Chillies - what are you growing/overwintering?

[cptncrackoff]

I have a small..special place..between the draining board and the fridge-freezer!!
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[Scarlet]

Update on the few plants that I brought in doors .....possibly just a little too late, the frost came too quick still upset about my red manzano.
The red hab - dropped all its leaves and it looks like rot has formed in the main stem. He will be in the bin today.
The Trinidad Scorpion,(the super small one) looks reasonably healthy as does my trusty lemon drop - so I may have 2 superhots for next year after all
The Royal black is still ripening pods as is the Numex Bailey piquin..I brought him in earlier to ripen some pods for seed saving. As soon as it finishes producing I will bin it. They don't take long to fruit. This one was sown in March and has produced loads of tiny chillies. I think it's a good choice for a short season.

[Scarlet]

more photos....

Trinidad Scorpion, I have taken some branches off and reduced in height but it's looking really healthy...sorry not the best of pics.


Royal black, still quietly ripening pod...they pack a punch for their size


Lemon drop, this has been reduced to about a foot but is still flowering and fruiting, pretty much the same happened to the lemon drop that I overwintered last year.

I'm sure my photos got muddled!

[Small pumpkin]

Looking good scarlet.
Did you take the photos this morning? Is it really that light outside already? It's still dark here.
I repotted Simon this morning, that was fun in the dark wearing a head torch! He is coming into the house, my chickens will be living in my tunnel for a while.

[Scarlet]

Just a couple of minutes ago SP. The plants are on an East facing window and get all the morning sun. Clear day today too.

Ive got a few coops/sheds but they don't all like being shut in.

[Martin H]

I only had one chilli plant survive to the end of summer: a jalapeno. It was in a sorry state when I brought it indoors a couple of months ago, having been largely eaten away by snails. But it's put on a couple of new leaves and there are some healthy looking buds lower down that I am hoping will do something in spring.

What do you reckon its chances are?

[Mitzi]

I only had one chilli plant survive to the end of summer: a jalapeno. It was in a sorry state when I brought it indoors a couple of months ago, having been largely eaten away by snails. But it's put on a couple of new leaves and there are some healthy looking buds lower down that I am hoping will do something in spring.

What do you reckon its chances are?

I think that if it's got this far, it could go all the way. But is it worth it? You could start a nice healthy new one in spring. It looks almost as bad as my cayennes and they are definitely being composted once the last couple of peppers are picked. If it were mine, and I wanted to keep it, I'd cut it back somewhat. But I know that Scarlet, who is much more experienced in overwintering than I am, doesn't like to cut back too hard, to allow for natural die-back of some branches.

[Scarlet]

Martin, ive never tried to over wintered a capsicum "annum". The other varieties take first dibs on my windowsills because in their first year they often don't give the huge crop that you can get with jalepeanos and cayennes. I would give yours a shot though

Mitzi, I'm not that experienced but I know what works well for me. Though often the big chilli sites/groups you can get loads of info from are in the USA and have much different growing conditions than ours. I would say though that if you prune hard, the die back can often affect the main stem and then your plant is a gonna. If it's a single stem plant I wouldn't trim any shorter than 8-10inches. I like to have a good framework with a well shaped plant tobstart the spring, not a spindly stick that will need several more weeks to grow if it survives.

[the big lebowski]

looking good scarlet ,you wanted some pics to compare our lemon drops (i guess) ? well yours are looking better than mine and still have leaves on !! thanks for the update ,cheers

[Scarlet]

My only saved hab lost all its leaves. I was going to bin it today as the main stem had died about 6inches up. I've decided to try to keep it. Ive now got just one stick about 4inches tall.

[Mitzi]

Well I might have one less to overwinter: habanero Paper Lantern has taken months for the fruits to ripen. The first one has been ripe for perhaps a couple of weeks but I left it on the plant until we were ready to use it. We ate it on a pizza last night. I removed the seeds first in case it was too hot. Ha ha ha! We couldn't even taste it. I got a very slight sensation of heat on my lips but no mouth burn and no after burn. Total waste of space. It does look like photos of Paper Lantern so I don't know what's gone wrong. We'll try a couple of the others and if they are all tasteless, there's no point keeping the plant. It doesn't look well anyway; yellowing leaves.

[Scarlet]

It doesn't look well anyway; yellowing leaves.

You will get yellowing of leaves at this time of year.

[vixylix]

I've found chilli seeds very variable Mitzi - you have to be really careful where you've got them from to make sure they're actually what you wanted!

[Mitzi]

I bought it from the garden centre as a plant, not from seed. It really looks like it should do, though. Definitely a chinense - multiple fruits per node etc.


Speaking of seeds, absolutely nothing doing with the other three Peter Pepper seeds I sowed. So my "germination test" is 25% after three weeks. That's not great, is it? Seed is from Nicky's Nursery.

I've also put some chinenses in damp tissue but it's too early to expect them to be doing anything yet.

[Small pumpkin]

Chilli seeds can take 6 to 8 weeks to germinate. Give them a bit longer.