Chillies - growing and overwintering 2017

[Mitzi]

love your set up the 1st one is doing well!

That's the rude one (hopefully!) Peter pepper. It's an annuum and is growing faster than the chinenses. It's growing side shoots from every node, which is great, because I grew cayennes last year and they just went straight up and wouldn't branch out even after I topped them. After topping them, only the top node would shoot, the lower ones just did nothing. I was hoping to get two or three plants but only one germinated, so if it carries on the way it is doing, there will be plenty of material for cuttings.

[Scarlet]

Just out of interest mitzi...where are you getting your seed from? You seem to get lots of no shows?

[Chris11]

if you put them into mfb size ( 10l) or bigger in their first season i mean ) they will get a lot bigger than that, four foot ish and give you enough chillis to last you a 12 month .) They really so fly if given the room and even outside in sunny wales given a bit of shelter from the wind.

Yes, agreed they could/would get a lot bigger. I grow a lot of different varieties in limited space, so some plants stay in smaller pots than would be ideal, which naturally limits their growth. It was part of the plan this year to grow fewer plants and end up with them in larger pots, but so far that plan is likely to fail

Some of these plants also came from later sowings, so that might also be part of the reason for them not being that big, as well as their determination to try and survive the winter

[Elfeda]

Chris11,

what is your 1st ,2nd and 3rd favourite chilli varieties?

[Mitzi]

Just out of interest mitzi...where are you getting your seed from? You seem to get lots of no shows?

I only need one plant of most varieties so it's just the Bhut Jolokia and Purple Peach that have totally failed. I've tried those twice, firstly in damp tissue after soaking in regular (weak) tea and secondly in seed compost after soaking in chamomile tea. Still nothing from either method.

Bhut Jolokia was from World of Chillies but so was Carolina Reaper and Habanero Chocolate, both of which had 50% germination (2 from 4 sown.)

Purple Peach was from Nicky's Nursery. So was the Peter pepper and only 1 of those germinated of 4 sown. Someone recently told me they'd heard bad reports about Nicky's Nursery germination rates but I thought I'd read here on the Grapevine people said they were OK but I may be misremembering.

[jackarmy]

Ah i see chris, space can be a bit of a pain when your hobby takes it all over

[Mitzi]

Oh and I'll probably try sowing more Peter Pepper seeds next month i.e. the normal time to sow annuums. I want to keep at least one, ideally two, myself and give one or two to my friend, without telling her what variety they are, just for a giggle.

[jackarmy]

Ive not bought from Nickys myself Mitzi, but im sure SP gets a lot of her seed from there

[Thelma Sanders]

I use Nicky's seeds quite often and not had a problem.

Chillies and some peppers are notoriously difficult to germinate, and can take ages and ages to appear. I always find that just after I've decided to sow some more, the first ones appear

[Chris11]

Chris11, what is your 1st ,2nd and 3rd favourite chilli varieties?

Too many to choose
And I like the different varieties and matching them with different meals.

The standard Orange Habanero gets forgotten when we get excited about more exotic varieties, but it's one of my favourites. Here's one of my 2016 plants:

[Guest]

I only need one plant of most varieties so it's just the Bhut Jolokia and Purple Peach that have totally failed. I've tried those twice, firstly in damp tissue after soaking in regular (weak) tea and secondly in seed compost after soaking in chamomile tea. Still nothing from either method.

Bhut Jolokia was from World of Chillies but so was Carolina Reaper and Habanero Chocolate, both of which had 50% germination (2 from 4 sown.)

Purple Peach was from Nicky's Nursery. So was the Peter pepper and only 1 of those germinated of 4 sown. Someone recently told me they'd heard bad reports about Nicky's Nursery germination rates but I thought I'd read here on the Grapevine people said they were OK but I may be misremembering.

I have had patchy germination rates with Nicky's seeds and tend to avoid them, but as mentioned there are grapes who happily get seed from them with no probs.

[Philthy]

I only need one plant of most varieties so it's just the Bhut Jolokia and Purple Peach that have totally failed.

Could also just be the strain rather than the seed source; I've not had much luck with Bhut Jolokia either. Even when I've bought the odd plant (and someone else has had the faff of germinating it), it is a fussy one to grow on. I think they're just very particular with their environmental needs.

Just found this overview which might shed a bit more light...

Growing ghost peppers (aka Bhut Jolokia) is difficult compared to other hot peppers due to their requirements for a certain amount of humidity and heat, which is in direct relation to their heat index. In order to best grow these peppers, your climate should most closely match that of their native India, which has five months of intensely high humidity and temperatures. If your growing season is short, the ghost pepper plants can be moved indoors in the evening; however, these plants are sensitive to shifts in their environments and a lot of moving around may damage the plants irreparably. The surest way of growing ghost peppers is indoors or in a greenhouse where temperatures can be maintained at the 75 F. (24 C.). Seeds for ghost peppers take around 35 days to germinate in very warm soil between 80-90 F. (27-32 C.) while keeping the soil moist consistently. Soak the seeds in hydrogen peroxide for a minute to increase germination success, and use full sun fluorescent light bulbs to maintain temperature and humidity.

[the big lebowski]

fantastic photo chris11 ,thanks for sharing ,im growing those this year ,some of my seedling are now going yellow on the tips of there leaves and some have dropped the 1st pair of leaves ,is this normal ?

[Tripmeup]

fantastic photo chris11 ,thanks for sharing ,im growing those this year ,some of my seedling are now going yellow on the tips of there leaves and some have dropped the 1st pair of leaves ,is this normal ?

Probably the cotyledons so no issues there..The newer leaves should be different to the first set of leaves...

[Deano's "Diggin It"]

Always gives me a chuckle that word "Cotyledons" as it always brings thoughts of a guy (His name passes me by) A proper Veg grower(Dutch I think) who did various video's with Andy at "Quick Crop" You'll know these Trip, as they come from your neck of the woods, just the way he pronounces it!.........