Get A Move On – with Professor Pods

Descending in his capacious capsicum capsule, his intra-planetary piquant pod, Professor Pods (AKA Neil Ferguson) has touched down in Sheffield, on a mission to begin again. In truth he’s moved house from Scotland. We imagine he used a van. But the journey of establishing his growing operations in pastures new has been every bit as epic as our preamble suggests. 

The new propagation rooms and growing spaces, climatic and seasonal changes, adjustments to irrigation and nutrient regimes, the availability of different and exciting marketplaces for goods; Neil took us through the lot. But first up we talked about the kind of fresh growing ideas that only a clean slate can trigger; altered perspectives on varieties, diversification, propagation, progression, lighting, feeding, and of course sauces.

Given the dramas inherent to moving house and shifting a growing operation one might suppose that 2023 would be at least semi-fallow. Not a bit of it, as Neil reports. ‘Despite aiming to have a ‘settling’ year whilst we embed in our new place and the local market I’m well on my way to growing over 100 chilli varieties for 2023. The scope for new arrangements has really fired my imagination!’

As he diversifies Neil is looking to extend his successes in sustainability and productivity to all the varieties he has under cultivation. ‘In previous years I’ve been working on how best to work on AutoPot Watering Systems, moving to sustainable growing substrates and optimising yields. We’re now at the place where we can routinely get 2.5 – 3.5 kg of chillies from a single habanero or super-hot pepper plant in a 15 L / 3.9 gal AutoPot 1Pot module. We want to try and extend our approach to a wider range of chillies, as well as adding new challenges to the mix, in terms of hydroponic growing of other fruits, in line with our new product lines.’

Consideration of the end product is central to Professor Pod’s approach to growing. His sauces are designed before seeds are sown to scientific yet joyful specifications, with ingredients identified and blended to create intriguing, perfectly balanced flavours. Once the design has been settled upon its time to sow. Neil took us through his preferred arrangements for this, and the tweaks that have occurred since moving. 

‘My preference for propagation, having tried pretty much all variations, is Rockwool cubes. Together with heated mats, you can get germination reliably inside 4 to 6 days. However, I lost my EC wand and pH meter during the house move, so had to go with soil this year for propagation. A bit slower, but it works just fine. Of course, I found the wand about two days after I needed it and had already decided not to go with the Rockwool cubes.’

For Neil the most challenging part of the propagation process is feeding. ‘Germination is easy and, if you are going with Rockwool, then it’s pure hydroponics and you have complete control. Go light with the EC at first, but feed throughout. Rockwool cubes and my easy2Propagate system work spectacularly and are minimal effort.’

‘However, if you are using soil, as per this years seedlings, then it’s a judgement game as to how much ‘pre-feed’ is actually present, how long it lasts, and how quickly it’s released (bioavailability). This can be a bit of a lottery. On top of this, if you’re growing many different varieties at once, they all have different needs, so the sweet spots vary. In the early days with soil, I prefer to go light with feeds and correct up with nutrients where deficiencies show, rather than risk over-doing it with too heavy a feed and getting lockouts which are a pain to fix in soil.’ Neil’s kit has been instrumental in allowing him to get started in time for the season, notwithstanding the move. 

Scalability, ease of setup, off-grid functionality, and inexpensive operation are all qualities exhibited by his propagation equipment. ‘I’ve been playing about with very low wattage LEDs this year and, following the advice of Ben from Plantasia, I’m having great results with a Kroptek 18W LED tube (4000 K spectrum). This is 4 foot long and is great for seedlings and early veg, it’s no fuss to set up and always good to go. Costs almost nothing to run too.’

‘Even better, the Kroptek fits exactly the length and spread of the easy2Propagate system which is modular and needs no power or running water to function, making this a killer combination in my view. In line with our aims of reducing utility costs we’ve got a great strategy for propagation and pre-veg. Low power/ultra rapid ribbon heaters give good enough climate control whilst keeping overheads low.’ In order to give his young plants the best chance of success Neil adopts a ‘lazy’ approach to prop’-to-pot-progression.

Typically Neil gives his seedlings 4 to 6 weeks in trays, then 4 to 5 weeks in 9 cm pots. Next the plants move into 1L / 0.25 gal or 2L / 0.5 gal pots for a little while if the final destination is an AutoPot module. ‘I always over-grow my young plants prior to transplant as they get established much quicker in the final homes. My plants typically grow indoors Jan to early May, then it’s over to the poly tunnels.’ And what of the sharp end? Prof Pods new crucible of chilli production? How will his South Yorks polytunnels differ from their Dumfries ancestors?

‘The baseline weather is about 6 to 10 degrees centigrade hotter for most of the year, so growing chillies etc will be easier, and the costs of additional heating for polytunnels considerably less than when we were in Scotland. I miss Scotland, but not the weather!’. The conditions will necessitate certain changes in the way Neil feeds the plants, but not the means by which he feeds them. 

‘I think it’s safe to say I’ve got chillies nailed down with AutoPots. I get the highest yields I’ve ever seen using the systems together with Mills Coco and Mills nutrients. It’s a great combination. Now, being in England, the temperatures are higher and humidity lower than in Scotland. So, I’ll need to remap my feed regime for the local climate. I’m about to build a large, hydro-dedicated polytunnel just for this purpose, so this will be the main test bed. I’m confident things will be the same as before, if not better, now I’m here in Sheffield.’ Things haven’t been entirely plain sailing for the Prof over the last 12 months but he has managed to find silver linings aplenty.

‘I was ill for most of last year but I’ve been working away in the background developing quite a few new product lines that are completely fresh directions for us, so we look forward to relaunching in Sheffield around April ‘23. I’ve also had time to plan the expansion of my AutoPot use into tomatoes, and a few different fruits we’ll be using for the new sauces I’m developing. This will be a baptism of fire, but I’ve got the space, and the quality of produce now available isn’t appropriate to the quality of sauces we make, so we need to grow our own. Even better, people can follow my fledgling efforts in this new space on my Instagram feed. We can learn together.’ 

Neil reckons there are many more trading events to tap into further south so it’ll be much easier to meet him and sample Professor Pods wares. Huge thanks to him for all the insights he’s provided, we look forward to revisiting later in the year. Meantime we’re sure you’ll join us in wishing Neil well as he seeks to put the “‘eff’-ing hell, that’s delicious!” into Sheffield.