Still Flowering: 2 of my Chilli Plants are flowering in December!

Most of what you read on the web about the chilli growing season is for people in the hotter parts of the USA growing them outside.

Here in the UK, we can't grow them outside at all really (tried...failed!). Most people I think end up growing them in the house, often a conservatory, where it's warmer.

This can come up with some results that are somewhat contradictory to the mainstream advice on chilli growing!

For example, flowers in December...

Take it with a slight pinch of salt though, most of these flowers are falling off because it gets a little chilly and there's no real sun to speak of in December so I guess the lack of daylight is not helping. But, I thought it worth mentioning...

Heated Propagator: Planting Chilli Seeds Early For 2014

So here's mid December,  and although some of last year's chillies are confused and still flowering, it's time to plant the earliest batch of 2014 crop!

Last year I was very late to the game, not planting anything until around May, so this year I hope for a lot better results!

I've got myself a heated propagator from amazon uk, £21 for a 38cm and it's 8 watt. Since it will be on a 15 degrees Celsius windowsill, I think it should be powerful enough to keep the soil around 25 degrees.

Sankey 100 - 8 Watt Propagator

The propagator comes with 2 trays.

..and capillary matting at the bottom. So just add soil and it's ready to go. 

Planting

I'll be careful to plant chillies that I think will germinate together so that I can move the trays out and put in new ones, instead of having to prick them out.

Tray 1- slow germination:

Orange habanero, numex pinata, bhut jolokia

Tray 2- fast germination:

Thai super chilli, cherry bomb, apache, and some seeds from my "super chilli" that I bought as a plant last year.

All done, now time to sit back and wait to see if anything pops up!

Are you planting your chillies yet?

An Experiment: What happens if you grow chillis out of season?

 Well, it's November and that's normally the end of growing for most of us. But, I've definitely got a strange situation here. I planted cherry bomb very late, in June, and it's still flowering and still fruiting.

And my apache is still fruiting too.

So this lead me to wonder, what exactly does happen if you plant chilli seeds totally out of season? Do they grow at all? Do they grow well?

Of course, I'm growing indoors in what you'd call a "warm centrally heated house" behind double glazing and I do have the option of grow lights although I'd rather not spend the money on electricity.

The curiosity alone is making me do this, and a google search didn't bring up anything, so it's got to be tried.

More later.

Choosing Chilli Seeds For Next Year

After a pretty decent result in 2013 (broad mites notwithstanding), I'm already raring to go with my plans to grow in 2014.

I've decided to go "seed only" next year. I believe that the broad mite infestation was caused by a seedling bought from a diy store, so next year I am not taking any risks.

Seeds have been bought from nicky's nursery. I bought the cherry bomb and some other seeds there last year and was very pleased with the service and germination rates, and their range is massive. Seeds arrived in 1 working day, excellent.

I plan to start some germination in December as I grow indoors and since the house is constantly occupied and rarely below 16c!

So here's what I've bought to grow.

1. Cherry bomb.

This is the only chilli from last year that I'm going to grow again directly from seed the same as last year. I like cherry bomb for the novelty and the plants are compact and had a near 100 percent germination rate. Oh, they taste good too. Pretty hot for a small round chilli.

2. Bhut jolokia 'ghost' 

I just fancy my chances at one of the hottest chillis around. I'm not a big fan of "lets grow the really hot ones and youtube ourselves eating it whole" but I do feel a need to have a go with this.

3. (Thai) Super Chilli 

I got an unknown fully grown plant from Waitrose last year which was either Super Chilli or very similar. It grew, and grew, and the yields were insane. Probably had a hundred chillis off it, and they were super hot and super fragrant. So, this year I'm having a go from seed.

4. Peter Pepper

Just....Google...it. :)

5. Habanero "Magnum Orange"

I bought a habanero plant last year from a diy garden centre. It got to flowering then the mites took it. I was gutted - As a big fan of Tabasco Habanero sauce I really wanted to try the chillis.

6. Numex Pinata

Well, actually this was a freebie, not sure why, I think it was buy x seeds get 1 free. I had limited success getting these to germinate last year, so, meh. It's a decorative multicoloured smaller plant. If it grows this time, great. If not, I won't be bothered.

7. Monkey Face

Something hotter than usual and, well, looks like a monkey face. What's not to like? 

8. Sweet Pepper Bellina

I really wanted to grow bell peppers but I seriously don't have the room. This is supposedly a small plant but gives smaller but well formed bell peppers. Got to be worth a go!

9. Apache

I bought an apache pepper last year from a random florist in a train station. Apache peppers are really nice, and the yield is good. It's another one that's still giving me peppers well into November. I thoroughly recommend them, so I'll be growing this. I suspect my current plant will overwinter just fine too!

10. Cajun Belle

Miniature bell peppers with a little heat but not much. Allegedly, they're exactly the same shape as a bell pepper but just 3 inches long.

11. Tabasco

Well...I just want to see how much like the sauce it tastes. That is all.

12. Antillais Caribbean

I like the flavour of the scotch bonnet (which is very unique, if you haven't tried it) but I found them to be quite a pain to get a decent yield, and scotch bonnet is "in" at the moment so you can pick them up just about any supermarket! So, I'll try these instead this year. Apparently they're "very aromatic". We'll see

That's it. Wish me luck, of course, you can expect to see reports on these throughout the year. I hope they don't ALL succeed as I seriously don't have the space. Well, perhaps a greenhouse is on the Xmas list ;o)

Any comments, or have you tried growing any of the above? Any tips for me? Please comment below!

Chilli Pepper Review - Cherry Bomb

 

 Cherry bomb growing on a plant, they tend to grow in clusters of two which is probably why they look so much like cherries when ripe. They go from light green to dark green to almost black (right), then within 48 hours the green colouring drains to leave a bright tomato red.

The plants are splendidly short, just over a couple of feet tall and so perfect for windowsills or smaller spaces.  Yield is good for the size, it's my kind of pepper because the yield is staggered and long, I sowed the seeds in June (yes, very late) and have had a slow drip of peppers from August to November and it's still going...

 

 

Excuse the speaker in the photo. For scale, the cherry bomb is pretty small, same kind of size as a cherry tomato and probably very easy to hide in a salad for a hot surprise!   

 The cherry bomb is not very versatile if I'm honest. It's great cut up on a pizza, but it's in a middle ground where it's not that hot if cooked and the skin is quite thick so not that great for stuffing. 

Probably great for pickling. 

It reminds me of the kinds of peppers you get on "posh" pizza, like roquito or peppadew. That's why I chose it, because I really like those peppers. And I wasn't disappointed by Cherry Bomb either.

Taste: HOT and quite fruity, the taste is like a bell pepper but very very hot, I don't recommend you eat one whole unless you know what you're doing!

Time To Grow: Sown in June, Harvest started in August. Will be trying again in 2014 so will update then.

Please comment if you've grown these and found a good use for them. 

Recommended? Yes. A fun easy chilli.

Will I be growing these again? Yes, because the plants are very short and the yield is good, I'm still getting fruits in Mid November (windowsill)

I Beat Broad Mites Without Pesticide in One Step.

That's right. Broad mites can be eradicated on food crops in one single step safely and simply. Read on...

Broad mites are nasty little (and I do mean little!) bugs that infest indoor plants and seem to have a particular fondness for chillis

Let's be clear here. If you find yourself dealing with mites then your plants will suffer. Either by mite or by treatment,  yields will be down and plants may die.  Broad mites are very nasty.

Leaving plants untreated indoors is pretty much guarantee they will shrivel and die quickly. You have to act fast.

So - what to do? 

Heat treatment. The mites in all stages from egg to adult cannot tolerate heat. By "cannot tolerate" I mean it kills them.

Throw away badly affected plants, its best to concentrate on a small number of healthy plants.

Treat or throw away all plants at the same time. Treating just some plants at a time is pointless. You can't see broad mites easily and they will just walk back onto a treated plant from an untreated one.

It's very important to get the treatment right. Firstly because you will kill the plant if the temperature is too high.  Secondly if too low you may not kill all the mites. Both will be pretty disastrous so invest in a good thermometer that you can rely on, and get a stopwatch ready.

Bag up the pots well as you will be laying them on their sides, and prepare for a muddy mess.

Fill the bath and dunk the plants fully making sure every leaf is submerged for the full duration. Use anything you can to weigh them down.

Temperature: 43 Celsius
Time: 15 minutes

Once done, stand the plants up and rinse with tepid water.

You will expect all the leaves to shed within the next 24 hours and this may be depressing. But don't worry. New growth should start within a week and you'll be surprised to see how soon you get fruit back.

Please comment below on your results or broad mite experiences!

You can see my full post on my fight with the mites here

Chilli Pepper Review: Hungarian Wax

Unfortunately the broad mites had their way with this hungarian wax plant this year, so I only got one measly pepper off it. However, what a fantastic pepper! This is a pretty normal size pepper for this type, perhaps slightly on the large side.

They grow pointing upwards at first, but the weight usually causes them to droop down, which also creates the distortion in the shape too, so you often get one or more flat/bent spots on the pepper where gravity got the better of it. 

Corking is present on this pepper, although I believe that could have been caused by the mite infestation. Or, perhaps like jalapenos, these peppers can exhibit corking marks. 

The Hungarian Wax is normally eaten/sold unripe, which is why you normally expect to see them in a greeny yellow colour. However, if you wait until they're ripe and red, the flavour is MUCH better.

Flavour notes: 

Tastes very much like the best bell pepper you've had, but with a nice hot kick. Perfect for a spicy salad! You shouldn't really cook this into a food as it loses all the flavour, so eat raw and enjoy.

Time to grow: 

Difficult to be precise due to the mites really slowing down the ripening, but it was bought as a 6 inch tall seedling in June, and the pepper was just harvested in September, so probably about 5 months from seed to fully ripe fruit. It took an age to ripen, around 2 months, but was worth the wait.

Recommended? 

Yes. Definitely have a go, it's a very underrated variety, and incredibly rewarding to get such tasty peppers of this size.