Chillies - growing and overwintering 2017

[burnie]

Had a red cayenne in butternut squash soup and a green one sliced on a pizza, both very nice.

[Mitzi]

Thanks, Scarlet and Chris11. It was in the mini greenhouse but it has outgrown it so is now completely exposed to the elements. I've only had one pod off it so far, iirc, and that went straight into the freezer so I haven't even tried it. It's got two or three decent sized (but green) pods on it now, and lots of tiny ones just forming. There's no way I can bring it in the house; it's a huge plant in a large pot. I don't know anyone with a stately home with windowsills big enough. I might be able to shove it in the garage but then it wouldn't get any light.

I'll just cross my fingers for some decent ripening weather in the next few weeks.

[Scarlet]

Well, I had a black Naga that hit the ceiling in my house, I chucked it outside when the Chrismas tree needed to be put up. I put it in our sheltered "car port" just open on one side and it did survive. I had to cut some dead branches back but it perked up lovely in the spring. Worth a try in the garage, I have found the Aji really tough plants compared to all the others I grow.

If you do try to overwinter....take those little pods off first.

[Chris11]

Question: How long do Aji Lemon Drop or Aji Pineapple pods take to ripen?

Pods on my AJI Pineapple just starting to ripen now. Hope yours will follow soon

[Mitzi]

Pods on my AJI Pineapple just starting to ripen now. Hope yours will follow soon

How many weeks ago did it form? That's what I want to know - how many weeks does it take between pod set and maturity?

[Chris11]

Can't be sure tbh how long ago that pod formed. And I would think maturity and ripening would depend on all the usual factors of heat, light, water, nutrients etc as well as how many other pods there are on the plant.

[Philthy]

Greetings all

Been reading back through the thread a bit and some impressive plants so far this year!
SP, wow

..well, this is my effort so far. Nothing overwintered, as I missed the boat to bring plants in last year and all perished. Though they were already in a weakened state due to chronic greenfly and my failure to get to grips with the infestation, so not actually too bothered that I had to start from scratch again this season. I sowed my first lot of seeds in January (ahead of my usual time of early Feb), and have achieved my best 'first year' plant development and cropping yet with Joe's Long (bottom pics) and Espelette specimens, so I think January sowing might be the way forward.
Also doing well is a Thai Dragon (first pic) though I cheated a bit with that one and bought a plant that was 12" tall at time of purchase. Sown a few weeks later include Lemon Drop, which now is on the verge of a decent crop (top right pic).

It's been an interesting year weatherwise; same pattern as last year in that winter seemed to linger and then merge into an early summer with hardly any noticeable spring period. A warm May gave everything a boost, and a very hot June caused a few issues with heat stress and drought. July was mixed and August has been largely rubbish; cold, wet, and misty. So all the chilli plants had slowed right down to a crawl. Then this last week summer has returned with a vengence and the greenhouse has come alive again Chillies that've been green for weeks are ripening in a matter of days. Heat loving Paper Lantern has thrown out lots of new shoots (top middle pic) in response to the higher temperatures; I've picked a couple of chillies off this one already but the grop has been light so far so I welcome it's renewed vigour.

[Small pumpkin]

Long time no see Philthy! We missed you
Your plants are looking stunning.
An early sowing really works but it take a while, probably somewhere around July before you actually notice. If you know what I mean.

I'm having greenfly/ aphid problems this year the worst of it seems to be in one corner of the tunnel but that's still 9 plants infested. I'm seriously considering sacrificing them ( after the next harvest ).

[Philthy]

Hi SP, likewise

Yes, with the earlier sowing, my thinking was always that a few weeks either way was negligible at that time of year, as the growth rate is so slow (without lights I mean; not even used my new one yet - very similar to your's incidentally ), so why give myself extra work .. but this year it really seems to have made a difference.
I think the warm early summer weather has definitely helped though.

With the greenfly, I think it's manageable if you identify it early and mash a few as you see them every time you go in the GH / polytunnel, but miss a week or two when conditions are ideal for them to thrive and you'll be playing catchup thereafter. Putting smaller plants outside for a couple of days also seems to help, especially if light rain is forecast, but of course the trade off is to stunt the growth temporarily which could be a week or more for them to restart.
There were two plants last year that I really wish I had salvaged as they were a good size and healthiest of the bunch at that time; Chocolate Habanero, and Black Pearl (gorgeous ornamental), but too late now. Ah well

[Small pumpkin]

Here's a few I'm really pleased with this year

Newmex twilight is doing nicely and it very pretty.



Spike lovely bushy habit, but he's an ar$e to harvest from.



Holy mole he's just a cool chilli



Norman (Dorset Naga) I couldn't stand back far enough to get him all in the photo! He's a big fella

[Small pumpkin]

And here is scotch bonnet



Look at the size of the pods!!!



An over view of every one (I think they've grown a bit since I last posted)



Infestation corner . Every one of these came as plug plants from very reputable chilli specialists. Already with their little pets in toe. Thought I'd got rid of them but they came back again and again and again!
My biggest downfall this year has been the lack of Cains for supporting. Just didn't have enough.

[Philthy]

SP, that is quite a setup you have there. Those plants are HUGE! How old are they / when did you transplant into the tunnel? That Scotch Bonnet is particularly impressive. Well done growing that lot! (Especially given where you live as well; Area 51 wasn't it? ).

Are you moving into some kind of a business venture with your plants (or has the chilli addiction just been allowed to run riot )

I try to avoid topping my plants at any stage from germination stage up until the hard prune prior to overwintering. Just personal preference. I'd rather they grew tall and slender, obviously some have natural tendency towards this growth habit e.g. Aji's, others have to be encouraged with support structures that don't allow much room within them. Grown upwards rather than out they take up less space on the bench and mean I can accommodate a lot more varieties in the GH than I otherwise could. And with the aid of canes and rigid frames a solid stem structure is created that'll enable the following year's plant to grow really big, with pretty much every leaf node providing a new shoot opportunity, so the bushiness occurs naturally in later years. I've also found that during the overwintering period taller specimens seem to fair better than close cropped ones, possibly because any die back can be accommodated rather than go on to compromise the plant's core.

With your greenfly corner, what is the plant you have growing at the back of the shot and to the left?

[Small pumpkin]

SP, that is quite a setup you have there. Those plants are HUGE! How old are they / when did you transplant into the tunnel? That Scotch Bonnet is particularly impressive. Well done growing that lot! (Especially given where you live as well; Area 51 wasn't it? ).

Are you moving into some kind of a business venture with your plants (or has the chilli addiction just been allowed to run riot)

I try to avoid topping my plants at any stage from germination stage up until the hard prune prior to overwintering. Just personal preference. I'd rather they grew tall and slender, obviously some have natural tendency towards this growth habit e.g. Aji's, others have to be encouraged with support structures that don't allow much room within them. Grown upwards rather than out they take up less space on the bench and mean I can accommodate a lot more varieties in the GH than I otherwise could. And with the aid of canes and rigid frames a solid stem structure is created that'll enable the following year's plant to grow really big, with pretty much every leaf node providing a new shoot opportunity, so the bushiness occurs naturally in later years. I've also found that during the overwintering period taller specimens seem to fair better than close cropped ones, possibly because any die back can be accommodated rather than go on to compromise the plant's core.

With your greenfly corner, what is the plant you have growing at the back of the shot and to the left?

chillies were in tunnel by mid May and all in final pots by early June. I've only got one plant that over wintered. That's my chocolate habanero, which also happens to be back left of the greenfly corner ( in the White bucket ). Is that the one you were interested in?
Area 51 was a stunning investment
Business venture I'd love it to be. Sell a few but never going to make my fortune. I'm in the wrong location really. Most of the locals eat neeps and taties and nothing else . Addiction running riot........I don't know what you mean .
I agree I don't top any of my plants either. I tried it for the first time last year and they took so much longer to produce anything I ran out of summer before they even considered ripening.
I am going to be stealing your metal rings cable tied to canes idea next year. That's brilliant.

[Philthy]

Pot size must be a factor for your results this year. I notice you've gone straight to big containers, and that's some growth rate given you sowed seeds just this year!
I used to think that going from small to large containers in one step provided little benefit, and if anything could be counter productive as the small plant could have it's roots in damp soil for longer as it struggled to absorb water from it's significantly increased growing space. I still think there is some truth to that, but perhaps it'd be more of an issue in cool weather. Either way that jump doesn't seem to have impacted your plants negatively in any way . And of course when you transplant you get to dose the soil with a greater amount of fertiliser.
Myself, I prefer to stick with more modest pot size increases , but then I have the luxury of being able to wait several more weeks for my plants to grow and crop to develop. And like I say I don't want excessively bushy plants in year 1, so a smaller pot helps ensure that is the case. I usually transplant three times in the first year - propagator to 3" pot, then 3" to 6" pot mid May, and 6" to 8" early July. Because I started early (for me) this year I put the Joe's Long and Espelette plants in a bigger pot again, and they're growing really well. Normally I wait until the second year before going up another size.

I am going to be stealing your metal rings cable tied to canes idea next year

Welcome I like it as it effectively means you can build a support cage as high as you like, the ring/s provide/s good support on all sides and it's very sturdy provided there are tying points on at least two levels and the canes are inside the pot / container. And it looks tidy as well. Only drawback is it'd be no good used outside as it'd be constantly blowing over unless the base was substantial.

That's my chocolate habanero, which also happens to be back left of the greenfly corner ( in the White bucket ). Is that the one you were interested in?

Actually no haha, no I meant on that corner pallet, the plant to the left of it at the back (lighter green than it's neighbours)

[Small pumpkin]

Pot size must be a factor for your results this year. I notice you've gone straight to big containers, and that's some growth rate given you sowed seeds just this year!
Myself, I prefer to stick with more modest pot size increases, but then I have the luxury of being able to wait several more weeks for my plants to grow and crop to develop. And like I say I don't want excessively bushy plants in year 1, so a smaller pot helps ensure that is the case. I usually transplant three times in the first year - propagator to 3" pot, then 3" to 6" pot mid May, and 6" to 8" early July. Because I started early (for me) this year I put the Joe's Long and Espelette plants in a bigger pot again, and they're growing really well. Normally I wait until the second year before going up another size.

Yes pot size is a everything . I go from propagator to 3" to 1lt to final pot which is anything from 7lt to 140lt. Occasionally there is an in between 1lt & final pot depending on weather and what the plant is doing.
To be fair some were germinated in November ( the super hots ). Everything else was staggered between December and February depending on what it was.
I'm seriously considering going more over to chilli grow systems ( mostly home made versions) take up less space, use less compost and results are really really good. I'd still keep a couple in big pot. Because even if I say so myself Norman ( Dorset Naga) does look impressive .

Welcome I like it as it effectively means you can build a support cage as high as you like, the ring/s provide/s good support on all sides and it's very sturdy provided there are tying points on at least two levels and the canes are inside the pot / container. And it looks tidy as well. Only drawback is it'd be no good used outside as it'd be constantly blowing over unless the base was substantial.

Mine probably won't look quite as tidy, because they will probably be made out of high tensile fencing wire. Another winter job, sat making lots of different sized rings!
Out of interest where did you get yours from? Just in case my plan doesn't work.
Surprisingly none of my chillies go outside. Not up here in the frozen north

Actually no haha, no I meant on that corner pallet, the plant to the left of it at the back (lighter green than it's neighbours)

Well spotted sir. That is the very controversial ( if you follow all the b1tching and other nonsense that goes on in the chilli world ) dragons breath. I don't care if it is or isn't the hottest in the world. I just like the name.