Chillies - growing and overwintering 2019

[Ms-T]

S/P I have done is this year with sweet peppers ,up to their seed leaves .All mine are doing well.

[Small pumpkin]

My Havana Gold is the same - very stretchy plants! Also, like yours, starting to develop roots just above soil level. I won't bury deeper than the seed leaves, though. Are you saying you will bury it right up to the leaf joint at the very top of your photo? Or the one level with the top of the label, which is what the rest of us all recommended.

It'll only get buried about half way up its bare stem. I don't actually have any pots deep enough to bury it up to the seed leaves and not have the root coming out the bottom of the pot within a week .

S/P I have done is this year with sweet peppers ,up to their seed leaves .All mine are doing well.

That's good to know . I've never been brave enough to bury that deep from the start.
To be honest I don't bury toms upto the seed leaves
It's quite amazing I manage to grow anything really!

[Philthy]

don't actually have any pots deep enough to bury it up to the seed leaves and not have the root coming out the bottom of the pot within a week

Hi SP. I'd recommend Pot Noodle pots, King size, with a few drainage holes in the base.
They work a treat, tall yet narrow. Your extra roots can develop. Then your normal pot upgrade happens and in that you get all the extra room width ways

[benb89]

Everything seems to be going well since I basically started again after having some very sorry looking seedlings so touch wood everything continues going well.

I have been offered some 12 litre fabric grow bags/pots from a friend. Everywhere I read different things about what to finally plant the chillie plants into. Once the plants are ready to be potted into their final location would these 12 liter grow bags do the job? What does everyone else use?

[Mitzi]

I've never used fabric grow bags but they sound ideal. I guess they would dry out quicker than pots so you might need to be more diligent with watering?

[the big lebowski]

hi ben , ive heard of them being used and good things said about them ,i think they are just a flexable plantpot really , that size should be fine for chillis ,you may need to water them everyday if they are in a greenhouse at that size tho ,i just use 25 liter pots and i dont have a greenhouse ,gl with them ,cheers

[Philthy]

Well like I say I've still not sown anything. But I'm not too worried as my overwintered plants are fairly stable. I have twelve in good health, and one which I'll be surprised (but hopeful) if it survives another month of hibernation. It's a Paper Lantern, only a smallish example of, and I'm thinking I've had it too close to the window in a cool corner of the 'nursery', and the overnight chill when the temperature has dropped has got to it. This variety I'm learning more so than most requires the specimen at the start of dormancy to be a strong and well developed one, otherwise it's almost certain to fail. Hmm.



So on the window bench I've currently got one each of Scotch Bonnet Red, Habanero Chocolate, Lemon Drop, Espelette, Feugo, Paper Lantern, "Jamaican Mushroom," an unknown one but looks very similar to Super, Trinidad Perfume, Tokyo Hot. And out of shot near by there are three Apple Crisp plants which are 2 year olds so much bigger than what would fit in the window.

[Mitzi]

When do you start them back in to growth, Phil?

[Philthy]

Hi Mitzi. Mostly I let the season dictate, rather than the calendar month, as the onset of spring is never the same one year to the next. The increasingly longer daylight hours are one thing, but it's the warming sun that's the biggest indicator. I just need to monitor that and increase the watering frequency as required. They'll come back to life when they're ready. And then I'll start dosing with soluble nitrogen to assist the first flush of new leaves. Bare in mind they're still sitting in last seasons compost which will be depleted of nutrients. I don't want to enrich the compost prematurely as that would just enable rapid growth that I may not be able to contain in the short term; in other words our notoriously fickle weather turns cold again, and the planned safe transfer of plants back to the GH has to be put on hold for several more weeks. Meanwhile that new growth becomes stunted, distorted, and most likely has to be pruned out. When I know they're safe to transfer out, that's when they get a pot upgrade with new, rich potting mix.
Theoretically if I put the pots onto a heat mat now and fertilised, I'd bring them out of dormancy a lot sooner. But for the reasons outlined already for me that'd be counter-productive

[the big lebowski]

those look really good philthy ,any chance of a photo of the 2 year old ones ? they look alot more alive than mine atm ,cheers for the pic

[IainM]

They look very healthy philthy! Mine seem to have suffered quite a bit more die back.

[Philthy]

^^ Where are you guys keeping your plants? Are they still growing or dormant?

[the big lebowski]

mine are all on my windowsills and they are still dorment

[Philthy]

Cool Any chance of a photo of your overwinters, BigL?
I’ll take a shot of my other three, the biggest of the Apple Crisp is about 1m high.

[the big lebowski]

ok i will do , ill have to borrow my dads camara again so ill get them put up by next weekend ,the seeds are coming along well too , only lost 2 that i didnt water enough ,just waiting for some cayennes to come up now that i planted last week