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...

Nauseabundo!

Feeling strangely rough at the moment.

Hoping I've not picked up the little bug that made Almapaprika's life miserable Tuesday in the wee hours of the morning...

I've gone into some serious 'El Cheapo' mode at the moment (expenses from upcoming 'union of capsicums'), so I've resorted to using empty (and clean) coke bottles (the plastic kind) as mini-greenhouses for the chillies so I can grow them somewhere where the sun shines. Have moved four into bottles (as in, the entire bottle, not just cutting the top off and using that on top of a little seedling transplanted into a pot), and now that I've finished off another 500ml bottle, will be moving a fifth into a new home today.

An update on the growth:

I really shouldn't be grumpy or pessimistic about my pods, though I think sometimes I am.

SPECIALLY when looking at the more impressive setups on www.thehotpepper.com

After all, I've planted 56 seeds, and to date well over 50% have germinated. The only ones that haven't popped out even a single seedling as of yet have been:

-Chilean Guava
-Peach Habanero
-Cayenne

The rest have at least one seedling out, so I should feel happy.

:-)

There.

The Trinidad Scorpions AJ sent me seem to be stirring. Perhaps at the weekend I shall see some little seedlings popping their heads up.

I just know I've had the humidity WAAAY too high in the little incubators. So, I've gotten rid of a fair bit of the moisture that builds up. Hopefully that will de-soak some of the coir pellets and will result in the germination of the ones remaining (only on Barrackpore 7-Pot out of 4 planted).

On a separate note:

John Terry! John Terry! John Terry!

Hmmm...no maniacal footballer has appeared looking to steal my other half, or offer me an exec box at Wembley... (Whew!)

...the stories little children tell each other in the playground...

...Plus, every time I write John Terry! on the blog entry, people randomly searching for juicy tidbits on this man's personal life (you'd swear he was some sort of celebrity or something) on google get directed here! :-)

And this is much better reading than the tabloids, or so I'm told.

John himself might be well advised to take up chilli farming as a means to pass the time and steer clear of the vices of 'The ladies' (or more to the point, other people's 'Ladies')...nothing is more exciting than biting into a Naga....

...well, maybe biting into a Naga right after scoring the winning penalty at the World Cup (celebration ideas, you say?) ;-)

Plus I'd love to see if Carlo Ancelotti's eyebrow retains that non-chalant expression of sarcasm after trying some of JT's Naga Curry.

Ah, but in a dream world...

Still, if, in the future, you read about JT the Chilli farmer, then you heard it here first, folks! (although they are an aphrodisiac, so maybe I'm actually making the problem worse...)

I really should stop now. This is bordering on ridiculous (but from WAY inside ridiculous' border).

I'd like to thank MrArboc for the practical and wise (beyond my wisdom) suggestion of getting a new cable for my camera.

Amazon has them for very cheap.

I would say something in Swedish to you, kind sir...but the only thing I was ever taught would make Snoop Dogg blush (and I forgot half of it)...

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!

En Otra Lengua

I have decided to try to make a few more of my entries in Spanish, since it is also a language I can manage (plus the odd word or two in Portuguese, Italian, Dutch, German, French and Russian. And by 'odd word or two', I mean EXACTLY that. Except for Italian, where I know the odd four or five).

Problem is, I am writing the first such entry from Almapaprika's laptop, which doesn't have the '~' on the 'n' we Spanish speakers use. My little cheap laptop does have it, but I'm being lazy, so this will be a '~'-less entry:

Buenos Dias a todos.

Si han estado leyendo este blog en ingles, sabran ya la historia de su existencia.

Hace un par de...hace muchos, muchos meses atras (;-P) empeze a plantar chiles, ajies y otras plantas del genero capsicum, ya que me encontre fascinado por estas plantas y sus frutos. Esta es la segunda temporada 'formal' en la cual planto capsicums.

Una de las novedades de esta temporada (siempre planto algo fuera de chiles y ajies para ver si tengo el 'pulgar verde' como dicen los anglosajones, o si soy mas como el jardinero que ayuda a una de mis abuelas, el Sr. Mencho, quien aparentemente fue picado por una culebra, y segun va la historia, a estas personas no les crece nada de lo que siembran), son el Maiz Morado (varidad peruana utilizada para elaborar la 'chicha morada'. Disculpas a las hermanas Mexicanas que haya indirectamente insultado), el Saril (mejor conocido como 'Flor de Jamaica' en Mexico), el Culantro (utilizado mucho en mi pais, y conocido por los afroantillanos como el ingrediente principal en el 'Recao' verde) y la Guava Chilena (Guayaba Chilena para los de Centro America y el Caribe). Esta ultima se que demorara un par de....varias decenas de meses en llegar a una edad apta para dar fruto. Pero esta clase de arbol/planta ideal para el clima de Liverpool, asi que no estoy apurado.

El Maiz Morado lo crezco como una curiosidad, y para ver si puedo hacer algo interesante y crear el primer 'Chicheme Morado'. El chicheme, si alguno de ustedes es un lector de mi patria, es una bebida refrescante elaborada de maiz, leche, un poquito de azucar y quizas canela. Origina, segun la leyenda, en La Chorrera, donde el 'Chicheme Chorrerano' es la reina de las bebidas.

El Saril, claro esta, sera utilizado para 'Chica de Saril' (nuevamente disculpas a los Mexicanos. 'Agua de Jamaica'). Ya le he comentado esto a 'pacieros' de el Delicatessen local, quienes estan interesados en saber mas (aca en las latitudes del norte venden la flor del Saril, bueno, en realidad el fruto, pues la flor se asemeja mas a la de un Papo, en sirope, para que uno las ponga como ecoracion dentro de copas de...[CARAMBA!] Prosecco, Cava y otras clases de vinos efervesentes.)

Pero en fin.

Hablo y obviamente escribo por los codos.

Un mal que tengo desde chiquillo.

Lo interesante de esta temporada es que ninguna de las semillas de ajies han germinado todavia.

Sin embargo, tras tan solo dos dias, todas las de Maiz Morado y de Saril ya estaban germinando.

Hoy sabado, tras tan solo una semana, me encuentro con el dilema de que hacer, ya que las raizes de las plantitas de Maiz Morado han invadido el teritorio de las de aji. Movi a dos de las semillas (todas las semillas feron depositadas inicialmente en unos bloques de material de 'compost', los cuales van en espacios individuales en una incubadora) a unos potes separados de 5 pulgadas, pero todavia tengo que encontrar espacio para las otras dos.

Pronto espero poder tomar fotos de los avances.

Pero por el momento, creo que he hablado suficiente.