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VfM4meplse
Posts: 34,269 Forumite
Now I've finally got the [STRIKE]year-round greenhouse[/STRIKE] south facing conservatory I've always longed for, I can go all tropical with my plant collection :dance:
First on the list is a red chilli plant from Lidl, which was bought the other day for £4.99 (let's say £5). I eat it rarely, it's great on veggie pizza and I have been known to freeze and then slice them down the middle when it's G&T time
but most will be passed straight onto others for their enjoyment. I thought it would be interesting to keep a tally of how cost-effective this plant is, by dividing the cost in pence by the yield.
Thus far, 20 ripe red chillies have been picked, at a cost of (500p/20) 25p each. I expect the price per chilli to go down as more pop up, I can see another 8 ripening on the plant nicely so it's something I can easily keep a track of.
Just a bit of fun! Tbf I probably wouldn't do this with higher-yielding plants such as tomatoes and berries [STRIKE]where the yield goes straight from plant to mouth without passing Go[/STRIKE].
First on the list is a red chilli plant from Lidl, which was bought the other day for £4.99 (let's say £5). I eat it rarely, it's great on veggie pizza and I have been known to freeze and then slice them down the middle when it's G&T time
but most will be passed straight onto others for their enjoyment. I thought it would be interesting to keep a tally of how cost-effective this plant is, by dividing the cost in pence by the yield.Thus far, 20 ripe red chillies have been picked, at a cost of (500p/20) 25p each. I expect the price per chilli to go down as more pop up, I can see another 8 ripening on the plant nicely so it's something I can easily keep a track of.
Just a bit of fun! Tbf I probably wouldn't do this with higher-yielding plants such as tomatoes and berries [STRIKE]where the yield goes straight from plant to mouth without passing Go[/STRIKE].
Value-for-money-for-me-puhleeze!
"No man is worth, crawling on the earth"- adapted from Bob Crewe and Bob Gaudio
Hope is not a strategy...A child is for life, not just 18 years....Don't get me started on the NHS, because you won't win...I love chaz-ing!
"No man is worth, crawling on the earth"- adapted from Bob Crewe and Bob Gaudio
Hope is not a strategy
...A child is for life, not just 18 years....Don't get me started on the NHS, because you won't win...I love chaz-ing!0
Comments
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Congratulations on your conservatory!
What variety of chilli is it? Chillies grown alone, inside are unlikely to cross pollinate & should be true from seed. You could save seeds to plant next year and technically have infinite chillies :beer:.0 -
Most people grow chillies as an annual but you can keep them going for years, even continuing to produce chillies through the winter, as long as you keep them warm0
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It's dying already
Not down to a lack of water, purely because the environment was just too hot for it
Value-for-money-for-me-puhleeze!
"No man is worth, crawling on the earth"- adapted from Bob Crewe and Bob Gaudio
Hope is not a strategy...A child is for life, not just 18 years....Don't get me started on the NHS, because you won't win...I love chaz-ing!0 -
I've got chilli seed pods - so far nothing exciting is happening but we shall see!Living the simple life0
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VfM4meplse wrote: »It's dying already
Not down to a lack of water, purely because the environment was just too hot for it
They're pretty good with heat but a shut-up conservatory can reach ridiculous temperatures.
They seem happy at 20-30 degrees C0 -
Just thought I'd offer an update. The chilli plant has been outside in the sunshine and is watered every day, so is growing and looking v healthy. What it's not doing is giving me any fruit. Am guessing the solution would be to bring another chilli plant into its vicinity to encourage a bit of pollination?Value-for-money-for-me-puhleeze!
"No man is worth, crawling on the earth"- adapted from Bob Crewe and Bob Gaudio
Hope is not a strategy...A child is for life, not just 18 years....Don't get me started on the NHS, because you won't win...I love chaz-ing!0 -
Chillis are self pollinating so they have both the male and female parts within one flower. They have to be able to touch though so what I do is just give any flowering greenery a bit of a shake to loosen.
As your plant has been under stress (too hot) then it's likely the stress has halted flowering.0 -
I got a free chilli plant a few years ago. I had hundreds of chillis from it and it was really wasted on me as I can't eat spicy or hot food so I dried them all. Laid them out in the conservatory and they dried in the heat. Then I filled a glass vase and put them on my kitchen windowsill and they looked very decorative. Along came daughter in law number 2 and off they went home with her.0
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We LOVE chillies ! I grow 'Ring of Fire' in the greenhouse, and 4 plants will see us through until next year's plants start cropping (they freeze really well).
A packet of bought hot chillies costs about the same as a packet of seeds - so even after factoring in the cost of compost, etc, the money saved must be quite considerable !0 -
VfM4meplse wrote: »Just thought I'd offer an update. The chilli plant has been outside in the sunshine and is watered every day, so is growing and looking v healthy. What it's not doing is giving me any fruit. Am guessing the solution would be to bring another chilli plant into its vicinity to encourage a bit of pollination?
As fuddle says, just give the flowers a gentle shake to pollinate. Are you feeding your plant? Tomato food will be fine.0
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