The 2010 Chilli growing thread - it's scorching!

Mark A · 22 Jul 2010 at 02:20

LeJosh said:
I need to get in on the chilli growing 2011, is it fairly simple? Generic sowing and watering?

Yep, very easy. I had never grown them before and only started as I saw this thread back in march/april. Now I have over 120 cayenne chillies growing away

. Just need them to ripen now so I can start cooking with them.

I'm going to grow a few different varieties next year and try some ultra hot ones as well.

LeJosh · 22 Jul 2010 at 02:23

Mark A said:
Yep, very easy. I had never grown them before and only started as I saw this thread back in march/april. Now I have over 120 cayenne chillies growing away . Just need them to ripen now so I can start cooking with them.

I'm going to grow a few different varieties next year and try some ultra hot ones as well.

Awesome! I love all things spicy so making my own chillies will be very satisfying!

Ultra hot varities I would like to try too, I've heard about nagas, birdseyes etc. that's all though.

rker83 · 23 Jul 2010 at 17:51

Hey all, my first year of growing chillis, their doing OK I think - Germination was late march.

Managed to grow:
Rings of fire / Tongues of fire
Hot marbles
Pinnochios Nose
Orange Habs
And Bhut Jolokia

I randomly picked some seeds online after seeing the early pages of this thread

some pics

Inside the Green House (Read: plastic tent from wilko :lol: ) I've taken over:

Couple of Orange habs:

Hot Marbles:

Rings or Tongues of Fire:

Pinnochios Nose:

Same Chilli

Bhut Jolokia:

Only Buds at the moment

Have several of each variety, these are some of the better ones.

I very much need to plan it better next time / year. :cool:

All seems to be going slowly.

Any tips greatly appreciated.

Apologies for dodgy photos, its a bit cramped in the 'green house'.

NickK · 23 Jul 2010 at 19:40

Awesome

rker83 said:
I very much need to plan it better next time / year. All seems to be going slowly.
Any tips greatly appreciated.

If the Bhut doesn't give you anything this year then it's highly likely to give a good crop if you over winter it and it survives. My Nagas in this thread are the same ones from last year. At the end of the old thread showed how I overwintered them. I think I watered them twice or three times over winter! All you need todo is to keep it from getting too cold (ie below 5 degC).

Angry chilli sez "ANGRY!":

valve90210 · 25 Jul 2010 at 16:21

Having read a fir bit of this thread and regretted not starting some plants of earlier in the year, I decided today to buy myself a chilli plant from my local garden centre to see if I could get a few fresh chillis.

I had a good look around and the best looking one (in terms of size for the area I can put it in etc I found one called "super chilli"...no idea what the actual variety name is...

Here are a couple of pics.

The label:

The plant, which is about 2 feet tall-ish, and seems to be in good health:

A few of the chillis:

Never having grown chillis before what advice can people give me?

I'm putting the plant out on my balcony which gets nice sunshine in the middle of the day but is shady in the morning and evening. (sadly I don't have any where else for it (the joys of living in a first floor flat...)

I know I need to ensure it has enough water but can drain well so as to not be over watered. But I don't really know anything else about it.

Is there any thing I should do/avoid to ensure the mass of chillis (must be 50 or so) ripen up nicely???

Any help much appreciated.

Valve

Ps chilli plant is currently sitting next to a patio tomato plant I also purchased today....are they ok being next to each other? (any any other tips for tomato growing?)

DavidMarq · 25 Jul 2010 at 17:00

Assam Bhut Jolokia harvested today.

Lays claim to the hottest chilli posted so far in the thread

Might have to try the Infinity Chilli next year.

@valve90210, I grew a Super Chilli last year and it produces a pod with a reasonable heat for an annum 30-50k scoville units iirc. You seem to have the right idea on the watering, the other thing you need to do is feed with half strength tomato feed roughly every other week. If you remove the chilies as soon as they are ripe you will likely keep getting more pods right to the end of the season, at least I did last year.

Mark A · 25 Jul 2010 at 17:24

@DavidMarq, whats the reason for using half strength tomato feed? Do chillies not need feeding as much as tomatoes?

DavidMarq · 25 Jul 2010 at 18:01

The advice is from a chilli site I visited, sorry can't remember which one. Apparently over feeding can be harmful. From personal experience the advice is good.

DavidMarq · 25 Jul 2010 at 18:16

-Tauren- said:
just got these two packets of seeds in the post for next year of course.

The Numex is very pretty and reasonably hot but does not have much of a flavour to give to food, I have one growing this year from the seeds of last years plant but it appears to be somewhat hybrid.

I "accidentally" purchased an established Apache from the local garden centre today. I definitely needed another plant.

tom_nieto · 25 Jul 2010 at 18:22

Got my first Scotch Bonnet pepper growing on my plants now! Not bad after using seeds from Tesco chillies.

Will need to move everything down to Brighton, so might have to consider either starting again or cutting back the plants loads. Will need to re-pot to try to finally rid myself of fungus gnats.

Mark A · 25 Jul 2010 at 18:41

DavidMarq said:
The advice is from a chilli site I visited, sorry can't remember which one. Apparently over feeding can be harmful. From personal experience the advice is good.

Cheers. Ive read it myself elswhere, think it was the chilli king website. Just wondered why they only need feeding so little. The mix almost look like just water when mixed up with half the amount

.

DavidMarq · 26 Jul 2010 at 19:04

Made a chilli con carne with the above Bhut Jolokia pod and I can confirm that it was hotter than a particularly hot thing. :eek:

I tried a small slice raw whilst I was cooking and almost instantly regretted it.

I much prefer the flavour that you get from the Habaneros, but for pure heat you cannot go wrong with a Bhut.

valve90210 · 26 Jul 2010 at 21:15

What should I do with my chilli plant if the weather breaks which it's threatening to do. Will it be ok to leave it outside or should I be bringing it indoors?

gumbald · 26 Jul 2010 at 22:35

I've got a good crop of unknown green ones well on the way - do I just wait for them to turn red then take them off? Got some scotch bonnets that are threatening to appear very soon too. My first year of having a greenhouse, I've learnt lots so far!

Also - if I end up with way more than I can use, what am I doing with them?

Mark A · 26 Jul 2010 at 23:09

gumbald said:
Also - if I end up with way more than I can use, what am I doing with them?

Dry them out and then crush into chilli powder. thats what I'm going to do with a good few of mine.

Alternatively, I believe you can preserve them by freezing.

NickK · 27 Jul 2010 at 21:59

If you attempt todo chilli oil, remember you need to increase the acidity to reduce the chance of botulism.

Stanman67 · 27 Jul 2010 at 22:06

I have 4 Jalapenoes in separate pots that have started to flower but the flowers keep dropping off, is this normal?

JIM_BOB7813 · 27 Jul 2010 at 22:07

I finally have a few flowers appearing!

Felix · 27 Jul 2010 at 22:49

Ditto, and having been away for 2 weeks I have found they have grown even taller!

NickK · 27 Jul 2010 at 22:50

Stanman67 said:
I have 4 Jalapenoes in separate pots that have started to flower but the flowers keep dropping off, is this normal?

Yes.

Mine have all done the same until the plant was ready to set fruit. Keep with it - just ensure it doesn't get cold drafts at night and that it gets watered/fed/sunlight as needed.