The Heat is on!!!! 2013 chilli growing thread

Noxia · 18 Sep 2013 at 11:33

Couple more questions if I may, my Naga chillis sound hollow, is that normal? Also, the ones I grew outside that I think are most likely Cayenne, they have been light green for about a month but some new ones are coming through dark green, which is the healthier colour? I presumed they would go lighter until yellow then go red from there. It's the same with my Naga, a couple are a really dark green the rest a sort of pastel colour. Pics below:

Enzo · 18 Sep 2013 at 12:37

Noxia said:
Couple more questions if I may, my Naga chillis sound hollow, is that normal? Also, the ones I grew outside that I think are most likely Cayenne, they have been light green for about a month but some new ones are coming through dark green, which is the healthier colour? I presumed they would go lighter until yellow then go red from there. It's the same with my Naga, a couple are a really dark green the rest a sort of pastel colour. Pics below:

Yes thats normal for Nagas!!

Re the Cayenne, the first fruits are usually lighter than any produced once the plant gets going so dont worry

Noxia · 18 Sep 2013 at 13:19

Enzo said:
Yes thats normal for Nagas!!

Re the Cayenne, the first fruits are usually lighter than any produced once the plant gets going so dont worry

Thank you. One more thing, I know they are going to struggle over winter but as the room is always at a constant temperature, providing there is light is there a chance I could still get ripe chills or do plants have some kind of internal clock so they know what season it is? the cayenne won't be moved indoors, I'm kind of hoping some die so I can make an excuse to grow a different type.
I tried one yesterday actually, it tasted ok, slightly bitter though, that was a light green one.

topgun06 · 19 Sep 2013 at 10:32

Their seasons depend mainly on the heat and light. Once they start to drop away towards the end of the year their production slows. But as along as you can maintain heat and a sufficient level of light (grow lights), there is no reason why you cant keep them going for longer.

Noxia · 20 Sep 2013 at 11:25

Thank you. Guess it's just a wait and see

Can anyone recommend a good way to dry chillis? We tried hanging them up and they all went rotten. To preserve some others we seeded them, roasted and then blended into a puree of which were then put into icecube trays. These are really handy for things like pasta sauce.

Glaucus · 20 Sep 2013 at 12:38

Todays haul
Tomatoes, curry chilis, 1xpoblano, 1xlemon habenero, 1x nagalah

Not sure wether to make a chili suace with a mix of chilis, or wait untill i got a proper crop, maybe ill just through them in the curry im making.

Glaucus · 20 Sep 2013 at 17:13

Just tatsed the Naagalah, man i hope i get a good crop from the one under the grow lits, its got great flavour and om god it burnt.

Nagalah
An unexpected cross of the CPI Bhut Jolokia and the Douglah from Trinidad.

randomshenans · 21 Sep 2013 at 12:06

Man, I'm well jealous. I have nagalah seeds but none grew

slugs have ruined all my other ones really too. Waaaaah!

That lemon hab I bet would be tasty as! I'd love to make a sauce just from those.

Glaucus · 21 Sep 2013 at 12:11

What ive wanted to make for years is a fratellii and lemon hab sauce.
Lemon habs finally grew this year, have two chillis in the freezer, think ill get another half dozen, if they ripen in time, non under grow lights. No frattelis again.

Still got poblano, curry, king moricha & nagalah under grow lights, so hopfully theyll give a good crop, once they regrow from there very harsh hair cut.

Tenuous · 21 Sep 2013 at 17:56

randomshenans said:
Man, I'm well jealous. I have nagalah seeds but none grew slugs have ruined all my other ones really too. Waaaaah!

That lemon hab I bet would be tasty as! I'd love to make a sauce just from those.

Yeah, slugs got most of my seedlings. Ended up with a beery slug trap which worked well.

Kobi · 21 Sep 2013 at 22:31

Do you guys store your unused chilli's in the freezer? I've got loads needing harvested. Just dunno what to do with them.

Daytrader · 21 Sep 2013 at 22:58

Yes freezer is fine, just wash and chuck in whole, double bag to stop freezer burn, i also dry some of mine to make flakes, 7pot hab being dried as we speak, they look evil with there insides showing.

Kobi · 22 Sep 2013 at 07:17

Ohhhhhh how do you dry them for making into chilli flakes? I just thought you kept them on the plant till they dry out naturally.

Daytrader · 22 Sep 2013 at 11:03

Yeh you can dry on plant, but most chilli growers will cut up into bits like in my photo and put some where with a little air flow over them, as thick skin like mega hot 7pot will take me over a month to dry or more, you can even dry in a oven on very lowest setting with the oven door open for like 10 hours, but smells the house out bad, or use a food dehydrater, dont matter how you dry them really, as long as they are fully dry before putting into a grinder.

Diagro · 23 Sep 2013 at 23:52

Anyone got any seeds for sale? Or for free? I'm after some reasonably hot yet great tasteing ones.

I like the black sauce from nandos so something that hot or hotter?

I have some grow lights and a warm cupboard

Glaucus · 24 Sep 2013 at 00:00

Unless anyones got any original seeds, chilis are extremly cross pollination happy, so most of us wont know what the seeds are. Unless theyve been kept seprate like under grow lights with no bees about.

Diagro · 24 Sep 2013 at 00:24

Well I will take what ever haha, surprise will be had

pooey · 24 Sep 2013 at 10:22

I decided to grow some chilli earlier in the year, didn't have much space in the house so everything was one windowsills. Moved into a house with a bit of a greenhouse a couple of weeks ago. My plants are super tiny but some are producing a decent amount of fruit for their size.

Strains are prairie fire, demon and some mini bells. Basically a random grabbing of seeds from a garden centre, don't know much about them.

They're far from being in ideal shape, I'm a total novice tbh. Most of the pots have 4 plants in them since I was short on pots last week. They were kept in very small pots before we moved here which is why they're so small.

I'm guessing that since they're now fruiting they aren't too fussed on getting bigger?

I should have removed the early flowers to keep them going right?

Should I get them into separate pots? Should I remove some of the fruit in the hope they get a little larger? I have a feeling it's a bit late in the game now.

On a brighter note I was chatting to a neighbour yesterday who's mad on growing chilli and he said he'd come for a look over my plants today and possibly give me some of the spare plants he's got going this year. Should be sweet

Tuppy_Glossop · 24 Sep 2013 at 13:35

They look quite healthy for such a late start. They won't do much more vegetative growing this year. A few seem quite yellow. This is called chlorosis and is usually a lack of magnesium (chlorophyll, the green magic stuff that turns CO2 and water into sugar and oxygen has magnesium as its central element). It usually means either a) the compost is lacking nutrients (specifically magnesium) or b) that the plant can't get the nutrients from the compost, usually due to overwatering.

The big planter with most plants in is probably too overcrowded and there's not enough magnesium to go around. Try adding a couple of teaspoons of magnesium sulphate to your next watering (cheap as chips from chemists... also called epsom salts).

pooey · 24 Sep 2013 at 13:45

Thanks, I'd suspect over watering first, I've been watering them along with the herbs I keep, I'm quite surprised at how little water chillies want. I'll cut back on their watering.

Neighbour said he'd bring me some chilli feed so I'll try them on that, if they still look a bit duff I'll get some epsom salts and give that a go.