Guest Blog: Hot Dunstable 🌶️ (Part 2)
We’ve just received part two of our feature guest blog from Hot Dunstable, written by local chilli grower Michael, who grows chillis in his polytunnel to make his own brand of Chilli Sauce.
Be sure to check out Michael’s Instagram account Hot Dunstable to see the latest from his polytunnel.
Without further ado, over to you Michael…
Welcome back to part 2 of my chilli blog...
The chilli season is now and truly over for this year. The plants have all been harvested, cut back and cleared out.
We had such a good season due to the great weather and the installation of new watering systems. I was able to grow a lot more chillies per plant than I have in previous years using different growing methods.
I made some grow trays which were fed by Autopot Aquavalves via a tank outside of the polytunnel. I also used the Alien hydroponics Easy Feed system with great success.
The Alien hydroponics Easy Feed system was just that, easy to use. The plant trays are fed from my tank via a timer valve which floods the trays at a time and duration I specify on the front panel. The trays fill up very quickly due to the large diameter pipes. The system uses fabric pots which help air circulation around the roots and in turn air prunes roots that grow through the pots.
I used the same nutrients and coco coir last year but fed the plants by hand. By using self-wicking, automatic watering systems I saw quicker growth rates and total yield.
The weather this year has been so hot that on some of the hottest days all 45 plants were emptying the tank, drinking through around 200L of water and nutrients in one day! By the end of the season, the plants grew so big that it was impossible to walk down the paths.
I grew a good balance of super hot chillies and milder chillies. Some of my favourite hot & super hots were the 7 pot primo, Moruga scorpion, death spirals, naga and fatalii.
I grew a good amount of classic Mexican chillies, Jalapenos, Poblano and Habanero. Some of the milder chillies were Padron, Cayenne, peri peri, Killian, and Bellaforma.
As I mentioned in my last blog, I like to experiment and try out different systems, methods and products.
For next year’s season, Dutch Pro has kindly sent me a gift set of their complete nutrient lineup. I’m really looking forward to trying this lineup out and seeing what it has to offer.
I’m also going to use Psycho Myco for the first time. This is a beneficial bacteria product which promises better root growth, nutrient uptake and plant disease resistance. One other product I will be trying out is Moonshine global, moon shine nutrient enhancer, moonshine bio and foliar spray. These are a set of plant extracts which boost plant growth and vigour.
Next year I will be expanding my growing area by setting up another poly tunnel so more plants and more chillies!
Thanks for taking the time to read this and thank you Green House Effect for letting me write another blog about my chillies.
– Michael, Hot Dunstable
Check out Hot Dunstable on Instagram…
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