Chillies

[tezmac]

Hi All,
I love my currys realy hot and while out in the garden center today, i have brought some chille seeds, are they hard to grow ?. any advice greatly appreciated thanks,
Tez

[paulsherwin]

They need hot sun to grow well and develop strong flavours, so you can't really grow them in the open in Britain. You can grow them in pots in a greenhouse or sunny windowsill or conservatory. Depending on the variety they will form a small bush a foot or eighteen inches high. The chillis will initially be green and will turn red as they mature - you can eat them either green or red.

You can also grow chilli plants using the seeds from supermarket chillis. All chilli seeds need warm day and night temperatures to germinate, so you'll need a heated propagator if you want to germinate them now. It's much easier if you wait until June.

Good luck, Paul

[stupo74]

Hi Tezmac, last year i grew some Prairie Fire, which are pretty hot, they grow quite happily in pots on the windowsill (small bush type) or equally well in a greenhouse. This year i am expanding my selection to include some really hot 1's, which i germinated some time ago now. Beware, that some seeds, can take weeks to germinate, also some of them can take up 120 days to fruit. I have some Nagas, Bhut Jolokia and fatallii amongst others, that are well renowned for their HEAT!!!!! Good luck with your season, cheers paul, (stupo74)

[dotcommon]

contrary to popular opinion, chillies are not hard to grow. as the person above said, the key with chilies is not to let them get cold. if you have a greenhouse, that is the best place but there are many varieties that will do well on a sheltered patio once it is summer. for a pretty hardy chilli, try the rocoto which grows in the peruvian andes, they are a little harder to germinate but much hardier than other plants.

chillies are hungry feeders so feed with a seaweed solution - 1/4 strength when seedlings and then stronger solution as they grow. once fruit starts to set, switch to a tomato feed. if you are growing in pots, add a household fertiliser stick.

there is a good growing guide for chillies on my site - i amabout to expand this too
Growing Tips

[Garfiun]

Originally Posted by dotcommon

contrary to popular opinion, chillies are not hard to grow. as the person above said, the key with chilies is not to let them get cold. if you have a greenhouse, that is the best place but there are many varieties that will do well on a sheltered patio once it is summer. for a pretty hardy chilli, try the rocoto which grows in the peruvian andes, they are a little harder to germinate but much hardier than other plants.

chillies are hungry feeders so feed with a seaweed solution - 1/4 strength when seedlings and then stronger solution as they grow. once fruit starts to set, switch to a tomato feed. if you are growing in pots, add a household fertiliser stick.

there is a good growing guide for chillies on my site - i amabout to expand this too
Growing Tips

This is a usefull guide and a usefull website for chillies. Thanks.

[tezmac]

Thanks for the help i look forward to a few hot currys latter in the year

[wafflycat]

I've managed to get chili seeds to germinate, without a propogator. Just made paper pots, filled with all-purpose compost, popped in a couple of seeds, watered - put on warm windowsill (no greenhouse at the time) and made sure they remained warm and didn't dry out. They did take some time to germinate and are growing slowing, but growing they are. Have converted a lean-to conservatory/utility to my 'greenhouse' and in there they are coming away nicely. I plan to keep them in there along with tomatoes & sweet peppers over the summer.

[stupo74]

Hi Tezmac,
How are those chilli seeds coming along ?? they should be well on there way by now, did you get the desired results??
cheers stupo.

[Katiekins]

This year we are growing cayenne, habanero and cherry bomb from seed. We also have 1 bought cayenne plants and I suspect that DH will treat himself to one or two more at the Chilli Fiesta in August.

This is the first year we have grown from seed having moved into a house with a lovely new greenhouse.

They seem to be doing well.

[Newtothis]

Anyone tried Tabasco peppers? I'm having a hard time with them. I managed to germinate less than half of the seeds only. I sowed them on 2nd April. This morning I had twelve small seedlings with a couple of true leaves on each. Tonight something has polished off two of the plants so now I'm left with only 10 of these slow growing plants, that look as though they won't amount to much. I have followed the packet instructions, and they are outside day and night. Should I put them in the greenhouse permanently? They are very frustrating.