The 2010 Chilli growing thread - it's scorching!

[NickK]

if there any good i might try keeping my plant alive under a growlight so i can make them all year round, is it easy to do? just keep temperature above 20c under a hps lamp? will they fruit under constant light or do they NEED darkness as well?

They'll want 8 hours of darkness otherwise they get exhausted. Often they grow more during the night than during the day!

There are two forms of grow lamp:
* CFL - cheaper to buy and usually 125-250W but you can put them closer to the plant tops. Less heat generated.
* HPS - expensive to buy, 250+W. My 400W needed a good 4-5 foot gap between the bulb and the tops of the plants. They produce a considerable amount of heat.

However they both will suck electricity and you'll need a reflector and a ballast possibly. My 400W HPS was working at something like a £1 per day. So that's £30 month.. not including night time heating to keep them above 20degC. I used a 5 amp timer to trigger a 10 amp switch to switch the load. Do not use a normal timer unless it's rated at switching above the load of the lamp! Most can't!

You will need airflow or the humidity will cause issues. This is more of a problem if you use a tent/box. For me I used my airing cupboard..

You can get inside green houses that maximise the light by reflecting it and provide the ability to control the airflow. This is where is gets more expensive.. you can make your own but you'll need to treat the HPS as a fire risk..

 

[NickK]

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

 

[NickK]

Err I have got a ridiculous amount of nagas.. plant one has 24 now, so I think I'm now getting towards 40 or 50 in total!

The first naga fruit is now darkening and has a glossy shine to it. So I don't expect it to be too long before it start turning orange.. the last time that happened they started looking ickky as the orange started from the inside out.

Will charge the camera and do a montage tomorrow!

 

[NickK]

Ok.. 21 in this one:

18 in this one:

19 in this one:

21+18+19 = 58 so far from three plants!

Hopefully I've not repeated any and I think I have missed a few small ones.

edit: bah! Just spotted one repeat!

 

[NickK]

It's difficult to compare.

The artificial light brought them from seedlings to initial harvest of only about 7 fruits. I used to give them 12 hours of light but it was all from one light and top down.
Last year I had to cut them right back and effectively start them again to hold their flowers :/

In the windowsill they're broadsided with good prolonged daylight. The overwintering results in an established plant with roots etc all ready. So after getting the foliage produced it can use all the energy for flower/fruits.
They did drop quite a few flowers but once they started fruiting that was it!

I would say that the sunny, hot summer we've had has helped. The plants have been taking a lot of light (the room is cooler than last year for example).

 

[NickK]

hmm i just tryed a green jalapeno and it smelt like a bell pepper when i cut it open, hardly any flesh on it either. i took one bite and its made my mouth burn for a few minutes :\ im abit surprised by the heat of it, but its not as hot as that econa pepper sauce im always eating. tastes like a green bell pepper too, not very interesting taste.
*edit* picked my nose and now it burns :'(

There are so many types of Jalapeno. My 'Caldero Jalapeno' peppers last hear had a reasonable amount of flesh on them. They tasted peppery but not particularly interesting.

I believe that econa pepper sauce is Halabanero based - so you'll know for next year's crop

@MarkST - nice hydro setup! I tried both types of bulb and would just run with the dual spectrum to be honest. The metal halide puts out a really cold stark blue-white light and the plants go nuts making foliage but they don't make flower buds! I had to hack the plants back and use a dual spectrum instead (the light is very orangey compared to the halide). They then started producing buds along with the foliage..

 

[NickK]

That's interesting to know because buying new bulbs and ballast can get quite expensive.

This year is essentially just a trial run for me just to see how things go. One thing I'm going to change for the next lot is what nutrient I use, at the moment I'm using "Chilli Focus" which can be used in hydro setups but isn't as good as dedicated hydro nutrients such as "General Hydroponics Flora Nutrients" but they can be expensive and then on top of that I'll need an EC metre, although I think I could do with one now, but again they can be expensive (£70) for a good one!

I have photos in the old thread of the HPS setup. Just normal potted plants rather than hydro but I also looked into hydro. It'll get expensive if you start creating a tent with airflow to cool the bulb and to keep the moisture to a reasonable level.

Chilli Focus works better than Tomato feed but for proper hydro you need pumps, barrels etc and they use a proper nutrient especially for it. It's odd as the roots don't sit in the solution from what I understand - instead the roots are bathed in the solution every 15 minutes or so and the solution runs off and is collected.

The expense is what put me off hydro to be honest. It's expensive enough with artificial light running at 400W!

 

[NickK]

Well this little surprise greeted me this evening..

One of two but the other is not in the right place with the failing light this evening

 

[NickK]

Awesome

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!":

 

[NickK]

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

 

[NickK]

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.

 

[NickK]

I tried the Tescos Dorset Nagas last year.

The homegrown fresh Dorsets taste much better (tescos not so pineappley) but it will give you and idea of heat level to expect

I made a Thai green curry out my first Tescos Naga. Each of the prawns was like a lava coal

 

[NickK]

Slightly off topic, I've just bought some Dorset nagas at the Tesco in the centre of Swindon, curry tomorrow night then

How did the curry go?

 

[NickK]

Now up to 4 red and 2 more in the process of turning red with several more at that deep dark green that precedes turning red.

 

[NickK]

Very hot, as in my scalp started sweating... always a good sign !

The nagas were a bit soft though, |I thought they were passed their best, home grown chillies have been a lot firmer.

Hmmm, probably sat on the shelves for a bit.


Well we're into august. Make the most of the light as you can and start keeping an eye on the week night time temperatures.

 

[NickK]

Ouch..

I have six chillis ready for picking, although I'll leave them on the plant to ensure the seeds are in the best possible health. I have noted that they're taking longer to ripen so the August sun and temps are already starting to make the plants slow compared to the height of summer.

 

[NickK]

Ring of fire?

 

[NickK]

As I have gastroenteritis at the moment .. someone at work volunteered to be a taster for the first chilli from the crop.

The guy often cooks with scotch bonnets etc. I heard from a work conference call before I talked to him but:

"It was fantastic... made me cry whilst cooking it... tear gas!"
"The flavour was fantastic and the heat.... biblical!"
"Can I blag any more?"

 

[NickK]

Check it's not getting too cold at night.

I caught mine looking like they were thinking that it was autumn today (the leaves had that "looking at droppin' a few" and broke out the heater for 10 minutes. The weather app said 16degC outside... certainly cooler than it has been.

 

[NickK]

No it could be the colder nights, what temps are you getting down to at night?