The 2010 Chilli growing thread - it's scorching!

NickK said:
Just noted that my iPhone weather app is showing night temps as low as 2degC over the next 5 days so worth checking your night temps on your area.
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Gah 0 degrees on Tuesday and 1 degree over the weekend and Monday, with rain every day, according to bbc weather :(. FFS I thought it was supposed to warm up after the end of march. The joys of living high up and in a valley.

On the bright side my Naga is almost popping its seed leaves above the soil.
 
heres some pics of my plants.
cucumbers , tomato and various chillis

all the little ones are my pathetic attempts at growing stuff for the first time ever and i made a lot of mistakes i wont make next year, everything was planted around 30 days ago so its sad to see them so small but i know what i did wrong.

the 4 big ones are the plugs i bought from wilkinsons which i mentioned in this thread they were all only around 1 inch high when i bought them and they have grown so rapidly since then!
bit of a poor picture dont think my wifes camera liked the brightness fron the sun
plants001.jpg

i know its the chilli thread but i just wanted to show what one of my cats decided to do, im rather glad it wasnt one of my chilli plants tbh
plant002.jpg

it was attacked before i put the mesh barrier around the ones the cats could get near but it didnt really stop him from having a go anyway
plant004.jpg

another angle of the same plant
plant006.jpg

the one that got away (well one of them)
plant003.jpg


plant005.jpg
 
I haved planted my seeds as they germinated, should they go back onto the skybox or leave them on the window seal. How long does it take before they break the surface?
 
Scarecrow said:
I haved planted my seeds as they germinated, should they go back onto the skybox or leave them on the window seal. How long does it take before they break the surface?
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The first thing that the seed does is push out a root.. then it'll push the seed casing (which contains the seedling leaves) upwards towards the surface of the soil. The casing either gets separated by the soil or after it breaks the surface.

As long as you've not planted it 2 inches below the surface it should be ok - seeds have a finite amount of energy to create a root and develop the seed leaves before they need additional energy from the sun or die.

If you've germinated the seeds they only need about 0.5-1.0cm of soil above them.

Don't forget later, when they're ready to be repotted, you'll bury up to the seed leaves in soil anyway. The area under the seed leaves will grow roots (even if they're above the soil quite often).
 
Two of my Dorsets are doing nicely but one just flopped over and died for no apparent reason :/

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Random Chilli plant from the supermarket I planted (from seed) a few weeks before the nagas:

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Quick update on mine, Bhut's on the left Naga's on the right;

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Looks like they're doing ok :D but I think the lack of sun recently isn't helping :(

How often should I be feeding them?
 
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arknor - I got the bug spray from wilkos of course! Made sure it was OK for all eating plants etc but seems to be working!
I have chillis growing on my scotch bonnet and my serrenos which has about 6 chillis growing on it. Really chuffed, just need some more to start to sprout now!
 
aceface57 said:
Picking up more compost today, so far everything is going well. Just wish we got a couple more hours of quality sunshine up here.
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Yeah I spent 20 mins taking all my plants outside this morning as it was nice and sunny. Then a couple of hours later the sky is dark grey and the temp has plummeted :(. Its nearly summer ffs, I hope it bucks up soon.
 
QuickLink said:
arknor - I got the bug spray from wilkos of course! Made sure it was OK for all eating plants etc but seems to be working!
I have chillis growing on my scotch bonnet and my serrenos which has about 6 chillis growing on it. Really chuffed, just need some more to start to sprout now!
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how much was the bug spray? nipped down to the local big wilko (3 floors with a cafe upstairs) to get some compost and i was looking at the bug stuff but could only see a box for bugs fruit+veg friendly but at £6 quid i'd rather put up with a few flies! lol.

ive only ever saw 1-2 flies every other day anyway and ive been keeping my pots dry so hopefully none will lay any eggs on the dry compost.

i think i know when one must have originally laid eggs because i gave everything a bunket dunking to water them and after put them straight on the balcony outside so some fly probably thought oooh look theres a nice swamp :mad:

whoever asked said:
How often should I be feeding them?
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only once every 2 weeks and only when they start flowering

best > chilli/pepper feed
a really good substitute > tomato feed
also good > a seaweed extract feed

if you decide to feed them to early they will get nutrient shock/nutrient burn on the roots,
if you must feed them because they dont look to healthy use a really extremly diluted feed like 1/10th of what the bottle suggests

most compost has enough slow release nutrients to last 6 weeks anyway

btw leaves can also get nutrient burn so never spray a plant with plant food unless its heavily diluted (black tips on leaves = nutrient burn)
 
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i got some seeds in little packets that come with little compost pots and them 'discs' that expand when you stick water with them, then apparently just place the seeds on top of the soil. I only seeded them on Sunday night and they're currently on my windowsill to get some sunlight and i'm putting a bit of water each night in the bowl that the pot is in. Apparently it takes 12 weeks for them to germinate too. I take it at that point they need moving into seperate pots?

I'm a complete first to this btw :)
 
Took my Nagas away from the window sill last night as the leaves touch the windows. I'll give them a dunk and feed before replacing them this morning. Looks like it's going to be a great sunny day.

JayToukon said:
i got some seeds in little packets that come with little compost pots and them 'discs' that expand when you stick water with them, then apparently just place the seeds on top of the soil. I only seeded them on Sunday night and they're currently on my windowsill to get some sunlight and i'm putting a bit of water each night in the bowl that the pot is in. Apparently it takes 12 weeks for them to germinate too. I take it at that point they need moving into seperate pots?
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Welcome :)

Ok, to germinate sees you'll need to keep them warm and moist - germinating seeds doesn't require light at this stage, just warmth and moisture. Most people will attempt to germinate prior to putting them in soil as it's easier to get a tupperware box, add sheets of kitchen paper and dampen them. Lay the seeds on top and cover with another damp lay of kitchen paper. Seal the box and then place in a warm location.
Check every few days, don't let the seeds or paper dry out and then transplant the germinated seeds into soil/pellets into a warm and sunny location.

I used pellets originally too when germinating but it can mean if the seeds don't germinate then you can waste a pellet.

Just remember to keep the pellet moist but not soaked/water logged once the plant is growing.

If you read through this thread you should get a good feel for germinating seeds.


Lastly when repotting - they will sulk for a day or so and them pep up again. I'd wait until they have their initial leaves but that's just my preference. The roots won't have fill out the pot yet anyway.
 
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