2018 Chilli Growing thread

@Tarqy they look very healthy, what type are they?

Took first lot of jalapenos off to eat the other day, taste so fresh and they are spicy for jalapenos. Loads of flowers have opened up now so looks promising for a reasonable yield, certainly more than i'll need
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Ring of fire plants are coming along nicely too now
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Still early days on my aji limon plants. All look healthy just struggling to flower. Got a few flowers on them now but a good month or so behind the jalapeno and ring of fire
 
Hi

I haven't read the thread at all and think I'm very late to the party but I bought a tub in homebase for 50p and planted them last week. I didn't think anything would happen but I've got some little plants growing. I can't even remember what ones these are.

Do you think they will be OK for this year. They reside on a afternoon sunny window sill. Not expecting miracles and i also have no real idea how to care for them so any tips?

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@Liquid_Entity keep them in the sun as much as possible and water them daily like a normal plant when that size. When they are bigger you can give them tomato feed or chilli focus. Depends what they are as to how quickly they'll get going for flowering and producing peppers. Normally plant seeds around February/March but my gf did the same last year with some penis pepper seeds and we kept them going over winter as small plants on the windowsill that gets gd sun and they've survived though no sign of peppers on them yet but they are a lot stronger than the same seeds we planted this year in March.
 
All this sun now might give them a good boost once they get the first set of leaves on them, never know they might just flower in September for a late harvest if this good weather holds out that long. Not sure if Chilli Focus would ensure a crop by end of summer, really does depend on what they are if they'll flower early or not.
 
Your going to struggle at this point with seedlings if your plan is to put them outside

They will want probably 2-3 months of growth then flower, that puts you right up against the end of the summer, as most chilies take 60-100 days to mature your too late

You could probably just about keep them alive in a greenhouse, although you may need to add some heat towards the end.

I would personally keep them inside and try to go that way.
You can always trim them back. If you end up isolating them on a cold windowsill they will probably not make it, but if you can keep them warm then they will go all year.

Your biggest enemy by far will be fungus gnats (tiny flies) as they will drive you insane if you get them!

I tried to overwinter some plants a few years ago and almost made it, but the gnats drove me insane and I threw them out about Feb.

If you can overwinter them this year they will be ready for next year and will be much stronger.
 
Liquid_Entity said:
Hi

I haven't read the thread at all and think I'm very late to the party but I bought a tub in homebase for 50p and planted them last week. I didn't think anything would happen but I've got some little plants growing. I can't even remember what ones these are.

Do you think they will be OK for this year. They reside on a afternoon sunny window sill. Not expecting miracles and i also have no real idea how to care for them so any tips?
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Yep - just keep them going as long as possible, then overwinter. Unlikely you'll get fruit this year and I would probably remove the flowers to make the plant concentrate on roots/leaves to make it stronger over the winter.
 
NickK said:
You can get some sticky yellow pads that stick into the soil - the gnats then land on that and stick. Problem solved.
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Yeah old school fly paper in effect

I did the same with sellotape to be honest that also works, but no matter how many I caught they kept coming back, I suspect my infestation was just too high, maybe with persistence they would have been beaten
 
i bought this stuff called "diatomaceous earth". it's basically like shards of glass to insects but perfectly okay for humans. in fact people recommend that you mix with water and drink it and it will kill any parasites in your body if you drink it regularly. you may be thinking how do you get parasites in you well. if you have been abroad or eaten food from third world countries. water is usually of very poor condition, etc. even in USA for example.

i've been to india 3 times, thailand, etc. so i took some and it certainly did something. i have no idea whether i had any or not as i didn't check but i'll take it again. once a month to ensure a healthy system. you do not know what could be in the food we import into this country or due to the practices of suppliers. i've seen food documentaries on meat on netflix as well as milk then done some research and basically it said nearly everyone will have had parasites at some point.

anyway i digress. you sprinkle this on the top soil. any insect walking on it will literally be cut by 1000 razors and die.

Mercenary Keyboard Warrior said:
If you let them regularly go below about 10 they will go dormant, above that they will probably carry on functioning
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I plan on keeping mine indoors and taking them outside only when i'm at home and it's above 20c outside. which will be less than 10 times a year. so a house plant for me in Scotland.

the temp should never really drop below 10C i also have 2 grow lights (LED) for them. mine have just started to fruit as in i can now see some chillies beginning to grow. i planted mine very late in april i believe from seed so i'm 1-2 months behind most people.
 
Anyone else having a problem with chillies going soft on the plant before they're fully ripe? I don't know if its the heat or not, but my cayennes go a little soft when there is still some of the chilli that is green/dark purple. Not a massive issue as I'm freezing them and then going to dry them all out in the oven once I have an oven trays worth. Really need to invest in a food dehydrator at some point..

@Psycho Sonny Its good stuff, just don't compost the soil as it'll kill the worms in the compost bin!
 
Mark A said:
Anyone else having a problem with chillies going soft on the plant before they're fully ripe? I don't know if its the heat or not, but my cayennes go a little soft when there is still some of the chilli that is green/dark purple. Not a massive issue as I'm freezing them and then going to dry them all out in the oven once I have an oven trays worth. Really need to invest in a food dehydrator at some point..

@Psycho Sonny Its good stuff, just don't compost the soil as it'll kill the worms in the compost bin!
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i don't use compost. well not after i pot them and i buy it from homebase. i use used coffee grounds for fertiliser from my nespresso capsules. the wife has a coffee a day. so i have a steady supply of nutrients.

i also bought some chilli focus but unsure how much to use as i don't want to over fertilise. so i use that once every 2 weeks instead of once every week. i top up with coffee grounds once a month.

as for watering. i only water once every 3-4 days and i give them maybe half a glass between 2-3 plants. i treat them mean in terms of water. i figure that is their natural conditions. chillies come from hot dry conditions with poor soil. there is no drainage in my pots so if i overwater they will die. so i underwater most likely compared to you guys.
 
The big one is still doing well.

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Also got fruit on most of the others.. Turns out some of the plants are not what I bought the seeds as (Joes long, that actually look like Jalapeno...)

As for the discussion above, I water with rainwater when they are wilting due to heat, currently thats daily but when it cools a bit it will be every few days. Once a week they get a dose of tomorite, plus the compost had blood fish and bone mixed in with it, and regular coffee grinds dumped on the soil.. Slugs DO NOT LIKE coffee grinds!
 
my 5 biggest plants (2 outside are scotch bonnet, 3 in middle are ghost).

Been battling aphids, ants farming the aphids. Caterpillers. My cat. Underwatering, overwatering.... But they are still growing and have a lot of flowers on each plant.

The other bonnets that I got from a garden center are only half the size of these.

 
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