Chilli Growing (Merged Thread)

Lord_Gardener

Misting with water helps encourage fruit to set - give it a go!!

Dutton

kingmonkey wrote: »

What went wrong with my jalapenos? It seems to be growing fine though.
Plus do ornamental chillis grow slower than non-ornamental?

I've only just found this thread!

I've got two beautiful Dorset Naga chilli plants growing on my girlfriend's kitchen windowsill. They're about 30cm (12") tall now. Both plants started out life looking like the photo above, with the leaves looking damaged. I kept watering them though and the rest of the growth is fine; even the damaged first leaves are still alive!

Dorset Nagas are reportedly the hottest chillis in the world; I ate a whole one for a bet down my local a couple of years back and actually passed out! The funny thing was, they even charged me for the three pints of milk I downed after coming to!

I bought the Dorset Nagas from here;

http://www.peppersbypost.biz/

...and bought the seeds earlier this year from the above site's sister company;

http://www.reallycoolseeds.co.uk/

...like an idiot I didn't keep any of the seeds from chillis I bought the first time, thus losing the chance of growing my plants for free! Ah well!

Here's some info about the Dorset Naga;

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naga_jolokia#Dorset_Naga_cultivar

...if anyone's interested, I'll post some photos when I get my first crop of fruit; even though I sowed them late, apparently they should still fruit in the autumn providing I keep them indoors and warm.

kingmonkey

Dutton wrote: »

...if anyone's interested, I'll post some photos when I get my first crop of fruit; even though I sowed them late, apparently they should still fruit in the autumn providing I keep them indoors and warm.

I got some dorset naga seeds but I was too scared to sow. They apparently take a long time to fruit. Will look forward to your pictures.

If anyone is interested my jalapeños grew lots of fruit. They are still fruiting now but at a slower rate.

arkonite_babe

I have one chilli on my plants!!!

Dad gave me 4 chilli plants that he had grown from seed (my homebase one is long gone, the roots were infected with eggs from something) and I have a lovely green chilli, no idea what variety it is, but hey.

Kevie192

Anyone know where I can buy chilli plants mail order?

kingmonkey

Try the forums at chillisgalore.co.uk there are seed swaps.

jessbrown100

We've grown a huge crop of chilis for the last two years- we've strted them off on the windowsill in the kitchen both times- using a bought propagator box thingy. Am thinking that this year to save money I might try using cloches made from empty 2ltr pop bottles- should save a few pennies. Also my OH make a fertiliser using nettles (chopped up nettles, cover with water in a bucket and weigh down with brick, leave for four weeks or until black and a bit whiffy) works like a charm on chilis and sweet peppers instead of having to buy tomato food.

Davesnave

Nobody seems to be mentioning that different chillies need differing amounts of space, depending on the variety. For example, 'Friar's Hat' grows to about 5' and won't be that happy with a pot on a windowsill, while 'Festival,'a small variegated type, not only looks nice, but also doesn't complain if you keep it finally in 1 - 2 litres of compost. A lot of the commercial kinds tend to be naturally large & suited to polytunnel growing, so although they may 'free' if you take their seed, you might get better/ easier results paying for your first seeds. In my experience, Jalapeno, commonly encountered in supermarkets is OK in a 2litre pot, but goes better if you can spare it more space.

Shootinfishin

'Bhut Jolakia' over 1 million scoville units and germinating in my heated propagator as we speak!!

fiscalfreckles

Just found this thread, very interesting as I have some (rather small so far) chilli plants on my kitchen window sill.

If anyone in central London wants to try growing them for nothing, I got my seeds free from Wahaca Restaurant on Chandos St. They give them out in little packs that look like books of matches (there are bowls of these just inside the doorway, so you could even pop in and pretend you were looking at the menu, then take a pack "so you remember the name"!) Though I can heartily recommend eating there too.

They are Serrano variety, and have grown very easily. I have just transferred a couple of plants outside too to see how they fare.