Flaming June

With the hot and humid weather recently the greenhouse has really taken off with plants springing up all over.

The third batch of seeds that I planted have popped their heads up and started growing. They're so late in the season that I'm not expecting any fruit off them this year, it's just to replace the more valuable plants that I killed in the "Aphidgate" incident.

Ancho seeds popping their head up

The Padrons harvested from Spain are growing well

The bought plants are growing well in the Chilligrows and putting out plenty of new leaves. There have been some Aphid incursions but I've been dealing with them with a jet of water (no soap this time!) and so far, so good.

The Habs in the second Chilligrow are beginning to settle in

Fed up with plant labels washing clean, I invested some time in stamping out copper labels with the aid of a letter punch set. Not too bad for Loco and Padron but a bit time consuming for Black-Tongued Scorpion. Still, they should last a few seasons, at least.

The shiny new copper labels

The drip feed system is working well (except when I forget to switch it off)

Even some of the casualties of the super-soaping have begun to recover. Again, it's unlikely that they'll fruit to year but if I can overwinter one or two of these more slow-growing varieties then it'll give me a head-start next season.

A 7 Pot Hab making a slow recovery

On non-chilli related issues, the new compost heap is working well with plenty of heat being generated. The hotter it gets, the faster it'll break down the cuttings and sterilise any seeds or roots that have found their way into it.

The compost bin is generating plenty of heat thanks to copious grass cuttings

Meanwhile, the tomatoes are racing away and now need to  be supported. Rather than go for the traditional canes (A.K.A. Punji-sticks-of-hideous-eye-death) I've opted for these string Yo-yos which are altogether neater and safer. It did require an additional bar to be screwed into the roof to support the strings but a piece of aluminium profile took care of that. 

Chilli Grow a Go Go

I've had a savage restructuring of my chilli plants in preparation for the oncoming winter.  The plants won't survive outside so I've selected the most valuable plants to keep and the rest have been consigned to the great compost heap in the sky.

Those lucky few plants that made it through the selection process have been given a brutal haircut to encourage them to through out new side shoots and put more energy into growing a strong root system.

The Orozco gets a haircut

I've also invested in a couple of Chilligrow planters from Greenhouse Sensation. These clever planters have a reservoir of water and nutrients underneath which continually feed the plants via a capillary 'wick'.  The plants can never be overwatered because they only draw up as much as they need. In addition, any nutrients in the soil aren't washed out as they can be when watering from the top of the pot.

Yellow Scotch Bonnet, Red Habanero and Chocolate Bhut Jolokia fruits

The Scotch Bonnet and Red Hab had performed so well this year that they certainly earned themselves one of the coveted places in the Chilligrow.  The last spot was reserved for one of the Chocolate Habaneros.  These plants produced absolutely no fruit all year but they are sturdy specimens so I decided to give one a second chance and see if it could redeem itself.

Chocolate Bhut Jolokias and a Trinidad Scorpion

The other planter has two of the Chocolate Bhut Jolokias and a Trinidad Scorpion that I grew on late in the season.  Because I had a spare plant and in the interests of scientific endeavour, I planted a second Scorpion in a similar sized pot in identical compost, without the aid of the Chilligrow's reservoir.

The chillies in their winter residence on the windowsill.

This will be my experiment's control so it'll be interesting to see how it fares compared to the sophisticated planter.