2018 Chilli Growing thread

[Mercenary Keyboard Warrior]

Thanks, I am forced to grow inside as I live in a valley that seems to be constantly cold and wet and theres a giant sycamore tree at the end of the garden that is home to billions of greenflies every summer. Every time I try to grow outside I find i'm just constantly removing greenflies and due to the crap weather the growth is significantly worse than the indoor plants.

At the moment I am watering very little, around once a week or so and not totally soaking them when I do water them. The plants seem to be happy and the roots are now poking out of the 3l pots, so i think watering less has encouraged root growth. Not sure whether to pot up to 5l pots this early..

I blow hot and cold on this.

Roots will always seek a source of water. So if you always water from the bottom of a deep pot the roots will migrate downwards. If you water from the top of a deep pot and give them enough water that the whole pot is wet then you should get rots at all levels. For sure the bottom up gives less chance of infestation, but personally I see better results I think with top down watering.

 

[neil_g]

I always watered from the bottom. But I used to put a bit of absorbent matting through the base of the pot into water and keep the pot itself above the water line which acted as a wick.

 

[Street]

Anyone grown carolina reapers from seed?
If so how long did they take to germinate. All my chilli seeds have germinated apart from my reapers, typically 5-14 days to germinate on all types I have found.
I wonder if the reapers take longer or if I may have to try another batch. They are in a heated prop in the low-mid 20s so should be around perfect temp.

I had problems getting mine to germinate. Out of 10 seeds I put in, only two came up. That was in a propagator with a heat mat underneath! One came up after a couple weeks, the other took a little bit longer and it's a bit of a runt of a plant still.

I moved the plants I want to keep up to their big pots this weekend, managed to give away a load and kept the 6 strongest. Ideally I would have gone to an intermediate pot but I really couldn't be bothered messing around and it didn't affect them doing it like that last year.

 

[Mercenary Keyboard Warrior]

Thx street.

I am going to wack my remaining seeds in to another tub tonight.
To be honest I am not so worried about them, someone bought them for me but they are probably hotter than I normally like to use.
Being so hot I find it tricky to manage the spice of the end product and to me thats the point of using chillis!

Cant hurt to try them though

 

[Psycho Sonny]

My TREGREN T12 isn't heated at all. Worth getting a heat mat?

It basically provides artificial daylight through LEDS. It also automatically waters the plants every 45 minutes with a little squirt that drains out the other side.

Add nutrients every water change which is once every 3 weeks.

 

[samcat]

I only use heating for germination, once seeds have sprouted they live/die without the heat. 99% live.

 

[Mercenary Keyboard Warrior]

I only use heating for germination, once seeds have sprouted they live/die without the heat. 99% live.

Think that may be where I went wrong with the chilis I did, I left them on too long probably
Will wack a few more in tonight and try to recover!

 

[#Chri5#]

I only use heating for germination, once seeds have sprouted they live/die without the heat. 99% live.

Same for me - once the seedlings are showing, they come out of the propagator and onto a windowsill. I've left courgettes in the propagator longer before - they grew really quickly and then died.

I want to investigate LED growing lights later in the year with a view to having something sorted for next year's seeds.

 

[Street]

Thx street.

I am going to wack my remaining seeds in to another tub tonight.
To be honest I am not so worried about them, someone bought them for me but they are probably hotter than I normally like to use.
Being so hot I find it tricky to manage the spice of the end product and to me thats the point of using chillis!

Cant hurt to try them though

Same here really. I use Habaneros in cooking but the Reapers are a bit too hot, especially for the missus so doubt they'll get much use. They were more of an experiment than anything.

 

[Mercenary Keyboard Warrior]

Same for me - once the seedlings are showing, they come out of the propagator and onto a windowsill. I've left courgettes in the propagator longer before - they grew really quickly and then died.

I want to investigate LED growing lights later in the year with a view to having something sorted for next year's seeds.

yeah I am the same.
I tend to go on hols in March so I dont start the seeds as early as I would like.
But if I can start them really early and get them to a decent size I can probably go on hols and leave them in a deeper pot of water

 

[Psycho Sonny]

I've got led lights made for plants and self watering system. So can I plant at any time you think?

I like jalapenos. What chillies are good for making sauces that are around the same heat or a bit hotter?

I like habanero sauces but I imagine they have been "watered" down somewhat. I like chilli but I also like to taste it rather than just feel it. For example I have about 10-12 different hot sauces at any one time.

 

[rhysduck]

Any recommendations for plugs / seedlings as I've left it a bit late?

Interested in the basket of fire plants too...

 

[Mercenary Keyboard Warrior]

I've got led lights made for plants and self watering system. So can I plant at any time you think?

I like jalapenos. What chillies are good for making sauces that are around the same heat or a bit hotter?

I like habanero sauces but I imagine they have been "watered" down somewhat. I like chilli but I also like to taste it rather than just feel it. For example I have about 10-12 different hot sauces at any one time.

Cherry bomb make some lovely sauce, they are exactly what you describe a little hotter than Jala

Or if you want to step it up a little more, Cayenne, IMHO the most versatile and best flavour chilli you can get

 

[Psycho Sonny]

Cherry bomb make some lovely sauce, they are exactly what you describe a little hotter than Jala

Or if you want to step it up a little more, Cayenne, IMHO the most versatile and best flavour chilli you can get

cool i'll see how these go first of all then i'll maybe try those 2.

can i use seeds from supermarket chillies or do those need hotter climates?

probably best getting a propagator me thinks

 

[Street]

Interested in the basket of fire plants too...

I've got one Basket of Fire plant left over I need to shift otherwise it's going in the bin if you want it?

 

[samcat]

All the plants are outside today rather than on a windowsill... Its very sunny/hot and not very breezy, so ideal for starting to harden them up for outside life.

The Joes long plants are getting very tall, bit a bit floppy... they need to toughen up and stand on their own two feet!

 

[#Chri5#]

I did some potting in the greenhouse last night, so left a few plants in there to see how they do. The rest are back on the kitchen windowsill or in the conservatory still.

 

[Randell Floyd]

Any recommendations for plugs / seedlings as I've left it a bit late?

Interested in the basket of fire plants too...

Aldi have a couple of different plugs, 4 for £1.99 and purchased some as they looked healthy.

I've a father in law and brother in law who are chilli obsessed, so they've paid for a single plug each of 7 Pot Chocolate Douglah, Carolina Reaper and a 7 Pot Yellow that arrived yesterday. All in good health, well potted and delivered without issue. They came off ebay and can be found at https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/crazychi...e=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2562 . I've no idea if the price is good for what you get as I didn't pay for them, but I wasn't going to be able to do them from seed anyhow.

 

[rhysduck]

I've got one Basket of Fire plant left over I need to shift otherwise it's going in the bin if you want it?

Yes please! PM incoming

Edit: Trust sent.

 

[Mark A]

Is Chilli Focus worth the extra over tomato feed? I usually always use tomato feed as its a lot cheaper, but i'm tempted to give Chilli Focus a try this year. What size bottle would I need for 5 plants?

Just potted up a few to 5L pots and put a layer of Perlite on top to try to combat fungus gnats. I saw a few buzzing around my kitchen window, so I am praying they haven't touched my plants!