Big Jim Competition

[yoanbob]

is it too late to join? wheres the leader board?

[bramble]

Alice, you have great faith, but, mine won't grow either. I have moved it around the greenhouse in all the sunny spots i can find, all to no avail. I notice pigletwillie is coming along quickly, perhaps he might host the party with that new pizza ovan of his.

[yoanbob]

too late to enter, will keep you posted tho.

[Alice]

I think you would be too late to enter Yoandbob, but there will be another one next year. You can see the leaderboard here. A good few grapes on there.
http://www.thechileman.org/bigjim.php

[shirlthegirl43]

My bigger Big Jim chilli has started to curve quite dramatically. How should I measure it now?

[Mrs Dobby]

Measure it with a bit of string Shirl, take it down the longest bit and then measure the string along a ruler or tape measure!

It tells you in the rules that its ok to do so!

[shirlthegirl43]

Thanks for that Mrs D - never occurred to me to read the rules

[unconcerned]

...By the way, does anybody know what the record was for the Joes long last year. I have one measuring 25cm. Just out of interest of course.

31cm but then the BBC ran their own version of the competition and the winner was the Royal Horticultural Society with 38cm (I remain unconvinced!).

Glad to see you are all doing so well in the competition. Sorry if you missed out on this year's competition. We run one every year so the next one will be announced a couple of weeks after the big jim challenge is concluded. I shall announce it here to you lot, so you'll be among the first to know. But enough about next year, anyone got any pods that are looking like they could challenge the Dobbies?

Julian

[bramble]

Thanks very much Unconcerned. I guess I have a long to go yet.

[shirlthegirl43]

anyone got any pods that are looking like they could challenge the Dobbies?

Julian

Mine is 12 cm and growing slowly but surely. Can I just ask, is it normal for the plants to stay very small? Also, what is the standard thickness for the fruits? I am really hoping that these turn out to be mild enough for us to enjoy eating unlike my cayenne or bolivian rainbow (Madmax ate a little purple Bolivian rainbow the other day and five minutes later was running round begging for yoghurt). I have never tasted a chilli and hate hot food though I love tasty spicy food. Must say that even if I don't use them, the chilli plants are so fascinating to grow, I could end up with a whole greenhouse full of different varieties next year

[Alice]

My plants are about 18" tall Shirlthegirl. On both plants the chillies are 11 cms long and just nudging to 12 cms. They seem to be growing very slowly now.
One plant has slim chillies, about the size of a 50 pence piece at the shoulder. The other one has great big fat chillies but the same length, so I don't l know what's more normal. They're said to be not too hot. I hope they're like the Hungarian Hotwax - gives a nice chillie kick without being fiery.
And no, Julian, mine don't look as if they will challenge the Dobbies unless something dramatic happens. I wish the Dobbies the best of luck in the competition.

[Hazel at the Hill]

My plants are about 18" tall Shirlthegirl. On both plants the chillies are 11" long and just nudging to 12". They seem to be growing very slowly now.

...do you mean inches here, Alice? THat sounds massive?!

[shirlthegirl43]

Hmm, sounds like there is great variety in the plants and fruits then. My plants are about 8 inches high and the thickest part of the chillies is about the size of a 20pence coin at the most.

Perhaps Julian will come back and give us more info.

[Alice]

Hazel, the plants are 18 inches - about 45 cms tall - but the fruits are 11 cms. Sorry for the confusion.

[unconcerned]

Shirley, there is no set size for the plant. There are lots of factors affecting the size your plant will grow to. If you shove it in a wheelie bin filled with nitrogen rich compost you'll get a massive plant, but it wouldn't fruit before winter set in and killed it. As for the pods. They should all look fairly similar though again there will be variation in size. It is difficult to describe how they should look, but something like this:
http://www.reimerseeds.com/images/pr...pers_Seeds.jpg

I got an allotment for the first time this year so my chillis had to fight for greenhouse space with all the other veg, but you should definitely grow lots of varieties if you are enjoying the big jim. The variation in pod shape and size is huge. Take a look at all these: http://www.thechileman.org/guide_podtypes.php