So I read bits of the other chilli thread a couple of weeks ago & have since tried growing my own from seeds out of chillis from the shop (which I’m sure I did years ago).
Up to now there’s nothing showing.
I’ve read that seeds should be sown in January/Feb but why is that? Shirley if the compost is right & the temperature’s also right they should grow anytime (It’s not like they know what month it is)

So…

What compost should I use?
Do I dry the seeds out 1st?
Am I being a dipstick?
How do you grow yours?

Shop bought chillis often used to be irradiated so subsequent seeds might not grow.
I would think there’d be a growing window / germination for the seeds, too, typically May – July.

Quite often I can get bought seeds to germinate around April but it’s still too cold really for them to properly grow.

Because the plants will be most effected by length of day and amount of good sunlight. Starting now when nights start drawing in just won’t work. Unless of course you fancy trying some hydroponic chillies. If not dry the seeds. Wait till next February. Germinate by putting the seed on a moist kitchen towel under a plate and keep somewhere warm. Keep moist and once sprouted plant in a seed compost until bigger then pot on in normal compost. I started mine in Jan with a little extra artificial light and have already harvested enough chillies to last me a year. They keep great in the freezer.

They might just take an age to germinate?
I’ve just planted some, well about a month ago. I got them off ebay, it took a couple of weeks for the first one to appear.
Put them somewhere warm and with natural light and you should see some results, providing the chilli seeds are not duds.
I’ve got mine in a greenhouse for now but I think I’ll bring them indoors once it starts to get a bit cooler.

Put them somewhere warm and with natural light and you should see some results, providing the chilli seeds are not duds.

Theyr’e in the conservertoir’ but I’m wondering if they’ve been irradiated like what kcal said.

Time will tell.

I read on one of the other threads, as a rule of thumb the hotter the chilli the earlier you should start to germinate them.

My ones are big n red now, but they aren’t very tasty. Still I know I can grow em now.

Have a look at this site, some useful info

https://www.southdevonchillifarm.co.uk/how-to/growing-chilli-plants/

either southdevonchillifarm or seaspringseeds should indicate which varieties are quick or slow

i managed to grow bird eye peppers from seeds stolen from shop bought peppers once

habaneros that I planted in 2nd week of feb (previous years, not this year) took a few weeks to germinate, and until about this time of year to actually have flowers. then fruit at the ripening stage in November.

other varieties I have planted later (april) and got fruit much earlier (june/july).

reminds me I ought to think about ordering some fresh seeds ready for jan/feb.

that’s in my kitchen, with a west facing floor to ceiling window with a radiator big enough to use like a heat mat.

Mine are taken from regular chilli peppers, one a gift from a Hungarian friend’s garden, some taken from shop bought peppers, I’ve a batch of superhots coming from friends in Italy in a couple of weeks. I like the idea of growing plants with a story, not just from a seed supplier, but I’ll not plant any seeds until New Year’s Eve or they’ll be ready to fruit during the wrong time of year and the short days and cool weather will hinder them.

Currently got:

Hungarian something from garden, fruiting prolifically
Apache from Aldi, heavy with fruit
Komodo Dragon, seeds culled from supermarket last year, laden with fruit
Habanero just beginning to fruit
Caribbean Random, heavy fruit but disappointing taste

I’ve usually planted seeds just after christmas but we’ve managed to keep the current plants going for a couple of years now so haven’t bothered for a while. We’ve got 3 hot lemon plants in the garden and when not out there in the conservatory. Safe to say they produce a lot of chillies which taste great.

Apache is a good one to start with.
Easy to grow, bushy compact plant.

Good yield and Good heat but No silly hot but not particularly fleshy or tasty.

Did look into growing some chillis, but I just don’t have any space available for them to grow properly.
I’ve got some dried Carolina Reapers, though, I think they may last a while…

Top tip if you have any plants, not just chilli plants, plus you have fish tanks…

Use some of the waste water you remove from the fish tanks each week to water the plants, they will grow like stink in the liquid fertilizer!

Our chilli plant is at least three years old, we have ~10 chilli peppers developing.