Awesome. You'll not miss the fact that the flowers have matured as pollen will be everywhere. May be worth just giving them a helping hand pollenating when they're ready.
Growing Chillies
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Awesome. You'll not miss the fact that the flowers have matured as pollen will be everywhere. May be worth just giving them a helping hand pollenating when they're ready.
You could try - they need 27-30 degC to germinate then you can reduce the temps. The problem is that Bhuts and Nagas take a while to get ripe fruit so you may find that you need them indoors in August or later to finish the fruit.
Only way to know - try it
As they ripen, they'll progressively have more taste and less sappy taste.
Probably worth leaving them until one or two start showing signs of ripening to red, then harvest the green ones.
Just use a pair of sharp scissors to cut the chilli off.
Well a guy was to collect the nagas but failed to. One thing I've noticed with experimenting with water and food - the nagas require more water when flowering to stop then dropping the flowers and allowing the flowers to mature to the point the stamen produce pollen.
Yes they will take electricity. Although these can be used to supplement at the start or end of the day rather than all day if you want to limit the power used.
Nothing stopping you from only using it every other day if the plant is in daylight.
Think of it like this - 400W = 400W/hour, 0.4KWh * price per KWh * hours you use it = cost.
So for my 400W HPS on for 10-12hours/day then a month = £32.
If you're supplementing then a CFL 250W would help. If you're really serious and have a lot of plants to cover then a 400W+ HPS (dual spectrum bulb) but these will need space and will kick off a lot of heat compared to the CFL.
Have a read about CFLs and HPS lights here.
You will require a reflector either way and the bulbs will not fit normal bulb sockets.
Nothing stopping you from only using it every other day if the plant is in daylight.
Think of it like this - 400W = 400W/hour, 0.4KWh * price per KWh * hours you use it = cost.
So for my 400W HPS on for 10-12hours/day then a month = £32.
If you're supplementing then a CFL 250W would help. If you're really serious and have a lot of plants to cover then a 400W+ HPS (dual spectrum bulb) but these will need space and will kick off a lot of heat compared to the CFL.
Have a read about CFLs and HPS lights here.
You will require a reflector either way and the bulbs will not fit normal bulb sockets.
Cat among the pigeons with this comment but that doesn't look like a Dorset Naga. The leaf pattern doesn't look right and the stem growth pattern doesn't look right and lastly the flower head doesn't look right.
My Naga when it was younger, you can see what I mean about the stem and leaf growth patterns:
Not black spots are not normal - sounds like a fungal infection that needs to be treated. Do you have a photo of one of the infected leaves? Edit - ahh I can see in the original photo... probably best removing the infected leaves and burning them. Also look at a fungicide to help.
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my chillies are starting to grow now and they grow amazingly quickly once they appear! anyone else noticed that, they are practically doubling in size every day or so
Given good light - like our current summer - zoom! Same sort of growth I see under the light earlier in the thread. It look mere weeks to really grow large.
Dropping flowers - you may need to stabilise the conditions around the plant. So perhaps give it abit more water, better light and keep an eye on it's temps.
My Jalapenos are very happy and I've never had a problem, my Nagas on the other had are very different. They require frequent watering, steady warm temps and good light levels to keep their flowers.
utajoker - that certainly is a chilli
Just remember to pollenate the flowers each day and you should get a better rate of fruiting. If flowers aren't pollenated then the plant will drop them too.
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Not enough. It's been once a week but to be honest I think I need to give them a bucket soak twice a week at the moment with this weather.
I've tried Baby Bio and Chilli Focus.
Baby bio may need to be diluted from the specified dose if youre feeding young plants - yours should be ok with a standard dose.
Chilli Focus is better from what I've seen from results and it's PKN values are very different.
I feed every other bucket soak, so at the moment that's every other week. After switching the watering this will be every week instead. I'll see what happens.
Once the chilli is growing usually the plant won't drop them unless something is really wrong.
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I tried cotton buds but I found that the pollen sinks into the bud. I'd look at something flat.
I use a 1/2 peg as the pollen drops on to it, you can see the pollen easier and it doesn't ping the pollen everywhere.
Hehe that's looking healthy - careful of the curve in the stalk. In the grown plan that will exaggerate and the plant will top the pot over. If you can't correct it now don't worry just stick a support in there as it'll need it later.
From what I've noted - the petals shrivel quickly leaving the centre stigma still looking normal, the stem to the flower thickens.
When that's happening then I'll just ignore it and focus on the other flowers.
Also it's worthing understanding that each flower only gives a finite amount of pollen. It doesn't continue producing it indefinitely.
When that's happening then I'll just ignore it and focus on the other flowers.
Also it's worthing understanding that each flower only gives a finite amount of pollen. It doesn't continue producing it indefinitely.
Remember the water will drop to the bottom and a plant this small will not have roots that far down yet.
Larger plants will have roots going down that far - check that you're not drowning the roots though in standing water. It can cause issues of rotting which are serious issues for chilli plants.
Does that pot have holes in the base?
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I would leave them on if possible. Basically the Pollen adheres to the stigma and then the pollen sprouts a tube down the stigma (following a tube called a "style") into the unfertilised seeds.
The plant then fruits, so after a while there's no need for the stigma or pollen to be attached as the seed is already fertilised.
So (I'm guessing logically) leaving the stigma and flowers to naturally fall off means there's a better chance that the more seeds will be usable.
Awesome work.
Just taken the next harvest of Japalenos to save them from over ripening - into the freezer! Have about 10 that are almost ready (red but need a little longer).
I have come to the conclusion that my approach to the Dorset Naga was wrong. I've not had one chilli. They're growing and still producing flowers but that's it.
So I've taken the executive decision to take the largest one and hack it back to the base stem and let side shoots grow naturally by putting it on the window sill.
Just taken the next harvest of Japalenos to save them from over ripening - into the freezer! Have about 10 that are almost ready (red but need a little longer).
I have come to the conclusion that my approach to the Dorset Naga was wrong. I've not had one chilli. They're growing and still producing flowers but that's it.
So I've taken the executive decision to take the largest one and hack it back to the base stem and let side shoots grow naturally by putting it on the window sill.
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Awesome, even the packaging looks mint.
That made my day! I was just looking around that area on the shelf for some chillis and a familar shape. The chilli was lying on the ground. I remember thinking - jesus that's a Naga and started searching the shelves one chill type at a time. The Naga packets were hidden, facing down and in such a way you could see the chilli.
I got odd looks after exclaiming "yes - that's just made my day!"
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