By Pete Legrady
Part 3 of 3:
Last month, we filled in some of the pieces on the Jolokia Pepper. If you missed the article, you can read it here. Now, here's the final installment of the 3 part series.
On top of the perfect growing conditions, "worm juice" was used to make the plants more accepting of the growing environment. What exactly is worm juice? My limited thinking ability and the visual image of worm juice immediately brought to mind a worm urinating on a bird's foot. Fess up - how many of you were thinking the same thing - o.k. maybe not the bird part? With the momentum of "green" living and our increasing concern for the environment, composting has become a new trend for waste disposal.
There are different methods of composting - on a smaller scale most methods are accomplished using worms. The easiest and must popular method is a stacked bin system. This system uses a series of three or four trays. Each tray has worms that consume kitchen scraps and other food waste. As the worms consume the waste it falls through the screens creating finer and finer compost. When the scraps are consumed in the lowest tray, the trays are simply rotated and the previous bottom tray becomes the top tray. This tray is then filled with more scraps and the process starts all over again. What is left in the lowest tray is an extremely rich soil that can be used as fertilizer or topsoil.
A second byproduct of composting is a rich liquid filled with the things listed in the next paragraph - remember the urination concept! This liquid falls through the trays and is collected in a retainer bin below the rotating trays. The magical result of this process is - you guessed it - worm juice.
Worm juice provides higher levels of Nitrogen, Phosphorous and Potassium that enables higher levels of nutrient absorption. Worm Juice also promotes plant growth, having high levels of Auxins, Cytokinins and Gibberellins all of which regulate cell development, growth and elongation. Worm Juice also contains a bacterium that is able to colonize the plant's root zone, thereby extending the plants root surface area and thus increases nutrient and water absorption capabilities. The bacteria from worm juice produces localized chemicals that prevent further colonization of disease-causing microbes.
Worm juice was also used with the newest pepper, as of the date of this article, with the largest concentration of capsaicin. This pepper is the Trinidad Moruga Scorpion. Wilbur Scoville would be rolling over in his grave if he had to rate this pepper back in the 1920's. This pepper thought to be an astounding 2,009,231 Scoville units - the Guinness Book of World Records has not confirmed this. That would mean Wilbur would have to drink 531 gallons of water to dilute the amount of capsaicin in this pepper to a point where it couldn't be tasted. That equates to one drop of capsaicin from this pepper in a whirlpool measuring 5 feet round and 4 feet deep could still be tasted.
Stay tuned for more on the Moruga Pepper in my next article...
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