Diary June 2001
01/06/01  I have begun by germinating 30 seeds in Rockwool inside a propagating tray, heating mat and clear cover.  I have had this extremely strong urge to grow my own chillies.  Obey the voice from within I say.  My wife has been very supportive.

04/06/01 I had a strange dream that I was looking at Chilli flowers and when I put my hand near them, they grabbed onto my fingers.  This was a little spooky for me.  I hope this doesn�t mean I�m becoming addicted.  I see the dream as being a good portend. (-:

09/06/01  I have sown 12 Jalapeno seeds, which I saved from my plant outside, into a punnet and placed them into my germinating tray.  This is an experiment - like everything else so far.  I am also nearly finished rigging up a fish tank that belonged to my grandfather.  Having the tank raises a strange mixture of emotions in knowing that the very same tank I took joy in as a small child, now dusted off, is again giving me joy.  Wow, those childhood memories from a quarter of a century ago have come flooding back.  Thanks Pa for the memories.

10/06/01  In preparation for my seedlings, I have now finished the lid for the tank.  I took an old shelf from my bookcase and cut a few inches off the end.  It was the perfect width.  Cutting a hole in the top for my light to sit took hours.  I don�t have much in the way of tools other than a drill and a hammer.  I thought the idea was ingenious, if not a little laborious, but I drew a circle about 7 inches in diameter and then drilled a series of holes all around the circumference.  As my drill is only a rechargeable, I had to keep stopping and recharging it.  By 11:00pm, I had finally finished and had smashed the centre out with the hammer.  What a big job.  Next I cut a Milo tin in half and flattened out the edge so I could screw the tin up through the hole.  This allowed me to sit the light into the tin without it touching of burning the lid.  The light is a perfect fit and I feel quite proud of my achievement.  Now, as some of the some of the seeds have started to raise their little heads, I have been able to put the heating lamp over them.  This is much better than suspending it over the germinating tray because I had to keep removing the tray lid.  This was a bad idea as it caused both the Rockwool to dry out and the tray to lose its heat.  However, I still have to find another way, as I�m not too sure if I like this light, it seems too hot.

11/06/01  Germination rate for my 30 unknown seed variety has been 50% so far.  These 15 seedlings have now been placed into my new tank with the 100watt heating lamp overhead. (-:
I was also forced to get another heating mat from a local second hand trader.  Now I have two heating mats.  The first is still under my germination tray and the new one is under my fish tank.  I also purchased a timer for the light, but I can�t work out how to operate it as yet. The industry grows. (-:

13/06/01  After researching the matter, I realise now that I failed to place my chillies under lights early enough, that is why they are so pale and leggy.

14/06/01  Of the 15 mysterious seedlings, I have managed to save only six.  I have repotted these into small white drinking cups, cutting back some of the Rockwool on one side.  The odds don�t look good for some of these either.  I suspect I have been a little rough with them. )-: I have to confess that I broke a few trying to get them out of the Rockwool.  Not a good idea, I realised, so I just planked them, Rockwool and all, into the seed-raising mix.

15/06/01  I finally looked in on my 12 Jalapeno seeds in the incubation chamber.  100% of the seeds germinated. (-: I removed them straight away and placed them under the light.  I have also replaced my incandescent heat lamp for a small 12-watt fluorescent light.

18/06/01  Disaster, five Jalapenos died last night.  I failed to keep them watered and the combination of shallow soil and insufficient water dehydrated the poor little guys.  Now I have decided to transplant them into more of the white plastic cups, as the soil can be better kept watered.  As these seeds were sown directly into seed raising mix, it was fairly simple to arrest them from their homes and replace them into a better media.  This time none broke. (-:

25/06/01  The 7 surviving Jalapenos are doing fine.  I am down to 2 of the unknown variety chilli.  I find it a little difficult to know if they are hydrated enough or not.  I think I will buy clear cups so I can see if the soil is wet or not.
Diary July 2001
7/07/01  Borrowing a bit of information from hydroponics, I decided to repot all my plants into clear cups with holes drilled in the bottom.  This has allowed me to water them with a light fertiliser from below.  So far they are all alive.

09/07/01  My small fluorescent desk lamp has been replaced with a twin 18watt (24�) set up which is on chains that enable me to raise and lower the lights to within 2� of the plants.  This seems to be working well.

14/07/01  A bigger 4-foot tank has superseded my 3-foot tank.  This I got from my brother who had dumped it in his yard until he could break it up and throw it away.  All that was wrong with it was that one side was broken in.  One man�s junk is another man�s treasure. This turned into a blessing for me, as what I did was take out all the glass from the side, fix 2� plastic angle on the corners and one piece in the centre, and now, for easy access, I have two up and down sliding doors.  I cut a top for the tank and drilled holes for the two chains to come through so I can raise or lower them easily. I have also stopped using my germination box and have placed both my mats underneath the new tank.  There is still a relatively strong smell of silicone glue in the air, but I am not concerned.  Not bad for a Saturday�s work.

16/07/01  I have replaced the twin light baton for two single 36� light fittings.  Now I have more control over the height.  I can line my plants up in two rows of differing height so they are all still 1 � 2� from the tubes.  All are looking really healthy. (-:

23/07/01  There is an even better heating mat under my tank now.  It is two foot long and cost $110.00.  I think it is well worth the money since it is still very cold here in Victoria. The tank now has a fairly constant temperature inside between 25 � 35 degrees centigrade (80 � 95 degrees f) I also began to germinate other seeds by experimenting with various mediums.  I stopped using Rockwool to germinate seeds in and started using straight seed raising mixture.

29/07/01  I had a fantastic experience today.  I got my first taste of a Rocoto.  I didn�t know what it was until I got home to check it out.  At first I thought they were of the same calibre as a jalapeno, so I ate quite a bit of it, careful not to waste any seeds though.  It was a short while before my eyes started to water and my nose to run.  The black seeds fascinated me, because at first I thought they were really old and mouldy.  Well, I harvested the seeds as soon as I got home and am presently drying them. (-:

30/07/01  My mixed punnet is still showing no signs of life.  Everything else is going really well.  I am totally confused now.  I either have 8 Thai chillis, or 8 unknown chillies.  I think I germinated some seeds that were mislabelled as hot chillies.  They looked like Long Cayenne.  Oh boy. |-:
Diary August 2001
06/08/01  As some mixed punnets have failed to germinate, probably due to bad seeds, I am trying all sorts of different growing medias.  Some have work well, but I realise I have to repot them straight away, so I am trying Rockwool again to see if that is better because the material is good for absorbing water from below.  I am also trying direct sowing into small pots filled with a mixture of vermiculite and seed raising mix to see if that has good results.  At present I have 1 Thai Chilli, 3 Punjabs, two I will have to wait and sees, 7 jalapenos, and one other I�m not sure pepper.  I also have six Rocoto seeds under heat, two Habaneros and four Israeli Hots germinating.  We�ll have to see what happens from here.

09/08/01  I have now had to bring back by original 3� tank, as I do not have enough room for all my seedlings.  I put a 24� fluorescent light inside and am using my original low wattage heat pad.  The temperature inside is a constant 30 degrees C, so I think it should be fine for the new seedlings that have emerged.

12/08/01  Something interesting occurred with some seeds I recently bought � Thai Chillies.  I tried germinating the seeds in a punnet for about three weeks, but eventually made the assumption the seeds were no good.  I took the punnet out and set it aside.  Well, just today, I went to use the punnet and would you believe a one-centimetre chilli had emerged.  Wow!  After a few moments of wonder and fascination, I placed the whole punnet under lights. (-:

13/08/01  The same thing yesterday occurred again today.  Hmm, a pattern may be emerging here.   The story goes as follows:  I received from a friend at work a dried chilli I am yet to identify. (About the same heat level as a Jalapeno.)  Together with a Punjab chilli I recently bought at a grocery store, I dried the seeds and planted two seeds each into clear plastic cups.  After a few weeks of no success, I took them from the Chilli tank, assuming again the seeds were no good.  Well today I just happened to look near where I had discarded the cups. Even though they still had their clear wrap over the tops, I noticed something inside.  Again I was extremely surprised, since I had them nowhere near heat, just inside our living room.  I have to admit that the heater is on a lot during the day and at night, so this obviously was enough to get these little guys going.  It is also possible that the heat inside my tank is just a little too high, as the temperature is often up to thirty-five degrees, and that by taking them out, they were more suited to germinate at room temperature.  I am fairly certain the room temperature is not more than 25 degrees, and to make things more interesting, the overnight temperature is often down to about 5-10 degrees Celsius.  Well, I am at a loss to explain it, but I think my Rocoto seeds are the next to be discarded. (I am hoping to further build on the new phenomenon.)  I hope these seeds will grow, as I think Rocoto is fast becoming my favourite above the much-loved Habanero.  (These seeds also have failed to germinate inside the tank.)
To date I still have not lost another plant, but, I haven�t introduced them to the great outdoors as yet either.  My next project is to construct a mini green house and slowly harden some of the bigger guys off.  As I have just repotted seven plants into 6� pots, I am assuming the next week or two should be quite interesting for them.  The seven I have repotted are of course my original seedlings, but they are becoming quite leafy and are between 4 � 6� in height.  I am desperate to move them on, but it is still a few weeks until spring, so I don�t want to scare them.  I am hoping my mini green house might just do the trick.  (In regards to putting my Chillies outside for the first time, I am now finally beginning to understan how it must feel for a parent when their children first get their licences and go off driving on their own for the first time.)

14/08/01  It looks like a Rocoto has poked up through the soil - five more to go.  At least I hope they are Rocoto, as I have been very neglectful in marking my trays up until now.  I think there are going to be a few surprises coming for me.  I just planted about 12 Piripiri seeds and 12 more Rocoto seeds.  A friend of a friend planted seeds from a Yellow Rocoto directly into the soil and had a great many germinate, survive and thrive.  I have been promised some seeds.     My local market has a vendor who grows Rocotos in his garden, which he sells for $10.00 a kilo.  That�s the going price here in Aus.  I felt guilty of the fact that I wanted them for the seeds.  I love the taste as well and want to grow my own.  He looked thoughtful when I told him I liked them for their flavour.  That was the truth.  I suspect he will grow more next season, as these are obviously from his last season�s crop.  I did my good deed and told him the name of the chilli.  He was calling them red balls.  I explained that it was like calling oranges orange balls.  He looked thoughtful once again.

15/08/01  I�ve been buying more lights, leads and potting mix in preparation for the arrival of another 36� fish tank I have commandeered from another family member.  My dinning room is starting to look like an aquarium; only there are no fish.  I don�t know if I have the temperament to look after little swimming creatures. (This is meant to sound ironic).  Disaster occurred today when I moved the cover off my tank, failing to remember I had placed a punnet of Rocoto seeds underneath.  I caught most of it before it hit the floor, but with the seeds being the same colour as the seed raising mix, I can�t tell whether the seeds were dislodged or not. )-:
I did have success today with other things.  As per usual, I always check out the punnets of seedlings I see for sale in shops or markets.  I couldn�t believe my luck when I came across a punnet of Hungarian Yellow chillies for only $1.89 AU.  There were four punnets all together, but I resisted the urge to buy the lot on the grounds that my wife may kick me out of the house. (-:

16/08/01  Everything is going swimmingly. (Fish tank pun).  One of my Israeli Hot seeds has germinated and has been placed under lights and another Rocoto has decided to emerge. (-:
As of today, I have 39 seedlings. 2 are unknown, 7 Jalapenos, 8 Hungarian Yellows (purchased), 13 Thai hots, 3 I am unsure of, 2 Punjab (I think), 1 I can�t remember, 2 Rocoto and 1 Israeli hot.  The ones that I am not sure about have become a source of sweet anticipation for me.  I have other varieties growing such as bell shaped chillies (Piripiri), Rocoto and some Habaneros.  Patience.  Tonight, my careless finger snapped off my lovely little Rocoto that was less than an inch high.  I anguished for half an hour before I gently poked the stem into the hole again.  It looked like a lost situation, but I have nothing to lose now.  Sadly, I don�t hold any hopes for its life. )-:

17/08/01  The first thing I did this morning was to check my little Rocoto.  Its leaves are still curled a little, but it still hasn�t died.  There may be hope yet.  The good news is that the batch of Piripiri chillies I sowed has starting to show.  Yeah. (-:

18/08/01  I traded one of my Jalapeno seedlings for another 3-foot fish tank today.  Fortunately the back piece was cracked, so it was no good for fish.  I carefully removed the broken glass and one of the sides that was loose.  The side was in good condition, but had to be siliconed back in, which I have now done.  I just need to wait for the silicone to dry before I glue on some plastic angle.  I am in the middle of repotting my Hungarian Yellows.  I have the 6� pots inside all full of potting mix waiting for the operation.  I have taken the 8 little seedlings from the tank to get them used to room temperature and to warm up the soil in the pots a little before I start.  I can�t wait.  The only problem is that I am running out of space in my lounge room.  My wife is being very understanding, but keeps hinting that I need to erect that green house.  Outside, the temperature is about 5 degrees Celsius, so I dare not move them out yet.  Bring on the spring.

19/08/01  Well, my Hungarians survived being left out overnight in my living room.  This would suggest that some of the bigger plants would too.  I will need to move about six out soon as they are getting too tall for my tank and soon I will not be able to raise my lights any further.  Presently, they are around 5 � 7� tall from the top of the soil.  The side of the fish tank I carefully siliconed in fell out to its death this afternoon.  Now I have to cut some plastic sheeting to replace the side.  What a chore it is cutting the thick sheet by hand.  I have decided to germinate some Scotch Bonnet.  Of the twelve I picked out, three of the seeds didn�t sink in my seed starter solution.  I will have to wait and see.

20/08/01  I am nearly at the first chain link of my lights.  The two nameless plants will have to move out soon.  I have written the eviction notice, but am a little apprehensive about enforcing it.  I have ten Piripiri now.  They seem to be good growers.  Oh yeah, another Rocoto has emerged.  Also, for those keen to know, my little Rocoto that I broke off at the root, well�  It has stood up straight. (-:

23/08/01  There is nothing much to report, other than I now have 15 Piripiri growing.  A 100 percent strike rate.  Oh yeah, there are six new Rocotos showing, but one from my previous batch looks very sick.  I applied too much of the growing solution I use for advanced seedlings and burned the little guy.  He�s not dead yet, but I don�t hold any hopes for his future.  I sowed over 50 Habanero seeds tonight.  They are hard to germinate, but if I get just one I will be pleased.  I also repotted the tallest plant from my very first batch.  It looked very sad, and as it was too tall for the tank, I had to move him off to the side.  I also repotted a Jalapeno that had become too stringy.  He objected to the move and wilted.  I applied a stack of water, and by morning, he had cheered up.  I have also been forced to poke some bamboo skewers into some of the pots to prevent the plants from complaining.

24/08/01  I finally finished cutting the new side for the tank.  If I don�t hurry, I am going to be in trouble with room.

25/08/01  I finished the new tank. I just have to wait for all the glue to dry and to fix in the lights.  I also am halfway building my green house out back.  The landlord approved my placing the item in the yard, so I have constructed the frame and have glued the two clear plastic sheets on the side; I now need to make the top and the back.  The whole thing is actually a discarded shop display.  It has two glass panels in the front and four shelfs.  I purchased a large sheet of wire mesh that I will cut in to be the shelves.  Another batch of Rocotos have started to show.  I think they took about 6 days to germinate.  I have kept them on top of the tank, rather than inside where it is too humid and too hot.  At present there are three out of twelve showing.  Also, that little guy that I said might be on the way out, well, he went out.  Sadly, it is the first one I have lost since my early bumbling.  Tomorrow I will be repotting a lot of the new plants that are all getting tall.  I have forgotten which is which also.  Oh well, I will have to wait and see what grows.

26/08/01  I finished the new tank and moved it indoors.  I placed the large heating mat underneath and put in ten plants.  I really have lost track of which plant is which.  I repotted the large plants that were in cups into six-inch pots and the newest seeds that have emerged went into plastic cups.  At last count, I have 69 plants.  Because of the lack of room, I have taken some of the larger plants out of the tank to begin the hardening off process.  Six are now in tubs on top of the main tank next to the eight Hungarian Yellows I bought. With luck, the weather should be improving soon, so I will be able to introduce them to the greenhouse I am still in the middle of constructing.  I now have 17 Piripiri seedlings and 10 Rocoto seedlings in my clear plastic cups.

27/08/01  Five tiny Scotch Bonnets are gently making their way heavenward. (-:  Together with all the new little ones; I will have about 74 plants.  I hope I have good success with my 50 Habanero seeds.  In a perverse sort of way I hope they all germinate, but on the other hand, I hope to get one or two.  Boy will I be in trouble if they all show.  Let�s hope.

28/08/01  Now there are 11 Scotch Bonnets and 10 new Rocotos.  Also, after only five days, I have seen a glimpse of a Habanero emerging from the dirt. (-: I can�t help it, I have to have more. (-:
   That now makes 85 plants and the new Hab, 86.  Oh yeah, I nearly forgot, 87.  I was watering a something-or-other plant when I noticed a tiny seedling sprouting up in the pot next to the 4 week-old plant.  Now, I have no clue as to how this occurred, other than the seed must have been in some soil I used to repot my plant.  I was absolutely blown away by this little survivor.  How incredible is it that the seed had somehow germinated and had even been at the right soil depth to actually grow.  Amazing. (-:

29/08/01  I have just about finished the greenhouse and put my 14 or so large plants inside for the afternoon.  I changed over the single light in my grandpa�s tank for a twin light, as I could not get enough coverage for all the plants I put in.  I also sowed 15 Jamaican peppers today and at my wife�s insistence, am going to sow some capsicum (Bell pepper) we saved from one we ate recently.

30/08/01  I went off to work today in a hurry and didn�t put my plants out.  But thankfully my lovely wife had the presence of mind and caring attitude, though she is eight months pregnant, and carried my biggies out to the back yard, watered them all and popped them in the greenhouse.  I was extremely proud.

31/08/01  Another local fruiterer had a stack of Rocoto chillies on sale today for $8.00 a kilo.  I had to restrain myself from buying the lot.  I bought half a kilo and distributed a few to the people I work with.  There are a few people of eastern culture who enjoy the spice, so I find it a great place to discuss my addiction.  I have so many Rocoto seeds now, that I�m not sure what I am going to do with them.  I have maybe 200 seeds in a little jar, and the smell is indescribable.  It is a sort of sweet cinnamon smell.  I love taking the lid off and filling my nostrils- mmm. (-:
Diary September 2001
01/09/01  Another 2 batches of seedling were repotted into clear cups tonight.  The process took nearly two hours.  I repotted 28 tiny seedlings.  Of these, 14 were Rocoto, 2 were Habaneros and 12 were Scotch Bonnets.  All up, I now have 92 plants. Of the 50 Habanero seeds I planted, only 1 showed.  I have put the punnet back under heat with the lid on.  Actually, I have found I get better results from putting the punnet on top of the tanks, as the heat is not as high as it is inside the tanks.  So now I have four punnets with seeds in them.  One has a bunch of capsicums, one has a bunch of Jamaican, one has a bunch of everything, including a stack of dud Jalapeno seeds from my plant outside and the last punnet has the 49 Habaneros I mentioned earlier.  The other Habanero I planted was a wonder of wonders that I sowed weeks ago.  I happened to look in on an old seed I planted in Rockwool that I had long given up on, and hey, there was another tall pale plant stretching to the top of the gladwrap.  At first I thought it was a Rocoto, but I realised what it was by the tiny seed still hanging onto the leaves.  All being well, I should hopefully have a few homegrown chillies this season. (-:

02/09/01  I didn�t get the father�s day present I wanted, as Dave Dewitt�s book, the Pepper garden is not available anywhere here in Victoria.  It looks like I will have to order it from Sydney.  Other news to hit the front is that three of my lucky Yellow Hungarians are going to spend the night outdoors.  Overnight temperatures here are still a little low with a forecast of around 11 degrees centigrade.  I will be keeping a close watch and will be comparing them against their more domesticated brothers to see if there are any noticeable differences.  I am hoping that the effects are not too great and thus will be able to put out all the other overgrown chillies.  At present, I am again up to the last, or first on a technical note, link in my chain.  Another five or six will be coming out this week.  I have to make room anyway.  The other news is that I have discovered another seedling emerging from the soil in one of my larger potted plants.  I happily replanted it and believe it may be a Rocoto as the colour of the stem is similar and it has fine hair on the stem like the other plants.  Again, I will have to wait and see.  The last bit for the night is that I will be germinating eight Israeli Hots and eight Tabasco.  I can also see two Jamaicans poking through the soil.  (-:

03/09/01  It was the hottest chilli I have eaten so far.  A Manzano has come to grace my chilli seed collection.  This little guy is one I have been hanging out for.  There are close to forty little black seeds drying out here, and in a few days, many will be buried in a small punnet of seed raising mixture.  The fifty or so Habanero seeds I put back to cook are already lifting their tiny bodies heavenward.  There are perhaps five so far and more to come no doubt.  Tonight, I placed the big heating pad under the middle four-foot tank.  I also have taken all the larger plants out to harden off.  Both the other three-foot tanks are full of little plastic cups containing Rocoto, Piripiri, Habaneros and Scotch Bonnets.  A few of the Capsicum seeds are also showing as well as a few Jamaican seedlings.  There are more than one hundred plants now taking up space in my lounge room. (-:

06/09/01  I now have 25 Rocoto, 14 Piripiri, 32 Habaneros, 30 Capsicums, 8 Jamaican, 1 Israeli Hot, 8 Scotch Bonnet and a stack of other types.  Tonight, I have left about 10 plants out in the cold.  Some are Jalapenos, the rest are Hungarian.  I have lost count of what is what and how many I have, but I suspect I am getting toward 150.  I am still waiting to plant my Manzanos but I fear I will have no space when they germinate.  I also have some Bolivian Rainbow and some Bermuda seeds I am desperate to sow.  I have put the feelers out again for another fish tank, but have not told the wife as yet.  Is it possible to be divorced for having too many plants?

07/09/01  The afternoon was spent repotting the majority of my larger plants into bigger pots.  Upon doing this, my limited space has become even more limited.  But, the process was a success and they all seem fairly happy with the arrangement.  I also added Vermiculite to the mix this time, which might do the trick.  Previously I have been adding Perlite to the soil, which has produced good results.  I have experimented quite a lot with different soils and mixes and have found so far that by mixing in Perlite and Vermiculite into the soil, it keeps the water retention rate a lot higher, and means that the larger plants need to be watered less often, which just may save them from drying out if any get missed during watering.

08/09/01  The wind was torrid last night.  The first thing I did when I got up was to go out and check on the babies.  All�s well.  At one stage, the whole lid blew off the hot house outside.  The lid is a removable one in case you are thinking my carpentry was deficient.  I had to put a heavy piece of timber on there to stop it happening again.  I rescued one plant from outside during the wind in fear it my not last the night.  It is one of the original 2 plants that I first germinated so many months before.  However, this morning, I checked, and was all well there too.  It took me over an hour, but all the capsicums are now transplanted into an 18 by 6 inch pot.  I don�t expect them to stay there too long, but for the time being, they are out of the germinating tray and have a lot better soil to grow in.  I will keep them there for a few weeks until the roots are more fully developed, then they should be strong enough to go into single larger pots.  By then also, the weather should be a lot better and they will be able to live outdoors. 

09/09/01  Not a lot to report today.  I have had to do a bit of shuffling to get all the plants under lights, but so far none are complaining.  Another of my pots had a little unknown seedling growing in it.  I replanted it, but it looks nothing like any of the other seedlings I have.  Maybe it is something entirely different.  I will just have to wait and see.  On a sourer note, I have a ring-in in the form of a flower type plant that I was asked to grow by my wife.  My niece gave it to her, and because it looked a little sick, I put it in with all the other chillies.  When I checked on it yesterday, the leaves looked all chewed and deformed, but I persevered.  Well, I just happened to glance at the side of one of my chilli plants, and climbing up the side of the pot was a slug.  I promptly took it outside to an extremely weedy part of the yard and set it free � against my better judgment.  Let�s hope there was just the one freeloader in there.  Let that also be a lesson on introducing foreign specimens into a pure chilli environment.

10/09/01  I purchased another two 18x6 inch pots for my 48 Habaneros.  I also commandeered an old TV cabinet to put them in once they were repotted.  I had to go and purchase another 15-watt light fitting which is the perfect size for the tubs.  When I finally finished repotting, there were 25 in one and 23 in the other.  So all up, I have 50 Habaneros.  I still don�t have a clue what I am going to do with them all.  I must recount how many chillies I actually have.  I had a rough count and ended up with somewhere in the vicinity of 160.  That now takes it to 3 fish tanks, 1 TV cabinet, and 1 miniature hot house.  I hope to get a large walk in hot house one of these days.  I now have 3 Tabascos, 8 more Israeli Hots and 6 I�m-not-too-sure coming up that I will have to put into cups tomorrow.  In the end, I decided to put the Capsicums down into the TV cabinet which has no source of heating other than the 15-watt fluorescent tube, and put one tub of Habaneros into one of the fish tanks.  Also, instead of placing the other tub in with the Capsicums as previously planed, I placed it on top of the large 4-foot tank, as it will still be heated from underneath, rather than not at all.  This meant that the plants that have been siting up there over night would have to stay outside for the first time.  During the last week, I have been putting them into the hot house and bringing them in at the end of the day, but since all the other plants have survived so far, I am going to take a risk.  So tonight, the hothouse remains full.  I also placed a towel onto the Habanero tub to keep some of the heat in.  I will swap it over every couple of days with the other tub in the tank.  The industry still grows.  (-:

12/09/01  Not counting the three Bolivian Rainbows coming up, I have exactly 200 Chillies.  I did a re-count and sure enough, 200. (-:   Both Habanero tanks are now on top of the four-foot tank, the Capsicums, which spent the day outside, are now living in the TV cabinet. I have just managed to get all the Chillies under lights- except for the 32 now living outside.  I saved about 150 Golden Capsicum seeds, as I impressed by the colour.  I�m not going to sow them until I am able accommodate them.  I also got a few Golden Cayennes from the market, which I am going to save the seeds from.  Again, I am going to wait until I am able to sow them and not run out of room when they emerge.  As mentioned earlier, I have the beginnings of three Bolivian Rainbows showing through, but as yet there are no signs of the Manzanos.  Amazing hey, I planted them on Saturday afternoon, and today, being Wednesday, they are already showing.  I really want the Manzanos to come through, as they impressed me a lot.  I put a whole one in with my dinner, and I broke, and had to drink milk.  I am ashamed to admit it, but boy was that intense.  I even sweated during the night because of it, but hey, the cold I had was gone too. (-:

15/09/01  There are now 221 plants growing, counting the 30-odd Capsicums.  I am desperately running out of room, and am being prevented from putting some of the smaller plants into bigger pots.  There are 8 large plants in the back of the big tank, but they are still a little short of the hardening off stage.  Even if they can be hardened off, I will still have a problem with space outside.  Still not sure where I am going to move all the plants, I am trying to find an answer to the six or seven Jalapenos outside which are now all around 30 centimetres tall.  I want to put them in the ground as this seems a logical place, put if we move, I will be forced to abandon them.  I think I will be putting them in large pots, but I still have to acquire a lot of pots first.

16/09/01 Eight Bolivian Rainbows have now been freed from their germinating punnets and have been crowded into whatever space I have available.  There are another eight Manzanos waiting for the same to occur, but I have to free up some more space.  Two more Israeli Hots have gone into cups as well as two of the last Tabascos I germinated.  The Capsicums have grown crazy and will be moved outdoors this weekend.  Luckily the Habaneros haven�t grown so quickly.  Some of the Jamaicans have begun to get yellow leaves and I�m not sure what this means.  I think maybe they are too hot.  It�s really hard to control the heat and with so many plants in there, some of them get over watered and some under watered.  I need that green house, and then I think the environment might be a little better.  I�ll have to wait and see.

18/09/01 Ten beautiful Manzanos have now relocated into cups.  These are very hot peppers.  Just one fresh fruit is guaranteed to make you sweat.  In order to fit them all in, I have had to evict the planter box of Capsicums.  They will now call the greenhouse home.  I have also run out of room in there as well, with the plants all being so tall.  Again, I am going to have to evict a few into the elements.  I really really would like a large walk-in greenhouse.  I have begun to daydream with visions of myself walking into a large greenhouse full of wonderfully growing, flowering, fruiting Chillies.  I just need an injection of capital.

19/09/01 I found another little guy growing in the side of a pot.  I really wish I knew how they keep getting into these pots.  There must be a Chilli fairy who comes along at night and pokes a seed in here and there.  It makes it a little difficult to determine what brand they are.

20/09/01 Counting the 30 odd Capsicums, I have 17 different types of Chillies growing.  They are the 2 unknown varieties I first started growing, 7 Jalapenos, 6 or so Thai Hot, 1 or 2 Cayenne, a dozen or so Rocoto, 1 or 2 Punjab, 1 I�m not sure, which was referred to as a curry chilli, a dozen or so Israeli Hots, 8 Bolivian Rainbow, 10 or so Jamaican, 10 Manzano, a dozen or so Piripiri, 32 Capsicum, 8 Hungarian Yellow, 50 odd Habanero, 12 Scotch Bonnets and maybe 8 Tabasco.  The Chilli fairy has come again, and another two something or others has sprouted from one of the pots.  I will endeavour to count them on Saturday.  I am guessing maybe 230 by now.  My punnet of bad Jalapenos is doing fairly well, but the interesting thing there is that many of the seeds germinated without any leaves.  Just a whole lot of stems sprouted.  It just goes to show that if you use seeds that are a little brownish in the centre, the leaves will not develop.  I will keep them going just to see what happens.

21/09/01 I potted the three mystery Chillies growing in the pot and six of the Jalapenos that were struggling toward the light.  Out of the other Jalapenos, I don�t think I will keep any more as they don't even have leaves. But making the headlines today is that I managed to procure four shop stands that once were CD display stands.  They are well crafted and will serve quite well as racks for pots in my soon to be built greenhouse.  A friend of mine also called today and mentioned he has all these long poles used in covering army trucks.  They are about 8� wide and 6� high and will serve perfectly as roof supports.  I couldn�t believe my luck.  My greenhouse is slowly taking shape in my mind.

23/09/01  229 plants now grace my garden � well, two are in the garden, the rest are still scattered around the house.  I spent all yesterday painting two of the cabinets I got and pulling out the little shelves which were of no real use as they were angled back slightly due to their being built to display CDs.  I put the two largest plants into the garden today.  They are still in pots, but I staked them and hopefully the wind today does no damage to their newly emerging flower buds.  Yes that�s right, emerging flower buds - the first real sign of success.  All up, there are about ten plants budding. (-:

26/09/01   24 Habaneros have been released from their planter box and have been placed on one of my new stands outside.  I stapled plastic over the shelves to stop them getting water damaged and have stapled some clear plastic sheeting over the two removable ends of the stand, like a lid.  Hopefully they continue to grow from here.  Tomorrow, I will be making the other stand and repotting the other 25 Habaneros.  In that environment, they outgrew many of the other plants.

27/09/01   The other Habs are now sitting outside for the night.  I put the stand out and covered it with plastic garbage bags so that the water would not soak into the MDF timber.  It is a soft wood and not suitable for outdoors, but it was all I had.  Hopefully it will not swell up and fall apart on me before the Chillies are able to live outside on their own.  At present I have them under a plastic cover that is so thin, a small gust of wind is likely to tear it.  I will buy a much stronger grade of plastic when I can, so that if I get a windy night, I will not lie in bed worrying about them.  The whether is warming up nicely now, so soon I will be able to move many more plants outside and then be able to turn off some of these lights here in the lounge room.  At night, it so bright, I often wonder whether I have left some of the main lights on.  A friend commented he needed sunglasses when he walked in.  I tend to agree with him. When you have been out in the dark, it is indeed bright on the eyes.  I think also it may be too bright for some of these little plants.  Some seem to like it, but others do not and don�t tend to grow as well as the rest.  The Habs I just put outside grew so well, I think the small 15-watt globe over the square planter box is a good combination.  Next year, I will probably opt for this method a bit more.

28/09/01  Today was another hot day.  This morning, many of the seedlings I moved outdoors were looking rather droopy.  I applied a fair amount of water, and after an hour or so, they all looked fine.  As today was quite warm and windy, I watered the plants about three times during the day.  There are so many now, it takes me about half an hour just to water them all.  I just hope my friends don�t think I am making up lame excuses when I defer their company in order to water my plants.  At this stage, I am just starting to consider a watering system.  I can just imagine being late for work all the time, as I just had to give the little guys a quick water.  On a different note, I found a local garden supply that had a new type of Chilli.  It was labelled Mexican Hot, but I suspect that is the wrong name.  I also bought a Thai Chilli to compare with mine.  It looks nothing like any of mine thus far, all I can say is, one of us has done something wrong.  I now have three cabinets outside, as well as my original mini green house.  They only hold about 25 8-inch pots or 12 10-inch pots.  They aren�t necessary for the larger plants, but there may be some rough whether still to come before summer, so I like to have that safe harbour for them.  It will save me carrying them all indoors, which in turn will save my marriage.
Last updated 07/11/04
Diary October 2001
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02/10/01    My 30 capsicums have no been freed from their planter box and are looking quite healthy.  I gave one to my mother and put it in a pot that sits on her front porch.  I�m pretty sure she�ll look after it, considering that she knows I will check it every time I go to visit.

03/10/01   There are now five mini greenhouses and one Chillery (Fernery for Chillies) in my yard.  Now I will just about be able to move all my plants outdoors � well soon anyway.  I spent this afternoon building a Chillery up against my back fence.  It has a shade-cloth roof to prevent both heavy rains and the little nibbling caterpillars that drop out of the tee trees overhead.  I cut a lot of the branches down, but since they are from trees over the back fence, I�m not too sure if I am allowed to cut them down at all. My Chillery was built from discarded timber I picked up from a factory nearby.  Basically, I nailed some long pallets onto the fence and hammered a few supports into the ground.  All I did then was to extend the upright posts a little higher and then staple some shade cloth down to the fence.  Hopefully it will stand against the late spring storms.

05/10/01   My wife bore us a son this morning at 12:20am.  All the extra work of looking after our 16-month-old daughter has meant I have been able to do little in the way of gardening.

07/10/01   I was able to some repotting today.  8 of my larger plants, mainly Bolivian Rainbow and a few Tabasco plants have been freed up and are in large pots waiting to go outside.  The nights are still quite cool, so I need to be a bit careful putting them out.  For the time being, they can stay indoors a couple of nights.  There are still quite a few plants that need to come out of the fish tanks due to their size, but finding time is the hard thing.

09/10/01   I moved the plants outside and have prepared pots for tomorrow�s operation.  Each night I take my torch outside and check for slugs.  There have been no snails now for some time since I put down snail bait, but the slugs seem to have breed underneath my glass house and each night I find at least three trying to get up the back.  I will have to lift it somehow and place bait underneath.

10/10/01   This afternoon, I repotted about 20 plants.  These were Piripiri, Manzanos and Jamaican chillies.  This now means that I only have plants in two tanks inside.  All up, there are about 50 plants inside and about 10 outside.  Of the four tiny plants I found sprouting below my old Jalapeno plant, two died because they were exposed to strong warm winds.  The little cups I kept over them were a target for my little daughter who would bring me the cups she kept finding in the garden.  As such, I have saved the two strong ones and brought them inside.  One looks like a Rocoto and the other like a Jalapeno, but it is still a little early to tell.

11/10/01   I was forced to bring some of the plants back inside which I repotted yesterday.  Some were looking decidedly unhappy after they were exposed to the cold windy and rainy day we have had.  I had to recommission one of the tanks again to give them a bit of help.  The days and nights have been cold lately, and I can tell this is having an adverse effect on some of the less mature plants.  They really need to be hardened off properly.  One of the Habanero plants that got sunscald some time ago has finally succumbed and wilted to nothing.  There are about 24 plants that still have not progressed and I am thinking of moving them back under lights to kick them off again.  This is mainly because in their weakened state, combined with cold nights, they have not grown at all.

14/10/01 Not satisfied with a mere 230 or so chillies, I decided to sow 12 Golden Cayenne peppers, the seeds of which I saved some time ago.  It�s nice to sow seeds and wait and see if they emerge.

16/10/01 Two days after sowing my Golden Cayenne, all but 1 has germinated.  I couldn�t believe it.  I thought I might just have a peek and see if there were any changes and there certainly was.  That�s the fasted any seed has ever sprouted.  Maybe I now have the knack.  Today I also repotted 19 chillies that were in cups into 6-inch pots and repotted 10 plants from 6-inch pots into 10-inch pots.  Soon I will have no more space outside, so I will have to extend the Chillery up against the back fence.  This will allow me to centre plants more into the middle of the yard that will give them more hours of sunlight.  At present, the plants in the Chillery only receive morning sun and filtered noonday sun.  This is good in summer, but at present, they can cope with more light.  One of the Jalapenos I first started in June is now in full bloom.  I am conscious that there are no other open flowers and therefore it may not pollinate.  However, the single parent Jalapeno I first started with had no other plants in the vicinity, yet it pollinated and grow a good crop.

17/10/01 Checking my new seedlings, I have noticed that one plant in particular has three false leaves instead of the usual two.  It must be a mutant.  On other matters, I extended one side of the Chillery today.  It took me a while to build, but I was very satisfied with the result.  The whole construction has been built up of shipping pallets.  Today, I disassembled the lower half, saved the nails, bent them straight, and sawed the top part in two.  The two halves are the perfect width to hold about 8 � 10 plants, and when nailed end-to-end, I have now provided space for another 20 plants.  I will next put in some posts so I can then cover it with a 50% shade cloth and erect a windbreak.  I hope the landlord does not come around for an inspection.

18/10/01 Just to see how I go, I have decided to germinate some tomato seeds I saved the other day.  It is just an experiment, so who knows how I will go.  I will keep you informed.

21/10/01 Most of the tomato seeds have sprouted and are now under lights.  Now, together with my capsicums and tomatoes, I can make salsa all using homegrown ingredients.  The Golden Cayenne have all sprouted, but I think I will need to give the chop to the last one to sprout.  It has two plants coming from the one seed, and it does not seem wise to grow this pant, as it may also produce mutant chillies. 

23/10/01 I have decided to try and sprout some mustard seeds.  I scattered about thirty in an 18-inch long pot.  I covered it with plastic wrap and put on top of one of the tanks.  I also intend to try some passionfruit.

24/10/01 21 tiny tomatoes and 11 Golden Cayenne peppers were replanted today.  The tomatoes were about two inches high and could have stayed in the germinating punnet a little longer, but Golden Cayennes had started to develop a third set of leaves.  I have found this to be the perfect time to replant them into cups, as the root ball is well established and by transplanting them at this stage, I am able to leave much of the soil around the root-ball, thus when the plants are repotted, they encounter minimal stress to the roots and so they recover quite quickly.  On the other hand, if the seedling is not fully developed, when lifting the plant from the soil, it exposes the roots and causes a lot more stress.
Today also, I repotted 15 various plants into six-inch pots.  It is still touch and go for some of them, as the warm weather combined with a warm wind, quickly dehydrated them before I had finished.  I moved them into my hot house, but completely shaded them and every hour or so, watered them with a fine water spray.  They seem to be recovering, but as far as I�m concerned, the middle of a hot day is no time to transplant.   My mustard seeds have sprouted already in one day.  Wow!  I put 11 passionfruit seeds into a growing punnet, so we�ll see if I have equal success.

29/10/01 I must have planted 100 mustard seeds.  There is a forest in there.  I�m not certain what I will do with them all � hopefully some die so I will not have to kill them myself.  I�m not sure at what stage you can eat them.  I know you can eat the sprouts, but these things are now all about 3 � 4 inches high.  I spent much of the weekend finishing off my Chillery.  The roof was one of the hardest parts to complete, as I had to notch in the angle beams like rafters and make sure everything lined up correctly.  I put the shade-cloth on tonight after work, but it was 1 metre short.  Bummer!  Now, I will have to tack some on later.  At the moment, I�m quite happy to leave one quarter exposed as it allows the morning sun in on the plants.  Just the thing the doctor ordered after a cold night out.  Many of the plants now have fully opened flowers and some have even finished the blossoms and have nice tiny pods starting to grow.  �Yummy�, as my daughter would say.) She calls them �Chizzies�.  She is 17 months old today.  Incidentally, the first two words she put together were �Daddy�s Chizzies�
03/11/01 There are shelves now all the way around the inside of my Chillery.  Now I can do more repotting.  Most of the plants, except the Habaneros and Capsicums, have tiny buds, flowers and or tiny Chillies.  I hope they don�t all come out at once.

04/11/01 I repotted 32 plants into big 10� pots today.  It was a big effort to get them finished before sunset.  The day was quite hot, so I waited until the cool of the evening to start.  Perhaps I should not have been so zealous, as it was quite dark as I stood there with the hose watering them in.  None-the-less, they are done now.  That makes 85 plants now potted up to large containers, 160 to go.

12/11/01 I haven�t kept up with my diary lately because things are going quite well.  The majority of the plants all have flowers, except the Habaneros.  Some of them have tiny flower buds, but I have come to the conclusion that I put them outside too early and that stunted their growth.  They were infested with aphids, and bit-by-bit I have been cleaning the last of them off.  I put all of them back into my shop counter as it is a lot warmer in there during the day and they get less rain.  This seems to have helped.

14/11/01 My Golden Cayennes are doing really well and most of them will be moved into my shop counter, or holding bay as I call it.  It is a great facility to introduce plants outdoors as it helps them to acclimatise.  Some of them have even started to flower.  I couldn�t believe it at first.  Anyway, the plant that had two sprouts growing from the one seed grew very slowly, so I put it in the bin.  I must be getting better at that sort of thing as I didn�t feel very sad at all.  Some of the Habaneros may go to the same place, as it seems unlikely they will flower this season, as they are still the same size they were when I put them outside many months ago.

16/11/01 I planted another six Jalapenos in the garden bed along our back wall.  It is an ideal place as it gets the afternoon sun, which heats up the wall and gives off heat long after the sun has set.  That is the same spot their parent plant has been growing for the last two years.  That old plant by the way has quite a few new buds again, so it looks like I will get a third season from it.  I have twelve Jalapeno plants along the wall, and if I pull up the funny shrub thingy, I can put in another two.

18/11/01 The mustard plants are growing quite well under the bathroom window.  It is getting quite crowded there, so it looks like I will soon have to re-plant them. As yet I�m not sure where.  Oh the pain, the pain.  I really need a big garden bed for all these plants, but I�m still renting and the house is too small for my growing human family, let alone my chilli family.

19/11/01 I repotted another five plants this afternoon.  There are only about 100 left which will soon need to go into 8� pots.  I don�t have enough pots, so I will have to borrow them from somewhere.  I have some 10 and 12� pots, but I am saving them for the Rocotos, which I expect, will keep growing after this season.  I haven�t as yet counted them all, but whatever the amount, it is not enough.  I need an acre of land I think.

24/11/01 I have done a lot of shuffling and repotting lately.  Most of the Habaneros that have been outside all this time, I have squeezed into my glasshouse.  Not only did they have the elements to contend with, but also aphids.  I sprayed them pyrethrum and this seemed to work, but a few of the aphids survived and repopulated.  Bit by bit they are being controlled.  I noticed that the aphids tended to thrive on the weakest looking plants.  Now I am unsure if their infestation had weakened the plants or that the aphids rejected the healthier plants.  I only have 15 tomato plants left indoors now.  Everything else has gone outside.

28/11/01 I have given away quite a few capsicum and tomato plants.  I just can�t feed this growing family.  Anyway, it�s good to bless people with them, even though to buy, plants are inexpensive at seedling stage.  Mine are better anyway.  In comparison, I purchased a nursery-grown Thai chilli to compare with my 12 plants I grew.  The nursery plant is ever so slowly growing.  It has produced stumpy chillies, whilst mine have grown tall and well and is producing normal chillies.  Whatever drug they used to stimulate growth, the plant must have had withdrawals.  It could also be that at its tender age, it started to flower and the energy it would have used for growth was diverted into the chillies.
02/12/01 Today was hot and windy and disaster nearly came upon four Rocotos.  I woke early and filled a bin with weeds in preparation for my new Chilli garden.  I have had my eye on an unused weed strewn garden bed in the front yard for some time.  It gets mid-morning to afternoon sun, but because it is in the front yard, I have not been keen to use it, as it will give access to little hands.  However, I will be building a small fence and a shade covering in the next few days to protect the new inhabitants.  So, as I was saying, four Rocotos nearly met their maker this morning.  By about 10 am I had cleared a section of ground about seven feet long and two feet wide.  I had turned in humus, potting mix and other good stuff for chillies and had placed the four plants, still in their pots, along the ground in the positions they were to be planted when I received a call from my sister to help her select and purchase a Christmas tree.   Not wanting to disappoint, I volunteered my station-wagon for the job.  I thought the plants would be fine, after all, they looked large and healthy and strong.  When I got home two hours later, two of them were very sad indeed.  One had even wilted at the base to 90 degrees.  Ahhh.  I rushed over, watered it thoroughly and staked it.  Well, after I finally planted them all, the wind and sun were still very strong.  The plants were exposed and still quite in danger, so I had to devise a way of keeping them in shade and watered.  In the end, I used cut tree branches for shade and all was well.

04/12/01 Today was a marvellous success.  I spent the whole day planning, building and installing an irrigation system for my Chillery.  It was 7 pm when I did my final test.  Now there will be no complaints from the chillies there.  I took my wife down to the Chillery when she got home.  I gave her an umbrella and stood her in the middle, then turned on the sprinklers.  Of course the umbrella was useless.  The spray went everywhere and she couldn�t get out because the umbrella was too wide for the door.  I had a chuckle.  I know where I will be on hot summer nights.

05/12/01 Another four Manzanos relocated to the front yard Rocoto patch.  Still, they are exposed to the full sun and this is not ideal.  I purchased some shade cloth, but it is insufficient in size to do what I need it to, so at present it is just tacked on to the fence until I can erect a better structure.  My mustards seedlings are higher than most of my Chillies.  I have to keep finding bigger stakes for them.  Many have bright yellow flowers.  The four tiny seedlings I found sprouting in my garden look like they may be Rocotos.  I noticed a small cluster of tiny plants early this week, and since I have emptied my fish tanks and tuned out the lights, I had second thoughts and bought then in.  I just hope they aren�t some type of weed cleverly shaped like Chillies.  I have quite a large plant outside in a big pot which done just that.  I still do not know what it is, but coming out of the centre is a long conical cluster of flowers.   All is well everywhere else in the garden.  My fifteen plants along the back wall are doing well.  Except for the occasional flower stem appearing on the ground below, they are growing well.  For some reason, and I expect it to be a natural occurrence, stems with tiny growing chillies are turning yellow and falling off.  I suspect the plant can�t as yet handle the load.  My Hungarian Yellows are doing quite well now.  One of them has a couple of three-inch chillies.  Looking good.  Oh yeah, I also set a few more seeds in a punnet.  I have about eight tiny tomato seeds and seven Serrano seeds in dirt.  Why not?  After all, my fish tanks look so empty.

08/12/01 All the tomatoes and Seranos have emerged.  They are now under lights.

12/12/01 Things are still going really well.  I have been giving a lot of plants away to fellow enthusiasts.  I am still running out of room, so it looks like I am going to have to create more gardens.  At present, there are eight Rocotos in the front garden, but I have to purchase some larger shade cloth so I can fit in more.  I calculated that there is room for 19 plants.

17/12/01 I purchased shade cloth and planted another 3 Rocotos.  Some are Manzanos, but I can�t tell which from which.  Of the four little seedlings I brought inside, all are tomato seedlings and grew from seeds that fell out of a plant I let go wild last year.  Further up in the garden is another seedling as well.  Tomorrow I will be planting some capsicums and tomatoes along the back fence.  I can fit about 25 plants with room to spare.

19/12/01 Today I spent nearly the whole day preparing the soil and planting 8 capsicum and 7 tomato plants.  My back fence is now beautified.  As some of the capsicums have fairly sizable fruit, I�m certain to have chilli salsa in the very near future.

24/12/01 6 Scotch Bonnets now grace my side fence in a great little garden bed I made using spare roof tiles.  Speaking of Scotch Bonnets, one plant is doing so well, I have about four fruit growing.  One is quite edible and about 2 inches long.

27/12/01 There are 14 Rocotos in the front now, but progress has been halted due to a large tree root I have to dig out.  I am not looking forward to that.  My Rocoto in the Chillery that I sprouted in June is now so high, I will have to move it out eventually.  It stands nearly 6 and half feet tall.  Boy.

31/12/01 I was up early this morning planting another 3 Rocotos in the front.  Then just before it got dark, I installed a micro spray watering system in the front.  I didn�t need to water the plants much at all considering it rained so much tonight.  For New Years Eve, it has been the coldest I can remember.
06/01/02 My 7-foot Rocoto now lives in the garden at the back.  I dug a really big hole, mixed a lot of dirt, compost, cow manure and potting mix in, then cut the pot away from the plant and gently set it in.  I made up a 3 x 2 foot box edge made from 12 x 1 inch timber and filled it in over the top with potting mix.  Just as the sun set, I watered it in.

12/01/02 I have just collected my first crop. ?  It comprised of a few Jalapenos at full-size, some Indian or Punjab, a couple of Israel, some Bolivian rainbow and a Scotch Bonnet.  I mixed the lot up, with some lime, vinegar, garlic and a little curry and chilli powder.  It smelled so good, but I dared not eat any of it.  A principle of first fruits is important for your first crop, so I gave it away to our Pastor.

12/01/02 My Pastor tried the sauce with his lunch and left a message on the phone saying it was 11 out of 10.  That was encouraging.  In my opinion though, I thought the Jalapenos were just short of maturity, though they were at full size.  The Scotch Bonnet could have done with another week or two.

16/01/02 I have decided to use a different fertiliser for my plants to try and get them to set more fruit.  The Indian plants and Jalapenos are doing quite well, but the others are in need of a little encouragement.  Therefore, I have gone with another brand that has a higher ratio of Phosphorus.  Hopefully this will help.


26/01/02 One of my passionfruit finally sprouted, three months later!  It was already three inches high before I noticed.  It got me wondering why the others didn�t grow.

27/01/02 It dawned on me while I was lying in bed, the passionfruit seeds have a thin clear coating on them, and I had sowed them without first removing these.  The coating is too strong for the cotyledon leaves to break through, so conclusively, I imagine the roots can�t break through either.  I carefully cut the coating away and out sprung the first leaves.  It should be all go from here, though it is a bit late in the season, I imagine.  I did my second round today and gathered up all the red fruit.  I collected a few Indian, three Jalapenos, Three of the Hungarian Yellows, which were surprisingly hot and a few Indian and Thai chillies.  I will definitely be saving the Hungarian seeds.  From the time I bought the plants mid August until this week, is five months.  That�s how long it has taken for the fruit to ripen.

02/02/02 I decided to try using Epsom salts.  My Rocotos, among others, have been dropping their flowers just when they started to set fruit.  So, as a last resort, I decided they needed a dose of the salts.  I am hoping this will make a big difference.  At present, I have nearly thirty Capsicum Pubescences and of those, I have only about six or seven fruit that have set.  At last count, I have 54 plants in the ground and another 130 odd in the Chillery and other sites.  I must admit, it is a big job spraying each plant each week with fertiliser, but it keeps me fit. 

24/03/02 I picked 186 ripe chillies today.  They will go into my 3rd batch of sauce.

21/04/02 Another batch of chillies were harvested today for sauce.  I gathered a handful of Serrano, Orange cayenne, Habaneros, Scotch Bonnets, Jamaican Hot, Jalapenos, Thai, Tabasco, some small Rocotos and a couple of Manzanos.  All up there were over 150.  As it is now one third into autumn, I don�t expect to get any new chillies growing, and those that are immature, are likely to grow stunted.  I still have quite a few other varieties, such as Indian and Bolivian Rainbow, which are producing small fruit and which I don�t intend on picking for sauce.

11/06/02 There isn�t much I can add at this stage as winter is here again and I will be living off the fruits of the season.  I am looking forward to growing more seeds.

21/07/02 Many of the plants in the chillery have died due to neglect.  I admit that I haven�t paid them the attention they deserved, but at the same time, I am seeing which ones last through the winter.

01/08/02 I have transplanted a few of the chillery plants which have survived the winter into the places where some of the others didn�t do so well.  My observations are that the plants that produce the chillies with thick walls tend also to be hardier against the cold and frost.  The Bolivian Rainbows are looking very sick.

15/08/02 Apart from what is planted in the ground, only about 15 plants survived the winter.  I must confess that I failed to water them during winter as I relied on the rain.  Most of the Habaneros are gone.

20/08/02 I have started to water the plants again as the weather is starting to warm up.  Many of the plants still have chillies from last season, and the ones that have dried, or I can�t eat, I have spread the seeds in the garden beds to see what happens.  I don�t expect too many to sprout, but it is a good test.

28/08/02 We have had a couple of frosts lately, but it doesn�t seem to have had an effect.   Two of the plants I put in the front garden are irrecoverable, but the Manzanos and Rocotos are a doing really great.  Most of the plants are showing signs of new growth.  There are not many plants left that wintered in pots.  In conclusion, the potted plants have around 50% the survival of the plants in the ground.  This could be because the pots don�t stay as warm, and that they hold less moisture.  A green house would certainly increase the survival rate.  Maybe next year.

04/09/02 All the plants received their first fertiliser this weekend.  I am concerned about my favourite Habanero.  I think a frost has got to it.  All the new growth looks really sad.  I have also discovered four tomato plants peeking out of the soil near where I planted six Jamaican Hots.  Three I put into large pots, and one I left in the ground.  We will see what happens to them.

11/09/02 I am running out of Manzanos.  As I am getting close to the end of the batch from last season, I am less inclined to give them away.  I have blessed people at work with the best of my crop, and have even given away a couple of Rocoto plants, but only to truly appreciative recipients.

16/09/02 I am definitely worried about my Habanero plant.  It produced so well in its first season, I thought it un-killable.  I guess the frost can kill second season plants just as easily as first year plants.

22/09/02 My six-foot Rocoto has survived very well.  Its 5 foot brother, who still has about thirty good size chillies left, has done equally well.  There are some signs that the seeds I scattered through the garden are starting to poke through the ground.  I will wait and see.

04/10/02 There are a lot of tiny chillies appearing in the garden. 

14/10/02 I lost count at 100.  I have been watering the plants every day and have had to put out snail bait, as lots of the plants have nibbled leaves.  Still, I think a few will survive.  I am waiting until they get their true leaves before I pot them up.

21/10/02 The Scotch Bonnets I planted last year are really starting to respond.  There are signs of good re-growth.  I cut them back quite fiercely as the tended to grow quite unruly and I was tying up and staking just about every side branch.

31/10/02 I am worried.  There is no sign new growth on my beloved Habanero.  Time may tell. 

12/11/02 The Israeli plants are starting to flower all over again and there are still pods from last season.  I have started to pot up some of the bigger plants sprouting up.  It is still too early to tell what varieties they are.  I have to confess I never thought of that as I scattered seeds from all the pods that dropped off from every plant.  It was a cruel experiment I fear.  Anyway, I like surprises.

18/11/02 I have started re-potting a lot of the little ones coming up from my bare seed scattering exercise.  At the same time I have been throwing out all the Habaneros.  Even my favourite un-killable will be going too.  I have to make room for the new season.

23/11/02 The Tabascos down the side have not shown much growth at all.  I think I will see nothing from them this second season.  Anyway, it is still early to tell.

07/12/02 Pods on all the Jerusalem hots; what great producers they are.  I don�t think my Jalapeno will do well the fourth season round.  There are signs of new growth, but it is localised to only a few spots.  Not a bad innings for a so-called annual.

23/12/02 It does look like we might have to move.  I am getting sick of the house being open for inspection.  Besides, I have run out of gardens to plant my chillies in.  I have potted a few more of the stronger seedlings from the experiment.  There are no more dead plants in the chillery.  There are about 30 plants in pots under one section.  I have inserted a tap in the middle of the irrigation system as there are not enough plants to turn on the whole system.

29/12/02 I might get a second year from my Capsicums.  There quite a few pods coming along.  I do however have an inherent suspicion of these plants.  Out of twelve plants last year, I only ate two capsicums.
16/01/03 We are definitely moving next month.  The house still hasn�t sold, but with a tiny mouth to be fed for the first time in March and only room for two tiny mouths, we need to migrate.  I am starting to grieve my Rocotos already.  We�ll see.

04/02/03 There are too many plants.  I can�t decide which ones.  I can�t take all of them.

12/02/03 I have potted the two Jerusalems, five Thais and two Jalapenos. The four tomato plants went to heaven, and about twenty unidentified plants from the back garden relocated to pots.  I am going to take as many of them as I can.

18/02/03 My beloved six foot Rocoto decided to come after all.  I was so happy with his decision.  I wondered how he was going to fit in, but realised that if I gave him a severe cut-back, he may just fit in the back of the wagon.  Well, it was touch and go I must say.  The root ball was about 1 foot by 1 foot.  The main trunk is now 5 feet and there are not nearly so many pods as before.  Never-the-less, I managed by myself to somehow lift the plant into a large tub and carry it to my car.  The main part of the plant was draped over my back as I carried it stooped over into my car.  I left no time to waste as it was very hot today.  I reversed all the way into the back garden of the new house and dug a big hole, partially filled it with a hastily-mixed compost and laid in the plant.  I tied it to the water spout, flooded it with water, staked up the branches and reluctantly left it in the new spot while I went back and retrieved the remaining bits and pieces.  I half-filled and 18 inch pot with pods.  There were nearly 60 pods - amazing.

23/02/03 A few of the leaves from the Rocoto have not recovered.  I have been watering it every morning and evening, as it always seems to be wilting.  It was better than leaving it behind considering there was going to be no one left there to water it.

28/02/03 It has been quite hectic lately.  The tiny mouth arrived home from hospital yesterday.  The 68 plants I brought with me are all doing well.  The Rocoto is stable, but needs a lot of watering.  I know I damaged a lot of roots transplanting it.  There are still about 20 pods left on it though and some of the flowers are still intact, so that tells me the plant will survive.  Its brother I left behind as it never set one flower.  I know now that it was because I put it in full sunlight.  The plants actually need to be in shade.

07/03/03 There hasn�t been much chillie gardening going on around here lately.  I�m too tired.

23/03/03 There has still been no chillie gardening going on.  The Thai Hots are fruiting well.  So are the Jerusalem Hots.  Most of the plants which seeded in the garden are Jerusalem Hots and thin-walled Indian types.

05/04/03 I have still not done any chillie gardening except to spray aphids and to weed pots.

18/04/03 There have been a few very cold and clear nights lately.  I expect frosts soon.

01/05/03 I was right about the frosts.  I will be interested to see which plants survive.  I sowed some seeds I collected from a conifer tree in the garden.

15/05/03 I think the Indian plants don�t tolerate frost.  They were not cultivated very well anyway, since each only produced a few pods.  My experiment also entailed doing nothing to the plants.  It is clear that there do not grow wild in Melbourne climates.  My conclusion so far is to start the plants earlier and shelter them inside a greenhouse for as long as possible.

19/05/03 Jando in QLD has offered to send me some Red Savina seeds.  This should be good.

29/05/03 My seeds arrived.  I can�t wait to plant them.  The 20 or so conifer seeds I sowed in a window sill pot up on top of the out-door hot water service have all just about germinated.  I wonder when it will be a good time to sow chillie seeds.

07/06/03 The Thai Hots have withstood the frosts as they are sheltered from overhanging branches.  They are about the only plants that have the look of heath about them.  Still, I have nowhere yet to put any plants. 

18/06/03 I couldn�t wait any longer.  I sowed six Red Savina seeds.  I will grow them at work if I have to.

26/06/03 I finally got a copy of �the pepper garden�.  I have waited for two years for this.

29/06/03 I moved the plants out into the middle of the garden hoping they might get a little bit more rain.  There has been very little rain this year and even though they are outside, the pots are drying out.  And to think it is the middle of winter.

04/07/03 There is still no sign of the Red Savinas germinating.

08/07/03 My wife has given me permission to bring a fish tank out of the shed.  She even suggested the very spot I was thinking of.  Maybe on the weekend I might get it out.  ?

12/07/03 Preparations are well under way.  The Perspex front panels are missing from the tank, but at least I have fixed the fish-tank stand.

16/07/03 I have committed myself now for sure.  I just ordered five packs of seed from Fireworks Foods.  I ordered Aji, White Habanero, Jalapeno, Peter Peppers and some Christmas Bells.  I don�t know why I ordered Christmas Bells; I already have heaps of seed.  I have heaps of Jalapeno seeds as well for that matter. 

19/07/03 After much trauma, I was got my 1.2 metre tank back up to working condition.  I had to buy a new door for the front and that was not cheap.  When I got it home, the factory had cut it 3 millimetres too big!  It took me a while, but I finally cut it down to the right fit.  I then screwed a handle on the front and put a crack in the Perspex when I over-tightened the screw.  Later, when I was drilling a series of holes in, I cracked a corner right off.  Next time, I will buy 4mm Perspex and not 3 millimetres.  Tomorrow, I will grow my first seeds - cucumber.

21/07/03 All the cucumbers have sprouted!  I am back in business.  Overnight, I soaked some barley seeds and laid them out on cotton wool in a plastic container.  At present there are some Manzano and some Serrano seeds soaking.  Pretty soon I will have to bring in my other tanks.  I spent the morning at the garden suppliers buying seedling mix and special hydroponic liquid fertiliser.  I accidentally walked out of the shop with a packet of seeds in my pocket � oops.  I have now put in the Manzano and Serrano seeds.  I also tipped a whole pack of about 50 Thai chillies into a germination tub.  I am worried I won�t have enough room them all.  And to think that I just received my order from Fireworks Foods and about thirty Red Savina seeds from Jando.

22/07/03 The Thai chillies have all started putting down their first roots.  The cucumbers are already two inches high.  It is quite amazing.  I took the cover off the tray this morning and put them under lights.  By lunch, the once white shoots had started to turn green.  First the cotyledon leaves and then by the afternoon, the whole batch was quite green.  I am in the process of negotiating with my wife to bring in another tank from the shed.  I am sure that by the time this is all over, I will have brought in all three tanks again.  There is just something wonderful about watching something grow from seed.  The top of my tank is just the perfect place to germinate.  Things tend to take just a couple of days.  I will be interested to see how long the Manzanos take.

23/07/03 I can�t believe how well the cucumbers are growing.  They are a very dark green and look very healthy.  I will have to pot them tomorrow.  That is amazing; normally they would sit in the initial propagation tray for two or three weeks, not five days.

24/07/03 There are now twenty-six plastic cups, each with a 2-3 inch cucumber seedling in it.  It took nearly two hours to mix the soil and to carefully extricate each seedling from the container.  All the roots were successfully growing amongst each other.  It is a dangerous exercise untangling seedling roots.  It would have been safer to have done it at day two or three, not day six.  As I was potting them, I could smell that wonderful cucumber aroma.  Now I definitely need to bring another tank in.  There is absolutely no room in the large tank.  I sowed 3 Red Savina seeds and three Peter Pepper seeds each into peat pots.  I�m not sure if this is a good idea, but I like to try things.

25/07/03 I threw the barely seeds out tonight.  They absolutely stunk!  They must have rotted or something.  Because I soaked them overnight in water to soften them, they obviously cooked somehow.  I might try another batch without soaking them first, and I might not put them over heat to see what happens.  If this fails I will conclude that the ordinary barley seeds you buy in soup-making packets from the supermarket are no good for sprouting.

27/07/03 Many of the Serrano and Manzanos seeds have put out little white hooks.  I spent the morning reconstructing a tank I first started using in 2001.  I put that tray and the tray of Thai chillies under lights and moved the 16 connifers into the tank I set up this morning.  By afternoon, all the white hooks had started to turn green.  It�s not 100% germination, but from experience, I know many others will germinate within the next few days.

28/07/03 One Red Savina shoot is starting to poke through.  The other five peat pots have no signs of life.

30/07/03. The one Red Savina showing signs of life is now two inches high!  I removed it and another and two Peter Peppers from their incubation compartment and placed them under lights at 20:45.  There is one Red and one Peter to germinate.  My Olive seeds I planted on the 27th probably won�t germinate, but I�ll keep an eye on them.  Also, most of the Manzano and Serrano seeds have germinated quite well.  Except that a tiny garden slater seems to have chewed the ends of the cotyledon leaves.  That may set them back and I will have to germinate some more.

02/08/03 I spent the afternoon joining together four 9x2� planks in preparation for my new garden.  I have chosen the rear of the house which receives full morning sun.  The soil is almost pure sand, and it is quite compacted.  By the afternoon, the border was in and I had dug 18� deep.

03/08/03 I finished off the garden bed.  I must say it improves the look of the yard.  Hopefully I can put a bed around the entire house.  I also sowed some more Manzanos this evening, as the ones I sowed earlier have not taken too well.  I think the soil is too shallow and the heat has affected the growth of the seedlings.  By this stage they should all have started growing their true leaves.

05/08/03 The cucumber seedlings are going wild.  I have to transplant them into pots already.  I am going to have to give a lot of them away as I can�t store them here.

09/08/03 There are a dozen little Rocoto hooks poking through the soil today.  I feel that strange desire to grow more and more building inside.

11/08/03 I need more room.  I don�t know how I am going to survive the next six weeks knowing my tiny babies might have nowhere to live when they grow up, well at least through their teenage years.  I just transplanted seven seedlings into cups and four inch pots.  The transplants were 3 Red Savinas, 2 Peter peppers 1 Thai Hot and 1 Serrano.  Regretfully, I had to throw out thirty Thai, eight Rocoto and twelve Serrano seedlings because I stuffed up.  I let the mix dry out inside, even though they appeared to be moist on the top.  I was experimenting with new germination containers, but did not put holes in underneath.  And like a Wally, I used too little media.  I have also confirmed that a hole underneath, which I generally ensure of, allows the media to take up water when it needs it, rather than when I perceive its need for water.  After I threw the seedlings out and tested the soil, I found it was quite dry.  The poor little souls shrivelled and burned in the heat.  It gets to 95f, 37c in there with the heat mats and fluoro lights.  Alas.  On another note, I sowed 16 seeds tonight into an 8 cell container.  Two of the following went into each cell: Chocolate Habanero, Tabasco, Aji Orange, Ivory Habanero, Birdseye, Scotch Bonnet, Jalapeno and Hungarian Yellow.  The latter of the three are from seed I saved two seasons ago.

15/08/03. There is nothing much to report at present.  The cucumbers have just about reached the top o the tank.  The Rocotos are doing really great.  I need to try another batch of Red Savina.  I am not convinced the three I have growing are going to take off.  Their leaves are yellowing.  I will give them a few more weeks.

16/08/03. This morning there were three pale little hooks showing through the soil.  I put the 8 cell container under lights.  Hopefully, the extra warmth will germinate the others as well.  I also marked both the individual cells and kept a record on paper as to what went where.  I now know that two Birdseyes have germinated.  I also noticed a few Rocotos germinating from some soil I recycled.  I was hoping to avoid that this year.  Oh well.  I transplanted 11 Manzanos from the 8 cell pack I started on the 3rd of August.  I threw out two which were not up to standard.  I also sowed some new seed tonight.  I sowed 4 Anaheim, 4 Hungarian Hot / Wax, 4 Mexican (or so said the packet.) and 4 Bermuda.  I also ordered Datil, Black Cuban, Caboolture, and Black Plum.  I also re-potted two cucumbers into 8� pots.  I am starting to harden them off, but probably should have waited a day or two before I set them outside for a while.  They wilted and have only just started to recover.  SI will see how they are in a week and start the hardening off process.

17/08/03. I planted about six or seven seeds from an Indian Chilli someone gave me a while ago.  It sat around for a while and a germination container I set up to start off some veggies for the mother-in-law has not going to be used, so I split open the chilli and popped the seeds in.  I will see what happens.  

20/08/03. I received some Pequin and Chiltepin seeds from Jando today.  Thanx.  I also re-potted four cucumber plants.  One was actually flowering!  I also re-potted four seedlings into plastic cups.  They were 2 Hungarian Yellows, 1 Scotch Bonnet and 1 Jalape�o.  The funny thing with the jalapeno is that one of the cotyledon leaves got stuck in the seed which was imbedded too deep into the soil.  I thought it would die, but it has kept growing, so I will leave it see what happens.  My wife helped me tonight for the first time.  I was impressed with her care.  She may be a secret gardener after all.

24/08/03. I came home tonight and the structure which housed all my conifers had toppled over in the wind.  I at first suspected foul [play, but it was very windy today.  I scooped up what I could in the dark.  I will see what I can recover in the morning.  I imagine they are dormant at the moment so I am not too concerned.  On a brighter note, a lot of my seeds have germinated.  Tonight I uncovered Ivory Habaneros, Tabasco, Hungarian Yellow, Anaheim, Wax and Mexican.  I also brought home a couple of chillies from a plant I gave my brother-in-law two seasons ago.  I think they are Punjab.  Oh yeah, another seedling has emerged from an Indian chilli I got from someone at work.

25/08/03. More seeds arrived from Fireworks Foods today.  I got Datil, Black Plum, Caboolture and Black Cuban.

27/08/03. Tonight I sowed four each of the following: Caboolture, Datil, Black Cuban, Black Plum, Tabasco, Tepin, Cayenne and Pequin.  I sowed them into 8 cell containers which I had cut into sections 4x4.  The reason I cut them is that different varieties germinate at different rates and rather than put the whole container under lights when only one or two seedlings emerge, I can leave the un-germinated seeds under heat.  Presently there is a container with only half the cells germinated.  What I will do soon is take out the seedlings and return the packs to heat and see if they germinate.  The temperature in the growing tank is different to the top where I germinate my seeds.

30/08/03. Just about all the seeds I planted on the 16th of August are sprouted and are nearly 2 inches tall.  No sign of the other seedlings yet.  I am going to have to kick out all the cucumbers.  It is amazing.  They have exposed roots all up there stems and they have grown flowers.  I can�t raise my lights any higher and they are all touching the lights.  They drink so much too.  No sooner tan I flood the trays with water, than it has been sucked up.

02/09/03. I placed a cell under lights tonight.  Some of the seedlings look as though they germinated two or three days ago.  My Datils and Tabascos have arisen.  I also made up another garden bed in preparation for my upcoming chillie plantation.  The bed is 4.5 metres long and .6 of a metre wide and is a raised bed like the one on the other side of the house.  The bed I made today faces west and the other faces east.  There is less room on the wall which faces north, but I will work something out.

05/09/03. Both the Tepin and Pequin have germinated and have been placed under lights.   Look for more info in a day or two.  I also have begun hardening off an 11� Peter Pepper which was touching the lights in my germination tank.  It scorched a little, but should recover.

07/09/03. I transplanted 2 Anaheim, 4 Hungarian Hot Wax, 3 Mexican, 3 Bermuda, 2 Manzano and 1 unknown which germinated from some recycled dirt.   Also germinated and ready to transplant from the 27/08/03 lot are: 1 Caboolture, 3 Datil, 8 Tabasco(?) 1 Tepin, 2 Black Cuban, 4 Black Plum, 5 Cayenne and 2 Pequin.   From an earlier batch on 11th of August, I have 1 Tabasco and 2 Large Birds Eye to transplant into cups.

08/09/03. I threw out the Indian peppers. Only one germinated and it had three cotyledon leaves.  Talk about crap.  I also stopped trying to germinate the remainder of the seeds I started on the 11th of August.  I will try them again a little later.  At this rate, the weather is still a little cool to put plants out, so I have to keep them indoors and it is starting to crowd the place out.

11/09/03. Five date seeds that I experimented with germinated.  I put six in soil a few weeks back and thought I might check on them.  I hope I haven�t stuffed them up by transplanting them.  I put four into cups and stuck two out in the cold in my new garden bed.  Most of the plants are doing really well.  The Manzanos are a little slow growing, but I can see roots through the clear plastic, so am not too concerned.  The Cucumbers I put in the ground are just about gone.  They are fragile things.  I don�t think I�ll bother again.  There is a lot to be said about direct seeding.  The plants grow already hardened off.  Talk about hardened off, the tomato plant I mentioned earlier which sprouted in the middle of winter had three ripe tomatoes on it today.  I dug it out from the container as there is a Thai Hot growing there, and planted it in the back garden bed.  I killed off a whole heap of roots, so I don�t expect it to live.  If it does it will be miracle two.  I experimented by sowing about 20 seeds directly from a Red Habanero into a seed rasing mixture.  I did it quickly to re-use the mixture from the dates.

13/09/03. I potted up four olive plants today.  Because I am renting and that the plants take a while to produce, I decided to buy 4 large pots to house the newest editions to my family.  Have transferred any seedlings lately because once I put them into their plastic cups, I won�t have enough room in my two chilli tanks.  And I don�t have enough room in the house for a third tank either�I think.  Maybe I will have another look around.  I wonder if the kids won�t mind a light on in the room all night�

15/09/03. I received some seeds from Jando to grow for him.  They are: Aji Orange, Aji Norten, Long Pequin, Aji Colorado, Fiesta, Piquin Da Ischia, Aji Golden, Aji Amarillo and Aji Limo.  I hasten to add that the Tepin and Pequin I have growing are also part of the experiment.
I hope to germinate these in the next two weeks or so as the weather is expected to warm a little more and I can start planting outside and hardening off the plants I already have.

16/09/03. Well, it was a big effort, but the end result was worth it.  I transplanted the remainder of all my seedlings this evening into cups.  All in all, I transplanted 35 chilli seedlings.  They were:9 Tabasco, 2 Birdseye Large, 3 Pequin, 1 Tepin, 2 Black Plum, 4 Black Cuban, 7 Cayenne, 4 Caboolture and 3 Datil.  I had to kick out my 3 Red Savinas and my other Peter Pepper.  They were all around 6-8 inches high.  I hope they don�t mind.  The Peter pepper I started to harden off a couple of weeks ago has grown 2 inches without much sunlight.  Also I discovered a punnet of sprouting seeds and had to think for a minute what they were and how they got there.  I then recalled a few nights back hastily scattering some Red Habanero seeds into a punnet and putting a lid on it.  Well, there are now about six white hooks.

18/09/03. There are now 17 Red Habaneros growing.  The date seeds have put tap roots right down to the bottom of the cups and tree of the four have a bud coming from the root.  I will wait and see what happens.  It really is interesting.  I thought the seed would split and out pop a set of cotyledon leaves, but the seed is largely intact except for the one root bending out and disappearing into the soil below.

20/09/03. Today was the first real warm weather we have had this spring.  The morning was coolish, but quickly warmed and stayed that way into the evening.  I won�t be caught off guard this year though, because I know one or two warm days are always followed by abysmally cold and windy days.

21/09/03. I bought a punnet of Snow Peas and a punnet of Squash seedlings and popped them in the garden.  They�re a good thing those ready grown punnets because they are already hardened off and they can usually go straight in the ground.  Needless to say, I wouldn�t dare put out a chilli at this time of year.  A few weeks to go.

23/09/03. I sowed 86 seeds tonight.  I sowed the following: 6 Aji Colorado, 6 Aji Norte�o, 6 Fiesta, 6 Aji Amarillo, 6 Aji Golden, 6 Aji Orange, 6 Aji Limo, 4 Christmas Bell, 6 Tepin, 6 Piquin da Ischia, 4 Habanero Ivory Cluster, 4 Corno di Torro, 6 Pequin Long, 6 Pequin, 4 Habanero Miscucho Colorado and 4 Red Marconi.  I also found sprouting a spinach seed I had given up on.

27/09/03. 1 Habanero Ivory Cluster has started to put down roots.  Great stuff.

29/09/03. I checked the germinating seeds and found 2 Habanero ivory, 3 Corno di Torro and 4 Red Marconi growing.  I took the punnet out and placed it under lights. The rest of the seeds look like they are going mouldy.  Time may tell.

30/09/03. I checked the seeds tonight and 2 Pequin have germinated and it looks like 1 Pequin have also germinated.  Many of the Aji are actually going mouldy.  I will leave them a little longer and maybe try some more again if there is no success.

02/10/03. Punnet two has a least one of everything coming through.  Punnet one, which mostly has Aji seeds, has nothing coming through.  At present I have 2 Tepin, 1 Pequin da Ischia, 1 Habanero Ivory, 4 Corno di Torro, 3 Pequin, 3 Long  Pequin, 1 Habanero Miscucho Colorado and 4 Red Marconi.  My Manzano are doing very well and have started their growth spurt.  That is a very good sign.  The plants I re-potted on Sunday have not fully recovered.  My mistake was to put the outdoors to water on a windy day.  The leaves curled up under the stress and are still twisted.  One even dropped off.

03/10/03. Another frost last night.  Hopefully that is the last one, but I can�t be too sure.  Mid October should see me clear to put plants outdoors without worry.

04/10/03. I put outside all the potted plants today - 17 in all.  They spent a good four hours in the sun and actually looked better for it.  It won�t be too long now.  Tonight will be a cold cloudless still night.  ! Danger!  I sowed 12 Rocoto and 6 Jalape�o tonight.  I couldn�t help myself as I would have only had 1 of each this season.  On a sadder note, there is absolutely no sign of any Aji germinating.

05/10/03. I purchased three chilli plants from Bunnings this morning � Jalape�o, Inferno and Siam.  I suspect the Siam is a brand name.  The picture looks like a Birdseye. 

06/10/03. I killed the only Thai chilli I germinated this season.  I left it out in the warm wind about 30 minutes too long.  That�s what you get when you try and force a hardening off.  I brought it inside and watered it and made room back in the chilli tank but it was too late.

07/10/03. 1 tiny Aji Amarillo has decided to make its way into the world.  Just when I thought all the Aji seeds were duds.

09/10/03. I potted up 12 seedlings into cups tonight.  12 Red Habaneros are my newest residents.  At least I think they are Red Habaneros.  3 Pequin and 1 Tepin have also been transferred into 4 inch pots and are being hardened off in the dinning room.  I also took out 6 Manzano, 1 Jalapeno, 1 Caboolture and 1 Tabasco.  I also discovered 3 Jalapeno seeds germinating and put them into the tank.  The Aji Amarillo has not progressed much and still has the seed attached.

12/10/03. Another Aji Amarillo has germinated.  There is no sign of any of the other Aji that I received from Jando.  It may be that the seeds were not viable.

14/10/03. The overnight temps are higher at last.  I have put two Manzano plants outside.

16/10/03. The Manzano are doing fine.  As long as I keep them watered in the mornings, IU think they will pull through.

18/10/03. I fixed up the shelves in one of the mini chilleries.  Tonight I placed 11 plants outside.  1 Jalapeno, 3 Red Savina, 2 Peter Peppers and 3 Manzano.

21/10/03.  The overnight temps are still quite cold, but the plants seem to be coping.  I put out another lot of plants that were weaker as I needed the room.  I stuffed a lot of them up when I transplanted them a few weeks ago and they have not properly recovered.  I realise now that when the plant is stressed from lack of water during a transplant to neither put them out in the wind nor water the plants from overhead as the water damages the fragile leaves when they are dehydrated.  When they do finally recover, the leaves that got water on them shrivel and look like they have been burned.

26/10/03.  I have started building the North facing garden along the back of the house.  This will then complete the gardens east, north and west.  I have decided to plant all the Pubescents in the East garden as they will only get morning light and should be able to cope better protected from the extreme afternoon sun.  What I put in the rest of the garden is yet to be decided.

27/10/03.  Another 17 plants have been transplanted from cups to pots tonight.  There are 3 Black Cubans, 1 Manzano, 7 Rocoto, 1 Datil, 3 Cayenne and 2 Caboolture now in pots waiting on the children�s computer desk to be hardened off.

28/10/03. Tonight I transplanted into cups the last of my seedlings for the year.  Unfortunately, not all of the last seeds I sowed were able to germinate.  The following are the details of what did and didn�t work, including the weaker seedlings I discarded. Tepin 6 sowed 1 transplanted, Piquin da ischia 6 sown 4 transplanted, Pequin 6 sown 2 transplanted, Long Pequin 6 sown 2 transplanted, Habanero Ivory 4 sown 1 transplanted, Corno di Torro 4 sown 4 transplanted, Habanero Miscucho Colorado 4 sown 0 germination, Red Marconi 4 sown 2 transplanted, Aji Colorado 6 sown 0 germinated, Aji Norte�o 6 sown 0 germinated, Aji Golden 6 sown 0 germinated, Aji Orange 6 sown 0 germinated, Fiesta 6 sown 0 germinated, Aji Amarillo 6 sown 1 germinated, Aji Limo 6 sown 0 germinated, Christmas bell, 4 sown 0 transplanted.  Many of the seeds I received were apparently old and while I was germinating them, I noticed the majority of them were mouldy.

04/11/03. I installed the sprinkler system in the garden today.  Incidentally, it was the first hot day we have had since the beginning of the year.  The over night temperatures are still not in double figures though.

05/11/03. Today I transplanted my first chillies into the garden.  A nervous few days await now that I have planted my 3 Red Savina and 2 Peter Peppers.  I also put in the ground a sad looking Jalapeno, 2 Manzanos, 1 Anaheim and 1 Hungarian Hot Wax. Now that the spray system is in, I have also decided to plant a variety of veggies.  Today I put in cauliflower, cabbage and lettuce seedlings.  I also threw in a heap of seeds to see what might happen.  I sowed directly into the garden baby carrots, spinach and parsnip.  I also sowed into containers beetroot and mixed squash.

13/11/03. We have had consistent overnight temperatures of late and the weather is definitely starting to warm.  I re-potted 6 of my cucumbers all of which have at leat one fruit.  Still, it has been a lot of trouble and I won�t germinate them again.  I maintain that seedlings already sprouted are a good source of veggies here in Melbourne as they come already hardened off. 

15/11/03. Many of the plants are showing tiny buds. My Rocoto I took from the old house and re-planted here is doing very well.  There are hundreds of buds all over.  This is its third season.

19/11/03.  Another batch of semi-hardened off plants have been relocated to the holding chambers.  (That�s my mini shade houses).  I had to wait for a few days until the hot weather passed.  I put the remainder of the cucumbers, still in their pots, amount the other plants.

21/11/03. I couldn�t help it, I had to buy an orange Habanero plant today.  Since all my Habs are red this year, I thought it a wise investment to buy an orange one.

24/11/03. I liberated another batch of plants from the fish tanks this evening.  There are only two lots to go ad that is that for seedlings this year.

25/11/03. I had the pleasure to meet a fellow CHI member today.  Luke came for a visit during lunch and we swapped a few plants and had a brief discussion on growing and planting techniques.  He took home a Cayenne, a Manzano, a Habanero and Tabasco.  In return I now have to add to my collection a Pineapple Baccatum, a Tath Yalora and a Golden Baccatum.

28/11/03. The weather has been perfect for growing chillies, except that the sun is somewhat intense and my Rocoto aborted quite a number of blossoms.  I will keep my eye on it and if necessary, I will erect some permanent shade over it.  I figured that it would be fine receiving only morning sun, but the intensity is probably a bit much.  All the other plants are doing great.  My Black Plums have been producing very nice purple flowers.

30/11/03. Seeing my fish tanks with hardly any more plants in them concerned me, so I sowed some kiwi-fruit to see what happens.

05/12/03. Still no sign of the Kiwi fruit seeds germinating.  A good thing probably.  My gum trees I germinated haven�t fared well at all.  I think they didn�t like the heat of the tank.  If I ever do it again, I will germinate them and then grow them at room temp.  After all, gum trees native to Victoria survive quite cold temperatures.  The plants from Luke are doing really well.  I put them all into my tanks to give them a boost.  Already the Golden Baccatum and the That Yalora have reached the flouros.  The Pineapple Baccatum has grown a few leaves and is looking quite healthy.

08/12/03. The weather is really hot at the moment and it is presenting a danger to my smaller seedlings.  I have erected temporary shade over my Rocoto.  There are two tiny pods growing.  Yippee.  I have been keeping my eye on their progress.  I moved another lot of plants out of the larger tank to begin their stage one hardening off.

09/12/03. I potted up my four date palms.  They are all about 12 inches high, but one is quite curly for some reason.  I also noticed the date seed I put in the garden all the while back has germinated and there is a two inch date palm growing where there should be a chilli plant.  I will have to remove it as those things grow about thirty feet high.

10/12/03. Can�t say I like the peat pots very much.  The Pineapple Baccatum dries out too quickly.  To me, that adds an unnecessary risk that would otherwise be eliminated in a larger pot or cup as I am using now.  The advantage is that it is easy to transplant and as Luke suggested, it means limited root disturbance during transplant.  I think I will pot it into a large cup like the rest of the plants.

15/12/03. I re-potted another lot of plants today.  They all will sit inside for a few weeks and then they can go outside into my mini shade houses, and those inside there find a spot in the garden.  I have about 50 plants left indoors.


26/12/03. One of my Long Pequin has died of wet feet.  Otherwise all are doing well.

29/12/03.  I think I killed my only Ivory Habanero.  I scalded its leaves on the fluorescent lights, and I think it took exception and shed the rest of the leaves.  That is my second failed attempt to grow Ivory Habs.  Maybe next year.

30/12/03. My tea seeds arrived today.  There are five in all, so I am going to give them a go.  I will also be trying to germinate cherry seeds.
Diary November 2001
Diary December 2001
Diary  2002
Diary  2003
Diary  2003
Diary  2004
06/01/04. Not much to report.  The Cayenne all have pods, the Pequin and Tepin are doing very well.  No pods yet, but size wise they look very good.  The Pequin De Ischia are very nice looking plants with tiny bushy aspects.  No pods yet, but a few of the flowers have dropped off.  They are semi hardened off.

10/01/04. There are only three Rocotos left in my tank.  I have tried to germinate some cherry and apricot seeds, but nothing showing.  The green tea seeds are extremely hard seeds, so I have sanded them back and soaked them over night.  Two of the seeds were hollow inside, but the other three seem fine.

12/01/04. My cherry tomato plant that sprouted last winter is doing exceptionally well.  I have staked it up and the one ripe tomato was very nice.  The Rocoto from last year has heaps of pods all soon to ripen.  The Thai chillies all have tiny green pods as does the Serranos and Birdseyes.  There are still no pods on the Chinenses.  I think I planted them out too early and they have not recovered from their shock. They have new growth however, so it should only e a matter of time. 

18/01/04. I am just waiting on a good day to put the rest of the plants outside.  As mentioned, there are still three Rocotos under lights, but soon they shall be liberated.  I will have to find something else to grow after that.

24/01/04. We have had some good weather lately during the days, but the nights have been quite cool.  The O/N temps have still been in double figures, but below the necessary 17 degrees to keep the plants from shutting down.

28/01/04. The winter tomato is producing quite a lot of fruit.  Every other fruit and vegetable I have grown, except for the snow peas, have all turned out to be duds.  I let the slugs, snails and bugs get to the plants.  I figure they are not worth the effort.  Most bugs are sensible enough to leave chillies alone.  I prefer not to put down pellets or spray, so I think next year I will grow chillies only.

04/02/04. There are just the three Rocoto plants left inside my tank.  All the other plants have now been put outside.  The three Piquin Da Ischia look very healthy.  They are a squat bush with small leaves.  As yet the flowers are yet to bud, but I am hopeful I will be able to harvest a few pods.  My Bermuda Hot chillies have fruited and look really nice with their purple leaves and tiny red fruit.

12/02/04.  A check of the garden today has shown quite a few varieties with ripe fruit.  The cayenne all have pods turning red, as well as a few other varieties.

01/06/04.   I have sown about 50 conifer seeds.  I placed them inside a large pot, watered it and wrapped it inside a plastic bag.  I had success this way last year.

05/06/04.  Still no sign of the conifers.

07/06/04.  After the success of the Pequin da Ischia, I have decided to germinate another batch.  This time there is 40.

09/06/04. I checked this morning and there were lots of little seedlings coming from the soil.  I will replant them shortly and bring them in doors.  The only problem with plants such as these is the length of time it takes to establish them.  The last lot I did took a year.

11/06/04. Two more Olive plants were added to the collection taday.  It will give me something to do tomorrow.

12/06/04. 32 plants were re-potted into individual punnets today.

13/06/04. I purchased a packet of Basil at the request of my little girl and together we sowed them into four containers.  The packet says 10-14 days germination.  My little girl wants to check them every hour!

15/06/04. Well, there are quite a few Basil plants showing today

20/06/04. I had forgotten about the Piquin da Ischia I had sown and so checked them this morning.  They are 32 long spindly pale plants reaching up through the soil.

23/06/04. The basil are looking good.  I have lost a couple of plants as usual when I try to assist them by removing the seed from the leaves.  I should know better, but I can�t help it.

27/06/04. I have to resist the urge to grow more.  Now that I can take plants into work to live, I have started to get a little excited.  The small plants are the best as they won�t overcrowd people�s desk tops.

01/07/04. I will soon have to pot up the Basil.  Have saved some Okra seeds as someone at work say they are very hard to grow.  I will have to see.

05/07/04. The nights are getting quite cold and so are the days for that matter.  I go outside and look at my poor spindly chilli plants.  Maybe next year�

08/07/04. The first of the winter frosts left a nice film of ice across the windscreen this morning.

10/07/04. I transplanted the best of the Basil into containers, including 2 Jalapeno plants I am germinating.  The Basil are a fun experiment for my 4 year old daughter.  The Piquin da Ischia are doing quite well now, they will soon need to be transplanted also.

11/07/04. Four cells of my Piquin da Ischia shrivelled and died overnight.  You wouldn�t credit it, but I must have missed a punnet during my watering.  Not happy.


15/07/04. In preparation for the coming spring, I went and purchased my sterile mixes of vermiculite, perlite and clay pellets.  I also purchased a few lots of rockwool.  I am experimenting again and have placed two lots of two seed in six mediums.  I hope to germinate 2 Red Savinas, two Black Cubans and two Bolivian rainbow.  The Basil are doing really well at the moment and won�t be long before they�re out and into tubs.


29/08/04. Well I sowed three each of the seeds I bought on eBay.  They are Red Habanero, Caribbean Red, Yatsufusa, Albino Pequin, Goat horn, Sigaretta, Thai Dragon and Pequin.
I also sowed 12 Yellow Rocoto, which I call Manzano, and 8 Jalapeno.

Due to the potentiality of this page stretching on forever, I have decided to discontinue updating it and spare us all.

Needless to say, things have continued on much the same as this from start and no doubt will unto the eventual end.
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