Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
I know this is an old thread, but that institute seems to be decidedly iffy, the content of the link does not match for example wikipedia information, personally I’d file it under suspect.
I think the problem comes when chemicals are used commercially on a large scale, and you get over application, and use when it should not be used. I have no issues with using glyphosate on bindweed. It is the only way I can fight the hedge bindweed from next door, since they leave it. I used it to kill my lawn, which was rife with birds foot trefoil, prior to rotavating and reseeding. The alternative would have been buying fabric and leaving it in place for many months or even till the next year. I do not use it otherwise, hand weeding is fine for my veggie beds. I would rather not use chemicals on veg beds. I do use pyrethrins against aphids, and ants, sometimes. They are naturally occuring insecticides, organically approved I think, best avoided if possible.
Glyphosate acts on pathways specific to plants, so I reckon it is harmless in tiny doses. In larger doses it is toxic. There are some far nastier looking chemicals used in farming. What worries me is when the government body said carrots were safe after testing one batch. And these people are supposed to be scientists. Any half decent scientist knows that one sample tells you nothing. And these people recommend you peel root vegetables. Why?
Don’t be so sure! Do please try, but Capsicum annuum is killed by a frost that Rocoto can survive without apparent damage. This year I found that Rocoto seedlings were more tolerant of cold too, thriving in a cold frame, whereas my Hungarian Black, Capsicum annuum, were not happy and I brought them back in to the window sill until the nights were warmer. I have noticed that whereas the Hungarian black in the cold frame is noticeably bigger then the outdoor ones, the converse is true for Rocoto. The Capsicum chinense of course is a complete sissy.
By the way, Capsicum annuum is so called because it is an annual. Except it isn’t, it’s a perennial. Capsicum chinense is so called because it comes from China. Except it doesn’t, it comes from south and/or central America. At least Capsicum pubescens is well named, the leaves being hairy.
I ate my first outdoor tumbling tom about four weeks ago, but since then nothing, just lots of small green ones expanding. I harvested a truss or so from each outdoor sungold about four weeks ago, and a few ripe ones today, more ripening. The first four trusses were fast to appear, the next lot are quite slow, but lots of flowers now. I think the plants were putting energy into roots after planting in beds, which slowed flower formation.
A bit off topic, but I tend to let sungold sprawl a bit, to get a better harvest. The recommended eight trusses is far too few. I got about 16 ripe ones last year, plus about the same number of green ones which were hit by blight.
The book I refer to most is Organic Gardening by Geoffrey Hamilton, old but not out of date, and full of useful information. I have some ‘expert’ books, but for some reason I just find they are not very useful when it comes to actually doing gardening. I recently ordered Organic Gardening by Charles. I have read the first few chapters, and I think it will be very useful, I get the impression it is written by someone with a lot of experience, so the information is based on what actually works. It is also well organised (like Hamilton’s book), and not too wordy.
Why do you need an entire book on composting? The one thing I would like is a guide to making a hot composter i.e. a composter with some insulation to keep the temperature high. I once had a heap about 4 foot high by 8 foot wide, and it got very hot inside. But my 900L bin does not get hot in the cooler months. I wonder if strapping insulation around a dalek would do the job?
Hello Stringfellow, I will also overwinter a Rocoto outdoors. It will be interesting to hear your experience, but I bet it dies. I do not know if there is a biological reason why one could not be selected to be hardy.
I do not have that many plants, 6 or so Black Hungarian, 4 or 5 Rocoto, an Orange Habanera and a Paper lantern (C. chinense) picked up on the spur of the moment from a garden centre. They are raised indoors on a window sill/board, until outside warms up, so space is limited. I experimented with a cold frame. It is amazing with courgette, squash and tomato, which I can put out even when there are frosts, but chillis just stop growing if it is cold.
Thanks Charles. Nice web site, plenty to digest if you’ll excuse the unintended pun.
I have an Alberto’s Locoto that is maybe 10 years old. She was looking a bit tired last year, but this year has perked up somewhat, and now has some pods and quite a few flowers on. I found the harvest improved markedly as well as being early, up to about 7 years of age when the harvest fell back. However, that coincided with the rains of 2012, when she suffered very badly losing most leaves as a result of them being shredded by gales followed by months of rain.I also have an Orange Habanero which is two or three years old and now doing quite well outside.It should give a nice harvest, and keep me in pods over the winter.
Overwintering is not hard. I leave the plant until the new year, and then trim to an ~8″ stem. I trim the root ball to ~8″, and repot with fresh compost. This stresses the plant so it must be kept warm. I once lost one which was in the cool porch after trimming. Capsicum chinense, C. baccatum and C. pubescens all seem to thrive with this winter trim. The next year you get a very early harvest, and often another in late autumn. As I said earlier, in the case of C. pubescens I found bigger harvests, and oddly the fruits became larger and more apple shaped rather than rugby ball shaped.You can leave the plant untrimmed if you want pods over winter, but you won’t get many.
This year I have 5 or so Rocoto outside, in beds, and I am amazed how well they are doing. They are about to come into flower, later than the C. annuum which is not surprising. The ones in pots seems to be doing no better or worse than the ones in my compost enriched clay soil. I have one in the ground under a cold frame and it does not seem to have benefitted. The C. annuum in the cold frame is doing better than one outside which was a similar size before its sibling went under glass.
As an aside, a mature Rocoto will survive multiple light frosts, as will C. baccatum whereas C. chinense is a real wimp. I discovered this by accident. My Rocoto went through some very cold nights, and I would be curious to know how hardy they are. I will leave some in the garden this year to see. I would be interested to hear how your Rocoto does. It is not the most exciting flavour, but I like them in thin soups, they add a fruitiness.