Chilli Growing (Merged Thread)

Money_saving_Diva_2

They are red, they are red, they are red... Woooohoooooooooooo!!!

How is everyone else doing?

Diva.x

Trying_really_hard

I planted my chillis a bit late so I will over-winter them, or at least try, and see how they come up next year. They are still little plants so not much hope of fruit for the year to come.

I have, however, learned a lot about chillis from following this thread, so next years batch will be blinding. I can tell.

Thanks all - I'm so jealous of all of you eating your hot, home grown fayre. Never the less, I'll join you next year. I have just moved into my first house and to OH's disbelief I am already planning what will go where in the garden. :rolleyes:

jannyannie

Hi all

Have loads of chillis at my allotment. Some are turning red. Does anyone know how to preserve them or am I on the wrong thread?

Jan x

Primrose

jannyannie
You can dry them in a brown paper bag or wrapped in newspaper in a warm airing cupboard until all the moisture has gone and they are quite crumbly. Then store them in a sealed glass jar. (plastic may impart a slight plasticy tainted smell). Or you can freeze them whole in your freezer, stored in a polythene bag. They will keep for ages like this and you can slice them up from frozen as they are quite small, without any need to thaw.

jannyannie

Thankyou Primrose,

From a rocky start I have ended up with loads of them!

Jan x

[Deleted User]

Mine look very healthy, betwen 4-6 inches long, I tried my first one tonight yum yum. They are still green though. I'll wait until they turn red before I pick more.

Red_Cat

Mine are nice and long, some are getting big at over 15cm long, but they are still GREEN!
One day they will turn red, I am sure.
I guess I am learning a lesson in being patient!

Red_Cat

When I got home and looked in the garden, my chillies are still green (Boo Hiss!)
But one of my auebergines growing in the next plot looks like a purple chilli!
Proof of cross fertilisation if evr I saw it.

Filey

I have some beautiful chillis on the indoor plants I grew from seed (taken from chillis I bought at the greengrocers) and would like to keep them going for an early start next spring. Do I need to cut the plants back at all or prune them in any way?

Primrose

Filey - once you've picked all the chillis from your plants I suggest you trim them hard back to the two lowest leaf joints and if possible, tease out some of the roots and any loose compost, and repack in the pots with some fresh compost to fill the gaps. After three or four weeks the plants should start sprouting again. However, two things to bear in mind. The lower light levels in winter will slow down the growth of the plants, and if they're in a humid environment like a kitchen, you may start to be bothered with whitefly. I have "regenerated" chilli plants in this way and did get a very small second crop of chillis in early spring, but the plants got overtaken by whitefly in the end.