Anyone else planted thier seeds yet ?
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Waiting for the signs of germination here - toms are already hardening off outside on the nicer days.
Tried to over winter mine this year... they were alive 'till February, then it all went wrong... and I didn't keep any seeds as a back up plan. Idiot.
Did you freeze any fruit off the plants?
A few winters ago I did chillies in a grow tent with an LED light. They went mental! Kinda defeated the object of caring for them as a hobby but the yield and potency was off the chart
Got some Hungarian Hot Wax on the go and some Habanero. Last years crop was disastrous! Hoping for better this year.
Also looking forward to heading down to the South Devon Chilli farm this summer. Their open poly tunnel is amazing with all the varieties in. Plus they do a cracking chocolate orange and chilli brownie.
Mine went into the seed tray last week 👍
Never managed to make over wintering work even with bubble wrap and a paraffin heater.
I tried overwintering my chilli's for the first time - a jalapeno, hungarian hot wax and padron pepper plant have all made it so far, 3 others didn't make it.
I'll hopefully get some seeds in a heated propagator over the weekend.
I'm glad this thread has started. I've been kind of bumbling around in the dark with my chilli-plant growing adventures.
About three years ago someone gave me a 'grow your own chilli plant gift'. (basically a few seeds and a bag of soil). For about two years they didn't really do anything. There was two tiny plants about three inches high growing in the same pot. No fruit. Then I moved house and started to take more of an interest in them. Split the two plants, cut them drastically down (topping off?) and put them in their own pots with decent compost and placed them in a sunny spot. Since then they've gone crazy. Now two luscious green plants around a foot across, populated by loads of little yellow chillis.
I was told the plants only last a season, but here we are... I kind of see them as attractive houseplants rather than food. But would appreciate some advice on whether to remove the fruit etc? The actual chillis have been slowly growing since last spring. Slowed down over winter a bit. Care-wise, I give them a trim when they're getting too bushy, a good drenching and spray when they wilt. And some Tomorite in the summer.
Like I said, I kind of came into this by accident. Would not consider myself green-fingered by any stretch of the imagination but seem to be doing something right. My flat is quite sunny and warm which I suppose is perfect for them.
Got half a dozen potted into 4" puts are germinating in a 12 plug tray a few weeks ago. Going to sow some habanero and cayenne this weekend.
Did broad beans last weekend, going to sow some herbs this weekend s well.
Well done disco_stu! I feel cheated.
Yes, I did freeze fruit… but I used the last ones in cooking in early Feb, as it looked like the plants had made it through. Yes, I am an idiot.
Been thinking about growing some for a while now. Got an empty unused greenhouse. Any tips on getting started and links for seeds?
Cheers
Have a large Hungarian Hot Wax in my south facing office window at work. It has continued to flower and produce fruit through its second winter. Not bad for North Ayrshire
I'm starting mine off this weekend.
I've got some Hungarian Black which were a great success last year and some others that I got from my secret santa but can't remember the name of.
Mine all go outside so no point starting them off too early, whenever I've tried to keep them in doors they get infested with greenfly.
No not yet. Again. Was hoping to, as upgraded from dank courtyard to sunny garden but not had time yet. Was planning on building a cold frame attached to the front of my shed, and get a heated propergater in there, but keep forgetting about it.
One year I grew a few too many chilli plants and somehow convinced my parents to have a couple of them, and they flourished in their porch where it caught the sun all year round and sat on top of their tumble dryer.
Planted a couple of cayenne seeds about a week ago but no signs yet.........
Still got last year's growing in our lounge. New set of flowers appeared recently. Not yet planted this year's seeds.
I like Prairie Fire plants. The chillies aren't great, hot withour kuch flavour, but the plants can be shaped in a bonsai kind of way and the chillies turn (sometimes) into all sorts of lovely colours.
Mexican Twilight has over wintered in the lounge this year, it’s just started flowering again the past week.
Hot wax, lemon drop and hamik are going in this weekend.
I used up the last of some old seeds last year then moved a few outside in the summer once a few inches high.
I had plenty of flowers but then the plant was covered in tiny seeds instead of chilli fruit.
Any ideas?
Oooh. Been thinking about this recently.
I get through a few green chilis a day, the typical ones used in Indian cooking. Hard to find here, I get them mail order from Madrid and freeze them. Not ideal.
I am historically terrible with plants though.
How much light do they need? My sole balcony gets about an hour of sun a day.
Failing that I can ask a mate if I can plant some on his allotment.
Can I use the seeds of my frozen ones?
Yet to get my chilli seeds in, hopefully this week.
For seeds I try to get heirloom varieties and /or organic seed. Not usually more expensive and better for diversity etc.
I get most of my seeds from Real Seeds and the Seed Cooperative although both seem to be struggling to keep up with demand at present.
Premier Seeds Direct are pretty good, and cheap, and low post costs and have an organic range.
The Real Seeds website explains how to save seed from chillis. I've no idea whether freezing would kill them or not but could be worth a try if they're your favourites, although if they've be grown as food they may not be single variety seeds but an interesting new sort.
Edit: Drying chillis works well to preserve them too. Hang them on a string above a radiator for a few weeks until crispy. Chuck any that go mouldy and put the dried ones in a jar to use until fresh ones appear in late summer.
https://www.realseeds.co.uk/
https://seedcooperative.org.uk/
https://www.premierseedsdirect.com/product-type/hot-chilli-pepper-organic/
Drying chillis works well to preserve them too
I do that with other types, but it doesn't really work in this case as I mash the chilis into masala paste, or throw em fresh on top of stuff. Sadly, given my skills, growing is the only way to go here!
My sole balcony gets about an hour of sun a day.
I wouldn't have thought that was anywhere near enough sunlight.
They need around 18°~24° to germinate, a friend grows his in a open ended poll tunnel after they've been hardened off and re potted .
I'm only growing Scotch bonnets this season, heat and fruity flavour.
@robbie,
Start them inside- unless you've got a heated greenhouse.
Once them have germinated and you've potted them up its pretty difficult to kill them , water regularly and only feed when they've set fruit . Tomato food is fine .
🌶🌶🌶
First time having a go as my new house has a green house so I've just bought red aji, purple tiger and Carolina reaper seeds. I don't envisage much luck with the reapers but I'm keen to try.
Planted Basket of Fire, Cayenne, Habanero and Scotch Bonnet. Some signs of germination but still a bit early yet. Going to keep a couple indoors and see how long I can keep them going for and put some on the patio. I might even try a couple in the borders see how they get on. I did the radiator trick last autumn with the last of the crop and it worked well.
8 out of 13 , not bad .
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Have a large Hungarian Hot Wax in my south facing office window at work. It has continued to flower and produce fruit through its second winter. Not bad for North Ayrshire
It's not called Charlie is it? Although now I think it's probably more of a western face.
water regularly and only feed when they’ve set fruit
More specifically watering should be little and often should it not? The guy at work who grew the above told me that and considering it went from about 40cm to touching the ceiling in a number of weeks I'd be inclined to agree. That was on a diet of food balls and tomato feed, leaves were kept dry and lots of heat plus 24h light. I can see why chrishc had similar success. Offices are the way to go if you can keep people away from the water.
Are you supposed to pick the fruit? Or does it drop off when ready? I mean, how can one be sure that they've stopped growing?
The actual chillis have been slowly growing since last spring. The actual chillis have been slowly growing since last spring.
WTAF? You normally pick them, they go from green to red and don't increase in size as they change colour, so you pick them when there fully red. It's normally pretty obvious.
I treat mine like my tomato plants, don't overwater, don't under water.. this thread has had me drag a 3 year old frozen chilli out of the freezer to see if the seed will grow (I had that many, I've not needed to grow them again since..), if not I'm meander down to a local plant nursery and buy some.
More specifically watering should be little and often should it not?
Indeed, I usely let a couple of plants (mature with fruit) get stressed from lack of water then really water and feed them, seems to make the chillies hotter 🌶🌶🌶🌶
I grew some the past couple of years, overwintered last year indoors but crops weren't great last year so left them in the shed. Did fine until January and didn't survive the freezer. Have some free seeds that came gardeners world so will get them in this week.
WTAF? You normally pick them, they go from green to red and don’t increase in size as they change colour, so you pick them when there fully red. It’s normally pretty obvious.
Nope. Mine are yellow. They've always been yellow.
Ok, blasé response, I’m just amazed it’s still fruiting, it seems very strange as my fruit would wither if left too long. Do you know what strain they were, as yellow is normally an intermediary stage before going red, but your might just be yellow chilli, if they were never green? So I’d be tempted to pick them, to allow the next seasons fruit to appear? I did some (YouTube)research & found a recommendation of a 10ltr+ pot, as optimal for getting a good crop but they’ll grow to a size, that suits the pot you use. Use a high potash compost, & weak tomato feed a couple of times a week in growing season.
I'm giving it a go in true bike buying fashion i have purchased on look.
So i have popped some spaghetti, dawn and fairy lights in the propagator.
Does anyone else turn thier seedlings 🌱
So they grow straight 🤔
Yep, every day while they are still small, probably won’t when the are bigger.
I have fairly successful germination from two varieties i planted. The third has been woeful
My first batch were very sporadic after about 4 weeks so I sowed some more, which of course prompted the first lot to start springing up, and the second lot have been successful too.
finally got around to putting seeds in compost the other week, in heated trays but in greenhouse - cue the temperature going form 140C on a Saturday down to and remaining around 0oC overnights until the end of this week. Be lucky to see any germinate I fear.
Does anyone else turn thier seedlings 🌱
So they grow straight 🤔
Yep when they're on the warm windowsill inside otherwise they all get right angle bends in them as they head towards the window. Once in the greenhouse in a couple of weeks they usually grow straightish.
Didn’t get to plant any seeds this year as I was busy building a new platform for a gifted greenhouse and raised beds (still some WIP) but the greenhouse is sorted so bought a few seedlings then found some random seeds when digging around in the shed so have just put them in a heated propagator in the greenhouse so if they germinate I’ll have about 8 plants in total (plus sweet peppers).
Finally got some fruit on my cayenne plants but nothing yet on the Scotch bonnets, anyone else got Scotch bonnet growing?
Picked my first green ring of fires this weekend (outside!) and got some jalapenos starting to chub up inside. No scotch though. Looking at the number of flowers I'm going to be swimming in ring of fires in a few weeks, they're an excellent cropper
Noticed my first Apaches ripening today. Still got several dried and frozen peppers from last year's crop.
My "Basket of Fire" have plenty fruit on, inside and outside, and are starting to ripen. The rest of the varieties are between budding and flowering but no fruit yet.
Bonnets finally
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Mrs W is a keen gardener and has tried to grow chillis before and without exception they have all died and not borne any chilli fruit.
So I figured I’d have a go, I’m no gardener, I mostly mow the grass and view gardening as a chore. But I love chillis.
I can google the hell out of “how to grow chillis indoors”, but any advice from the STW crew ?
Finally getting flowers on my hungarian hot wax and apache. Looks to be a few chillies coming now too.
The pepper plants are going slow though
@walowiz I've always had reasonable success so here goes...
Sow in an unheated propagator in Feb and put on a sunny window sill. Only remove the lid to lightly water when necessary. Let the seedlings get there first two or three pairs of 'true' leaves then pot on to 2" pots. Pot on to final pots after a few weeks. Ideally keep them in as sunny a spot as possible. In late May start introducing some chillies to the outdoors if required. Keep watering every few days, don't over do it.
The variety is important. I've had mixed results with all apart from "Basket of Fire" which are heavy croppers and very robust.
Hope this helps!
@Coyote thanks for that, will order the supplies and regardless of the fact that it’s July not Feb will give it a go.
They should germinate this year no problem, just keep them warm through winter and you should have a head start on next year!
Had a 2nd pick over, 2 sieves full so far, unfortunately the Scotch bonnet are pretty poor this year.
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This whole town puts everyone else to shame.
https://welcometolangholm.co.uk/whats-on/langholm-chillifest-2021-2021-10-23
My plants didn't even flower this year. Hmph.
Red aji have done really well but the scary bit is the 5 fruiting carolina reapers.
I'm same as you Jimmy. None of my plants flowered for the first time in years. No idea why. It hasn't been the sunniest or warmest of summers.
Going to start again in December but unsure on variety. Plants that didn't flower I'll chop and overwinter.
Tried Hungarian Hot Wax two years in a row with little success.
Just harvested some of the Trinidad Scorpion fruit and halved them so that they dry more quickly in the machine. My fingers are tingling, even after washing them, and I am scared to put them near my face or go to the toilet
There are more on the plant...
Also have a lot of Lemon Drop on the way, but very few ripe yet.
Both plants are in a greenhouse and have had a lot of insect movement over the course of the season. I have found in the past that insects pollinate better than I do, so having them do the work is good.
Tried Hungarian Hot Wax two years in a row with little success.
Funnily enough I've done OK with these. Quite big fruit although they are still quite pale green. Will given them till the plant starts to die off before picking.
As above, Basket of Fire have been by far the best. I agree that despite the record temperatures it hasn't been overall warm or sunny enough this year. Will start planning next year's crop around new year.
I've got 4 plants, 2 have fruit starting to form, the others have flowers and the very start of fruit. I started them on my windowsill then moved them outside but they're a bit late fruiting. Next year I'll build a lean to greenhouse / cold frame as I don't think they like the cold.
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Plants aren't looking great but I've got plenty of chillis - Hungarian black, apache, hungarian hot wax, thai
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These have all been outside from end of May onwards, puppy only picked one (Picked and dropped, not eaten luckily!)
Got a fair crop of apache going on 2 or 3 plants, and a few hungarian hot wax coming, seem really late though .
Planning on trying to keep a couple of plants going over winter too get a head start next year
All mine grown in greenhouse, late but now heavy crops of Purple gusto, Scotch bonnet, Trinidadian Scorpions, Apache and some thai variety, was going to pick them all even if not ripe and then cut back to leave to overwinter, but have now taken biggest fruit off and leaving the smaller a little longer on plant whilst the sun is out...
Really like making chilli and ginger jam which is ace with cheese, but any other recipe ideas for storing and keeping what will be about 2-3kg of chilies? Do you just tend to dry them?
How much do you cut back to overwinter?
any other recipe ideas for storing and keeping what will be about 2-3kg of chilies?
I did green fermented hot sauce with about 250g ring of fire harvested at end of July. It is flipping hot but still good. Was hoping to do red hot sauce with a second harvest, but August was shit and I'll struggle to get 200g if any of them even ripen I think.
https://www.anarchyinajar.com/blog/2020/6/green-fermented-hot-sauce
Not the greatest of years for the chillies. The jalapeno plants are full at moment - although last year I had already had a kilo or two off them by now.
The orange habanero plants have all been slow. The plants are now heavy with fruit, although quite small and all green; I am not confident they will ripen before the first frosts next month.
I make fermented sriracha with my chillies; jalapeno and orange habanero are the perfect blend. Outstanding to add to a salad, sandwich or to liven up a sauce.
Just the one jar from 2020 left in the pantry - I have accepted that the 2021 batch will be very scarce and used a lot sparingly.