So who's growing chillies 2022?

[DuncR]

Late to the thread here, greenhouse now verdant (pretentious word of the day) with:
Jalapeño,
Alicante,
Lemon drop (new one on me) and
Apache.
Now to start the Aubergine growing thread…

 

[Clint]

Late to the thread here, greenhouse now verdant (pretentious word of the day) with:
Jalapeño,
Alicante,
Lemon drop (new one on me) and
Apache.
Now to start the Aubergine growing thread…

You might be a bit late with aubergines from seed..I find they need a while.

 

[Kit-brewer]

I killed my seedlings with lack of attention
So I bought a plant that is in the poly tunnel flowering away. Basket of flames I think .

 

[DuncR]

You might be a bit late with aubergines from seed..I find they need a while.

Aubergines about 12” tall now and flowering

 

[Sozzled Sab]

First attempt at chillies last year was a huge success with a great crop.
This year I scaled-down the number of plants but they are pathetic with hardly a flower in sight.

 

[DuncR]

First attempt at chillies last year was a huge success with a great crop.
This year I scaled-down the number of plants but they are pathetic with hardly a flower in sight.

Sab,
Still not too late for them. Hold in there.

 

[will4009]

Late to the thread here, greenhouse now verdant (pretentious word of the day) with:
Jalapeño,
Alicante,
Lemon drop (new one on me) and
Apache.
Now to start the Aubergine growing thread…

I had a great crop of lemon drops last year, I froze most of them and have been making lemon drop chilli jam, which I have really enjoyed.

 

[sifty]

My jalapenos are still ripening, and it's literally the middle of winter here (shortest day tomorrow). I'm amazed as we've had frosts, hail, even a little snow, and they're hanging in there. First time growing them so surprised these heat loving plants are still going.

I've made chili jam, pickled them, frozen umpteen bags of them and they're still coming. Will only plant one next year. Got to the stage I'm looking at jalapeno beer recipes...

 

[Dutto]

My jalapenos are still ripening, and it's literally the middle of winter here (shortest day tomorrow). ….

There I was, waiting for my three chilli plants to start flowering and you go and point out that, in the UK, the days start getting shorter from tomorrow!

I only dug my shorts out three days ago and now a couple of washes and they will be back in the wardrobe until next year!

Bugger!

 

[Dutto]

With regular (every two days in the heat) watering and feeding, my three plants are growing like mad and the two larger ones have a number of buds ready to flower.


However, I have a question!

Are the plants perennial or do they just die when they have borne fruit?

If they are perennials, what do I need to do at the end of the season?

Thanks for any input.
:hat:

 

[Agentgonzo]

The plants can be overwintered, but since they are not native, they don't handle cold temperatures and a frost will kill them. Best overwinter them indoors or at a push a garage (if you can keep them above freezing). There is better advice on the internet than I can remember.

As for baring fruit, if you take the chillies off the plant when they are ripe (red), then it'll produce more and more as the plant goes "oh ****, something is eating all my seed... I better make even more". We've still been harvesting (just!) some in December previous years

 

[foxy]

With regular (every two days in the heat) watering and feeding, my three plants are growing like mad and the two larger ones have a number of buds ready to flower.


However, I have a question!

Are the plants perennial or do they just die when they have borne fruit?

If they are perennials, what do I need to do at the end of the season?

Thanks for any input.
:hat:

Chilies and tomatoes are perennial, an old Italian guy told me back in Italy they would cut them back to the soil level, cover them with sacks and planks of wood to protect them from the frosts. In spring uncover them and they would grow again. As we move towards global warming and oblivion I am constantly pulling out tomato seedlings from my composted beds throughout the winter. They just grow all year round.

View attachment 70114

Excuse the drain pipe, This is my crop for this year. Once again, I've lost the little bits of cardboard telling me which is which, so it's going to be roulette when trying them.

Also featured a plant in the middle left, that I have no idea what it is or how it got there. A random Tomato plant in the top right, And two dead chillie plants middle right hand side. (planted them too late).

If they are different species in that bed chances are you will get cross pollination.

I love nature, the chili although not hot, our brain tells us they are. They are hot to all mammals. This is to protect them from being eaten by mammals, there is only one other mammal which eats chili some sort of shrew our mouse. When the seeds go through our digestive system they are destroyed. Birds however cannot detect any of the heat we do, also the gut of the bird does not destroy the seed. So the bird enables the relocation and spreading of the plant.
Amazing what you can learn in hospital waiting rooms reading Cosmos or New Scientist.

 

[Oneflewover]

Chilies and tomatoes are perennial, an old Italian guy told me back in Italy they would cut them back to the soil level, cover them with sacks and planks of wood to protect them from the frosts. In spring uncover them and they would grow again. As we move towards global warming and oblivion I am constantly pulling out tomato seedlings from my composted beds throughout the winter. They just grow all year round.

If they are different species in that bed chances are you will get cross pollination.

I love nature, the chili although not hot, our brain tells us they are. They are hot to all mammals. This is to protect them from being eaten by mammals, there is only one other mammal which eats chili some sort of shrew our mouse. When the seeds go through our digestive system they are destroyed. Birds however cannot detect any of the heat we do, also the gut of the bird does not destroy the seed. So the bird enables the relocation and spreading of the plant.
Amazing what you can learn in hospital waiting rooms reading Cosmos or New Scientist.

I read something a while back about bird faeces and how it helps break down the outer layer of the chilli seed in the gut of the bird to help germination and then is deposited with a perfect little dollop of fertiliser ready to grow. Nature truly is amazing.

On one of the chilli forums I used to frequent one poster extolled the virtues of mixing bird poo into a slurry to treat hard-to-germinate varieties.

 

[foxy]

I read something a while back about bird faeces and how it helps break down the outer layer of the chilli seed in the gut of the bird to help germination and then is deposited with a perfect little dollop of fertiliser ready to grow. Nature truly is amazing.

On one of the chilli forums I used to frequent one poster extolled the virtues of mixing bird poo into a slurry to treat hard-to-germinate varieties.

Lots of quirky things in nature, why vultures piss on their feet! After a day on a rotten decaying carcass the vulture pisses on its feet to rid there feet of bacteria with the pH of its piss, and also the vultures gut has a bacteria living in there which multiplies faster than any other bacteria. This kills any bacteria which the vulture consumes. I have learned more in hospital waiting rooms than I ever learned at school. Can't say it would help in a job resume but interesting all the same.

 

[Dutto]

…. I have learned more in hospital waiting rooms than I ever learned at school. Can't say it would help in a job resume but interesting all the same.

I was in the Doctors about six years ago in order to discuss a three monthly Vitamin B12 ***.

My wife and I tend to “batch cook” everything and then freeze it until needed. (e.g. Smoked Brisket, Pulled Pork, Curries, Chillies etc.) We then defrosted whatever we needed in the microwave.

I pointed out to the Doctor that maybe it was our use of the microwave that caused my Vitamin B12 deficiency. (Apparently the microwaves destroy all Vitamins!)

“When and where did you learn that from?” the Doctor asked in quite a derisive tone.

“Just now,” I replied “from the television video in your waiting room.”

It’s marvellous what you can learn in Doctors and Hospital Waiting Rooms.

I still have my Vitamin B12 jabs but we now let all frozen stuff de-frost naturally!
:hat:

 

[winslade]

I put my three chilli plants outside only yesterday so loads of in the hope that we don’t get any frosts or snow in Sleaford!

BTW, does anything attack chilli plants in the UK? At the moment they are unprotected!
:hat:

Black fly and green fly, I spray mine with Neam oil and
I know it sounds funny but watches young plants in direct sun. They can burn.

 

[BazzaB]

My chillis are doing well inside my conservatory and green house but the only ones doing well outside are locotos which prefer cooler temps. Too cold this year in scotland for decent outside ones. Also my tomatoes are getting hit with blight now.

 

[foxbat]

I've taken some of my Lemonellas out of the greenhouse during this heatwave so they're in a spot with maximum sunlight. No need for the greenhouse in this heat.

 

[trummy]

Quite right Foxbat - we were away last week, with the lad responsible for the watering, came back to find all the tops (e.g the flowers) had been burnt off. Hopefully the side shoots will now flower so I will get some sort of crop

 

[Dutto]

I know that it’s not too late for something to attack my three chilli plants, but I’m as proud as a dog with two tails at the way they are growing!

I’ve given up trying to count the flowers and the flower buds but I’ve already got one where the flower has dropped off and it appears to be growing a chilli.

YAY! At the moment it’s only 3mm long but I’m a great believer in the saying “From little acorns do mighty oaks grow!”

BTW the garden chair is there to give some shade to the plants. Thanks for the tip @winslade .
:hat: