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:

SkeeterUK · 12 Sep 2009 at 11:27

Ah. Well the info didnt state which plants just plants in general i guess. But scissors seems the best way then for mature chilli plants.

Damn ur stuff has a really nice green. Good cam too from ur pics, what u packing?

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.

VFR_KID · 12 Sep 2009 at 13:06

hmm my post never appeared,

If i want to trim it when would you recomend?

It has fruits that have all rippened so need to be picked.

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.

utajoker · 12 Sep 2009 at 14:09

harvest all the fruits then trim back, were still getting sun so they should still grow well

VFR_KID · 12 Sep 2009 at 14:12

Mines does appear to have slowed down so may take off the fruits then leave a few weeks then chop it back a bit

garylouden · 13 Sep 2009 at 13:20

I need some help with my plants. The chillies are starting to grow but every so often, maybe 3-4 times per week all my plants will get very soft leaves and they will droop. I have no idea why this is hapening, its normaly when the sun is out but i thought that chilli plants REQUIRED direct sunlight. Everytime the sun is hot and shinign in they all droop and the leaves go feather soft.

Any advice?
could it be that the pots are getting hot which makes the plant suffer?

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.

garylouden · 13 Sep 2009 at 13:35

NickK said:
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.

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

utajoker · 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 somthing.

i just aim to keep the soil moist

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?

randomshenans · 13 Sep 2009 at 15:57

hey there all, read through this whole epic thread and really pleased there are other people that find this growing of chillis so fun. That or we'll all a bit weird... I'll take either to be fair though!
I'm currently growing 3 different types of chilli at the mo but they're all pretty early stages and i know i really didn't plant at the best time if i wanted to do it properly but hey thought i'd have a run at seeing if i could do them inside. I have some generic hot chillis that is my first plant i put in from seed and its like a mini bush at the moment, but didnt know about the pollenation thing so only have a couple of chillis on this one. 2 others i've got are called something like hot pokers i think but look much more mini tree like at the moment but smaller but now starting to produce little mini buds which i'm hoping i can chilli up! Then i have 4 dorset nagas that some are doing ok 2 are flagging a bit but was expected hence the growing more of them. Would like some advice on the nagas though when i slap up a pic later. I have now got some birds eye seeds and some scotch bonnets as well as some seeds that my sister got me from wahacca the mexican restaurant so dont know what they are. Everyone thought i was a little strange with my chilli love... I now feel at home!

garylouden · 13 Sep 2009 at 17:35

NickK said:
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?

Well i have no idea the species but they are in my bedroom so a warm place. Maybe somone can identify the species?

weird_dave · 13 Sep 2009 at 19:43

They look just like my cayenne before they get longer and bend

schnipps · 13 Sep 2009 at 20:13

Currently got 8 plants, 2 each in 4 pots and they have given a massive amount of chillis but they are small plants, really only around 10" high and so the chillis are also very small but a lot have, and are going red. Then i have another one which produces chillis pointing upwards so its supported by bamboo for the main stalks and its about 2 foot high, these chillis are pretty strong, i used 2 in a chilli con carne and it nearly took my face off. Will post a picture as i havent a clue what it is.

weird_dave · 13 Sep 2009 at 20:16

Get the pics up, let's take a look

SkeeterUK · 14 Sep 2009 at 14:46

Here is a small update from me today.

From left to right.

Tigerella tom plant.
Bell pepper
Scotch Bonnet/Habenero
Radishers.

cant see cos of blinds..
Tigerella
Bell Pepper

The tigerellas need planting out i think soon.

randomshenans · 14 Sep 2009 at 18:55

Some pics...

My "hot poker" plant starting to actually grow somewhere.

Here is my bushy little chilli plant, should just see the poking chillis at the top but this one keeps losing flowers

Then we have the Nagas, which are still very small but progress seems to be also slow on them too, which is so annoying!

The leaves are henchmen but dont have too much more action although I can tell they are growing, just not super speedily like I like

are these OK? tips!!!

Q: If I have some seeds here from chillis I have bought eaten and kept them, do I have to do anything to them or is it possible to start germination on them straight away? Got some that should really join my collection really!

Thanks all

SkeeterUK · 14 Sep 2009 at 19:01

I grew ok after i took them out and left them a few days iirc and then planted.