Hydroponics are go!

Having a clean out of the freezer reveals all sorts of hidden goodies, including, in this case, four large bags of assorted chillies. What better way to use them than in a volcanic sauce.  It was very much a 'use up what's to hand' sauce so there aren't many ingredients, other than an onion, some garlic, cider vinegar and of course the chillies, which naturally makes it incredibly hot.  To counter some acidity from the vinegar, I added plenty of honey and some lime juice to take the edge off the sugar. The resulting sauce is sweet but with a zingy edge and has enough heat to keep your mouth burning for a while.  Being a mixture of chillies (habaneros, inferno, cayenne, hungarian hot wax plus a few others), the burn is all over the mouth and doesn't relent for a while.

I've yet to design the label for this sauce but it's already been christened 'Honey Trap'

What happens when half a kilo of chillies ends up in just five bottles...

Having completed the chilli house recently, my eye was on the next big project - a venture into hydroponic growing.  I'd spent some time doing some research and wanted a very simple system that I could make on a shoestring budget with minimal running costs.  That counted out aeroponics and NFT systems. I opted for a flood and drain (or ebb and flow) system based on the comprehensive instructions available from Fatalii.net

The principle is simple, when a submerged pump in the lower chamber switches on, it pumps nutrient enriched water into the upper box which is filled with an inert growing medium. When the chamber is flooded, the plant's roots are submerged and it can take on the water and feed it needs.  When the pump switches off, the water drains back into the reservoir, drawing fresh air down onto the roots.  This cycle is repeated anything from 3 to 6 times a day to ensure a steady stream of water, nutrients and oxygen reaches the roots, resulting in increased growth and less risk of disease or rotting from waterlogged plants.

Firstly I selected two large plastic boxes that would stack easily.  The bottom one (the reservoir) has been sprayed black to make it light-tight and then silver so that the sun doesn't overheat the water and nutrient mix.

Drilling a hole through the base of the growing box and into the lid of the res. This is for the overflow.

The overflow has a small hole drilled in the base to ensure minimal water is left in the top container

A mesh is fixed to the top of the overflow so the growing medium doesn't spill down it.

The submerged pump sits in the res and is attached via a hose to the top box

The custom-made screen that fits over the inlet hose to prevent blockage.

Filling with substrate.  I'd positioned the overflow badly but that's something to consider for Mk. II

Test running the system - you can see the water pooling between the clay pebbles.

The system in place and planted up. The hole in the res is so the levels can be checked and be topped up. 

So, now the system is completed, what's the operation like?  The tiny micro-pump in the res is capable of filling the top chamber in just two and a half minutes, much quicker than required (it has to run for 15 minutes because that's the smallest increments on the timer).  Once the timer switches the pump off, the whole chamber drains out in just two minutes.  This rapid drain ensures plenty of fresh air is sucked down onto the roots.

I planted the unit with a Peach Habanero and a Magnum Orange Habanero after carefully washing the soil out of their rootball. I have similar sized plants from the same seed stock growing in soil so it will be interesting to compare the results. The system has only be running for a day so far but, as yet, nothing's died and nothing has broken. Expect regular progress reports.

Away from the Heath-Robinson creations, there's stilll plenty of work to be done in the garden.  It was time to pot on the third wave of replacement seedings which had been growing well in the chilli-house.

This is a mixture of Scotch Bonnets (for making more 'Sunburn' Sauce), Habaneros and Dorset Nagas.

Squat Frog Habaneros and Dorset Nagas

Scotch Bonnets and Squat Frogs

Meanwhile, there's been progress on the Chilli Challenge - the mystery seeds are growing rapidly with some fine-looking specimens in the running...

Claudio & Diana's chillies

The two chillies above were both planted at the same time and kept side by side - it just goes to show how much luck plays a part.

Neil's chillies

Neil's chillies have been growing so tall that he's had to pinch the tops out to restrict their height.  Pinching out promotes more growth lower down and results with a sturdier, bushier plant that's less spindly and has more fruit-bearing branches.

If there are any more competitors out there with update photos, please send them in, we'd love to see how everyone is getting on.

Bring on the summer

The second and third wave of chillies are now progressing well.  The sporadic sunlight is a bit of a hinderance but I'm hoping that I might get a late crop from some of the more mature plants.  

Some superhots on the windowsill

To help this along I also bought a few established seedlings from the local garden nurseries. I'd prefer to grow all my plants from seeds, not only for the satisfaction but also because it provides a wider range of chillies. The garden centres have traditionally only stocked a few of the more common varieties, such as Jalapenos and Hungarian Wax.

However, Dundry Nurseries in Cheltenham had an impressive selection of plants including some unusual varieties.  I picked up a Lemon Drop, a couple of Friar's Hats (as mine didn't make it through the winter), a Fatalii and a Naga Jolokia.

A real mixture of second and third wave seedlings with some of the shop-bought plants.

More surprising was the selection available at the normally pedestrian local Homebase.  In a "Death by Chilli" triple pack, I got a (fairly common) Scotch Bonnet, a more unusual Golden Cayenne and best of all, a Paper Lantern Hab. All for the discount price of £4.  Whilst I'm usually suspicious of buying from the big chain superstores because of their habit of forcing plants to fruit early, I've kept the chillies sheltered in the growhouse and they seem to be thriving.

Potting on the Red Scotch Bonnet

The overwintered De Arbol and Scorpions are repotted. 

The overwintered Scorpion, ready to be transplanted to a Chilligrow,

With more plants to be moved off the windowsills I decided to construct a third growhouse in the garden, this time somewhere that has more than a few hour's sun. So I set to work with paper and pen and soon had the the plans of what would become a gargantuan chillihouse.

Ready to begin

The house is built on stilts to keep it away from the cold ground and give it more sun in the late evening.

Yes, it really is that big.  This is a smaller version than the original, I reduced the size whilst making it so it didn't overshadow the neighbourhood.

The (almost) finished house. Clad in 6mm twinwall polycarbonate, it should retain the sun's warmth into the evening.

The door on the front and roof are temporary as I'll soon be replacing them with some clear perspex doors that are prettier and will allow me to see the plants. However, in the meantime the twinwall polycarb will at least keep the plants snug and warm during this week of unsettled weather.

I'll post up some photos of the finished house as soon as I can.

In other news, the Chilli Challenge is hotting up with Neil giving us a sneak peak of his entries (see the previous blog for other competitors' entries).  I'm reliably informed that they're kept under 24 hour armed guard to ensure that no-one attempts to nobble them (Not saying that he's competitive but he's already building a trophy cabinet).

They're certainly looking very impressive and I suspect that once again, this is down in part to Neil's secret weapon of a range in the kitchen which keeps the room (and his fledgling seedlings) in wrapped balmy tropical heat.

Neil's prized wedding chillies

The forest grows...

When people find out about my ongoing quest to fill the house and garden with chillies, their reactions tend to vary from boredom to incredulity (rapidly followed by boredom).  However, once in a while you come across someone equally misguided and you share a brief moment of camaraderie.

One such event happened recently when a colleague of mine turned up with a brown envelope of chilli seeds he'd collected whilst on holiday in Sicily. Knowing of my interest he'd scooped up the seeds and drawn a hasty sketch of the chilli pepper on the side of the envelope for me.  I now have a number of these envelopes of mystery seeds people have given me.  It's  all part of the fun waiting to see what emerges and then trying to match it to the appropriate variety. Needless to say they're now on top of the aquarium waiting to pop their heads up.

My collection of mystery seeds.

Meanwhile the chillies I recently transferred to the grow-room are shooting away.  Those that I'd planted in the home-made toilet roll pots have fared very well and potting them on has been a breeze with no damage to the delicate roots.  I soaked the seedlings before transplanting them and gently tore the flaps of soggy cardboard  away to allow the roots to grow down into the new compost.  Definitely a technique I'll continue to use.

The DIY seedling pots in the grow-room.

Speaking of DIY projects, I've been making mini-propagators for the developing seedings that I keep on the windowsill.  I was finding plant-pots a little expensive for all the seedlings I have so I've been using cheap plastic cups instead with holes strategically melted into the bottom for drainage with the aid of a hot skewer.  At 2p each it's definitely a cost effective method.

Making the pots

For the propagator lids I've been cutting the bottom off Pepsi bottles and with holes once again melted into them, they're the perfect size to fit over the plastic cups.

Making the mini-proagator lids

They seem to be doing the trick and although the seedlings aren't coming on quite as fast as those in the grow-room, it's allowing me to put the vulnerable seedlings onto the window-ledges which, at this time of year, would be too cold or draughty for plants this young.

The finished item