The 2011 Chilli growing thread - it's scorching!

[NickK]

An early start this year to the thread this year to bring those kicking their chilli plants off with inside lighting and those that are thinking of swapping seeds.

All three of my Dorset Naga plants, originally started in 2009, are surviving the winter weather nicely so they should give me a great start to the year!

Dorset Naga seeds - I have seeds from last year's crop that I'm happy to give away for free (contact details in trust). Those that have emailed me before winter set in are top of the list.

If you're thinking of Dorsets - they are large plants which take a good amount of sun to get to fruiting maturity. This means seeds need to be started as early as possible otherwise any fruit will ripen late in the year.

However plenty of varieties are small, fast growing and just as tasty!

2010: Building on that experience can be found here
2009: The original thread can be found here.

Thinking of growing chilli plants this year?

 

[NickK]

ZuG - no worries, they're normally quite simple.

A1ex2001 gave this simple summary:
1. Buy chillies from super market and remove 4 seeds
2. Plant seeds in small pots just below surface water cover with cling film and place on sunny window ledge (nickk: actually only warmth is needed to germinate, approx 23-28degC)
3. Wait for seeds to germinate, remove cling film
4. Wait till plants reached approx 10cm then transplant to large pots
5. Water and feed until flowers appear
6. polinate flowers with old peg
7. water and feed until fruit ready for Harvest
8. Repeat 5. 6. 7. until it gets too cold for chillies to grow.

I'd add that you'll not know what type of chilli come from supermarket chillis, although if you find one that you like the taste of then use it's seeds!
Next I would use pots with holes to allow water to drain out - roots need oxygen and water and will drown if they're sat in water. So put a saucer under it to catch that water.

When you repot I'd advise two things:
a) that you make mix of compost, vermiculite and perlite (3:2:2 scoops ratio) this prevents the soil from compacting and allows the water to drain through. Most chillis are from areas where the soil drains and so they'll deal with less water rather than too much water.
b) put mix into the pot and leave an inch at the top and the plant's seedling leaves are just above the rim level of the pot. As the plat grows, add more mixture but don't cover the stem above the seedling leaves.
The plant will sulk for a couple of days after transplant. It will recover.

Lastly when they start fruiting they'll start using more water. So be prepared for that and keep an eye on the plant (if the plant's leaves droop starting from the bottom and working it's way up then it's likely it needs more water).

So.. simples

 

[NickK]

I got given a few seeds for christmas so thought i'd get off to an early start with the help of my XL Heatmat and Radiator lol. Thinking of buying some LED lights too .

Others (AcidHell2 IIRC) have tried LED light blocks but they were unimpressed with the result. I'd advise having a look at the Compact Fluorescent Lamps (CFLs) such as a 125-250W depending on the number and size of plants. Better than CFLs are High Pressure Sodium (HPS) however they start at 400W and need about 4 foot of space above the top of the plant or they'll fry.

Just a note about running cost - 125, 250 or even 400W run long enough to simulate daytime during the winter months is expensive. Worthy of a thought before you get into a domestic over the electricity bill! ([email protected]/KWh, 8h/day for a month means 0.400*12.5*8*31=£12.40 a month.. best have a calculation based off your price per KWh).

 

[NickK]

A few people in the last thread got amazing results with just sunlight and its free.

Very true, the only real need for lighting is the species that take longer to grow to maturity and longer to get to first harvest - I'd put nagas in that category (unless you're overwintering plants). Jalepenos are fine with just a normal sunlight and many more definitely don't need expensive lighting setups (although you'll be able to start them earlier!).

 

[NickK]

Unfortunately, unlike last year I have no access to the poly-tunnel as I have moved out into Bristol. However I am hoping to try and grow some chillies in the flat in a pot.
Any suggestions to 'what do?'?
I have never tried growing chillies indoor before, but I still want to grow at least 1 variety indoors.

Most will grow on a window sill quite happily. Usually it's the larger chilli plants that cause a domestic as they take over the entire window

 

[NickK]

I have emails for seeds form the following (from september last year to-today):
randal24
robskinner
Jadds
edgedemon
mattd938
paulStat
jack.mitchell
kinobestew123

I'll send you all an email to ask if you're still interested and then I'll get them out to you this week. According to the weather charts this coming week is quite mild so they're not going to freeze in the mail.


Overwintering - you may still need to water them a little. I've not watered mine since cutting them back until today when I noticed the small leaves that have remained were wilting a little so I gave them a mug of water each and the leaves have perked up again.
If the plant is green then it's alive still, if bits are brown then they're dead bits (it may still be alive if the stem still has green bits).

edit: email sent to those above - some have already give me your snail mail but others will need to before Tuesday. I'll then post them Wednesday.

 

[NickK]

I use a CFL that is half Blue and half Red and it works absolutely fine.

The only difference I found with HPS type bulbs were:
Metal Halide 'blue' - a stark cold blue-white light that made the plants grow foliage like crazy but no flowers or fruit (because they were too busy pushing out all the foliage and using their energy towards doing that).

Sodium 'red' - a really warm orange light that made the plants grow with a balance in producing foliage, flowers and fruit.

So I agree - just use a balanced bulb and everything will be fine. Once the days get long enough then the bulb isn't needed and the plant will have all the light it needs usually.

 

[NickK]

Nick,

Out of the 4 seeds you sent me last year, 1 plant survived and produced some HOT nagas! The plant is sat on a window sill at the moment and seems dormant, will it start to grow again when it warms up? Any tips ?

Just give it a little water just so it doesn't completely die of dehydration - we're emulating a droughty cold period

The plant will naturally just start up when the temperature and the daylight time increases.

Then, once they've started - I would think about giving them a good bucket drench (ie lower the pot into a bucket of water for 5-10 minutes to soak then allow to drain for another 10 minutes).
I'd use some chilli focus in the water as the plant soil may be a little devoid of nutrients now. You'll need to feed them on a regular basis too unless you repot them (if you reduced the root mass before winter but I've never been brave enough todo that!).

 

[NickK]

My Naga is still full of leaves, but as there has been very little daylight the 2 main branches have gone very long and thin, as they're reaching for light.

What would be the best thing to do, cut the branches back to encourage it to bush out?

They do that even when they've got light in my experience. I cut mine back part way through the first season, it didn't affect them at all, although I would leave them till it starts to warm up.

I've not tried nipping the tip to be honest. I may do that this year to attempt some bonsai nagas

 

[NickK]

i dont know if i can be bothered this year ive still got fungus gnats in my overwintered chilli plants and i havent watered them hardly at all they are almost bone dry ive wrapped carrier bags around the pots to try and stop anything escaping but even then i was killing 5-10 fungus gnats each day...

i havent really seen any recently but i know if i start watering again ill probably end up with an epidemic, u cant even get mosquito dunks in the UK as far as i can see and im not willing to spend 10+ quid on something to kill them.

A layer of perlite may work well for these. It stops them thinking the top of the soil is moist from what I remember. Also dunk watering helps as the time between watering is longer and therefore the top dries out for longer periods.

 

[NickK]

I got my HPS through these guys:
However, it's not clear but a CFL system with 1xred and 1xblue bulbs would be a single light assembly with one of each bulb to use by swapping between them. They're quick to respond to email.

 

[NickK]

Naga seed envelopes prepared - will mail tomorrow, slightly delayed due to work but they should get to you folks before the 1 degC forecast next week during the night.

Careful handling the bare seeds. I just used my fingers to sort them out and I must have touched the gum strip on the envelopes because now my tongue is burning lol.

I still have some seeds left

 

[NickK]

Snail mail sent

 

[NickK]

Just need to keep an eye on the temps. Also you still want some ventilation otherwise the box will become very humid. This may cause the light electrics a problem and may also add to issues of mold/fungus.

 

[NickK]

Jalapenos are simple to grow and take pretty much any abuse you can give. They're heavy fruiters too so you may find yourself swimming in them is you grow too many plants!

 

[NickK]

No one answered my initial post.
I live in a flat, that doesn't get that much sun (ground floor, and surrounded by 4 story buildings, only west and east facing windows) and isn't that warm either (for the same reasons). Are there any particular types of chilli that I could attempt to grow? I can make one room (East facing window) warmer if that would help. Am I doomed in my hunt for home grown chillis?

hmm the hotter the chilli, usually the more they like hot weather to fruit properly. So I'd like something like Jalapenos then try growing a hotter variety such as Pusa Jwala which will make really authentic curries.

 

[NickK]

Anyone got any spare seeds please?

Yup, although this week the night temps are -1 which means if they're sat in a mailbox etc they may get killed off by frost. Give me a ping through trust and I'll try and get something out to coincide with the warm spell later this week.

Alternatively there's a seed swapping social group

 

[NickK]

You'll want to stake the top heavy seedlings to support their stems. Then just run an old PC fan at them as the breeze so they move a little. The result will be that the stems thicken and they'll soon be supporting their own weight.

If the stems aren't trained to grow straight then you'll have an adult plant with the same problem. Plants like that are a pain as they need support.

 

[NickK]

how big will my scotch bonnets grow back? reall big? or should i start new seeds?

They'll grow back as big as before. The benefit is that they'll grow quickly with an established root system. You'll get flowers earlier and fruit earlier usually too.

 

[NickK]

I have some seeds in a packet from my growing last year, but I obviously didn't keep them dry as they've gathered some mold on them. Anyone ever had this before and used the seeds successfully?

Also, when should I be thinking about starting mine growing again? I started in March last year and I think I must have missed the boat as my chillies grown from seeds didn't fruit at all. Should I be thinking about starting now?

Moldy seeds aren't a good thing and are very unlikely to germinate.

I would start again and start thinking about planting feb or now if you're providing extra artificial daylight.