The 2011 Chilli growing thread - it's scorching!

An early start this year to the thread this year to bring those kicking their chilli plants off with inside lighting and those that are thinking of swapping seeds.

All three of my Dorset Naga plants, originally started in 2009, are surviving the winter weather nicely so they should give me a great start to the year!

Dorset Naga seeds - I have seeds from last year's crop that I'm happy to give away for free (contact details in trust). Those that have emailed me before winter set in are top of the list.

If you're thinking of Dorsets - they are large plants which take a good amount of sun to get to fruiting maturity. This means seeds need to be started as early as possible otherwise any fruit will ripen late in the year.

However plenty of varieties are small, fast growing and just as tasty!

2010: Building on that experience can be found here
2009: The original thread can be found here.

Thinking of growing chilli plants this year?

i've still got my Chilli plant that i bought in September last year, and it's still looking good and healthy.

it's fruited three times since i got it

I ordered some seeds just before Christmas from sowseeds.co.uk, I'm going to be getting them started today by putting them under indoor lighting.

I bought:

Bulgarian carrot
Cherry bomb
Numex twilight
Habanero white
7 pod
Bhut jolokia

I started late last year so making sure I get in early this year.

I'll be on it again this year. The plants I pruned and brought inside over winter didn't lie dormant like I expected, but rather started sprouting new shoots almost immediately. Now they're beginning to bud, so no complaints really!



I also bought some seeds from the South Devon Chilli Farm, so this year I'll be trying:

Orange habanero
Ring of fire
Twilight
Cherry bomb

I also picked up some Demon Red and Prairie Fire seeds so I'll try growing those indoors.

When's everyone going to start this year?

It makes me laugh to think that if someone posted about growing flowers, there would be non-stop "GAY LOLOLOL" posts, but chilli's are ******* manly, so it's acceptable!

Last year was the first year growing them for me and a bit of an experiment, this year I'll grow less as I had more chillies than I knew what to do with!

I'm on it this year, definitely looking forward to growing something fiery.

Can anyone recommend a good one for a beginner to start with and something that will be edible and not Dorset Naga hot!!!

Thanks in advance!

Will be trying again, probably fail again though

I got one of the Grow it kits for christmas planted 2 about a week and a bit ago and been watering them and so far nothing.

From the reviews they are not the best

Youstolemyname said:

Can anyone recommend a good one for a beginner to start with and something that will be edible and not Dorset Naga hot!!!

Thanks in advance!

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Jalapenos are a good start. Or something like cherry bomb or hungarian hot wax. Take a look at sow chillies for the different varieties. It'll tell you the heat rating of each chilli.

I got given a few seeds for christmas so thought i'd get off to an early start with the help of my XL Heatmat and Radiator lol. Thinking of buying some LED lights too .

List so far: Bhut Jolokia(from last year), Piri Piri, Thai Demon, Antillias Caribbean and Satan's Kiss.



(Yes, that is Dell wrapping from work \o/ )


and a picture of my Bhut Jolokia collection from last year (taken a couple weeks before flowering).

I'll start thinking about ordering some new seeds this year, won't be ordering them from ebay this time round either!

I've overwintered 1 each of the following:

Jalapeno
Twighlight
Santa Fe Grande
Paper Lantern

Might do some new ones of the same varieties from seeds too. Any suggestions on a particularly pretty type I could try? The photos of Ring of Fire look cool.

My plants seem to be overwintering fine. Some of them still have leaves and the odd chilli lol. Hoping this will mean I get a nice crop next year.

I think I might still grow a few from seed just incase. Also might try some scotch bonnets. Anyone got any Scotch bonnet seeds they could send me? I can send you some cayenne and Bell pepper seeds in return.

Hooray for the new thread! I've got 7 plants from last year that are still going strong - still producing fruit, in fact. There are 7 seedlings growing (from a pot-luck seed mix of mild to super hots). The gf bought be some Dorset Naga seeds for Christmas that I'm going to grow a few of - was going to plant those this weekend, actually.

h00fzilla said:

Might do some new ones of the same varieties from seeds too. Any suggestions on a particularly pretty type I could try? The photos of Ring of Fire look cool.

Click to expand...

One vote for Trinidad scorpion because they look mean

Or... at the bottom of the scale; Banana pepper. Just because they look kind of cute and anybody can eat them!

Last year was my first year growing chillis (and any kind of plant!) and although I didnt have more chillis than I knew what to do with (didnt have a decent garden or south facing window) I'm only aiming to grow two plants this year.

Last year I grew 2x Jalapenos, Scotch bonnets and Demon Reds.

The Jalapenos were beautiful, nice and fleshy with only a little bit of zing. The Demon Red plant was constantly fruiting and always had around 30 chillis on it, but the chillis were so small, it was a real chore using them in any kind of dish. The scotch bonnet was a little _too_ hot for my liking.

My mother grew a tabasco plant from some seeds I gave her and the fruit was one of the best chilli's I've ever tasted. They were full of flavour and packed a fair punch.

So, this year I'm aiming to grow a Tabasco plant and another Jalapeno on the windowsill on the south facing window of my new flat .

I'll probably leave it until the end of this month before I crack open the heated propogator as the days will be well on their way to getting longer.

Youstolemyname said:

Can anyone recommend a good one for a beginner to start with and something that will be edible and not Dorset Naga hot!!!

Thanks in advance!

Click to expand...

+1 for Jalapeno. They seem to be able to take a fair amount of abuse which will be good for a first timer.

I have just bought some chilli seeds so I will be giving it a go this year. Not got a clue what I am doing though so there is much reading to be done.