2014 Chilli Growers Thread

Some pics of the chillis in the living room. First one is the Naga looking sorry for itself when it was sunny yesterday. It always droops badly when it gets sunny - not surprisingly as the temperature in the bay window in full sunlight can get close to 40ºC :eek: As you can see in the second photo, it soon perks back up when it cools down and is usually followed by a growth spurt.

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Measured it again this morning and it is now nearly 21.5" after a bit of recent sun. Since I first measured it on 23rd April, it has grown nearly 7" from 14" to 21" - that's an average of 1/2" a day :eek:

Last photo is of all three plants in the bay window. I just wish it was bigger so I could get all my plants in there; they're all doing very well (the Scotch Bonnet in the middle is actually 1" taller than the Naga). The Hotscotch on the left isn't as tall as the others but is much bushier.

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I'll get some photos of the pathetic things in the greenhouse and post them up soon.
 
Stan_Lite said:
Some pics of the chillis in the living room. First one is the Naga looking sorry for itself when it was sunny yesterday. It always droops badly when it gets sunny - not surprisingly as the temperature in the bay window in full sunlight can get close to 40ºC :eek: As you can see in the second photo, it soon perks back up when it cools down and is usually followed by a growth spurt.

"PRUNE" (gardening/forum version of snip)

"PRUNE" (gardening/forum version of snip)

Measured it again this morning and it is now nearly 21.5" after a bit of recent sun. Since I first measured it on 23rd April, it has grown nearly 7" from 14" to 21" - that's an average of 1/2" a day :eek:

Last photo is of all three plants in the bay window. I just wish it was bigger so I could get all my plants in there; they're all doing very well (the Scotch Bonnet in the middle is actually 1" taller than the Naga). The Hotscotch on the left isn't as tall as the others but is much bushier.

"PRUNE" (gardening/forum version of snip)

I'll get some photos of the pathetic things in the greenhouse and post them up soon.
Click to expand...

Some lovely looking plants!

My Aji's have suddenly started to buck their ideas up and are starting to pickup now. My Scotch bonnets are finally starting to perk up too.

Although i have one scotch bonnet seedling that refuses to grow any bigger than weedy seedling stage. I've been agressively feeding it this last week as well as watering moderately and it's finally started to show some signs of throwing out some new leaves.

I'm determined not to lose it as its hung on for so long! Picture to follow of my ghetto grow
 
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Does anyone know what this might be? They've appeared since going outdoors, small brown dots which turn into holes. Can see any obvious bug problem, other than a small spider that's made a web on the largest aji.

Leaf 06/05/14 by -neilgates-

Also the bhut, goronong and one of the aji have a couple of veins to go a dark/purple colour?
 
neil_g said:
Does anyone know what this might be? They've appeared since going outdoors, small brown dots which turn into holes. Can see any obvious bug problem, other than a small spider that's made a web on the largest aji.

Also the bhut, goronong and one of the aji have a couple of veins to go a dark/purple colour?
Click to expand...

Your diy self-watering pots are ingenious!! Did you follow a recipe?

I think the plants are fine. The most common problem with growers is we overlove our plants. I think you might be worrying about them too much. Let nature do its thing and they should be ok. Give them the basics and inspect them every few days.
 
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Stan_Lite said:
Some pics of the chillis in the living room. First one is the Naga looking sorry for itself when it was sunny yesterday. It always droops badly when it gets sunny - not surprisingly as the temperature in the bay window in full sunlight can get close to 40ºC :eek: As you can see in the second photo, it soon perks back up when it cools down and is usually followed by a growth spurt.

Measured it again this morning and it is now nearly 21.5" after a bit of recent sun. Since I first measured it on 23rd April, it has grown nearly 7" from 14" to 21" - that's an average of 1/2" a day :eek:

Last photo is of all three plants in the bay window. I just wish it was bigger so I could get all my plants in there; they're all doing very well (the Scotch Bonnet in the middle is actually 1" taller than the Naga). The Hotscotch on the left isn't as tall as the others but is much bushier.

I'll get some photos of the pathetic things in the greenhouse and post them up soon.
Click to expand...

These plants are looking pretty good, apart from suffering from the droop!
What compost do you use? I would like to know as I suspect it might be common multipurpose compost, but I have an interest in this, as I have tried so many. Also, do the plants in these pics have the same mix of compost to the sickly ones outside?
 
I must be living in the wrong part of the country, mine are lagging a bit, I'll get some photos later.
 
Herman Gelmet said:
Your diy self-watering pots are ingenious!! Did you follow a recipe?
Click to expand...

i cant take credit, i saw them in a grow log over on chillis galore forums, i used the triangular shape wicks mentioned later in that log but cut down as they were too big for the 6l pots.

really easy to make as i say earlier on. pretty cheap to make too, i think i made 5 for about £20 excluding postage on the pots and growing medium.

I think the plants are fine. The most common problem with growers is we overlove our plants. I think you might be worrying about them too much. Let nature do its thing and they should be ok. Give them the basics and inspect them every few days.
Click to expand...

yeah you're probably right. i seem to have it in my head that now they're outside an impending plethora of bugs will be destroying my plants :D

my biggest problem is temperature control/ventilation in the greenhouse at the moment.
 
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It is a little late now but I'm going to sow them, even if I don't get any fruit this year, at least I can over winter and get a head start next year.

In a month or so I am going to make a small poly tunnel. 2m x 1m and about 4ft high.
 
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Herman Gelmet said:
What compost do you use? I would like to know as I suspect it might be common multipurpose compost, but I have an interest in this, as I have tried so many. Also, do the plants in these pics have the same mix of compost to the sickly ones outside?
Click to expand...

The ones in the big pots are in a 50/50 mixture of Levington's multi-purpose compost and B&Q topsoil with some perlite mixed in. The ones in the greenhouse have the same composition except they have Verve multi-purpose compost instead of Levingtons.

I don't think the problem with the greenhouse plants are to do with the compost (I've used Verve successfully in the past), it's more to do with putting them out too soon and not hardening them off properly.
 
Tempted to just chuck the lot outside tbh. Dropping to about 6 ATM and can't see it getting colder.
 
I was worried about mine but the greenhouse has dropped to 3c some nights and they've been okay. They are established plants though.
 
Well my plugs arrived and they're potted and out in the greenhouse. I hope that they'll be ok the during the evenings. It isn't very warm at the moment. I'll keep checking them everyday to make sure they're alright. Come on sunshine!
 
I've potted another 4 plants into 6" pots and chucked them outside in the PVC tunnel. I appreciate this isn't a good gradual approach but I, still riding on my gung-ho approach that worked last year.
10 fairly big ones in the 3" pots still but no sign of roots coming out the bottom. The ones I potted on today didn't go into shock either which is good.
 
Nothing huge to report other than perlite'd the self watering pots and pruned some lower leaves that weren't servicing much purpose or would've been sitting in the perlite.

Chillis 11/05/14 by -neilgates-

The (potential) Goronong is showing good growth with all the extra light.

Chillis 11/05/14 by -neilgates-

Pruned the Romanos a little too, took some lower small leaves off and the pods that had started to form, think it needs a bit more growth first.

Chillis 11/05/14 by -neilgates-

Weeded out the dead seeds (helmet heads / partial germination) and this is what's left..

Chillis 11/05/14 by -neilgates-

Moved them all on to coir and perlite, figured get them on their destination medium sooner rather than later. Saves getting compost medium stuck in the roots. Speaking of which some of these seedlings already have huge root balls.

Chillis 11/05/14 by -neilgates-
 
Nice progress there Neil. Seems you've had some decent weather recently :)

Are your seeds just in the window or under a light?
 
Nice, getting a lot of sun then where you are :)

I'm so tempted to start up some seeds for the easier chillies to see if I get fruit. I know it is late but I think I might do some tonight. Hopefully I get something from them, and if not I can always overwinter them :)
 
neil_g said:
Diy ikea hack :)

Ikea trofast storage box and lid £2 (per box + lid), the lid has a handy hole for a capillary mat £3~ (b&q pack makes 5 wicks) wick.

6l square pot £1.50~ (each) sits nicely on top, drill a matching wick hole in the bot base and a couple of drainage holes in the trofast lid (use those holes to zip tie the pot to the lid personal preference). Drill a filling hole, I used some spare hose to help but not necessary.

The trofast storage box I used is the smallest and holds about 3l water/nute mix.

http://m.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/products/art/00252578/
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thanks for that tip! I've got some of the morrisons flower tubs, and will be getting the bigger trofast box this weekend to make the self watering reservoir at the bottom!
 
Finally got round to taking photos of the pitiful things in the greenhouse. First pic is of one of the Cayennes (front) and the 2 New Mexicos. As you can see, they're looking very sparse (you can see some of the affected leaves I've removed beside them). The Cayenne has a few decent sized fruits growing but not very many. I'm not sure if or how well they'll pick up as the weather improves.

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Next up are the Jalapenos. Again, quite sparse and weedy. They're starting to fruit as well so we'll see how things pan out. You can see the discolouration on the leaves. they started out with the colour leeching out and turning white, now they're turning brown and dying off.

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Next up, the sweet banana. It was less badly affected than most but still looking a bit small and pathetic. Starting to flower now.

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Finally, the Chinenses. The Scotch Bonnet in the middle survived relatively unscathed and seems to be doing better than the others (although no where near as well as it's brother in the living room). I'm hopeful it will do fine when things warm up a bit. The Naga on the left was badly affected. It lost most of its big leaves and the remaining ones don't look too promising either. It has started growing some bright new ones though so I'm hopeful it will pull through. The hotscotch at the back didn't lose too many leaves but is pretty scrawny.

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Compare that to the three Chinenses in big pots in the bay window in the living room (ignore the fat bloke, he's just there for comparison :o):

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Naga now at 2' :eek:
(Evidence):
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Scotch bonnet now at 27".

I'm having a problem with flower drop on the Naga. I've been trying to hand pollinate but they don't seem to be producing much (if any) pollen. I've brought in one of the cayennes (which produce pollen in abundance) to use as a pollen donor. I know I won't be able to use the seeds cross-pollinating but at least it'll hopefully get me some fruit. Would be a shame to grow a plant that big for no return.
 
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