Chillies already !

[Flummery]

I have a couple of decent Cayennes on a plant I sowed in January. The biggest is about 4" long but still green. I keep them in pots on the greenhouse staging, on a deep gravel tray (but no gravel) and I water them from below. The Thai Bangkok Upright (LOVE that name!) are still small - they weren't sown till March as the seed was given to me.

[miker2d2]

my chillis are flowering but no fruits yet

[Kiwi_Soph]

I have an Apache chilli that I kept from last year. I didn't realise you are supposed to get rid after one season! I called mine Consuela and I don't know how i'd feel about binning her. Not binning seems to have been good though, she is doing really well. I got about 80 chillies off her last year and it looks to be more this year (they grow about 2-5cm long and are HOT). She is in a 20cm pot, where she has been since she was a seedling (aprilish 2010) and I kept her indoors over winter.

This year she started putting out new growth in early march, so is maybe 30cm high and equally wide (kind of umbrellay) and she was full of flowers by the start of april. She has about 60 green chillies on now, I am harvesting a few at the moment but will wait until they go red.

I have some photos here - the wide bit around the bottom was mostly last year's growth, the wide bit at the top is mostly this year's.

Oh and it is an F1 plant - but I didn't know what that meant at the time. I thought it was just part of the name: Apache F1; like a racing driver or something!

[horticultural_hobbit]

I've only just planted out two cayenne chilli plants. Each one is about 17cm high, and wove a White web at the bottom of it's pot. They are sat outside underneath a warming jacket as the heavens open. I planted them later than usual, being over zealous, I used to sew seeds in February just see what happened. For three years, I've managed to get a bumper crops from them, albeit very green chillier with no kick whatsoever. The chillies get quite long, but without a bite. This years cohort have some way to go yet with the growing season, but do have tiny flowers. That was another hint that they had to move home. So how I get them going red, I don't know....I've even grown bell peppers. Were little diddy things, but tasted beautiful! Stayed green, with one or two having a smudge of red on the skin. May be as they are all grown outside, that may be the undoing of them.

On a side note, I have found that if you wish to inspire students to have commitment and passion for their studies, hand them a chilli seedling and see what happens.

[Davyburns]

I have 3 or 4 very small chillis on my Razamataz planted Jan 1, but only flowers on the other 7 types

[King Carrot]

I never used to grow chillies and had tomatoes and cumbers half/half.

Also tried butternut squash but they weren't worth the effort as I only got one or two per plant.

Cucumbers always got that mildew white powder so now I only grow Marketmore out side, I start them in a small frame and then take the top off and let them climb a frame, still leave frame around for some wind protection.

GH toms are mainly Alacante to provide bags of "billard balls" for the freezer, also nice in salads.

My favorite are cherries but most of these are best outside.

So of late I have tinkered with chillies with some success. Bell peppers don't seem to work.

Jimmy

Truy Sunnybrook from Real Seeds - Only bell that's ever worked for me here and we're on the cool side.

[cupcake]

My chillies are rubbish this year After having more plants than I knew what to do with last year I've actually had to buy a couple of plants. I decided to just sow a couple of each variety and only ended up with 6! (seedlings that is!) So next year it's back to sowing copious amounts!

[Alison]

My chillies and sweet peppers haven't been planted out in the tunnel yet. They're in 5" pots and quite a few of them are flowering with some small fruits forming. They'll be going out next weekend (if I have time) but imagine that I'll be harvesting in about 3 or 4 weeks time the way things are going but certainly by the end of June which is pretty much the same as last year.

[Bren In Pots]

I've spotted an inch long chilli on my cayennes that were sown Feb 16th up to yet they're outside during the day then return to the greenhouse at night.

[Newton]

I have posted some photos on my album of my cayenne and padron taken earlier today. Getting very exited at the prospect of a chilli fest.....

http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gra...0-p1020293.jpg

http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gra...1-p1020305.jpg

[bronwen]

Wow, you are all doing very well!
I have just eight sweet peppers in total. Two sown 14th March that are about 6" high now, six planted 9th April are only about 2" high!! All planted outside in the blowaway.

Another thing I love about the grapevine... you get to hear about, see and compare other people's crops to your own, then wonder at their achievements, question any changes or improvements you could make or quietly pat yourself on the back!

[buzzingtalk]

I have lots of flowers and small fruit forming on my cheyenne, with one largeish chilli already! My other 5 chilli plants are growing well but no flowers/fruit quite yet. They were planted in March, and live upstairs in my bedroom by the window (which is where they will stay)

[MissKittin]

The overwintered Cayenne started setting fruit at the end of March, the Etna about mid April, the Aji mid May and the Hot Lemon the end of May. The Bolivian Rainbow kept setting (albeit slowly) all Winter (partially heated Conservatory)

Of this years chillies (planted in heated propagator end of January): The Jalapeno and Cayenne are just starting to flower, and everything else is doing a big fat nothing

[gojiberry]

Not even a sign of flowers yet but plants are looking healthy. I have found in the past that it can help to keep the plants slightly potbound to get an earlier crop.

Ian

[AdrianH]

Just harvested and pickled my first batch of Jalapenos. Been eating Cherry Bombs and Hungarian Hot Waxes for 3 weeks. My Trinidad 7 Pot, Chocolate Habaneros and Dorset Nagas, Orange Cayennes are all setting fruit. Hot Lemon is flowering, and my sweet peppers are getting near the size of shop bought ones which is a first for me!

Started them at the end of December in a heated prop and also built myself a grow light to help get them started through the first few months of year. Also got some Greenhouse Sensation Chilligrow pots which have made one heck of a difference. The ones in the chiligrows are 2 1/2 to 3 feet tall but the ones in regular pots are about 1 1/2 feet (and also take more watering!)