Growing Chillies

NickK · 12 Sep 2009 at 11:21

SkeeterPSA said:
I hear razors are good for clean non crushing cuts.

Plants that are a season old have an almost wood like stem:

NickK · 12 Sep 2009 at 11:42

Just a Canon Ixus 80IS. The shot with the branches is just a flash shot as the plants have gone to bed. They get their light during the early morning, which keeps them warm and then during the day the light switches off and the normal daytime temps keep them warm. I found that running the light during the day resulted in very high day temps and colder night temps.

NickK · 12 Sep 2009 at 13:19

For overwintering, not sure. The plants will slowly stop producing flowers first as it gets colder/shorter days. So it could be worth waiting till then.

NickK · 13 Sep 2009 at 13:24

Soft leaves like an old crumpled five pound note are down to lack of water. Given a bit more water and they'll perk up again.

Temps will make them droop but usually the leaves don't become soft.

NickK · 13 Sep 2009 at 14:35

garylouden said:
Ok so how ofter should they be watered becuase its somtimes everyday.....i thought wattering was every 2 days or something.

Depends on the species and environment.

My Japapenos will take some serious abuse in terms of watering. They're happy with watering every week or 1/2 week.

My Nagas throw a hissy fit. I've started giving them water by bottom up for a short soak if the pot feels light. Otherwise it's ~1/2-3/4 pint depending on the feel of the soil each morning. If the soil and bucket weight feels heavy then I may stop watering for a day.
It's only now they've decided to set fruit.

If you're plants are looking like they're n a draught then I'd water them. Do you feed them too?

NickK · 14 Sep 2009 at 19:19

The Dorset Naga is a slow plant, it can take 5-6 months till first harvest supposedly. Mine are going to be nearer 9-10 months but that's due to my faffing. Yours look healthy, it's probably just the light and temps. They've got a good set of first leaves on so I'd expect them to grow well.

Have you tried feeding the bushy one some Chilli Focus or Tomato food?

NickK · 14 Sep 2009 at 22:13

The plant will sprout more flowers but they're normally on new branches/stems.

NickK · 19 Sep 2009 at 21:35

garylouden said:
the larges of them is about 3 inches long but nothing seems to be going red.

They will! Sometimes they can go red overnight. Well that's how it seems.

NickK · 19 Sep 2009 at 22:28

garylouden said:
Cool, thanks.

does my plant look healthy? what are the little purple areas at the "Y" areas of the stock? is that normal?

They look fine. Yup that's normal an varies a little between plants and species.

NickK · 21 Sep 2009 at 08:41

Deluxe1 said:
Just picked quite a few of my nagas:

*Obscene chilli pron*

Fantastic amount! Begs the obvious question - what are they going in?

I'm thinking of drying mine and grinding to powder so I have a good supply of chilli kick over winter.

NickK · 21 Sep 2009 at 14:01

As siliconslave has stated - you have to be careful with chilli oil. Not only to ensure no botulism occurs but also that the bottle can withstand the heat of the oil.

From my understanding:
a) the chilli needs to be dried completely
b) boiled in vinegar to increase the pH
c) boil the oil, place the drained chilli the bottle and then pour in the boiling oil. Obviously hot oil + damp chilli = spitting frenzy so protect everything and put a metal dish under the bottle to catch overflow/shattering glass.

I made some oil a while back and it's been in the fridge unopened - I may have to brave the potential botulism poisoning and give it a go!

NickK · 23 Sep 2009 at 19:08

Well the Nagas are turning dark green.. I think they're into the home stretch, given a three weeks and I think they'll be red

NickK · 24 Sep 2009 at 16:33

Not all i hope D?

NickK · 29 Sep 2009 at 20:16

I'm hoping that their deepness of green means it's not going to be much longer

NickK · 30 Sep 2009 at 15:29

Those bonnets are massive!

NickK · 2 Oct 2009 at 12:39

Well I can safely report that my Naga chilli oil is stupendous!

It was made with Naga chillies bought from Tesco and then dried in an oven a while ago. I used a white wine vinegar boil to increase the Chilli pH acidity before placing the chillis into the small bottle and then pouring in the boiling veggie oil before storing in the fridge for ageing.

I used some just to fry the chicken for store Jalfrezi sauce and the heat has gone up nicely (it's a source I've had before) - not as high as the Naga king prawn red curry but just right.

Yum

NickK · 2 Oct 2009 at 12:45

Some species turn black, some other colours.

NickK · 5 Oct 2009 at 11:01

With my limited knowledge - Cayenne by the looks of it.

Proof will be in the eating later - cayenne has a distinctive taste.

NickK · 5 Oct 2009 at 15:04

lotus7 said:
massala, these are going in it,

Chicken Naga Massala - could be quite the surprise for those expecting Tikka Massala

My Nagas are still deep dark green, the other plants have given up flowering now and I think they're starting to feel the cooling of autumn (although I think I have one new fruit setting in). The plan for a Chicken Naga-Jalfrezi and chilli-cheese bread, a small one for naga-ale and dry and grind the rest.

NickK · 8 Oct 2009 at 16:21