help with growing peppers

Kitchenbunny

Thanks for the tip - I'll be going around my pepper plant with a paintbrush soon too! Is that the same for chillies? I have a Cayenne pepper plant that looks like it's going to flower soon and I was wondering whether the process was the same.

TIA

KB xx

Farway

Kitchenbunny wrote: »

Thanks for the tip - I'll be going around my pepper plant with a paintbrush soon too! Is that the same for chillies? I have a Cayenne pepper plant that looks like it's going to flower soon and I was wondering whether the process was the same.

TIA

KB xx

Same for chillies, if growing both then you can use same brush, they will not mind, just do not save the seeds or you may get a very fiery sweet pepper next year

MILLYMOLLY

After son planted everything the other day have noticed there's some missing every morning assume it's the birds, any advice would be appreciated thanks

grandmaster00

nah peppers are self fertile - no need for the paintbrush

Farway

grandmaster00 wrote: »

nah peppers are self fertile - no need for the paintbrush

Absolute rubbish, they may be self fertile but they are not parthenocarpic and will require pollination either by insects or paintbrush to set fruit

browneyedbazzi

I've been using a paintbrush to pollinate my pepper plants as they live on the kitchen windowsill (the only outdoor space I have is far too exposed/windy for them)...I have jalapenos, a chilli pepper (apache) and some sweet bell peppers but I've just realised that I've used the same paintbrush across the varieties. Do they cross pollinate? Will this cause a problem when it comes to using the peppers?

Also, the apache chilli pepper plant has loads of flowers and little chillies on it (50+ if you count up the tiny chillies, flowers and buds)...is there a limit to the number that the plant can support and should be left to grow? Should I at some point stop pollinating the flowers or is it ok to just keep going with it?

I've never done chillies or peppers before so it's all a bit of an experiment this year!

Leif

browneyedbazzi wrote: »

I've been using a paintbrush to pollinate my pepper plants as they live on the kitchen windowsill (the only outdoor space I have is far too exposed/windy for them)...I have jalapenos, a chilli pepper (apache) and some sweet bell peppers but I've just realised that I've used the same paintbrush across the varieties. Do they cross pollinate? Will this cause a problem when it comes to using the peppers?

Also, the apache chilli pepper plant has loads of flowers and little chillies on it (50+ if you count up the tiny chillies, flowers and buds)...is there a limit to the number that the plant can support and should be left to grow? Should I at some point stop pollinating the flowers or is it ok to just keep going with it?

I've never done chillies or peppers before so it's all a bit of an experiment this year!

Yes, you are in effect cross pollinating, so in general the seeds will not grow true. It is made worse by the fact that (I assume) all your peppers are Capsicum annuum. Anyway, if some plants are F1, plants from seeds would not come true anyway. So just buy new seeds, it's not a huge expense.

My experience is that a chilli pepper will produce as many pods as it can. Just leave it. Apparently simply shaking the branches is as good as tickling the plants privates with a brush.

[Deleted User]

my 20 peppers and chillis, including rocoto, all in pots are outside and surviving well. I managed to get another 5 partly under cover and they are a bit bigger but don`t have as many flowers. If they are anything like tomatoes then the wind will do the pollination and indoor tomatoes get a small shake

Sambucus_Nigra

Farway wrote: »

Absolute rubbish, they may be self fertile but they are not parthenocarpic and will require pollination either by insects or paintbrush to set fruit

No they don't. To keep seed free from pollination I dunk the flower in PVA glue before it opens [it then never opens] and still get fruit and pure seed.

No need whatsoever for pepper or chilli plants to have insects attend them.

browneyedbazzi

Thank you for the replies.

I don't plan to collect the seeds so I guess I'm ok? I was more concerned about the fruit coming out wrong and not being any good to cook with.

Regarding the need for pollination - my first wave of flowers (that I did nothing with) just dropped off and did not produce any fruit. For the second wave I did some reading that suggested using a paint brush to pollinate them and since doing that I've got lots of little peppers and chillies...it seems to be working so I'll carry on that way!