the World: Things that can go wrong



Rhody...

 

[rhody]

Turbo, what do you think of this 60 day grow cycle to produce habs ?

habaneros THE HYDROPOND



hydropond habaneros 60 days part #2



Rhody...

 

[rhody]

My chilies do better when it's relatively dry and hot. As long as I can water them and keep them from wilting, they are OK.

The secret, (I think is) to stress them to the point of wilting and bringing them back with water, supposedly the low hanging fruit will be hotter, unless you have them scoville tested though, there is no way to be sure.

I took my mature ghost plant that I stripped and is just starting to bud to my friend at the grow shop. He just got pot sized hydroponic system and will be setting it up soon. The ghost will be a test, to see if it rapidly reaches blooming cycle. I plan to take a picture of it every week to chart it's progress.

Rhody...

 

[dlgoff]

The secret, (I think is) to stress them to the point of wilting and bringing them back with water, supposedly the low hanging fruit will be hotter, unless you have them scoville tested though, there is no way to be sure.

If it's the "low hanging fruit", instead of stressing the plants,you could do this.

I've never tried the upside down growing thing but was told that 5 gallon buckets work well.

http://howto.wired.com/mediawiki/images/thumb/Upsidedowntomatoes.jpeg/630px-Upsidedowntomatoes.jpeg

 

[rhody]

Interesting Don, but I think my best hope is some kind of hydroponic setup to achieve two or three harvests a year outside of the normal September - October harvest. All indoors with exposure to natural light if possible is my line of thinking. Add to this fact is the hydro system being tested just hit the market and there are pitfalls to using it, cooking the roots being one potential failure point. You must maintain the correct PH levels as well or game over. From what I have seen from outdoor growers or greenhouse problems, hail, wind, bugs, fungus, blossom end rot, the list goes on and on, if I could culture 8 to 12 plants 8 or more feet tall, I could have thousands of peppers, safe without less exposure to possible failure points. In the experiment stage, but like anything else in life worthwhile, it takes some investment, hard work, research, perseverance, and luck to succeed.

Rhody...

 

[turbo]

I wish I had a sunny house, but this is what we've got. A log house with small windows on the South side and large roof-overhangs that prevent direct sunlight for much of the year. I can't justify spending big bucks on a greenhouse system (with facilities for heating and watering), but that's would it would take to get reliable chili crops.