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2024 Chilli Growing Thread
- Thread starter BUDFORCE
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Associate
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Just did the second harvest off my overwintered Scotch Bonnet. They are a little on the small side, any ideas? My chillis sown this year are just about to bud up.
My one Jalapeno is fruiting well and some coming nicely on the Tokyo Hots too. Habaneros are budding away, Scorpions and Bhut Jolokias are very healthy looking but still light on buds, think they were worst hit by the aphids which seem to have mostly gone now. These are all in the greenhouse where it's been a struggle to keep them watered enough, except I've now put 2 of the Bhuts outside both to free up some space for airflow and see how they get on in comparison.
Did you change some of the root ball soil at the start of the year? The replacement gives them more nutrients. Also feeding something like chilli focus helps (seaweed extract IIRC).
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I didn't repot, but do (general) feed every 2-3 weeks
hows peoples chillis going ?
my bell peppers have some big ones on still green though. gonna wait for em to change colour. the carolina reapers are the furthest behind but to be expected with being super hots but can atleast see buds ready to flower now. which is good and jalopeano is doing well.
my bell peppers have some big ones on still green though. gonna wait for em to change colour. the carolina reapers are the furthest behind but to be expected with being super hots but can atleast see buds ready to flower now. which is good and jalopeano is doing well.
Tonnes of cayennes going, the plants can barely support themselves. Really happy with those, lots have ripened already and the heat is nice.
Have one jalapeno plant which I actually bought at a garden centre, eaten a few green but going to let loads ripen to red to smoke for chipotles.
Habaneros starting to ripen too, love watching them turn orange. Really excited to try those.
Scorpions I have 6 plants with probably one full size pepper per plant which is still fully green and more coming. Loads and loads of buds, wondering if I should be pruning some off as I doubt they'll all produce so it's wasted energy leaving them on at this point?
The Bhut Jolokias I barely have plenty of flowers but still barely any fruit showing. They've been a bit neglected as they haven't been sat in the big water trays due to lack of space.
Thinking I have too many plants and to overwinter maybe 2 or 3 of each type and concentrate on quality over quantity - in terms of plants, not the fruits. Same for cucumbers, I have 4 sprawling messes of cucumber plants which produce more fruit than I can eat but I can't stay on top of them.
Have one jalapeno plant which I actually bought at a garden centre, eaten a few green but going to let loads ripen to red to smoke for chipotles.
Habaneros starting to ripen too, love watching them turn orange. Really excited to try those.
Scorpions I have 6 plants with probably one full size pepper per plant which is still fully green and more coming. Loads and loads of buds, wondering if I should be pruning some off as I doubt they'll all produce so it's wasted energy leaving them on at this point?
The Bhut Jolokias I barely have plenty of flowers but still barely any fruit showing. They've been a bit neglected as they haven't been sat in the big water trays due to lack of space.
Thinking I have too many plants and to overwinter maybe 2 or 3 of each type and concentrate on quality over quantity - in terms of plants, not the fruits. Same for cucumbers, I have 4 sprawling messes of cucumber plants which produce more fruit than I can eat but I can't stay on top of them.
Had a few cayenne and some jalapenos (which for the first time since I've tried growing them have actually gone Red this year), a couple of habaneros, although not ripened yet.
Also had a couple of bell peppers, quite a few different tomatoes (Black opal and Tigerella have been nice), and a couple of Crystal Lemon round cucumbers.
Rest of my veg patch has been a bit rubbish though, with only a few usable new potatoes, a hanndful of onions, and everything else seems to have failed (carrots, parsnips, peas, main crop potatoes)
Also had a couple of bell peppers, quite a few different tomatoes (Black opal and Tigerella have been nice), and a couple of Crystal Lemon round cucumbers.
Rest of my veg patch has been a bit rubbish though, with only a few usable new potatoes, a hanndful of onions, and everything else seems to have failed (carrots, parsnips, peas, main crop potatoes)
Soldato
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I was a bit late with a few things. Tomatoes and basket of fire chilis both going great now.
Even though we have water in tanks at our allotment I think its been nigh on impossible to keep everything moist enough.
Mini cucumbers doing 1-2 a day which is enough for the other half.
Carrots have been patchy, parsnips a no show, onions iffy, peas very small plants with low yield (about to go for some more peas, told you can get a late crop in at this time)
Raspberry canes half normal height, not a great year!
Our apple trees all did fairly well at the start but about 99% loss of actual apples falling off from caterpillar infestations.
Have to do something about that next year, dislike sprays but its ridiculous the damage they cause
Even though we have water in tanks at our allotment I think its been nigh on impossible to keep everything moist enough.
Mini cucumbers doing 1-2 a day which is enough for the other half.
Carrots have been patchy, parsnips a no show, onions iffy, peas very small plants with low yield (about to go for some more peas, told you can get a late crop in at this time)
Raspberry canes half normal height, not a great year!
Our apple trees all did fairly well at the start but about 99% loss of actual apples falling off from caterpillar infestations.
Have to do something about that next year, dislike sprays but its ridiculous the damage they cause
Habenaros are one of my fav chillis . really nice i did them last year. my reapers are starting flowers on both can see a few small ones starting. about the same as the ghost peppers last year which ended up doing well but took a long time to get there.
After starting later than I should have it's been a decent year. Cayennes and Habaneros (many more than shown here) have both been insanely productive if a little structurally unstable.
The Moruga Scorpion plants are massive and healthy but not so productive. Huge plants but only 1 or 2 fruit from each so far. I do love the look of these bad boys.
Bhut Jolokia's still quite shy though they've probably been the least looked after. Think I have one nearly full sized fruit out of 4 plants.
Nervous about mixing the scorpions into sauces/jams without turning them into the sweat juice of the devil's own gooch. Any advice on including the pith/seeds? Just be bold!?
The Moruga Scorpion plants are massive and healthy but not so productive. Huge plants but only 1 or 2 fruit from each so far. I do love the look of these bad boys.
Bhut Jolokia's still quite shy though they've probably been the least looked after. Think I have one nearly full sized fruit out of 4 plants.
Nervous about mixing the scorpions into sauces/jams without turning them into the sweat juice of the devil's own gooch. Any advice on including the pith/seeds? Just be bold!?
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they look great ! id personally not add the seeds. they often linger in the stomache and cause pain or not feeling great so i just remove them now when eating chillis even not hot ones.After starting later than I should have it's been a decent year. Cayennes and Habaneros (many more than shown here) have both been insanely productive if a little structurally unstable.
The Moruga Scorpion plants are massive and healthy but not so productive. Huge plants but only 1 or 2 fruit from each so far. I do love the look of these bad boys.
Bhut Jolokia's still quite shy though they've probably been the least looked after. Think I have one nearly full sized fruit out of 4 plants.
Nervous about mixing the scorpions into sauces/jams without turning them into the sweat juice of the devil's own gooch. Any advice on including the pith/seeds? Just be bold!?
my 2 carolina reaper plants doing okay plenty on the two plants but still pretty small hopefully they get going a bit more as end of this month we will get frosts. so not long now.
Personally I wrote off the toms and peppers this year as I needed (still do) to sort out the autopots so I don't have to use them all/remove some.
As it turned out the May heatwave would have killed them as the roots would have been too hot to grow through the clay pellets. Right decision but wrong justification sort of thing.
Need to do a bit of a rethink for planting given this year's weather.
As it turned out the May heatwave would have killed them as the roots would have been too hot to grow through the clay pellets. Right decision but wrong justification sort of thing.
Need to do a bit of a rethink for planting given this year's weather.
I used Autopots for chillis last year, did insanely well.
I used Autopots for tomatoes this year, did insanely well. Like ice cream tub full of cherry tomatoes several times.
I use clay pellets for the bottom 1 and half inch and then 50/50 mix of sifted multipurpose compost and perlite.
I also cover the main water box to try and keep it cooler, with a reflective car windscreen frost protector that i use on the car in winter.
And white plastic sheets cut into squares on the tops of the tubs to reflect heat and keep more moisture in. They eat through loads of water.
But I do have one big advantage, there is a very large tree near my house that blocks the sun for a few hours every day.
Without that then it may have been too hot.