Grow your Own: Chilli Plant Cuttings

snip the stem diagonally just below a leaf joint thingy, then remove the leaf/leaves at the bottom, then dip in rooting hormone and stick it in either damp seed compost or a coir jiffy pellet. Then I pop them in a propagator out of direct sunlight until the roots have started growing nicely




Just thinking about upping the plant count this year by taking cuttings from my overwintered plants, now I assume you do this the normal way by cutting off a long stem, taking off all the lower leaves then dipping the cut end into some rooting compound then into a pot full of lovely fresh compost.

http://www.rainyside.com/archives/cuttings.htm

Looking after your Chilli plants in British Weather

Hows your home grown chilli season going this year? With the wonderful British weather I have decided to try a few different methods to this year to help my chili plants grow. Here are a few useful 'how to tips' to give you a good chance of a more successful cop this year. 


If you are lucky enough to have a greenhouse you will need to ensure it is ventilate and dampened down to ensure the perfect conditions for your plants. Keep the chilli plants uniformly moist and apply a liquid feed too. The heat trapped in the greenhouse will greatly be appreciated by your little chilli plants.

If you’re planning to grow your chilli plants outside. for the best results, always select a sheltered, sunny spot with a well-drained but moisture-retentive and reasonably fertile soil. Or like me a god sunny position in a south facing garden in large pots like I have done for these two Hungarian Black chilli plants. To give them a helping hand with the sudden cold weather again I have fashioned a couple of cloches to keep them warm and out of the wind.

Hungarian Black Chilli Plants

If you plan to put your chili plants direct into the ground, if you haven't yet, harden them off  before planting them outside by exposing them to the colder weather . Be ready to protect outdoor chillies with fleece or cloches in adverse weather conditions. 

You will find the chilli plants establish themselves more quickly if you cover your proposed planting site with cloches a few weeks beforehand to warm-up the ground. You chosen spot will again need to have plenty of exposure to the sun. Personally I have not had huge success in the ground with the poor British summers.

 For more growing tips check out my basic guide here 

Birds like Chilli - Squirrels don't. How to protect your wild bird seed.

If you end up with some weird chillis at the end of your season you are not planning on eating then why not use them to protect your wild bird seed in the garden from the ever resourceful cheeky squirrel!

Set your discarded chillis our in the sun or in a warm ventilated place in your house such as by your boiler to dry them out. Once dried you can grind them down using a pestle and mortar or, I use a coffee grinder. Take care though as even if you are a seasoned consumer of all things chili the dust created by the process can irritate your eyes and also educe coughing fits. be sure to wash your hands when you are done to, removing any last dust. Make sure you store the chilli dust in a sealed container.

When ever you feed your bird population in your garden now sprinkle over a little of the chilli powder, the birds don't mind the heat but the squirrels don't like it and will end up finding a new source of food to seal instead.

Good luck

                                      

Why are my Chilli's so mild this year?

A question asked to me by @Marksvegplot I have looked around for a few answers on this one and there is a slight varied opinion. Despite Chilli plants being easy to grow. Growing them well is quite hard. Everything must be as perfect as possible. Enough sun, the right amount of water, the correct feed at the correct time, not too much heat for the roots, just enough heat for the plant......

You may have watered the plant too much, which can result in a large, leafy plant with mildly flavoured peppers. Chilli plants like to be watered but they don't like wet feet. Over watering may result in the fruit being watery too and relatively tasteless. Others also indicate that the quality and length of the sunshine will influence the heat of the pepper. This can ofter be a problem with the wonderful British summer! Chilis grown in a greenhouse or windowsill may have more light and become hotter. I have recently grown a number of my plants out doors in my south facing garden so the plants get a fair amount of sunlight but as a result am I depriving myself of some heat?

This year I have also used the chilligrow from greenhouse sensation which has produced some great plants with large crops but i have selected mild chili plats to test so have not noticed a drop in their heat. This system claims to deliver the right amount of water. Perhaps next year I will experiment with some hotter plants

If you are lucky when you grow you own your chilli will show its appreciation and love you back. One of my jalapeno plants this year has produced an almost heart shaped chilli

Jalapeno chili plant

Chiligrow by Greenhouse Sensation

Pictures of Chilli Plants I have Grown

Here are some pictures of chili plants I have grown throughout the 2010 and 2011 season. Hopefully they will inspire you to grow some yourself

Red Jalapeno Chilli Plant

Twilight Chilli Pepper Plant

Big Jim Chilli Pepper Plant

Scotch Bonnet Chilli Plant

White Fire Chilli Pepper Plant

Grow Your Own: How To Water Chillies

I have pulled together some watering tips to help you give your chillies the right amount of water they need to flourish with out damaging them when you give growing your own a go.

Chili Plants Cant SwimChillies hate wet feet! Ensure your plants have lots of drainage and don't sit in a tray full of water where they would need a snorkel! Water from the top and allow the excess water to drain out of the roots by putting holes in the bottom of the pot. This will help to reduce fungal infections of the roots.

Keep it Natural
If you have a water butt at home, great use this water where possible. If you don't and if you have time try to avoid using tap water straight away. By letting it stand overnight in your watering can it will firstly let the temperature get up to room temp so as not to shock the plants and let some of the chlorine evaporate giving your plants get cleaner water.

Dont Forget Them.
Regular watering in crucial, letting your plants dry out then giving them a big water can flush out valuable minerals from the compost. I aim to water at least every 2-3 days. If its sunny and your plants dry out obviously water as needed. Regular watering will place less stress on your chile plants and lead to less flower drop and a better crop.

Liquid Feed
When combining watering and liquid feed avoid the temptation to use strong doses. I have learnt this the hard way in the past being too eager. For basic feeding using liquid tomato feed dilute it to half the recommended strength.

I am testing out an optimal watering and feeding system to see how good it is. Its called the ChilliGrow, check out my review here or click on the picture below for more information.

Home Grown 2011: The ChilliGrow from Greenhouse Sensation

Throughout building this blog site and interacting with other keen chilli growers, I came across the ChilliGrow sold by Greenhouse Sensation. I have heard endless good reviews of this product and wanted to try it out for myself to boost my grow your own chili crop. So I have decided to put the chilli grow to the test! The ChilliGrow is designed together with the chilefoundry and also south Deavon chilli farm so already it has the seal of approval from two great groups who know their chilli.

Feeder Mat

Watering chilli plants correctly is hard even when you know what you are doing. The ChilliGrow does this for you using a 7 Litre water reservoir.

The three 6 litre pots looked quite big to me but the website assures me that this is the idea size to encourage both root and fruit growth. A nice touch is that the try is also drip proof so you can grow inside if you are restricted for space or perhaps in your greenhouse if you have one too.

The pots each have holes at the base to put through feeder mats that dip into the reservoir below. These will ensure that your plan remains perfectly watered.

Chilli Nutrients

In the pack you will also receive so real easy instructions and also some chili plant some nutrients to last you one season.

To see how good the good the chilligrow is and what it could do for my crops I have selected three different chilli plants. A Hungarian Hot Wax, Jalapeno and a Krakatoa.

The Hungarian Hot Wax is store bought from B&Q, the Jalapeno is home grown and finally my Krakatoa chilli plant is in its third year and has produced bumper crops the previous two years. What will happen??? I will let you know. Below is a picture of all three plants at of June 2011.



ChilliGrow



Grow Your Own: Chilli Plant Flower Drop

Having the flowers drop off of your prize chilli plant can be frustrating when you are all set to go for a great crop in your grow your own season. This is called blossom drop and happens to many other plants too. The reason is that the conditions are not right for the chili plant. Remember that some flower drop is natural so don't get too concerned if all your flowers don't become chillis!

Krakatoa Chilli Plant with Flower Drop

Over watering - Too Much love

Chilli plants hate to go paddling. Over watering causing the flowers to drop so it may be worth scaling back your watering to maybe just twice a week unless the plant obviously needs a top up. Timing this can be hard and I often don't water my plants correctly event when trying.

Lack of Pollination

This is perhaps the most common cause of flower drop and usually occurs when plants are grown inside like a windowsill or in a greenhouse. This is because inside there is a lack mini flying creatures to pollinate you plants.  Flies, bees or butterflies love to pollinate but obviously live outside.A simple quick solution is to pollinate manually by using a cotton bud or small paintbrush to dab pollen from one flower to the next and so on as each flower opens. You can tell if this has worked because just the petals will fall from the flower.The stalk and centre part of the flower will then produce the chilli. Continue to do this once a day for a couple of weeks and you should soon start to see some fruit setting.

Leaving Chilli to Ripen too Long

If your plant already has a few chillies on that are ripe and you have resisted eating them, be sure to pick them to encourage further fruit to set. If left on a plant when ripe, you may find that any new flowers drop failing to result in any new fruit as the plant uses it’s energy to maintain the fruit on the plant rather than produce any new chillies. So the choice is yours, a few ripe tasty chillis or a larger crop.

Grow your own Chilli Plants: Overwintering

When growing your own and once your crop has been harvested, for a bigger crop the next year you can overwinter your plants. Most chilli plants can be treated as perennial house plants but may need some pruning in the winter. Not everyone recommends it due to a higher chance of disease, but I have had many successes by doing it and some bumper crops! Overwintered plants usually produce a better crop in their second year as the plants can get started more quickly in the spring and enjoy a longer growing season.

• Pick all the fruit from your plants even the immature fruits.
• Prune your plants to about four inches from the base once the leaves begin to drop.  
• Pot your chilli back up if it has been in the ground.
• Be careful not to over water your precious plant, a small amount every ten days should be fine not letting the soil dry out.  
• Keep all plants frost free aiming for a temperature between 5C ans 12C.

My overwintered crop from 2010 was not as successful as I had hoped, some plants where shelteringng in the summer house and as you can see from the picture above the snow fell heavy and many plants were lost. I have however saved a few and pictured below is a black naga plant. I hope to grow my first naga this year!

Black Naga Chilli Plant

Grow your own Chilli Plants: Pest Control

Pests and Problems:

Even the best and most experienced gardeners among us suffer from pests affecting our plants and crops. When giving grow your own a go here are some useful notes from articles I have read adding in my own personal experiences from the past few years to protect your red hot chillis.

Slugs and Snails can be of the biggest outdoor problems for the Chilli grower, usual signs of a slug or snail attack are the usual slime trails, the young branches near the base of the plant have been stripped away overnight or often the centre of the leaves have been munched away. These prefer dark damp places to live so keep your plants free from any fallen leaves and manually remove any slugs or snails you find. Alternative methods to deter slug and snails include that I have found useful include copper tape or rings, or sprinkling egg shells or sometimes used coffee grounds round the base of the plant.

Greenfly/Whitefly: When the plants produce lush new growth they become vulnerable to these aphids that spread viruses quickly and lead to the determent & health of the plant. These can infest you chillies at any time of the season when you least expect it. The organic method is best to just hand pick them off or spray your chillies with a very weak soap solution. If you want to get technical you can introduce natural predators like lady birds and hover flies, attract these to your garden by planting marigolds and other bright flowers around your chillies. If you are growing in a greenhouse you could go as far as purchasing a parasitic wasp (Encarsia Formosa) from a specialist over the Internet. I try to go for the organic methods but do occasionally use a simple pesticide spray suitable for vegetables available form any garden centre. Before you spray the best poison you can find on them though think about the fact you hope to eat the chillies. You can buy pesticides for cropping / growing food you want to eat that makes it safe. Gardeners word magazine suggests that if you have a complete infestation to snip off the worst bits and put them on your bird table for the birds to eat.

Thrips produces a silver white discolouration with tiny black dots on the upper leaf surface. The leaves become distorted and flower and fruit production is affected. It likes hot, dry conditions so water regularly and regulate the temperature with shading and ventilation. Having my plants on the decking last year gave them afternoon sun, shelter from wind and plenty of ventilation. I do have a south facing garden though so the plants get a lot of nice warm sun. just experiment in your garden once your plants and strong and see which are the best positions for them. i was hesitant at first as the British weather is not the best climate to grow chillis but I was then pleasantly surprised when some plants thrived.

Botrytis may also pose a problem especially at the base of the plant and the fruit. It begins as a brownish spot that develops into a grey mould. It is particularly prevalent when it is cold & damp. Good ventilation will help stop this occurring, removing all dead or injured plant material before it becomes infected. Remove all infected material by cutting back into healthy stock and burning or binning the infected stem. Do not compost diseased plant material. Isolate infected plants to prevent the disease spreading don't be tempted like I did once to keep them going to get just one more chilli!

Phytophthora Blight and Southern Blight (fungal infections) develop on the stem and the disease spreads to the rest of the plant leading to its collapse and wilting occurs. Splashing water can dislodge spores and so spread the disease may affect plants particularly if grown outside during a typical British damp wet summer. Southern Blight is characterised by the presence of a white, cotton-like growth on the surface of the stem accompanied by tan or brown spherical bodies. Fungal diseases spread rapidly and it is best to burn infected plants straight away at the first signs of infection. In moist weather a white fungal growth also develops on the underside of leaves. From experience if your plants looks very unhappy just get rid of it to avoid damage to the rest of your precious season of plants.

Mould and Rot If you are growing in pots, do not over crowd the chillies, keep them well ventilated, and water regularly but not too much. Symptoms can include mould on the leaves, soft fruit, and fungus around the stems. The usual causes of this is over watering or under watering. I sometimes use a Propagator and they have vents on the top to let air out. Once I did not leave these open and the environment got very wet and I lost most of my plants from mold at the base of the stem. Learn from my experience and failures keep that ventilation there.

Maddie

Pets not an obvious one but one of our cute moggies 'Maddie' is very partial to munching pepper teptin, twilight and jalapeno plants. For some reason she appears to avoid other plants types One year in the morning I awoke to find that an entire crop of twilight chillis has been mysteriously munched!! Look out for further cat mischief throughout the 2011 growing season. :)

Grow Your Own Chilli Plants: The Basics

In response to a few requests here is my notes on basic chilli plant growing from seed ready for 2011 planning. There are many grow your own guides out there and many go into much more detail which can be useful but chili pepper growing does not have to be complex or difficult, just fun! so have a read and get started and enjoy your 2012 growing season.

Growing your own red hot chillis from seed can be very rewarding!Whether you are growing indoors or outdoors, anyone can do it and you don't have to be into gardening or a great gardener to be successful! All you need is some seeds, compost and seed trays/small pots. Then a sunny space, a little care and in no time you will have your own beautiful plant brightening up your home and cooking!

Where to Begin:

Jalapeno Chillis

The key to good chili plant growth is finding a nice sheltered sunny spot. Then just keep them watered and fed throughout the growing season. I have found that some types grow easier and better than others. The fun will be finding out which ones work for you. A good place to start though is with Jalapeno seeds (sometimes called pizza chillis in garden centres) or maybe the Apache Chilli. I have found these to be very hardy and successful plants.

Sowing the Seeds:

Chillis need a temperature between 18C and 22C with lots of light. The seeds first need to be germinated indoors to protect them from the cold. If you have a greenhouse or a Propagator (cheap and easy to pick up from and local DIY/garden centre) you can put the seeds in as early as February. If not sowing is best left until late March or early April.

Sow seeds thinly in trays with moist good compost. Take care to get the balance right, not dry but not soggy either. Once the seeds have germinated and grown two true leaves, plant each individual chilli plant into a small pot about 75mm again with plenty of light and space.

Once these mini plants have a healthy root system and are about a ruler length in height you can plant them out into their final position.

Twilight Chilli

Where to put your Plants:

If you are short of space your chilli plant will be more than happy on a windowsill. Even better in a greenhouse if you have one. Last year when we had the good summer I found my plants did well in the garden out on the decking in a sunny sheltered spot.

Growing On:

One established chilli plants are best transferred to larger pots. Feed your chillis with a liquid fertiliser until they are established again then transfer to a high potash fertiliser to encourage your plant to flower and produce fruit. Try to handle the plants by their seed leaves only. This will avoid crushing them and the possibility of causing death by crushing the stem. Pay careful attention to keep them weed free and watch out for common pests as you will more than likely get some! see ideas below for dealing with them. Chilli plants need just the right amount of water too, sporadic watering stops growth and too much water can damage the plants. I always find this difficult to get the right balance but if you try and keep to the Little and often rule you will be fine. Once you have more interest in growing superior yields you can investigate various growing its to ensure your plants get what they need when they need. I have yet to try one of these these kits but will be soon!

Now you have Plants how do you keep them Happy?

As your chillis grow they will need support this just needs a simple small wooden stake in your pot secured with garden twine.

You have two choices when choosing to harvest your peppers. Harvesting regularly the green peppers which will stimulate the plant to produce more and more peppers. Or, leave a few choice peppers on the plant to fully ripen. You can watch Jalapeno chillis turn from green to black to red!

For further advice and more specialist products, such as self watering pots for bumper harvests, to help you in your chilli production visit greenhouse sensation. or check out

 The Complete Chilli Pepper Book: A Gardener's Guide to Choosing, Growing, Preserving, and Cooking