[CH] Aha! I have spotted, some first fruits! (And a bit of a disaster... - _long_! - I feel full of words today LOL!)
Shaun aRe (shaun_are@zenlunatics.co.uk)
Mon, 22 Aug 2005 11:41:45 +0100
Hey there Hot-Headz! ',;~}~
When I visited the polytunnel on Friday, one of the little chile blossoms I
looked at, wasn't! That's right - a tiny, green fatali fruit was there
instead. When I looked further, there were a few more on other plants too,
albeit *only just* able to call themselves fruits yet. RELIEF! Looks like
plenty should have time to fruit and ripen, then <VBG!>
Da long disaster *Story* bit:
---------------
OK - I get kinda.. rather obsessive about my plants, each and every one,
especially those I've grown from seed, almost 'parentally' so. I always
watch them very closely and do my very best to make sure each and every one
does its very best, and each death, or bit of damage, or even a single lost
fruit or flower... well, I get, maybe a bit disproportionately, upset and
saddened. Hells, last year when both my very, very healthy and fruitful 2
year old red hab/Caribbean type plants got 2 or 3 large side branches,
absolutely LOADED with as yet unripe chiles, about 1/3rd of each plant-worth
got snapped as they were brushed against while heavy, I was so upset as to
have big tears welling in my eyes, heheheheh... Kath was the one actually
pointed out to me how doting and fussing, how loving and attached I get to
my plants - I hadn't quite noticed, or thought about it myself, IYSWIM - she
thinks it's hilariously funny, but 'Awww, it's ever so sweet!' John, my FIL,
just thinks I'm utterly nuts - he's a plant, water and forget gardener...
Me, I guess I'm just a soft sod!
So... onto my lil' sadness! - I kinda caused a uhhhmm, disaster... - one of
the plants, one of only 5 surviving Chocolate Habanero plants out of 20
bloomin seeds, the chiles I wanted most by /far/ out of this seed order,
looked like it had started to lean over a little, and it was about the best
out of the 5, being very thick and bushy for it's height, and having nearly
2 x the amount of flowers on it as the other C/H plants. So, to see if it
had gotten stuck on something, I moved the foliage slightly away from the
lean, moving the stalk maybe a 1/2 inch at 3/4's the plants height (plant is
about 1 foot tall ATM) from the ground... then I heard it. I heard a very
painful sound and one I'm sure we all know and dread, I heard a *^&*ing
'snap!'. 'It must be a hooked up side branch, I thought, but nope - main
stem, and guess where! - Right at the *&)%ard base, about 3 or 4 mm above
the dirt. I was... *sad* ;-(
It had snapped more than 3/4 of the way through. A goner, in all likelihood,
thunked I miserably. Seems it hadn't actually started to grow over to one
side at all, the stem was almost perfectly vertical, just I think that last
time I turned the pots in the ground (each plant is in a decent sized
plastic pot, all but the top 1/2" buried in the dirt - while the roots are
contained, I turn the pots every now and then to keep the plants from
growing toward the light which is mainly from one fairly narrow side angle a
lot of the time, but rather straight upwards for obvious reasons, them being
quite close together in the limited space etc.), I likely missed that one,
and while the stem was straight, the side branches and leaves had tilted was
all.
Anyhow - I couldn't just let it go at that without trying to save the poor
lil' thing's life, so I just got a short length of cane, pushed it into the
edge of the pot, and gently, wire-tied the plant to it with the stem break
closed as near to exactly where it should be, as I could - that is, it looks
bob-on even close up. It doesn't move any at the break point, so I am
*hoping* for it to sap out a little and callus over, and for nutrients and
water to still be able to rise to the top.
So, I beg of you, all, please say a nice, happy, healing green prayer for
the lil' poorly Choc. Hab. to heal and thrive! Also, any tips to make it
more likely, please, LEMME KNOW!!!!
Uhhhhmmm, thanks! Heheheh... ',;~}~
Later, be well, and, be hot!
Shaun aRe "The use of absolutes is never appropriate."