iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Kris Holt @krisholt1.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

My first Zebrange pepper has ripened! Look at the shape and the colours!

A Zebrange pepper, orange and bulbous, with vertical red stripes.

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Kris Holt @krisholt1.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

Chilling here with my refreshing beef sandwich

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Kris Holt @krisholt1.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

Mollie enjoyed the eclipse at least

A calico cat determined to watch the eclipse

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Kris Holt @krisholt1.bsky.social · 03/08/2026

Chicken, garlic and mangelwurzel curry

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Kris Holt @krisholt1.bsky.social · 02/08/2026

Watch it turn into something a foot long and bright pink.

A plastic bag protecting a chilli flowerhead from a cross-breeding attempt. Golden UFO, Space Nugget, or something else entirely?

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Kris Holt @krisholt1.bsky.social · 20/07/2026

Hot Apples looking good! 🔥 🍏

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Kris Holt @krisholt1.bsky.social · 12/07/2026

First Hot Apple of the season is growing. Always a joy when these start coming through.

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Kris Holt @krisholt1.bsky.social · 05/07/2026

Last one for today. It doesn’t matter how much time you spend looking at your squash plants, it’s still entirely possible to miss a fruit the size of your fist.

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Kris Holt @krisholt1.bsky.social · 05/07/2026

A shot of the purples just for the sake of it. I totally recommend Buena Mulatas for new chilli growers, they look stunning and are clearly going to be prolific.

A Buena Mulata chilli plant with characteristic purple flowers.

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Kris Holt @krisholt1.bsky.social · 05/07/2026

We have Hot Apple flowers too, which is amazing.

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Kris Holt @krisholt1.bsky.social · 05/07/2026

In contrast, the Paper Lantern Habanero is just fruiting, which is the perfect time given the change in feed coming up. I love these bushy guys. Looking forward to a third generation next year.

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Kris Holt @krisholt1.bsky.social · 05/07/2026

Aji Amarillo plant looking increasingly like a tree, albeit no fruit as yet. We’ll be switching feeds in a couple of weeks to encourage this

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Kris Holt @krisholt1.bsky.social · 29/06/2026

Making some dashi to have with soba noodles and tofu later

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Kris Holt @krisholt1.bsky.social · 25/06/2026

Yeah, that went alright. Possibly needed to be very slightly higher temp to get things crispy? Mrs H said it was all a big waste of time but that didn’t stop her eating the dehydrated strawberries

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Kris Holt @krisholt1.bsky.social · 25/06/2026

Bought a dehydrator to maximise the value of my pepper harvest, but thought I may as well test it on whatever I have in the fridge

A seven-tray dehydrator on a 10-hour setting.

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Kris Holt @krisholt1.bsky.social · 25/06/2026

Weather’s alright for some

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Kris Holt @krisholt1.bsky.social · 22/06/2026

Absolute bee-fest on these warm mornings

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Kris Holt @krisholt1.bsky.social · 22/06/2026

Hand-pollinating my pink squash plants

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Kris Holt @krisholt1.bsky.social · 22/06/2026

Cayennes pushing them all the way

A Cayenne chilli plant with a single pod and a number of flowers growing.

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Kris Holt @krisholt1.bsky.social · 22/06/2026

Hungarian Hot Waxes not hanging around

A Hungarian Hot Wax plant with two early pods.

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Kris Holt @krisholt1.bsky.social · 20/06/2026

Final one for today. I have the first seed pod from my F1 Hungarian Hot Wax x Poblano cross (hereafter known as the ‘Hunnipob’). It has quite a squat, square shape like a Poblano, but the light green colour and upright growth of the HHW.

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Kris Holt @krisholt1.bsky.social · 20/06/2026

I have a garden crime to confess. This pot is way too big for the plant, but the plant itself is the most beautiful variegated Golden Nugget and I desperately want it to succeed

A small, variegated Golden Nugget chilli in a black cloth pot that is way too big for the plant.

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Kris Holt @krisholt1.bsky.social · 20/06/2026

Jerusalem Artichokes, which can get up to 3m tall. Initially looking very good, I think they’re suffering a bit in the heat but should bounce back with a feeding.

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Kris Holt @krisholt1.bsky.social · 20/06/2026

This is what happens to radishes if you let them get ideas above their station. Note the seed pods, which are edible and taste very similar to the radish itself. They have lovely white flowers (though one of the plants is pink for some reason?)

Overgrown bolted radish plant, with flowers and seed pods.

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Kris Holt @krisholt1.bsky.social · 20/06/2026

The squash are going great guns, which always pleases me. I love traybakes and a bit of squash soup in the autumn so having your own store is always a pleasing place to be. These are supposedly heirloom pink squash, though there is a Uchiki in there as well.

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Kris Holt @krisholt1.bsky.social · 20/06/2026

I never really have much luck with tomatoes. In theory, they should grow and cross as readily as peppers but that’s never happened for me before. This year someone offloaded their spare plants on me. I’m just letting them crack on with it.

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Kris Holt @krisholt1.bsky.social · 20/06/2026

Marigolds! They came late but the bees are okay with it.

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Kris Holt @krisholt1.bsky.social · 20/06/2026

Hot Apples are probably my favourite type of chilli. Thin-skinned, so you get a really satisfying crunch when you bite one, perfect heat level (you can taste it, but don’t suffer for it) and great in salsa or jam. I’ll grow this one every single year without question.

A healthy-looking Hot Apple chilli plant leaning away from its stake. Tiny buds are showing. It is in a small black pot and sitting on a grey table.

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Kris Holt @krisholt1.bsky.social · 20/06/2026

Aji Amarillos are fantastic early season plants with long pink stems. C. baccatum, as opposed to most of the others, which are usually annuums. Medium-sized green fruit which turn yellow when they ripen. Norwich City should adopt this as their official chilli.

Aji Amarillo chilli plant, with strong growth and lots of foliage. There is a green stake to support the plant and it is in a half-full 20-litre black cloth bag.

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Kris Holt @krisholt1.bsky.social · 20/06/2026

The Cayenne is growing bushier and starting to set fruit. I would have liked this to be a bigger plant but I think it got confused by the changeable weather at the start of June. That’s okay, next year’s plants will have a better run-up.

A small Cayenne chilli plant with long leaves and buds showing fruit. It is in a half-full 20-litre black cloth bag.

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Kris Holt @krisholt1.bsky.social · 20/06/2026

This Brazilian Starfish, for example, has exploded in just a week, I would say nearly doubling in size. The parent of this plant wasn’t large or prolific, but I think this one got the good genes and is going to be huge. All the damage you see here is from hail, by the way.

A red Brazilian Starfish plant, slightly damaged from hail, still with very healthy foliage but no flowers or fruit as yet. It is in a half-full 20-litre black cloth bag.

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Kris Holt @krisholt1.bsky.social · 18/06/2026

And the first gem that I have faceted - a smoky quartz, step cut square. Technically flawed in several regards, but not too bad for a first attempt.

A smoky quartz, underside facets of a step cut square, in a display container. The upper and lower facets cannot easily be distinguished.

A smoky quartz gem in a display container. The table and crown facets are visible.

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Kris Holt @krisholt1.bsky.social · 18/06/2026

My first cabochon - a very lightly-saturated citrine.

A lightly-saturated citrine cabochon under an intense overhead light.

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Kris Holt @krisholt1.bsky.social · 09/06/2026

My plants were singed during the heatwave, were drowned the following week in the rains, and today they were shotgunned by an impromptu June hailstorm

An aubergine plant suffering extensive leaf damage due to hail. Beneath it, two pots show the size and volume of the hailstones.

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Kris Holt @krisholt1.bsky.social · 08/06/2026

My Poblano x Hungarian Hot Wax F1 hybrid flowered today, which is exciting.

A flowering Poblano x Hungarian Hot Wax F1 chilli hybrid plant.

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Kris Holt @krisholt1.bsky.social · 07/06/2026

First squash plant of the summer. Though of course, it’s on the smallest plant.

A small, staked squash plant in a white container. It has a single, yellow, male flower.

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Kris Holt @krisholt1.bsky.social · 25/05/2026

I’m going to Brighton in June for work and on one of the free days, I’m going to be learning to cut cabochons and facet gemstones. I have some gorgeous gemstone rough to practice on, Mexican fire opals and Tanzanian sapphires. The pictures don’t do these stones justice. They sparkle!

Tanzanian Umba sapphire rough in three colours

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Kris Holt @krisholt1.bsky.social · 25/05/2026

Interestingly, my F1 chilli pepper cross seems to be forming multiple central fruits, which isn’t a feature of either of the parent plants (Poblano/Hungarian Hot Wax) 🌱

A close-up at the centre of an F1 hybrid chilli 🌶️ pepper which appears to be showing three central fruit buds at an early stage of growth.

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Kris Holt @krisholt1.bsky.social · 11/05/2026

At the beginning of growing season, I had four runt pepper plants that didn’t grow from seedlings at all. Rather than throw them out entirely, I shifted them to a single pot, which I left in the greenhouse and promptly forgot about. Now they’re going to need their own pots.

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Kris Holt @krisholt1.bsky.social · 04/05/2026

One of my early poblano peppers is part-way through ripening, and it’s doing it so neatly that it looks like a shadow

A partially-ripened Poblano pepper hanging between two growbags. The red portion of the pepper is very bright and makes the green part look like it’s in shadow.

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Kris Holt @krisholt1.bsky.social · 15/03/2026

No, you may not have free and unfettered access to the bag that you claim to own

A calico cat blocking access to a human-owned bag in defiance of capitalist principles

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