Growing Chillies

glider3560

I'm having my first attempt at growing chillies at home this year. I've got several types that I'm trying, but am most interested in making sure the bird eye chillies grow!

Does anyone know how long I should be awaiting before seeing any signs of shoots in the pot? I've heard that chillies take a little longer than other plants to germinate - is this correct?

Also, is it possible to freeze chillies so they can be used over the winter?

foreign_correspondent

Some take ages - I put loads in about three weeks ago - some varieties germinated in days, others are still popping up... keep them moist, warm and the top covered with a bit of glass or cling film till you see shoots popping up, then move into a light place and uncover...

Yes, chillies freeze brilliantly, just shove them in a bag in the freezer, whole, and remove and slice when needed!

FLA27

I am no expert, but I have successfully grown chillies for the last couple of years and find the germination times vary a lot. Even after giving up on them and have let the pot completely dehydrate, they seem to pop up eventually.

I have also frozen chillies. Last year I chopped a load up and put them into an ice cube tray in small portions. I just need to remember to NEVER use the tray for ice cubes ever again!

Greenfingers3

If you want to save room in your freezer, you can dry them really easily too. You can thread them on to a piece of cotton and hang in a warm place or just lay them out in a warm place, when they are completely dry, store them in an airthight container and they will keep for ages. I still have some that are two years old and are still fine.

glider3560

They've started growing!! Just got home from the shops and seen that there is a shoot in one of the pots. They've only been there for just over two weeks, so doing pretty well already.

glider3560

Its now been three months since they started growing and the plants are between 20-30cm tall. There doesn't appear to be any sign of fruit. What sort of size do they grow to before chillies are produced? Need to know as I need to plan where to put the larger pots!

Cheers

mrbadexample

glider3560 wrote: »

Its now been three months since they started growing and the plants are between 20-30cm tall. There doesn't appear to be any sign of fruit. What sort of size do they grow to before chillies are produced? Need to know as I need to plan where to put the larger pots!

Cheers

It depends on the variety as to how big they get. Have they got any flowers / flower buds yet?

glider3560

mrbadexample wrote: »

It depends on the variety as to how big they get. Have they got any flowers / flower buds yet?

I only kept the birds eye chillies as I didn't have enough space for the others. There aren't any buds yet.

mrbadexample

Are you keeping them inside or outside? If there are no flowers yet, it sounds like you'll just have to wait. Once you get flowers, you'll need to ensure they get pollinated. You can do it yourself with a paintbrush, or if you're as ham-fisted as me, you'll put them outside for the nice gentle insects to have a go.

Can you post a photo?

elsien

I've just bought a chilli plant (reduced from local nursery, just can't resist a bargain) but it says to keep in a greenhouse, which I don't have!
The back yard is fairly sheltered and sunny, what are my chances of it producing anything?

Primrose

Chillies & peppers need a long growing season - I normally sow mine indoors in January or February. If you've only just sown them, you'll be unlikely to get a crop this summer. However, when the summer weather turns to autumn and the evenings get cooler, you can try bringing them indoors. I have overwintered chilli plants indoors before on a sunny window sill, and even got a few flowers and chillis. If you can keep them alive over winter, you'll have a head start with your crop next year.

At this time of year your plants should start bearing flowers when they're about 8 inches high. Keep them in the sunniest place possible ourdoors and keep the compost well watered. Spraying the leaves in very hot weather will help them too. My chillies stay outdoors on a sunny patio from June - end September and if they're still cropping at that point I bring them indoors until they've finished cropping. I have one chilli plant I overwintered last year. It cropped well, I pruned it hard back at end September and brought it indoors and it's now cropping heavily again in its second year. I just pulled away some of the old compost from the roots, put it back in the same pot and packed new compost in around the edges, plus a few chicken manure pellets to keep it well fertilised.