The 2010 Chilli growing thread - it's scorching!

NickK · 1 May 2010 at 17:08

Mark A said:
I don't have a thermometer so not sure but I have them on top of my HIFI amp which is on all the time and is quite warm. They're in some damp kitchen roll in a sealed bag. Same thing I did with my Cayenne chillies but they're a lot easier to germinate.

Can it stop them germinating if its too warm? I doubt its anything to do with the seeds as I also have some Bell Peppers in a separate bag that are refusing to germinate.

Ideal temps would be ~27 degC for the naga. Although some peppers take longer to germinate, so keep at it.

Initially the seed will rehydrate and absorb water. It can take a while for this to happen. Some growers soak their seeds in water overnight before attempting to germinate them.

Is the kitchen roll still damp?

Mark A · 1 May 2010 at 17:49

NickK said:
Is the kitchen roll still damp?

Yeah I've had to add a bit of water to keep it damp but its not dried out. Think I'll borrow a thermometer off my mum and see what the temp is. I might just plant them in some compost and hope for the best if they don't germinate using this method in a week or so

.

Just a quick question while you're about:

I've been told by my mate that you're supposed to pinch off these new leaves that grow on the stem of the larger leaves. Is there any truth to this?

VFR_KID · 1 May 2010 at 18:21

not 100% sure with chillis but i know most other fruiting plants you do as they take the goodness and limit the growth of fruit and the main branches

JAYJT29 · 1 May 2010 at 18:30

Same as above mate

Jay

arknor · 1 May 2010 at 18:42

its not all fruiting plants though bush varieties dont need pinching?

NickK · 1 May 2010 at 19:50

I've never pinched any leaves off, but I could be wrong

J1234 · 1 May 2010 at 22:05

Interesting, I've got a few of those leaves on my Ring of Fire (lol) - would be good to see if that's right about removing them.

arknor · 2 May 2010 at 00:15

Justin said:
Interesting, I've got a few of those leaves on my Ring of Fire (lol) - would be good to see if that's right about removing them.

google suggests with chillis you should pinch out the top shoot to stop the plant growing any higher once its off decent size to encourage the plant to bush out on the side shoots which is the oposite of what his friend suggests, pinching out the side shoots will force the plant to concentrate on growing upwords with all its energy

n3x · 2 May 2010 at 12:51

Some of my seeds are sprouting already! Should I plant them straight away of give them abit longer in the airing cupboard?

NickK · 2 May 2010 at 13:18

n3x said:
Some of my seeds are sprouting already! Should I plant them straight away of give them abit longer in the airing cupboard?

Up to you but if you know they're germinating then getting them into soil will start them off as quickly as possible.

Mobius 1 · 2 May 2010 at 19:58

update on the growth of my plants. i now have two as i gave one away to my parents.

i'd like to think they're coming along nicely!

arknor · 2 May 2010 at 23:39

fufufufufu found some tiny ant sized millipede looking thing on the surface of a pot yesterday , another today had what i think was a single aphid on the top of teh vermiculite on another pot

and just now in a pretty much sealed pot that has a bottle cloche on the top a little flying thing flew out when i pulled the top off to check on it (like a small black fly) !

hope this isnt a bad sign ive not noticed anything about until now!

not watered my plants for days aswell so it cant be topsoil moisture attracting stuff

randomshenans · 3 May 2010 at 19:49

Well I've taken the naga out of the collection for the moment, it was by far the biggest but i feared the most infected with white fly. I cant risk the others getting taken over by it as well. It's sitting outside at the moment and I'll get some stuff for it in the morning but now it's outside and to be honest I could use the space! The other plants have all started doing really well and growing like mad!! Need to now repot in to bigger ones and split the weak from the strong and can give away the rest. I also ditched 6 types i was germinating as 21 is far too many for me at the moment.

Now slightly less than the pic though as the naga has been shifted. Some of the plants smell really like chillis like the friar tuck chillis plant does!

J1234 · 3 May 2010 at 20:43

Guys, when is best to harvest the chillies?

randomshenans · 3 May 2010 at 20:59

depends how hot you like them? I have some that could be taken off now green, but i like to wait for the red

J1234 · 3 May 2010 at 21:02

Is it best to let them turn red on the plant, or pick them first? I'm not sure how big they should be before picking them.

arknor · 3 May 2010 at 21:49

it was by far the biggest but i feared the most infected with white fly.

i caught a single white fly sniffing around one of my plants earlier

it was on the surface of the compost so i squished it down and hopefully killed it.

im starting to get paranoid about insects now! 1 white fly and 4 black flies in less than 36 hours!

might not put my plants on the sunny balcony anymore because thats going to be when they are finding my plants :mad:

NickK · 3 May 2010 at 22:04

Justin said:
Is it best to let them turn red on the plant, or pick them first? I'm not sure how big they should be before picking them.

I'd leave them on the plant until they're ripe - or at least the first crop so you get used to their ripening process.

For me it's when they're ripened as the taste is better.

If you want to collect the seeds, it's better to let them ripen to let the seeds mature.

NickK · 4 May 2010 at 17:27

4 degC according to the car this morning! Nagas decided to drop a load of flowers :/

I'll give them a dose of Focus tomorrow and see if I can get them back to their happy place..

Mark A · 4 May 2010 at 17:31

NickK said:
4 degC according to the car this morning! Nagas decided to drop a load of flowers :/

I'll give them a dose of Focus tomorrow and see if I can get them back to their happy place..

Unlucky

. There was frost on top of my car a couple of nights ago :eek:

, glad I moved the plants away from the window as they're single glazed.

Speaking of flowers, are these the beginnings of flowers and if so should it be flowering at just 7" tall? I thought they started flowering when the plant reaches full size which is 2' - 3'.