Chillies - growing and overwintering 2019

[Tripmeup]

Hey all

Long time no chat...

All making good progress I see...

I have a few chillies forming too but am, in the main, still taking flowers off the plants as they form..
Some are out in the greenhouses for 3 weeks now so the cold spell has slowed them down a bit and others still inside are growing away...

[Small pumpkin]

I'm having a major chilli crisis!!
I've just worked out I'm 2 plants down on last year .
I'm up on varieties but only 61 plants. That's not good progression is it.

[Scarlet]

It is....plant up in bigger pots. You have time for lots of pods to set.

[Scarlet]

I have a few chillies forming too but am, in the main, still taking flowers off the plants as they form..

All my flowers on the new plants get picked off too. I've also cut back my overwintering chillies to encourage growth lower down.
They are out in the GH, been wrapping them up in a duvet

[Mitzi]

I'm having a major chilli crisis!!
I've just worked out I'm 2 plants down on last year .
I'm up on varieties but only 61 plants. That's not good progression is it.

OK I will send you some. Be prepared to quarantine them as they may have a few aphids on but I will try to wash them off.

I intended to reduce my grow this year but that didn't exactly work. Currently 44 varieties and 73 plants, although I will be giving some away.

Next year I'm going to reduce my grow. Maybe 20 varieties and 40 plants. (This time next year, Rodney, we'll be millionaires.)

[benb89]

All my flowers on the new plants get picked off too. I've also cut back my overwintering chillies to encourage growth lower down.
They are out in the GH, been wrapping them up in a duvet

Whats the benefit of doing this? I have a few flowers appearing so will pick them off if it beneficial

[Mitzi]

Whats the benefit of doing this? I have a few flowers appearing so will pick them off if it beneficial

It depends how big the plant is. If the plant is small and is allowed to flower and set some pods, it will put its energy into those and not into growing, so later on in the summer it will only have the size and strength for a few more pods. If you remove those early flowers then the plant can grow bigger and stronger and ultimately will produce a lot more, albeit you have to wait longer for the first ones.

However if your plant is already a decent size when it starts to flower, there is nothing gained by removing the flowers; you're just delaying your crop.

I have seen a theory that removing the flowers from alternate nodes enables the plant to produce more ultimately, as it gets chance to grow a bit between each stage. So when it first forks, remove the flowers from that fork. Pollinate the flowers at the next fork. Remove the flowers from the next one and so on. This would only apply to the type of plants (like chinenses) that don't bush naturally and haven't been stopped (pinched out.) I haven't tried it myself so I don't know whether it works.

[Small pumpkin]

OK I will send you some. Be prepared to quarantine them as they may have a few aphids on but I will try to wash them off.

I intended to reduce my grow this year but that didn't exactly work. Currently 44 varieties and 73 plants, although I will be giving some away.

Next year I'm going to reduce my grow. Maybe 20 varieties and 40 plants. (This time next year, Rodney, we'll be millionaires.)

Thank you
I'll end up with the little green critters at some point. Definitely getting ladybird larvae again this year. They were fantastic last year.
Holy cr@p where do you keep 73 plants!?! It must look stunning.

[Mitzi]

Thank you
I'll end up with the little green critters at some point. Definitely getting ladybird larvae again this year. They were fantastic last year.
Holy cr@p where do you keep 73 plants!?! It must look stunning.

All over the house, basically. 14 aren’t potted up yet so I’ve only got 59 really. All the windowsills plus the grow area under lights still because not enough windowsill space. Don’t know about stunning; it just looks a mess. Reading this back, I think my chilli addiction has got out of hand.

[Scarlet]

Whats the benefit of doing this? I have a few flowers appearing so will pick them off if it beneficial

As Mitzi had said but I also find that any plant that puts a few flowers out it will slow right down - job done, already set fruit. They do carry on but I find it sporadic.

So in picking the early flowers off that the plant can't support, the plant has time to focus on growing and the crop is usually much larger.

I grow in a greenhouse and am in the asouth West so the plants usually have a reasonably long growing season so I would prefer to wait for the plant to get to a size where it can support a large crop.

[Mitzi]

Main grow area (2019 plants - that's the year, not the quantity):

The sick-looking plants at the front have only been potted up this week. They will perk up soon.

Windowsill (2019 plants):


Back window (overwinters):


I'm embarrassed to see how filthy the windowsills are. Please ignore!

The 14 seedlings yet to be potted up are downstairs and there's another 11 plants (mostly overwinters) in the main bedroom window which I couldn't photograph as the other half was sleeping in there.

Bedding plants (flowers) for my pots & baskets are in the dining room window. The seedlings Scarlet sent me, plus a couple of tomatoes, are on the kitchen worktop. Roll on warm weather!

I see now that this is utter madness and I think I need help.

[Scarlet]

I agree - you need help !

I used to be like that but a green house or two really helps. Do you have patio doors? I use one of those metal shelving units in front of my bay windows which holds 16 seed trays.

[Mitzi]

Ha ha ha, I meant help like help to "downsize" my grow, not facilitating fitting more plants in!

[Scarlet]

Ha ha ha, I meant help like help to "downsize" my grow, not facilitating fitting more plants in!

Why would anyone want to downsize the amount of plants they grow?:

[Scarlet]

Actually one of my boys was home from Uni this Easter....he shares a kitchen ( 12 boys )
When he left, he said....it will be a relief to have a kitchen without a bag of compost on the worktop