Having over fifty strains of super-hot chillies to water, feed, and manage whilst developing a 750 square metre plot would be enough of a challenge for most growers. Perhaps you think otherwise? Perhaps you’d like to try doing it on one foot?
If so, talk to Paul Kelly for some pointers. Because this is exactly what he has been doing since an amputation two years ago. Has he been fazed by all of this? Possibly, but never to the extent that it has stopped him. He’s simply carried on and adapted the ways in which he grows to fit his new reality.
Adapting has meant making sure his greenhouses and polytunnels are safe practical to navigate. It’s meant working hard himself and enduring a fair amount of pain in order to pursue his passion. Enlisting friends to help with some of the heavy lifting has been an absolute necessity. And to remove the everyday manual labour of hand watering it has meant an automatic irrigation system. But before we get to that, what about the foot?
The story unfolds. ‘About 2 years ago I had a wound on my foot. I said I’d go to hospital by the weekend. Failed to go and not long later collapsed with sepsis and died. Having been resuscitated I was then faced with having my lower left leg amputated.’
So goes the tale of Paul’s foot – and lack thereof. As so often with such traumas, having a focus is everything when it comes to recovery. Fortunately for Paul he already had growing, and big plans for the future.
His dream was a pro-hobbyist / small-scale commercial setup, growing chillies and producing oils, jams, sauces and the like to retail at shows. That dream is now well on its way to becoming a reality.
The plot that Paul and his friend Mark have been developing is already home to a couple of polytunnels with six more planned. A giant shed is in the offing too. This will act as an HQ, directing renewably powered climatic controls around the tunnels. As Paul explains, ‘we’re hoping to fit out with solar panels, wind turbines, and batteries to eventually have full environmental management.’
When it comes to using watering systems, Paul is no novice and understands the pros and cons of various setups better than most. ‘I’d used NFT, drippers, aeroponics, DWC, and Flood & Drain systems when I was able-bodied. But I didn’t consider AutoPot until I became disabled.’ In Paul’s opinion AutoPot offers several considerable advantages over alternative systems. Some of these advantages are specific to his situation, others are more general.
‘The simplicity and ease of use for Mark and myself was the lightbulb moment…it’s ideal for independent gardeners.’ In terms of practicality AutoPot also scored highly for Paul, in his experience, ‘wet floors and other trip hazards are significantly reduced using these systems.’
But if there was a deciding factor it was probably performance and professional curiosity, as Paul had noted that ‘various chilli growing sites on Facebook and Instagram were showing particularly impressive results with AutoPot.’
The specific chillies which Paul and Mark cultivate are many and various within the super-hot category. These include Carolina Reapers (weep what you sow!), Hallows Eve (prelude to fear!), and Bleeding Jigsaws (every grandma’s favourite!). Elsewhere in their polytunnels you can find Dorset Nagas (putting Jur-ass-ic’s on the line), Lothian Scorpions (named after a prehistoric cat-sized stinging arachnid!), Primotali (actually, genuinely flavoursome despite the insane heat), and much, much more.
These are grown in 15L / 3.9 gal 1Pot modules, ideal for chillies given their flexibility, capacity, and the fact that Paul and Mark are multi-cropping on the same system. Each of the plants in the system can independently draw what it needs, when it needs it. There’s no need to programme anything at all, the plants do it for themselves.
Paul and Mark have an excellent grasp of what these plants need to thrive, as evidenced by their choice of grow media and nutrients. ‘For potting we use a perlite/coir blend, enriched with Mykos (mycorrhizal funghi) plus seaweed. In terms of feeding the plants are on Hydrocrop soluble powdered nutrients, supplied through the AutoPot system.’
At present the guys have around 1000 chilli plants underway at various stages of development and potting. It’s a bit of a scramble to get everything ready but this year was always intended to be a live dry-run.
The aim for now is to complete the setup, perfect operations, and cultivate a harvest that might be used to make produce for next year. As Paul says, ’2027 should be our big year and we envisage attending chilli festivals with AutoPot and our chilli plants on our stands – to demonstrate the journey our crops go on. We’ve been inundated by venues thus far, but we want to present ourselves as on point as possible.’
We very much look forward to following Paul and Mark’s progress and wish them all the best with their endeavours – inspiring stuff guys!