Growing Chillies

[NickK]

Hi All,

What would cause leaves to curl up?

TIA

Do you have a photo of the leaf? As it's hard to say otherwise. Are these new leaves or older leaves?

 

[utajoker]

since trimming mine back 2 weeks ago i now have lots of new buds and a couple of flowers

(3gs cam not the best of quality)

also got new growth starting near the base of the stem so hopefully they will bush out rather than grow taller.

first time round i didnt pollinate the first flowers proper so i only got chillies at the top of the plant.

 

[jot1962]

The cold?

 

[VFR_KID]

Well hello ladels and Jelly spoons, Im back, again been rather absent from land OCUK.

I feel bad been working realy long shifts recently, so plants have been neglected, But heres some pics

As you can see the Apache variety doesn't hold a large chilli, but does have a large yield, id rather have larger chillis, some of these are a bit tangy like bell peppers and dont have any nip to them

Please ignore the decor,

 

[Flukester]

hi chilli experts,

been reading this thread with interest so bought some jalapeno seeds off the bay for a quid and threw in pot with cotton wool and put in pc case. (under a old gf7900 card hah)

four days later they have done this... I assume it's a root ? lol (I never grown anything in life).

whats next step ?, at what point do they need potting, and best technique would be great.

HELP!!!!!!

/signed percy thrower

 

[VFR_KID]

Nice, Im glad to see the old case trick works a treat.

Best person to speak to about how long to leave them there for is Skeeter, Guys pc case has more plants in it that components at the best of times lol

 

[NickK]

Great looking plants there. The Jalapeno I have shows the same behaviour of quantity over size. The fruit looks almost identical too but the plan looks much taller.

Progress..

These are going to look evil when they ripen

 

[VFR_KID]

What the hell are they already look like sphincter muscle welders.

 

[NickK]

four days later they have done this... I assume it's a root ? lol (I never grown anything in life).

Yes these are germinating nicely. The root comes out first then burrows down and you'll then see it attempt to lift the leaves out of the seed casing. The same is happening in this photo (this is the same fruiting Naga above!):

whats next step ?, at what point do they need potting, and best technique would be great.

Skeeter or 5ingha are probably the best people to talk to about with respect moving from cotton wool to soil. They'll be quite sensitive to heat, so wait a little longer.

The options are that you could move to Jiffy pellets (which won't really be needed as they do the same function that you've already done) or straight to potting compost in pots. I would use potting compost rather than normal as it's finer and will give the roots something to get stuck into.

I would use a mix to make up the soil in the pots:
3/5 - potting compost
1/5 - perlite
1/5 - vermiculite

Perlite and vermiculite help break up the soil and prevent it from packing hard over time which suffocates the roots. They also improve the drainage which prevents rotting of the roots.

Shove the mixture into a pot (with a pot saucer thingy), leaving a 3/4 to 1 inch of pot unfilled (you'll see why) and then place the germinated seed into the soil but not deep.
Once the plant has grown and it's first set of leaves have risen above the top of the pot, add additional mixture to fill the pot.

My only concern is that it's late in the season for growing new plants so you may have to focus on growing the plant and then building up it's reserves to over winter.

 

[NickK]

What the hell are they already look like sphincter muscle welders.

Dorset Nagas

 

[SkeeterUK]

Not sure about cotton wool methods. But i hear use tweezers to transplant to soil or whatever u will be using. Transplant when room temp so take out of case for a hour. Remember the root goes into the soil the head goes near top of soil BUT bury the head it needs to growth strength to pop out of the soil.

I would transplant them soon tho, usually when theres 1.5cm of root is a good time.

 

[dl763]

Do you have a photo of the leaf? As it's hard to say otherwise. Are these new leaves or older leaves?

Looks like it just hadnt watered them properly as they've opened out now with a good watering

 

[utajoker]

Not sure about cotton wool methods. But i hear use tweezers to transplant to soil or whatever u will be using. Transplant when room temp so take out of case for a hour. Remember the root goes into the soil the head goes near top of soil BUT bury the head it needs to growth strength to pop out of the soil.

I would transplant them soon tho, usually when theres 1.5cm of root is a good time.

a bit technical, when i did mine i just picked them and and threw them in a pot and covred with soil.

 

[garylouden]

Is this the start of a chilli (im guessing so) and also does it look healthy becuase i have lost 3 flowers + stems in the past few days.

 

[SkeeterUK]

Yep thats a chilli alrite.

Dont worry you will lose a handful of flowers its just natural selection, the weak stemed ones will fall or not grow and the strong ones will. Well in my experience that is what happens.

 

[NickK]

Probably a little more frequent watering if my nagas are anything to go by.

 

[VFR_KID]

im considering trimming my chilli right back to the stem for next year like you did nick.

Is this wise? im going to take it back so there is only one center stem, what did you use to cut yours?

 

[SkeeterUK]

I hear razors are good for clean non crushing cuts.

 

[NickK]

Well I cut all three Nagas and the scotch bonnet back to just the main stem (ie at the first Y branch).
The Turbo-Naga, which seems to be the fastest and strongest of the plants has grown back to being a full tree - that's the one that's fruited in the pics above.
The other two nagas have always been slower, partly because they're in the shadow of the TN. They're a good bushy size.
The Scotch bonnet didn't really make it, it seems to be stunted in terms of minimal foliage. So I don't know exactly what's going on there.

I'm planning to let the TN fruit out, then as it gets colder let the plants decide it's cooler and I'll probably cut back to just the stem.

Plants over wintering can be just a wooden stem with no leaves. These may look dead but usually spring back to life in spring an grow faster than seedlings because the plant has a good infrastructure.
The idea with over wintering is make the plant go dormant. So it doesn't expend energy with foliage and growth. During this state it also only requires minimal watering. Well that's the idea. Some people cut the plant back to the main stem and trim the roots too. I don't think I'll cut the roots.

 

[utajoker]

trimmed mine right back to the stem also, just used scissors. ive got new growth from top to bottom now, looks like its going to be a bit more bushy too.