2018 Chilli Growing thread

Another harvest for me today. Red habanero plant has come good with plenty of fruits, the 7 pot burgundy has a good crop too. The mystery plant that only provided one fruit looks to be some kind of chocolate 7-pot type variety.

Whatever it is, it went in a hot sauce I made today. Two superhots plus 4 habaneros may have been a bit much in hindsight....but it'll last a while :)
 
My chillies are looking good, but seem to have gone a bit 'soft' - I've left them on the plant a couple of weeks since they turned red (from green) - Is it possible I left them there too long? Or is that not an issue?
 
yeah once they are ripe they will go soft they will eventually fall off. Once they are ripe its best to remove then store them, ie either dry/freeze/ or if using soon fridge

Chilies tend to rot from the inside so they may look fine outside but the middles will go black
 
One of my large pots failed yesterday, big chuck split off the side of it spilling soil out. Was home to a 90cm/1m Big Jim chilli plant.
Thought stuff it, and carved it down to a BonChi (bonsai chilli)... Wasnt one that this was planned for, as when it fruits it will look very silly! But hey, it was that or the compost heap!

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Now 15cm tall and in a small pot.
 
And giving some very serious thought to growlights/hydro for some overwinter chilli fun times... Anyone got any experience/want to share anything?
 
Harvest time at Pebbletown, first pics is all jalopeanos which I'll pickle in vinegar with some garlic. The others are a weird mix of mainly sweet ones, which I pickle separately in the same way! Should be just right for xmas :D

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First batch of sauce made this weekend :)

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Second batch this weekend maybe, still waiting for the majority of the chillies to turn orange/red.
 
samcat said:
And giving some very serious thought to growlights/hydro for some overwinter chilli fun times... Anyone got any experience/want to share anything?
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you can buy grow LED's from ikea but only online. not in store so you have to pay for delivery. they fit into normal lamps and holders. they are LED so cost nothing to run.

i have mine connected to tp link smart plugs and i then set a timer on the smart plug. so they come on at say 8am and turn off at 6pm. all automatic.

all i need to do is water and feed them.
 
Psycho Sonny said:
any good recipes?
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It changes every year! :D

This is what was involved in this batch.

100ml white vinegar
75-80g sugar
125g chillis (Demon Red & Habenero mix)
1 medium onion
600ml tomato sauce (homegrown)
4 garlic cloves
Tomato purée and salt to taste.
  • Bring tomato sauce to simmer
  • Chop chillis and onions
  • Caramelise onions and add to tomato sauce with chilli and garlic.
  • Let it reduce for 5-10 minutes
  • Add in vinegar, sugar and stir it in well
  • Pour into a blender or whizz up with a hand blender until smooth. I chose to not strain the seeds out.
  • Pour back into the pan and leave to simmer for 10 minutes but ensure it doesn’t reduce and thicken too much.
  • Taste with some bread and add tomato purée and salt to taste. **Beware, you can only get a few tastes in before it starts to numb your mouth!**
  • Bottle/Jar whilst hot
 
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Rossi~ said:
It changes every year! :D

This is what was involved in this batch.

100ml white vinegar
75-80g sugar
125g chillis (Demon Red & Habenero mix)
1 medium onion
600ml tomato sauce (homegrown)
4 garlic cloves
Tomato purée and salt to taste.
  • Bring tomato sauce to simmer
  • Chop chillis and onions
  • Caramelise onions and add to tomato sauce with chilli and garlic.
  • Let it reduce for 5-10 minutes
  • Add in vinegar, sugar and stir it in well
  • Leave to simmer for 10 minutes but ensure it doesn’t reduce and thicken too much.
  • Taste with some bread and add tomato purée and salt to taste. **Beware, you can only get a few tastes in before it starts to numb your mouth!**
  • Bottle/Jar whilst hot
Click to expand...

a lot of sugar there. could i reduce or maybe even replace with honey? or use palm coconut sugar?

i try and reduce as much refined stuff as i can.
 
Psycho Sonny said:
a lot of sugar there. could i reduce or maybe even replace with honey? or use palm coconut sugar?

i try and reduce as much refined stuff as i can.
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A lot of people use equal g of sugar to ml of vinegar, e.g 100g to 100ml. So it’s lower than many recipes out there.
I think I balanced mine nicely this year, last year it was way too sweet.
I like the idea of using Honey, though it’s sticky and thick, consistency may differ and you’ll need to adjust for it.
 
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Another batch of chillies for the dehydrator today, habaneros, basket of fire and reapers. I've had a decent haul this year and have dried a good few jars worth already. Hopefully the rest will be ripe in a few weeks time and I can do a mega drying session.

After making it through most of the year, I seem to have been invaded by aphids. I've been out spraying the plants today, hopefully I can keep on top of them until the last chillies are ripe.
 
Felix said:
Whats the best way to keep the plants over the winter?
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I'll be trying to over-winter for the first time this year.

After a little reading around on the subject I'll be :
1) Selecting only the healthiest and strongest plants
2) Pruning back to leave around 15cm of the stem
3) Re-potting to smaller pots - trimming back the root ball and putting into some fresh compost
4) Watering only occasionally over winter


Just waiting for my scotch bonnets to finish ripening - they're very nearly done!
 
Annoyingly my 2 zimbabwe black plants have both got a massive aphid infestation. Both are inside so not sure where this has come from. Suspect Ants, going to have to have a really good look around.

My plants in teh poly are still going very well, picked about a kilo of chillies last weekend, will probably pick all that are left this weekend, even if still green.

I think the late summer has been pretty good for chilies this year :)
 
Mine are all now stuck and not growing :( Leaves are dying off. I want to try and jump start next year and have the plants from this year ready to go.
 
The simplest way is freezing. Literally wash them, and freeze them in a sealed bag. When you need to use them, leave them in the freezer until ready to cut. take them out and carefully chop etc. They defrost really quickly hence not getting them out too early as they go a little soft.

Dehydrating, plenty of guides on how to do this with just a normal oven. Chilies are about 95% water

Pickling, again lots of guides.

Really depends what your intended use is.
 
Freezing them whole sounds like a good option. In the past I've chopped them up first and put them in a freezer bag. It was a bit of a faff. I think I'll both freeze them whole and dehydrate some.
 
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