My demon reds flowered ages ago but not fruited. Gutted about that as I was hoping to get a few of them off.
Is it too late for them to fruit now?
The 2010 Chilli growing thread - it's scorching!
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My demon reds flowered ages ago but not fruited. Gutted about that as I was hoping to get a few of them off.
Is it too late for them to fruit now?
My Naga has started flowering and has loads of buds. I bet it would have had a good crop if the weather hadn't have gone downhill in june/july.
Its started going brown at the bottom of the stem, so hopefully its big enough to survive the winter.
It should be. The Dorset is a late fruiting chilli, so with a head start next year you should be laughing.
You'll need to increase the pH to make the chillis acidic using vinegar. That helps prevent botchulism. It's also a but hard core to make too so make it in a ventilated space away from kids and pets!
Cook Chillis in vinegar (white rather than malt). Heat veg oil to very high temp. Place chillis in sterilised heat-proof bottle and then pour in the very hot oil. Then seal the bottle.
If the bottle at room temp goes cloudy or shows any form of growth then discard it.
As I understand it, indoor chilli plants will grow taller searching for light. Those outside with grow outwards, point in case:
All germinated at the same time, the 3 in the background spent the first 2 months on the windowsill inside and the one in the foreground has lived most of it's life outside.
All the same, just "Thai chillis" grown from seeds from a packet bought from Waitrose. Will definitely be growing specialist seeds next year, however looking forward to some 3rd generation seeds of my own too.
Soldato
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I'm moving house on Saturday, hoping I can take all my plants there and find a nice spot for them in the garden! Or maybe inside if I can get the space near a window
Well I've just harvested the ripe nagas (37!) from grace the grandma. There are still about four chillis ripening still but:
Seeds for next year ... the other two plants I'll harvest tomorrow and they have about the same number each!
Seeds for next year ... the other two plants I'll harvest tomorrow and they have about the same number each!
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Associate
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So...my chilli plant is around 2ft tall, has lost most of its bigger leaves at the base but the top leaves are OK, due to lack of sunlight lately, only 1 chilli has turned red, the others green. After I harvest the plant, is it toast or can it be re-seeded?
You can over-winter them and they'll have a head start next year.
The expert advise is to keep them out of the frost (ie above 5 degC). Although having said that my windows had ice on the inside on the sill they were sat and they survived at least a few degrees above zero. However they did have some dead stalk at the top because of it! The plants sprang back from the living section of stalk.
I've heard of chilli plants surviving snow outside but I wouldn't want to try it!
Overwintering is straight forward.
The usual behaviour is that about 7 degC they'll drop their leaves and go into hibernation. Then just leave them to draw the sap back into the stem and cut off the branches. I'd give them a last water soak with nutrients as they're dropping their leaves but once they don't have their leaves they get watered very infrequently (maybe a pint every month). You'll notice that the water doesn't disappear from the soil as quick and you don't want to soak them as they'll rot the roots before the plant has had chance to use the water.
Then just leave in a location where they can sit without a cold draft and above about 5 degC. They'll just remain in a dormant state.
Experts often cut the root ball down with fresh compost to make up for the space. The rationale is that when the plant has food and that when it start growing next season it has more food available otherwise it will require feeding (the soil will have no nutrients left).
I thought last winter that would be a bit too shocking for the plant and so I left it with all it's roots intact. I did need feeding but that didn't cause it a problem.
Plants aren't guaranteed to make it through the winter but it's worth a try.
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I've also decided to make the seeds available just like earlier this year. However I've decided to harvest the seeds and send them before winter to prevent the cold getting to them in transport.. just store them in a dry cool place (no heat at this stage but above freezing/frost!) and plant them next year.
Send me a trust if you're interested. I'll also up the number of seeds inline with number I have from the harvest!
Send me a trust if you're interested. I'll also up the number of seeds inline with number I have from the harvest!
Ive just put a heaped teaspoon full of my home made chilli powder into some pasta sauce, thinking it wouldn't be very hot and be like Cayenne pepper. 
How wrong was I, my mouth feels like its on fire. I don't think they put the seeds in with cayenne pepper as this is much hotter.
Cant wait to grow a few different varieties next year and make a few different powders. Or maybe mix some peppers together. Anyone know any good combinations?
How wrong was I, my mouth feels like its on fire. I don't think they put the seeds in with cayenne pepper as this is much hotter. Cant wait to grow a few different varieties next year and make a few different powders. Or maybe mix some peppers together. Anyone know any good combinations?