What a change in plant a couple of weeks can make.
There I was panicking (yes really) over my chilli plants not developing quick enough and here we are two weeks later with flowers and pods all over. Not in any excessive way but enough to make me feel happier about both the plants and my growing abilities once again.
August Update
All but one of the chilli varieties – the Aji Umba, are now in flowering mode. The Baskets of Fire are once again fruiting after I took my first harvest from them as too are the Loco F1 plants. The Brain-strains in the walk-in grow house are producing nice pods now as you can see below:
Small but perfectly formed which is pretty good going. I just hope they are able to get more growth and colour before the first frost start.
How weird it’s august but I’m already contemplating cold weather again. We’ve had a really good summer even if it did come a couple of weeks later than usual, I still cannot complain. I’ve had one harvest of chillies so far:
I’m hoping for another one at least.
So far the seaweed is proving to be a good feed for all the plants, making their growth big and lush. Maybe this is at the expense of the pods I’m not sure but I made sure not to increase the feed on the plants until the flowers began to appear so it looks like the feed is doing the job well.
Slugs, snail and even caterpillars continue to be troublesome. Some of the plants have all the war wounds of being munched on by the slimy critters. I have managed to keep the snails down as they are much easier to spot and I know all the hiding places however the slugs are slightly trickier pests to locate and just today I found one on top of the pot soil just lying there having a rest before it’s next onslaught. The nerve of those things!
The previous weeks of dryer weather have been a real help in the pest department but I have a feeling with the recent cooler nights and heavy showers that the battle of slugs will commence again.
I’ve not had any real greenfly issues which I’m very pleased about considering there are also no lady birds to be seen. I’m surprised really because the humidity we’ve been experiencing in July/Aug would usually bring the aphids out of hiding.
Maybe by having an open front on both the walk in grow house and the makeshift one is aiding the temperatures?
Amazing if that is the case – it doesn’t keep enough heat to grow chillies quickly but it keeps it cool enough to keep the aphids out – chilli ironic!
