Chillies

[nx4737]

Hi all,

After not having much success with chillies last year, and moving home in Feb of this year, I've decided to buy a few Chilli plants to catch up, I've had these a couple of weeks and they don't seem to be growing very fast... am I just being impatient? I can't help but feel that if they continue at this speed, they wont be big enough to produce fruit by the summer? They are put out in the sun during the day and then brought back indoors during the night, anyway, the pics...


Aji Lemon/Hot Lemon


Apache - brought as a plug plant from Wilko, this one has actually grown quite fast


Cheyenne F1


Jalepeno


Scotch Bonnet

Any tips, advice or comments welcome.

Thanks for reading.

Adam

[Philthy]

I wouldn't have them outside at all at this time of year. I appreciate you've bought these specimens and they were most likely outside somewhere at the nursery / garden centre. Even still, warmth is what they crave (still a bit hit and miss right now). Especially the Scotch Bonnet, which will be the slowest growing of your selection. If you have an unheated greenhouse or equivalent protected environment, that would be the best place for your plants. A windowsill location works too. Later in the summer when the plants are bigger, hardier, and the weather has warmed up consistantly, an outdoors location might be an option, so long as it is sheltered and receives a good amount of sun each day. Apache is supposedly bred to do well as a patio specimen in a British summer. As a general rule, chillies will almost always do better under glass.
All your plants look to be a fairly typical size for the time of year.
I'd re-pot the Hot Lemon - it looks a bit ill and the compost looks far too wet. This plant grows quickly and will soon recover it's vigour in good conditions. It should achieve 3-4' height but will probably need some support. The other plants look fine left in their current pots a while longer. The Apache will not get that big - 2' perhaps. It's fairly compact and should be self supporting. The Cheyenne and Jalapeno plants will probably be somewhere in between. The Scotch Bonnet won't impress much in it's first year - under standard conditions ie. not growing under lights you'll be doing very well if your end crop is in double figures.
Don't overwater - moist is better than wet. Feed the plants weekly with a soluble feed: specialist Chilli Focus (not always available in store but online pretty much anywhere) is the obvious choice, but seaweed extract is a fine alternative.
You'll need to switch to a dedicated potash feed once the plants start flowering - there's lots of choices, though tomato feed is quite adequate. There's a while to go yet though.

[Ja9]

Don't worry,mine are a similar size home grown. I would also wait until June if you intend to grow them outside. I have done it with some success before but it does depend upon how good the summer is and where you live . A hot sheltered spot on a patio can work.

[chilli_grower]

Chillies take ages to grow.

So don't worry, keep them warm and they will catch up.

and don't over water! (Keep them on the dry side)

[Scarlet]

To water, stand your pits in a tray of water and let it take the water up. When you water from the top all the nutrients are washed out of the soil and the leaves are getting very wet. This can cause leaf problems particularly if you've watered during the sunnier part of the day.
My scotch bonnet had about 3 fruit on it last year although it's stating to show promise this year...I don't grow underlings, mine is on the kitchen windowsill.

[Bacchus]

My chlllis seem to be growing slower this year than in previous years - possibly just the local conditions here though.

A few plants I let keep their flowers and I have one 5 inch banana chili growing that almost dwarfs the mother plant.
Just be patient - it's still quite cold in the season yet.

[Bacchus]

My chlllis seem to be growing slower this year than in previous years - possibly just the local conditions here though.

A few plants I let keep their flowers and I have one 5 inch banana chili growing that almost dwarfs the mother plant.
Just be patient - it's still quite cold in the season yet.

[nx4737]

Thanks for all the advice, I'll take it all in, this morning, I've repotted the hot lemon plants. Forgot to post a photo of my Cayenne grown from seed in Feb that is about 5" tall.

One thing I forgot to ask, I saw, In my local Morrisons, Apache plants 12" tall with long red chillies on already, how do they do this? Or is it a case of factory farmed plants so to speak? They didn't look all that healthy though, not worth the £6 they were asking...

[skeggijon]

I wouldn't grow any of them outside personally, unless we end up having a 1976 style heatwave. Chilli plants crave heat and whilst you can get them to grow outside, they don't produce especially hot chillies. If that's not a problem for you then thats fine.
My Jalapeno plants are about 10" tall and have several chillies already, so with some heat and light it's possible to have plants that are quite advanced. Are the Apache plants grafted maybe? which would account for the price.

[Scarlet]

Nx, lots of people grow under lights which mean the plants have a really good head start and they may well already be in fruit. My aji lemon has already ripened fruit, it's in its second year and I'm hoping I can get it to grow as well as Philthys lemon drop that he showed off last year
see Post#12 on this link http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gra...ing_80286.html
Bacchus, this year has been very cold compared to last year. I had a frost just last week, last years growing season I didn't have one frost and my toms were already planted up in my borders. This year I'm way behind because of the cold nights.

[chilli_grower]

mine are looking like this so far.

The fairy light plant is now on its 4th year!

[nx4737]

Feeling a little more positive now folks, thanks! Hoping my Jalapeno and Hot Lemon fruit the most, not as fussed about the rest, I know it's far to early to be thinking about it, but I've had a thought, how much light do overwintered plants need during hibernation? As I'm thinking, they have no leaves so do they need light at all, since, if not, could I stick them in my airing cupboard, out of the way? I've probably missed something obvious though.

[Scarlet]

They need light even during the ŵinter. My lemon drops have never lost all of their leaves. You really need to keep them on a windowsill that gets plenty of light.