The 2010 Chilli growing thread - it's scorching!

The_Abyss · 15 Jul 2010 at 18:51

I need a comprehensive harvest this weekend. I'm not sure what to do with them, as the longer plan is to make chilli, garlic and rosemary oil. The rosemary has grown well, but that will last for ages yet. The garlic however is a good month or two away from being ready.

Keeping the chillies wet enough is a real problem now. They are still taking a litre of water a day each - basically a pint in the morning and a pint at night. I'm no longer dunking them as it just takes way too long to do them all.

Serpantine · 15 Jul 2010 at 20:01

Had my scotch bonnet just over 3 weeks, tiny when i bought it all of about 5 leaves.

It's yet to flower but I'm feeding it and giving it maximum sun exposure, its inside tonight due to the crazy winds we have here:

zipp0r · 15 Jul 2010 at 20:39

Serpantine said:
Had my scotch bonnet just over 3 weeks, tiny when i bought it all of about 5 leaves.

It's yet to flower but I'm feeding it and giving it maximum sun exposure, its inside tonight due to the crazy winds we have here:

that wants to go into a 3litre pot asap, by keeping it in that small one it will stay small and not grow much.

Serpantine · 15 Jul 2010 at 20:42

Thanks for the heads up, i will get it sorted - what sort of soil should i transplant it into? bog standard supermarket compost with some poly in the bottom?

zipp0r · 15 Jul 2010 at 20:49

Serpantine said:
Thanks for the heads up, i will get it sorted - what sort of soil should i transplant it into? bog standard supermarket compost with some poly in the bottom?

cheapy compost is fine. no poly in the bottom!

Serpantine · 15 Jul 2010 at 20:52

Do you think after the repot it is more likely to flower in the following week or so?

NickK · 15 Jul 2010 at 20:58

Just make sure it has holes in the bottom to allow the water to drain out (chilli plants don't like standing in water).

Mark A · 15 Jul 2010 at 21:18

Wohoooo. Got some flower buds forming on my Naga now \o/. Surprised it has grown at all with the weather we have been having.

I transplanted it to a 3 liter pot from a 1 litre a couple of weeks ago and it already wants re-potting as roots are appearing out of the bottom lol. Going to get some more compost and get it into a 5 litre pot. I'd like it to grow as much as possible so I can try and keep it over winter.

Serpantine · 15 Jul 2010 at 21:53

Get some pics up Mark!

krooton · 16 Jul 2010 at 09:07

I used 3 of my tepins in a chilli con carne last night, nomtastic!

h00fzilla · 16 Jul 2010 at 09:55

zipp0r said:
you have aphids, see the white thing on the stem and the actual aphid on the chilli ?

i've been battling them too, but touch wood i think i managed to wipe them out with "bug clear for fruit and veg". you need to make sure the plant gets coated everywhere with it and every leaf top and underneath gets a good spraying.

Yeah, one of my Twighlights has got them very badly. I'll procure some Bug Clear this weekend! Thanks for the suggestion.

I might move some plants outside this weekend too, but they won't get as much sun in our yard. They're kind of taking over the kitchen window sill though at present!

task · 16 Jul 2010 at 17:28

Another update on the Dorset Naga's I've been nurturing.

These two plants have been living in my kitchen on the window sill for nearly all their life, there used to be 5 on here but space dictated i move a few about, they appear to be doing the best out of all the plants;

and we even have some flowers!

There's one on my kitchen table that also appears to have some buds appearing;

I took a plant to my parents house and put it into their greenhouse, I don't have any recent photos of it though and there's also one in a spare bedroom here but it's roughly the same as the plants in the kitchen.

I took a cucumber and a tomato plant from my parents greenhouse and they seem to be fruiting (not chilli I know but I thought it might be of interest);

So looks like I might get some chilli's and a crop of other stuff this year!

DavidMarq · 16 Jul 2010 at 19:56

Greenhouse update post 1 of 2

DavidMarq · 16 Jul 2010 at 20:00

Greenhouse update post 2 of 2

Will soon have more fruit than I will know what to do with

Mark A · 16 Jul 2010 at 20:28

looking good DavidMarq. Is one of those a bell pepper?

My next door neighbour is giving us a greenhouse in a couple of weeks. Its only a small 6' by 4' but should fit all my chillies and maybe 1 or 2 tomato plants.

DavidMarq · 16 Jul 2010 at 20:34

Rumbled

Aye, I slipped the bell pepper in hoping you would all think it was a huge bonnet

Mark A · 16 Jul 2010 at 20:38

DavidMarq said:
Rumbled

Aye, I slipped the bell pepper in hoping you would all think it was a huge bonnet

. I'm growing a couple of Bell pepper plants but started pretty late on. They're currently flowering and one looks like it has the fruit forming in the middle. Just crossing my fingers for some better weather so it'll get some fruit on it this year.

DavidMarq · 16 Jul 2010 at 21:04

There are a few different sweet peppers mixed in with the chilli plants, the wife seems to think she has an entitlement to one or two peppers that are not hot.

I think the one in the picture above is a giant bell pepper.

JIM_BOB7813 · 16 Jul 2010 at 21:35

I have several bell peppers in a greenhouse in 8-10L pots but they are really slow, they have just started to split at the top and I can now see small buds about to appear.
I planted them around mid may, which was probably a bit late?
How often should I be watering them? I've read that they only need a good soak twice a week but I've been giving them a small amount each day.

My 3 cucumber plants have already provided 6 massive cucumbers, with another 5 ready in the next few days. Much more satisfying

DavidMarq · 16 Jul 2010 at 21:46

I only water when the compost appears dry, on average this is every other day, but can be every day when hot and every 3-4 days when mild.