starting chillis

[the big lebowski]

good points philthy ,i too have new growth scoot and this is why i was thinking of adding lights as it is getting leggy and this is good either,cheers

[the big lebowski]

hi all here is some pics of my light set up for my chillis i thought you might like to see,its a bamboo cane frame with a 125 watt lamp and reflector and the light timer is set to come on at 10 am till 4pm ,cheers

[jackarmy]

Srewth, my mrs would hit the roof if that turned up in the bedroom lol, id be kicked up the gh to live i reckon

[the big lebowski]

she saw it and left this afternoon ha ha ,get the beers in

[Scarlet]

OH can't kick me out there would be no one to make him his tea !

[Scoot]

I always thought with them lights that you put them on for a few hours AFTER the sun has gone down and there is no more natural light and not between 10am and 4pm when it is actually light. Not that i own one mind, i just assumed that lol.

[the big lebowski]

i have heard lots of people say they do lots of dif things with their lights ,the thinking with mine being on at that time is that light levels are low and this just adds abit more of a consistant light level as the plants were starting to get abit leggy ,i`ll let you know how i get on with it this year any other thoughts welcome ,cheers

[sparrow100]

My overwintering chillies are all dead I think. Am keeping the 4 year-old hab just in case, but I think it's a goner.

Am trying really hard not to sow any chillies till Feb, but the boredom of no gardening is starting to get to me...

[the big lebowski]

keep hold of them just incase sparrow i have heard that they somtimes kickstart themselves when spring arrives ,i had the light and didnt want to risk it and like yourself i just wanted to start growing somthing

[Scoot]

i have heard lots of people say they do lots of dif things with their lights ,the thinking with mine being on at that time is that light levels are low and this just adds abit more of a consistant light level as the plants were starting to get abit leggy ,i`ll let you know how i get on with it this year any other thoughts welcome ,cheers

Like i say, i don't even own a light, it was just the way i thought people used their lights, I'm more than likely completely wrong haha. What i thought happened was when the light went at say 4pm, you then stuck the light on for 3 or 4 hours and then knocked it off and repeated again until the natural light became enough later in the year.

[Scoot]

My overwintering chillies are all dead I think. Am keeping the 4 year-old hab just in case, but I think it's a goner.

Am trying really hard not to sow any chillies till Feb, but the boredom of no gardening is starting to get to me...

I'll be growing quite (for me anyway) a few peppers and chillis this year and I'll be trying to over winter all of them next winter. If any die over winter, I'll plant another seed in it's place.

I have over wintered a sweet bell pepper plant successfully so far this winter, in fact it has never went dormant. It's starting to lose last years leaves now but there are other smaller ones growing ever so slightly day by day. Hopefully it makes it to spring...

[Scarlet]

I don't own lights either so I'm no help but Just to be awkward I'd put it on for 3 hours in the morning 7.30-10.30/ and then another 3 around 3.30 -6.30 all gardeners are different.

Sparrow, I agree with TBL - your chillies may well be alive, keep them going for a bit longer.

[Chris11]

Am trying really hard not to sow any chillies till Feb, but the boredom of no gardening is starting to get to me...

No harm in starting a few early Go on, you know you want to.
Once you've sown something, you'll feel that 2016 has actually started.

In my experience, chillies don't get leggy like tomatoes, because chillies naturally seem to be slow starting and slow to establish.

I don't have any lights, but I did experiment one year with something more basic and amateur than TBL's set up. Basically a light bulb with clamp attached to a bamboo cane balanced across a window ledge above the seedlings

Now they just go on the sunniest upstairs windowsill.

[Scarlet]

In my experience, chillies don't get leggy like tomatoes, because chillies naturally seem to be slow starting and slow to establish.

I think they do. If the room is much too warm/or the seedling is next to a radiator etc and there isn't enough light they will stretch out and the stem becomes spindly. When the daylight is short it's best to keep them in a "cool" room. Ideally around 16. Windowsills can sometimes be a little draughty for chilli seedlings, mine get moved off the windowsills at night.

[the big lebowski]

that sounds exactly what has happened to mine scarlet i trimmed some off before i took the pics thats why i thought i had to try something