How MSE is your chilli plant?

VfM4meplse

Living_proof wrote: »

The thing to do with cherry tomatoes is to soak the seed in water for a few days, then the mix ferments and the slimy seed coating will easily come off. You can then sow the seeds in the normal way. They won't necessarily be exactly like the parent, but it's worth a try.

If you don't like Okra you have probably never tasted it when it's been cooked properly!

Thanks for the tip re: tomatoes. Too many tomatoes is no bad thing!

Re: okra - it's not just the slime factor, it's the taste. I'll never understand the popularity.

VfM4meplse

I'm a bit p'd off. The chilli plant is now covered in whitefly, as is the bourgainvillea (I dragged both inside to escape harsh temperatures) and didn't expect this.

Is it likely to affect the yield?

fatbelly

VfM4meplse wrote: »

I'm a bit p'd off. The chilli plant is now covered in whitefly, as is the bourgainvillea (I dragged both inside to escape harsh temperatures) and didn't expect this.

Is it likely to affect the yield?

Ultimately it's likely to kill the plant. You can spray them (can't remember the trade name but have some in the garage) - but then can't eat the crop for 6 weeks. Or put them outside again - the whitefly won't cope. But at the current nighttime temperatures, neither will the chillies!

I'm starting again with mine. Now is a good time to start them off from seed

VfM4meplse

fatbelly wrote: »

Ultimately it's likely to kill the plant.

No....!:eek::eek::eek:

Compromise: its going outside during the day and will come back in at night.

fatbelly

VfM4meplse wrote: »

No....!:eek::eek::eek:

I feel you may be becoming emotionally attached to your chilli plant...

The spray I have used against whitefly is called Provado - but I think the formula may have been changed so I'm not sure how effective current products are.

Whitefly like it hot and dry, not cooler and wetter. Spraying with water with a drop or two of washing up liquid will deter them.

VfM4meplse

fatbelly wrote: »

I feel you may be becoming emotionally attached to your chilli plant...

The spray I have used against whitefly is called Provado - but I think the formula may have been changed so I'm not sure how effective current products are.

Whitefly like it hot and dry, not cooler and wetter. Spraying with water with a drop or two of washing up liquid will deter them.

I am! It has served me well and come back from the brink to thrive once already. I don't want to take the role of capitalist mistress of the indentured, but at £4.99 it has not yet paid its dues.

I had thought that leaving it outside next time it rains might help, but given that precipitation isn't on the horizon I'll try the detergent spray method you have suggested.

euronorris

I harvested some of the seeds from my chillis last year and plan to plant them this weekend. Fingers crossed!

Living_proof

V4M I had whitefly last year for the first time, on my kale on the lottie. I sprayed with water as best I could but the little beast persisted and when I threw the remaining plants and stalks out last week they were still totally infested. As we can't now have fires and have nowhere to put rubbish on the site I had to take them in bags to the local tip and the car is still full of the little beasts. I couldn't compost them as (a) they were too thick to chop up and (b) the ones I did compost back in October have infested the compost heap now. So no amount of cold weather seems to affect them. The plan is now to suspend some moth balls over the heap and hope that does the trick! As you won't be harvesting anything off your plants for several months I would invest in a generic spray if the water and wup liquid doesn't work, as they are so persistent.

fatbelly

It's surprising what you learn (or teach yourself) on mse. Apparently there are different types of whitefly:

•Glasshouse whitefly, Trialeurodes vaporariorum, as their name suggests, usually infest plants grown indoors and under glass such as tomato, cucumber, pepper and many ornamentals.

•Cabbage whitefly, Aleyrodes proletella, is a common pest in southern England even in the colder winter months. It's similar to glasshouse whitefly, but has grey spots in the centre of each wing, and attacks only cabbages and other brassicas.

•Tobacco whitefly, Bemisia tabaci, is a notifiable pest that has to be reported to DEFRA Plant Health if found. It occasionally appears in the UK on imported ornamentals and cut flowers. In southern Europe, the tobacco whitefly causes serious damage to horticultural crops by transmitting plant viruses. It's similar in appearance to the glasshouse whitefly, although smaller and less triangular in shape when at rest.

I'm guessing VFM4me has glasshouse whitefly on her chilli.

Living_proof

fatbelly wrote: »

I'm guessing VFM4me has glasshouse whitefly on her chilli.

I am sure you are right fatbelly. The brassica ones are truly nasty and I think I will give the cabbage family a miss this year until the flies are well away.