Pods!

Well, as is to be expected, this is the time of the year when pods are starting to show up on the plants.

The Orange Habanero is full of them. So is the Chocolate Habanero.

One of the two Royal Gold Habaneros is being quite prolific. The other is still growing and not flowering (though there are plenty of buds).

The Madame Jeannette has about 10 pods of varying sizes.

The Aji Umba Red has one pod, and though it is supposed to be quasi-related to the MJ, the pods show completely different characteristics. It will be interesting to see the pods fully mature.

Both Black Nagas are producing buds, but no flowers have opened as of yet.

One Fatalii has started flowering. The other is about to.

Both Jamaican Red Hots are flowering, but no pods seem to be forming :-(

The one overwintered Naga Morich has produced four pods so far, and is flowering heavily.

The Datil has produced two pods.

The Ring of Fire Cayenne has about a dozen pods.

The Barrackpore 7 pod has a lot of flowers, but no pods yet.

The Trinidad Scorpion is the same.

The Thai Dragon is growing, and growing, and growing...but not a single bug so far!

The supposed 'Red Squash' has finally produced pods, and they are looking true to form. But the flowers are definitely C. annuun.

The Brazilian Starfish looks about to flower.

The Rocoto Rojo continues to irritate me with its lovely green growth and zero flowers/pods.

The Roselle has flowered lots now, but no good sized flowers (tiny ones), so I may have to overwinter this one.

The Maiz Morado has finally produced on tassel, or male inflorescence. Now I just have to wait for the female ones.

Whew! Long update.

Candied (crystallized) Orange Habanero experiment is still going quite well. I might shorten the number of days from 7 to 5, since it is a very small batch. I will wait until the liquid in the pod segments has been completely replaced by sugar, though. But the syrup so far tastes delicious!

Goodness Me!

Crikey! My computer seems to be working at the dial-up speeds of old! (kiddies, go grab your parents, yank them away from the TV and ask them what Dial-up means. It's from the by-gone era of Windows 3.1, Dot Matrix printers and Netscape Navigator). I still have no idea why SKY is charging me an arm and a leg for 'bigger, faster, stronger, better broadband' when it feels like I have the same download speed as back in 1998!

I also say Goodness Me! because it has been a while since I posted anything. He estado muy ocupado, what with trying to get used to the married thing and finally being able to go on our delayed honeymoon.

The plants, it would seem, enjoyed my absence.

The Maize Morado is almost at the roof of the windowsill!

The rest of the windowsills are a sight to behold!

Both the Chocolate Habanero and the Orange Habanero have about 15 pods each on them now, and even the Naga Morich as joined in the fun with four pods.

THE DATIL HAS A POD!!!!!

Joy of Joys! I am looking forward to that one!

The Cayenne Ring of Fire is doing it's job, and has about a dozen pods on it.

And groovy baby! the Madame Jeannette plant has two pods at the mo!

Even the Roselle has joined in and given two flowers!

And look! The first ripe harvested pods of the Orange Habanero:

So far, so good. I watered all of the plants with the Epsom Salt solution yesterday, so that takes care of this month's dose.

Very, Very Happy!

:-)

Algo no me huele bien...

Yep, something is fishy here.

These are the chillies and plants that are still going strong in this year's crop.

2x Red Squash

3x Maize Morado

1x Cayenne Ring of Fire

1x Thai Dragon

1x Madame Jeannette

1x Aji Umba Red

1x Barrackpore 7-pot/7-pod

1x Brazilian Starfish

2x Jamaican Hot

2x Fatalii

2x Royal Gold

2x Black Naga

1x Trinidad Scorpion

1x Roselle

Plus the overwintered:

1x Orange Habanero

1x Chocolate Habanero

1x Naga Morich

1x Rocoto Rojo

Now, all seems according to plan with all the plants. Some of them (the Fataliis) seem to be growing very, VERY slowly, while others (Madame Jeannette) are growing like there is no tomorrow.

The interesting thing is that two of the peppers don't seem to match their descriptions...

The Brazilian Starfish is supposed to be a Baccatum, and yet the leaves looks strangely like those of a Chinense. It's growing shape is much more elongated and elegant than any of the Chinenses of similar age growing alongside them, but it is nonetheless strange. Still, this is the first Baccatum I have ever grown, so I might be wrong.

Now, the Red Squash on the other hand, doesn't look AT ALL like a Chinense, even though the seed company I bought them from said it was. If anything, the plant so far screams Annuum. It is just starting to produce flower buds, so I shall have to wait and see if it's just me (after all, I could have mislabelled things when I planted seeds originally. Unless they end up looking like nothing I ordered for this season).

No photos this week, as I am in the middle of slowly re-potting all of the seedlings into their final pots (have done so thus far with the Trini Scoprion, the Red Squash, the Brazilian Starfish, Madame Jeannette, Aji Umba Red and the Roselle.

Others will be done next week. I just need to get more containers from Home.

On another note, last weekend I cooked Chocolate Habanero, rum soaked cherries, pecan and ginger brownies.

Man Alive!

Those are some really good brownies!

:-)

The Ice Cream Bean Cometh!

I spent the better part of a conversation on Easter Sunday attempting to remember the name of a particular fruit eaten in Central America with a friend from that neck of the woods.

After much searching (in our minds), we were unable to actually remember the name of it, to our collective frustration.

This morning, however, I have finally remembered the name of said fruit:

The Guaba.

At least that is the name given to it in Aji Chombo Land. The Scientific name for it is Inga edulis. The English name for it is apparently the Ice Cream Bean, which I find funny, though strangely appropriate.

I remember having some as a child, and what a fantastically strange fruit it was. Imagine if you will a very large tree with pods nearly a foot long by about an inch and a half. Inside these pods are large black seeds wrapped in what looks like dense, white cotton, or cotton candy. The taste is a bit like banana, but sweeter, and with a slightly more fibrous texture.

Good stuff, and the tree apparently helps replenish nutrients into the soil (in a similar fashion to legumes).

Just if any of you are planning to start crops...

Four days away from the plants seems like an eternity.

Four days away from work however, are bliss.

Amazing how quickly stress builds up again, even though there's hardly anything to do thanks to Easter Break.

I think the lack of things to do just piles on even more stress.

Who would ever have though that?

It's either stress from not having much to do AND being in a very publicly exposed location, or the fantastic combination of under staffing, exposure, and high levels of friction caused by inconsistent (highly, HIGHLY inconsistent) customer service policies. Hopefully things will get sorted out soon (since the higher ups have realised just how stressed we are down in the trenches), but odds are I'll be face to face with the Oriental Yeti (Elvis' Pet) before I see any worthwhile changes...

:-(

But I digress.

The Maize Morado is doing very well. Seems to like it's new 'enclosure.' I really am eagerly anticipating the eight foot tall stalks (as are the people in the office I put them in, since they will act as natural shade).

The Roselle is not shooting up like the Maize Morado, but it continues to grow steadily. I imagine this lack of growth has more to do with the low temperatures in this start/stop spring (since it snowed last week). But it looks healthy so I'm going to keep crossing my fingers. I was actually asked about the progress of the Roselle by one of the girls from the Deli Almapaprika and I go to often.

The sub par spring also seems to be affecting the chillies, leading to a lot of uneven growth. One Royal Gold is on it's third set of true leaves, while the other is only just starting the second. And they both germinated on the same day.

The Trinidad Scorpion, the Madame Jeannette, and the Aji Umba Red lead the way for the chinenses, followed closely now by the Barrackpore 7-Pot; while the Ring of Fire Cayenne and the Thai Dragon are doing their usual thing now (growing fast).

Oh, and the Black Nagas are showing their first true leaves!

That last bit of news is absolutely fantastic for me.

It balances out the disaster of the home grown hydroponics...though I may have figured out what went wrong, but it is too late to fix...

Anywho, enough of my babbling.

I am the Angel of Muesli!

Don't ask why I've put that as the title...

...oh, all right!

I can't really remember the song 'Angel of Music' from Phantom of the Opera (if that is the real title of it), so I remember it as 'Angel of Muesli'.

Which I think is only fair, since there is a Catholic patron Saint for Television (actually, there are THREE), so why not have a Guardian Angel for Swiss breakfast cereals?

Speaking of Saints, it is a telling statement of the power of being able to attract top figures from other countries when the English can hire out a Turk to be their patron (George), the Irish can hire out a Welshman (Patrick), and the Scotts can hire out a Jordanian (Andrew).

Only the Welsh have a 100% Welsh Saint (David).

But given the fact that they export saints effectively (see Patrick), Welsh saints must be like Italian Football coaches...

Went to see 'I love you Phillip Morris' with Almapaprika yesterday (yes, a rom-com). I have to admit that while an entertaining film, I was taken aback by the explicit sexual content of the film.

Guess it just means I'm an old (Middle-aged) prude who needs to watch more TV on Fox...

To his credit, though, Ewan McGregor makes for an endearingly innocent and camp gay man.

Jim Carrey...well...different story.

Now, going back to the topical discussion on Chillies:

I've taken new pics today, which I plan on uploading at the weekend. All the little seedlings are going strong.

The C. Annuums are really taking off!

Both the Ring of Fire and the Thai Dragon are starting to distance themselves growth wise from the C. Chinenses.

The Trinidad Scorpion, Madame Jeannette, Royal Gold, Aji Umba Red and Barrackpote 7-pot are doing really well.

And Guess what?

Two of the Black Nagas germinated!

I had put off answering this until such a time as they germinated: Mr. Arboc, as soon as these babies start producing pods, regardless of the colour, I shall send you some seeds. Maybe a pod even, if the post allows it.

Now I've at least got two little seedlings to watch over.

:-)

Good stuff, that!

The Roselle is busting out of the little plastic-bottle greenhouse, and I've had to transplant all of the Maize Morado onto a much larger, 'Final Pot' where all three can grow. It will need extra compost, which I shall buy at the weekend (thinking about Miracle Gro). I shouldn't have any problems with pots this year, as I have a healthy supply of large pots for the plants.

But enough of my mindless babbling.

I'll get the pics up soon.

Long Weekend...

I thought I would have had more time over the weekend to do some updating on the blog, but unfortunately I ended up helping out at the Pokey-Slashy competition being held at uni.

It was loads of fun, though. And I took lots of photos (which went straight to their facebook page). I always like helping out at competitions.

But I digress.

Here's the update of photos I promised from last weekend:


The first Chocolate Habanero pods


It's two new brothers


The Roselle doing really REALLY well!


The same can be said for the Trinidad Scorpion


The Barrackpore 7 pod may be small, but it's still haging on. I hope it grows strong.


The home of all the seedlings. If the growth is as good as it has been this week, I may have to cut all of the dome tops off.

Some Photos

Pictures speak more than words.



Here's some I took yesterday (and this morning).


The Datil's new growth after moving to a sunnier place.


The seedlings in their new 'bottle greenhouses'


The First Pod of the Season! a Chocolate Habanero.


Roselle's first true leaves just coming out.


New Naga Morich growth & flowers


Maize Morado! Getting ready to be transplanted soon.


Ferris Wheel near home.


Aji Lemon Drop Seedling germinated in the remains of a decaf tea bag. It works, but the root did not want to dig into the tea.

Cerveza, Pokey-Stabbey, and Ajies

This entry might test my abilities to write in Spanglish, a much maligned language (considered not a language at all by some) utilized by many second, third and fourth generation Hispanic Americans in the US.

I do consider it a bit of an aberration, since you should be able to comunicate your ideas and thoughts clearly and succinctly in one single coherent language.

Pero el Spanglish, el cual en realidad deberia ser llamado 'Espanglish' si vamos a hacer la cosas de la manera debida, es la clase de fenomeno que me fascina (y al cual blogspot no le puede corregir la ortografia ni la gramatica. Quizas en un futuro cercano la gente de Google, Microsoft y Apple crearan programas en 'Espanglish').

Typically, Espanglish would be much more mish-mash than this, since I could start a sentence in Spanish, halfway through it add some words in English, and revert to Spanish before finishing, or vice-versa.


All making perfect gramatical sense, if you can imagine.

En fin, es mejor que hable un poco de cosas mas interesantes, ya que se que la mayoria de las personas leyendo este blog ya han perdido interes.

El fin de semana empezo de manera...interesante. Almapaprika y yo (y un grupo de amigos) fuimos a un 'Festival de la Cerveza', en la cripta de una de las catedrales locales. Yo encontre el concepto un poco...hypocrita no es la palabra debida...

...ironico, quizas.

Alli estabamos un grupo de personas, dentro de una catedral Cristiana en Europa probando y tomando mas de 100 variedades de cervezas, cidras y vinos, ademas de comidas artesanales tipicas del Reino Unido (pasteles, empanadas o 'pasties', etc.)...

...en el primer Viernes de Quaresma.

Go figure.

But all in all, the evening was quite an enjoyable one. We drank some beer in the form of Ales, Stouts and Bitters (Almapaprika was just coming of a week working nights, so she could only get through three half-pint glasses), we drank some Perry (a delicious one called 'Two trees'. Laughable Fellow, I won't try to spell it in it's native Welsh, just so I don't end up insulting grannies. For those of you who do not know, Perry is a fermented pear drink similar to, but not, Cider), and drank some Cherry wine. Plus we scored some extra glasses (you are given one half pint glass with your admission ticket) of the 30th anniversary of said Beer Festival.

The following morning I went to see some friends attend a 'pokey-stabbey-slashy' competition. Those of you who know me will know what I'm talking about. For those of you not indoctrinated in this discipline, I shall elucidate:

Pokey-Stabbey-Slashy is a sport that involves three distinct weapons:

1-The Pokey-Pokey: The more 'artistic' of the three weapons (used mostly by people referred to by the other two weapons specialists as 'namby-pamby', though I have seem quite a few individuals in this weapon I would never call that for fear of having my spleen removed).

2-The Pokey-Stabbey: The more 'realistic' of the three weapons (people who specialize in 'Pokey-Stabbey' are often labelled 'Slow', because we like to use our brains...go figure).

3-The Pokey-Stabey-Slashy: The more 'Pain-causing' of the three. Usually practiced by people who like to listen to death metal (no, not Finnish people, although some of them do practice this weapon).

I was a decent Pokey-Pokey and Pokey-Stabbey...er. I could do PSS, but generally only if in an emergency situation (always got my rear end handed to me).

It was nice to see people I hadn't seen in a while, although it was a bit of torture for me, as I looked at all the people poking and stabbing and slashing saying 'I can do that (and the more brazen 'I can beat him...he's not so tough.').

One of my friends even won a bronze in Pokey-Stabbey!

She is particularly deadly at keeping her arm extended and poking and stabbing the wrists of her opponents with her Pokey-Stabbey stick.

Los ajies me mantuvieron un poco preocupados el fin de semana. Debo admitir que el que en mejor estado esta es el Elf Chilli, el cual esta en el sistema hidroponico (por lo menos asi creo que se dice en Español), y el cual recibe unas buenas 6 horas diarias de luz gracias a la lampara que le puesto directamente arriba. La semilla fue plantada una semana mas tarde que el resto de los ajies, pero se ve mas grande, verde, mas vigorosa y esta empezando a mostrar el segundo set de hojas (las hojas verdaderas), cosa que ninguno de los otros ajies esta demostrando. Definitivamente es un punto a favor del sistema hidroponico, aunque todas las plantitas de rúcula (o arúgula) plantadas en el mismo sistema ya se han muerto, lo que no me llena de optimismo. Aun asi, el hecho de que por lo menos hay una planta todavia viva y saludable en el sistema hidroponico es algo para celebrar.

Los ajies en la oficina van bien. El Datil aparenta estar acostumbrandose a su nuevo hogar, con nuevas hojas empezando a salir. El tronco principal del Naga Morich esta empezando a mostrar señales de brotes vegetativos nuevos, lo cual es fantastico ya que solamante tenia una pequeña rama con un par de hojas. El resto estan en el mismo estado de antes, lo cual me mantiene preocupado, pero en fin. Todavia no las he podado como habia prometido. Una de las plantitas de Saril murio (la que tenia el brote de hongos), pero la otra se ve saludable. Dos de los maizes Morados han muerto tambien, sin duda a causa de las bajas temperaturas de la ultima semana (nevo el Domingo nuevamente).

See, writing in Espanglish is not that diffucult.

:-)

If only understanding it was just as easy...

There are bad films, and then there are BAD films

First of all, I FOUND THE USB CABLE!!!

Hot Dog!

I normally don't scream whilst writing (I have an aversion to ALL CAPS texting. It's very shouty.), but I was soooooooooooooooooooooooo happy when I found the cable, I spent most of Saturday evening transferring photos from my camera to Almapaprika's laptop (and tonight to photo bucket). It saved me the money and the time to get the new cable, and I ended up bumping into (can't believe I've just spent 30 seconds hitting enter on this contraption trying to get to imdb.com, without realizing I had only written 'ww', instead of 'www') Stephen Graham whilst shopping in the City Centre.

By bumping into, I of course mean I saw him from a respectful yet quasi-personal distance from me (about two metres). Took me a while to recognize the face.

Almapaprika didn't recognize him at all.

She says I always get to see the interesting people (like when I saw Eddie Izzard jog past in...and I can assure you I am not making this up...past a red double-decker bus in London just outside of Big Ben. It would only have been more interesting had an executioner appeared in front of me asking me to chose from Cake or Death.) She was looking in the opposite direction, doing what I should have, which was looking for my aunt who was visiting London for the first time (I am an absent minded nephew), and thus missed the whole episode.

But I digress.

This is a good idea of how long ago I last downloaded photos from the camera:



These are two photos of last autumns' harvest. Not exceedingly abundant, but not bad for a first time. I did harvest more White Habaneros than pictured.

But I also lost most of the Orange habs to mould :-(


This is the little hydroponics kit Almapaprika's mum got me for X-mas (which will be included in the 'El Cheapo-Budget Smackdown' thanks to me putting ONE seed into it. You can find out more by going to www.thehotpepper.com)


This is where I am germinating the seeds this season. I am not entirely happy with the setup, but beggars can't be choosers, as the case might be...

The Trinidad Scorpions are up and out! Two of them out of 4 is not bad, and together with the 7-pot should make a good group of super hots! (if they grow and are not killed by this...apartment of doom!).

Now it turns out one of the Roselles has mould, and may not make it, while the other one looks really strong. I will be happy with the one (more than I can say for the Rocket, which is slowly dying in the hydroponics kit. Why? I can only guess some of the seeds were too close together, and competition is doing this, but with my luck...

I have just finished watching an absolutely horrendous fantasy film entitled 'Dragonhunter', and I am subjecting myself to even more misery by watching 'Merlin and the War of the Dragons'.

WHY, Jürgen Prochnow?!

WHYYYYYYYY?!

I will go away now to finish watching this...um...film...

Some New Photos

These are, of course, photos taken from my rather horrible phone camera. I wish they could be better photos, but I still haven't found the USB cable for my camera.


Today has been the second nice day in Liverpool. Cold as the handshake of a coroner, mind you.





But exceptionally sunny.



And that usually means that any plants by the windowsill at the office will absolutely love it.






This top one is the Royal Gold (a hot chinense) I got from Vincent. I am slowly moving the plants from the flat to the office in an effort to get some of them to start growing, as opposed to what they are doing now, which is searching desperately for the sun.







These are the two Roselle seedlings. I brought them up to the office quickly because the last time I tried to grow them (in the floral deathtrap that is our flat), they quickly wilted after a promising start, no doubt felled by the lack of sunlight (maybe I need to grow a vampire plant...).




This is the overwintered Rocoto Rojo. It was reduced to a Y-shaped, 30 inch stump with a couple of millimetre long leaves a fortnight ago, and look at it now! One of the Y arms is pretty much dried up, but the other one seems full of life (what a window full o'sunshine will do for ya!)








Last, but not least, the Maize Morado. Yes, they are in little individual pots, and I have only recently learned that they need deep soil for their roots. Still, for the time being this will have to do. I am hoping to move them to deeper pots soon.



Almapaprika wasn't too well a few nights ago. Spent the wee hours of the morning paying tribute to the porcelain Gods. I felt really bad and thought she might be seriously ill (so I immediately distanced myself by about two metres).



Yesterday evening she came up with a theory as to why she was so ill:



Tomatoes.



That's right.



Tomatoes.



I knew they were evil to begin with, and this only feeds my paranoid mind...

Sunshine, Lollipops and Raindrops

Um....yes. That's what is happening at the moment where I am (two of the three anyways).

One of the Maize Morados may have kicked the bucket, after I accidentally dropped it while transporting it to work.

AAAAAAAAAAARGH! (yes, do picture Charlie Brown in your heads, why don't you).

I am secretly (well, not anymore, since I am in the process of writing it here. I wonder if that's how John Terry's 'extramarital' indiscretions got out. He posted them on his blog...) envious of people with growing lights for their plants...

...not having growing lights, and a flat which is now very good at KILLING plants (even the little Christmas tree is beginning to look dry, even though it is getting watered) is making me feel miserable and (GASP!) miss our old flat.

Yes, the downstairs living area was as cold as a coroner's handshake (thanks to single glazed windows), and it was FIVE stories with no lift to go up every day. AND the landlords were less-than-helpful.

But the upstairs was fantastic for growing plants with it's floor to ceiling South-West facing windows (not to mention the fact that it was the very top of the building). Stuff grew there at a fantastic rate (though not as fast as at work).

Sure, we got no sleep in the summer because of the fact that the sun was glaring in our eyes (no blackout curtains, just wimpy blinds) as of 4am, and would not cease until 11:00pm...

...but the plants loved it.

At least it is a nice and sunny day today (though really cold), and the plants at work are having a ball! Brought some more in today and yesterday (the two Roselles, and a Royal Gold), so today is a good day for some 'sunning'.

The Voldemort Chilli

I must admit I never thought the Maize Morado could grow at the staggering rate it has been. I brought two of the four plants to work today, and they are pushing six inches in height.



All this after a mere 10 days of being sown on the ground (as it were)! The office is a trade-off, mind you.



At home the temperature is nice and constant, but they get very little light. In the office they will be getting maximum light exposure, but with recent radiator problems (a building that cost an unimaginable amount of money to renovate, and they didn't pay enough attention to the heating...seriously now!), it means that it will be considerably colder than at home.



I'm hoping light wins the battle.



The Roselle seedlings are doing quite well, all first leaves are fully open and taking in the little light available.



Capsicum wise, moving the incubators to the boiler room has worked the charm, as little seedlings are sprouting left and right. So far I've got 'en route':



Mustard Habanero X 1

Jamaican Hot X 2

Fatalii X 2

Thai Dragon X 1

Royal Gold X 2

Brazilian Starfish X 2

Hot Apple X 1

Red Squash X 2



Granted, it's not much yet, but I'm happy with the output so far, specially since there are once again, two Fataliis out of the blocks.



I came across what I consider to be a hilarious thread in http://www.thehotpepper.com/ yesterday which dealt with what can only be described as a seriously touchy subject with experienced growers:



New Strains.



Or in the case of this thread, a possible mutation, or crossbreed, or genetic anomaly, or chilli with an identity issue.



No one really knows for sure, but it did cause quite a stir.



It was to do with the nigh-mythical 'Chilli that must not be named' Yellow Bhut Jolokia...



...or Lemon Bhut Jolokia.



Reading the thread you'd swear blood would be spilt.



It was, however, quite entertaining (Chilli Gods forgive me) to watch two grown men (We presume. You never know in online forums where people have crazy sounding names like...Aji Chombo..ahem!) so adamant about the veracity of the strain origin and what was perceived as an act of fraudulent intentions on the part of one of them.



It was 'Get Medieval' stuff online!



In the midst's of it all, another grower (based here in the UK, but I won't say more) took the time to remind everyone that his super secret product was indeed real and the hottest one in existence (said to kill Male Buffalo if downwind of the plants, able to knock down incoming attack missiles if a slight mist is sprayed on your roof, can cure cancer by just looking at it, and other mighty boasts I just made up), and conveniently changed the website content of his site to reflect that the Yellow/Lemon Bhut he has (which he bought from one of the growers in the fisticuffs in the forum), was a fantastic experiment he hoped everyone enjoyed...



...while charging every customer a healthy amount for the unknown seeds.

And here I thought experiment participants usually 'participated' for free or by being paid.

Silly me, I must be on a different planet.



You seriously cannot make stuff up like this!

It's better than a Mexican TV Soap (telenovela!)



:-)

Signs of Life

The Maize Morado is growing with a purpose! Almapaprika was amazed to see how fast the little things are pushing up, UP! to the sky.

The same can be said about the Roselle. These are fast growing little things...

On the capsicum front, it seems the Brazilian Starfish, Red Squash, Royal Gold and Jamaican Hot are showing early signs of life, which makes me very happy. Put one of the germinating boxes on top of the water heater in the cupboard, and it has done wonders. I'll move the other one as soon as I move the two Roselle seedlings to slightly larger pots to free up the space.

Have taken photos of the Maize, but will take some more today and post the comparison photos so people can see how quickly they have grown.

I am really annoyed with the hydroponic setup. A week has gone by and no sight of progress from the Culantro. I might bring some up to work and scatter some of the seeds on the pots of the overwintered plants, who seem to be starting to sprout new growth. The Rocoto Rojo, the one that worried me the most because it only had two small leaves in three near metre long stalks, now seems content with a scattering of little blooms of green. The Naga Morich is also showing signs of new greenery. In fact, the Naga, the Orange Habanero and the Chocolate Habaneros are all producing the odd flower or two. The Caribbean Red Habanero is thankfully not doing that, but has maintained itself nice and green. I've decided I will start watering them with a half-strength Chilli Focus solution once a fortnight, just to start giving them a little bit of extra nutrients.

Haven't been feeding them anything for nearly 6 months, just water. But they seem to have done OK (Specially the Rocoto, which only produced the pods when I stopped feeding it. I read in the Hot Pepper Forum that it might be because of too much Nitrogen, which tends to be a particular issue with Rocotos and Manzanos.)

So, photos will appear shortly (I hope).

Oh, and I still can't believe I made the whole of the last entry in Spanish without the use of any 'eñes'. But boy, was it difficult!

Purple Rain...

Eeek!

All four Maize Morado seeds have germinated!

This is, of course, fantastic news...

Except that the roots are already starting to dig into the coir pellets immediately next to them!

Also, both Roselle seeds have germinated as well.

Sheesh!

At least I can now safely say that the bathroom floor is a great place to keep seeds in our flat (it may have a lot of things I'm not thrilled about, but bless under-floor heating. It has been the equivalent of having heating mats for the seed trays). Now I just need to get the light situation fixed.

Work will be a problem this year. The radiators in the offices where I kept all the plants last season have broken down, and people don't know how long it will take Facilities Management to fix the problem (if it's like fixing the heating in my work area, it's been 26 months and COUNTING), so this might mean no plants in the offices for a while...

Talk about FAST!

One of the Roselle seeds has just germinated...barely 48 hours after sowing! Wow... that is just really fast!

I also started out my first hydroponic kit...really excited, although I have to admit, the design isn't exactly plant friendly (rough and sharp plastic edges on the slit where the tender little stems emerge from makes for a dangerous combination), and for a little thing it is really loud! But I will rate it in more detail later...

...All you need to know is it's called the Prepara Power Plant.