Growing Chillies

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RadoX said:
hate to break it to you all but my dads beat you all. His chili plant is atleast a 3 foot high ill post pics tmorrow
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This isn't a competition if you want to enter a competition then check out the competition social group (under quick links at the top of the forum).


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Nick, cool. Hope u do some pics or a vid or somit i'd love to see how it goes.
 
NickK I've really enjoyed reading this thread, your chillies have looked so healthy . Can you possibly advise me why mine are doing so bad?

My Jalapeno plants are clearly very stressed, the leaves are turning purple from the tips inwards and the leaves are now curling under. I was running at temps as high as 32-34c (using a high ouput 250w cfl). Maybe the plant is heat stressed? I really don't want them to die :(

I know i should have kept around 27c; maybe I just need to keep my conditions constant? I've now reduced the temp to around 26-28c, i gave them a bottom up water today and they soaked it up pretty good.

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They started sprouting 2 weeks and 3 days ago, I haven't fed them yet with any food. I've recently moved the light higher to around 12-14 inches rather than what it was at which was around 6-8 inches above the plants.

I ran a oscillating fan on them for about 3 days do you think it was this that caused the purple tips? I've read that purple leaves from cold can be common in Jalapeno seedlings..

Indoor conditions in my wardrobe are very dry so I've been misting the leaves with a fine spray today, although they do seem to weap ever so slightly with the added weight of the water droplets..
Do i need to increase humidity, maybe i should be testing the ph of the soil?? What ph is best for Jalapenos?


Any advice would be welcome from anyone, thanks guys for inspiring me to grow some!
 
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SkeeterPSA said:
Just keep them near the sun 6hrs a day ish water when required, dont use fans or heaters i dont and mine are healthy as.
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Thanks,

I don't have a heater its the light i have that was causing such high temps (the light was very close to the top of the plants) here's a pic from inside the wardrobe looking up towards the bulb

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and looking down over the plants; shows the intensity of the light while running

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The light is actually one of these from greens horticulture:

http://www.greenshorticulture.co.uk...w-Lights-122/High-Output-CFL-Systems-1148.asp


I'm running approximately 16-17 hours of light a day with ~8 hours darkness.
I hope they will perk up :(

On the bottom row the two far right pots are basil, they seem to be really healthy. Although they too show purple spots ever so slightly on the tips of some of the leaves.
It's not a pest problem, which would be unlikely at such an early stage.. I haven't ruled out a root fungus or leaf disease (for the basil) , i'm just hoping they start growing as fast as they were a week ago!
 
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Maybe have the light up more and make sure they have the right nutrients give them a bit of baby bio or similar once a week perhaps which will help with the leaves and growth. Use a fruit feeder tho when they start flowering.
 
Just walk into Wilkonsons and buy a pot that is in full bloom. Bought one with chillies for £5. Considering that chilli peppers (not the hot type) are 3 for £1 I got one heck of a bargain. Now just got to wait for them to grow bigger. Tried to count them. Lost count.
 
Ok, at that size over 27degC is going to be too hot. So lowering the temps to mid 20s is the first task as you've started.
Next stop is to look at the nutrients - it may be lacking in a particular nutrient such as calcium which can be be quite an issue.

I mixed a very small (and I mean small) amount of garden lime into the pot mix for the large pots to counter for this. I then started feeding them with very dilute chilli food (Chilli Focus).

So I would try a small bottle of Chilli Focus (Green's Horticulture's service has been great - so just a suggestion) and see if a dilute amount helps. Possibly with a very very very small amount of garden lime.

I also noted that you've got water on the leaves with the light on - this will burn the leaves. It's best to water the plants in the morning and that way they will not build up moisture in the atmosphere overnight.
 
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jac_chirac said:
NickK I've really enjoyed reading this thread, your chillies have looked so healthy . Can you possibly advise me why mine are doing so bad?

My Jalapeno plants are clearly very stressed, the leaves are turning purple from the tips inwards and the leaves are now curling under. I was running at temps as high as 32-34c (using a high ouput 250w cfl). Maybe the plant is heat stressed? I really don't want them to die :(

I know i should have kept around 27c; maybe I just need to keep my conditions constant? I've now reduced the temp to around 26-28c, i gave them a bottom up water today and they soaked it up pretty good.

photo2.jpg


photo.jpg


photo3.jpg


They started sprouting 2 weeks and 3 days ago, I haven't fed them yet with any food. I've recently moved the light higher to around 12-14 inches rather than what it was at which was around 6-8 inches above the plants.

I ran a oscillating fan on them for about 3 days do you think it was this that caused the purple tips? I've read that purple leaves from cold can be common in Jalapeno seedlings..

Indoor conditions in my wardrobe are very dry so I've been misting the leaves with a fine spray today, although they do seem to weap ever so slightly with the added weight of the water droplets..
Do i need to increase humidity, maybe i should be testing the ph of the soil?? What ph is best for Jalapenos?


Any advice would be welcome from anyone, thanks guys for inspiring me to grow some!
Click to expand...
Out of sheer curiosity what is all that stuff on the top? What looks like stones!!!!!!!!

I bought 3 peppers from Netto (yeah call me names if you want to LOL). Took the seeds out. Dried them (well I left them on a plate for about 2 days in a warm room). Planted them in compost and now I have full grown plants which are starting to flower.

What I have found with chillis is that the "more you mistreat them the more they grow". So I just water them when I think the compost is too dry.
 
NickK said:
Ok, at that size over 27degC is going to be too hot. So lowering the temps to mid 20s is the first task as you've started.
Next stop is to look at the nutrients - it may be lacking in a particular nutrient such as calcium which can be be quite an issue.

I mixed a very small (and I mean small) amount of garden lime into the pot mix for the large pots to counter for this. I then started feeding them with very dilute chilli food (Chilli Focus).

So I would try a small bottle of Chilli Focus (Green's Horticulture's service has been great - so just a suggestion) and see if a dilute amount helps. Possibly with a very very very small amount of garden lime.

I also noted that you've got water on the leaves with the light on - this will burn the leaves. It's best to water the plants in the morning and that way they will not build up moisture in the atmosphere overnight.
Click to expand...

Thanks for your advice and such fast response, Ive bought some miracle grow which is 6-5-5 i thought the higher nitrogen would help them while they are vegging, I'll try a small amount of calcium like you suggested.

I misted the leaves earlier because they were so dry, they look much better now (less purple). But the curling and drooping leaves are still worrying me, hopefully after some rest tonight they will pick up.

Should i never mist the leaves? Will it always burn?

puttputt said:
Out of sheer curiosity what is all that stuff on the top? What looks like stones!!!!!!!!
Click to expand...

Just some Vermiculite and Perlite that i mixed into compost to allow water to drain sufficiently, the perlite is more like polystyrene in consistency than stones but you can't see that from the pics.

Thanks for the responses guys I really appreciate the advice, it's so much fun watching them grow; but horrible to see them stressed.
 
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Not sure with the way your growing as im just using the windowsill. But i have never needed to mist the leaves and they are very healthy and moist looking etc on their own.

Btw anyone else had a nice growth spurt in the last day or two. Mine have grew up a tiny bit and few more leaves on in just a few days.
 
puttputt said:
Out of sheer curiosity what is all that stuff on the top? What looks like stones!!!!!!!!

I bought 3 peppers from Netto (yeah call me names if you want to LOL). Took the seeds out. Dried them (well I left them on a plate for about 2 days in a warm room). Planted them in compost and now I have full grown plants which are starting to flower.

What I have found with chillis is that the "more you mistreat them the more they grow". So I just water them when I think the compost is too dry.
Click to expand...

The stones are to stop the soil from compacting too hard. When that happens the roots suffocate which inturn causes rotting which will kill the plant (or at very least reduce it's growth). Basically you mix in Pearlite and Vermiculite.

They will grow quite happily given a few things. Too much water is a problem but too little and they'll never set fruit.
 
SkeeterPSA said:
Not sure with the way your growing as im just using the windowsill. But i have never needed to mist the leaves and they are very healthy and moist looking etc on their own.

Btw anyone else had a nice growth spurt in the last day or two. Mine have grew up a tiny bit and few more leaves on in just a few days.
Click to expand...

The problem is if you don't get enough light - I have one window that I can use but the plants are too big for it :/
 
I fear my window will soon not be suitable for when the row of plants along my big windows in my living room become too wide. Height is ok up to 4.5ft but the windowsill isnt very good for branching outwards width ways which i have about 7 inches ish from window to the edge of the windowsill. Might have to get some units to put the plants on.
 
I bought a chili plant in June. Stuck it in some compost and put it in a pot in the garden. Chillies have started coming out.
 
And out of sheer curiosity why are you growing basil?

You can go to Asda and buy a fresh basil in the pot (check the expiry date which will tell you how healthy the plant is) for about 78p. Then when you get home plant in a bigger pot so roots will grow and cut whatever you need. Then they will regrow.

Doing this with Basil, Mint, Parsley and all other herbs in the pot that Asda sells. Best one was the Mint. Paid 50p and have had that plant growing on my kitchen windowshelf for about the last 3 months!!!!!!!
 
NickK said:
The stones are to stop the soil from compacting too hard. When that happens the roots suffocate which inturn causes rotting which will kill the plant (or at very least reduce it's growth). Basically you mix in Pearlite and Vermiculite.

They will grow quite happily given a few things. Too much water is a problem but too little and they'll never set fruit.
Click to expand...

You mean like when a person has put poultry fertilizer on a plant. After the first two or three watering, it becomes like soft concrete. Easy to solve. Take a bamboo stick and bung holes in it LOL. Like heck am I going to go working out how much plant food I add to per mg of water and all that bla bla bla. Once a month I just dump some chicken fertiliser into the pot and that is it.

To be honest aint a gardener and actually hate gardening. You will NEVER find me behind a lawnmower cos first thing I will do is cement the whole lot. All things I grow are on the basis of "if I cannot eat it I dont grow it".

Up to now have had courgettes (which I have enjoyed cooking). Got marrows, chilli peppers, green peppers, broad beans, cucumber, tomatoes, sweet corn growing (forgetting the herbs). I found that "threat them mean and keep them keen" seems to work. :D:D

Got loads of cucumbers, tomatoes, chillies etc growing
 
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