Pepper/chilli plants flowering looking for advice

Outkast_IRE

yes ripe is the correct word for chillis , well at least i have seen it used a lot on the net regarding them.

A quick question i got sent some scotch bonnet chillis today, would it be possible to take and plant some seed from them this late in the year?
I wouldnt be expecting to harvest a crop but maybe to have a strong plant to keep over winter ready to produce next year has anybody tried this?

redser7

I've definately read of people doing that. And the plants apparently (if they make it through the winter) are really strong because the first growth happens during summer when the conditions are best. I did that with strawberries last year and they are producing great.

Outkast_IRE

redser7 wrote: »

I've definately read of people doing that. And the plants apparently (if they make it through the winter) are really strong because the first growth happens during summer when the conditions are best. I did that with strawberries last year and they are producing great.

Might do that so, any ideas on if you need to do anything else extra with the seeds before planting ? would just sticking them in a bit of compost do the trick i only ask as the ones im currently growing were from a pack of seeds and just needed planting , whereas im wondering is there any tricks when taking it directly from the fruit.

redser7

not that I'm aware of. They need to be warm to germinate, but you know that already

Cardinal Richelieu

Outkast_IRE wrote: »

yes ripe is the correct word for chillis , well at least i have seen it used a lot on the net regarding them.

A quick question i got sent some scotch bonnet chillis today, would it be possible to take and plant some seed from them this late in the year?
I wouldnt be expecting to harvest a crop but maybe to have a strong plant to keep over winter ready to produce next year has anybody tried this?

Over wintering is the term. It suits better crops like strawberries and other fruits that require so many cold hours. Perhaps you should email the below people for tips on your scotch bonnet.

Southdevonchillifarm

Overwintering
Most chilli plants can be treated as perennial house plants, but will need some pruning in the winter. Some varieties are better suited than others, smaller hot varieties like Serrano and Twilight, and Prairie Fire do better than the bigger fleshy plants such as Poblano and Anaheim.
http://www.southdevonchillifarm.co.uk/info/growing-chillies

Outkast_IRE

Cardinal Richelieu wrote: »

Over wintering is the term. It suits better crops like strawberries and other fruits that require so many cold hours. Perhaps you should email the below people for tips on your scotch bonnet.

Southdevonchillifarm

From doing some research today Keeping them nice and warm seems to be key as well as keeping a fierce eye out for any bugs/mites/flys during this period. My conservatory has a rad but there are defo warmer places with good light in the house that i may consider overwintering them in.
Im debating it at the moment as obviously the conservatory is best for max light, but it wouldnt be as warm as rest of house all winter, although it would never freeze due to a rad working in there.

A lot of people saying they see mixed results from pruning a lot back in the winter, some saying it works others saying the plants never fully recovered.

I guess im going to have to wing it and see what happens i might move half to a different room in the house and leave half in conservatory and see.

langdang

Upgraded all my large plants to 7.5L black plastic planters, not very decorative but cheap and functional.

Outkast:
All my plants are from seeds taken from chillis - the piri piri were taken from 3 chillis I was given out of a garden in Portugal. They are very thin walled so were pretty much air-dried by the time I got home. Took the seeds out and made sure they were fully dry when I got home (left em near a rad for over a week).
Come January/February I put them in between two sheets of moist kitchen paper in a sealable lunch bag and waited for them to germinate, then planted to seed trays in a cheap heated propagator.

The Habeneros from Tesco I didn't have so much luck with but I didn't give them the same care and attention either. De-seeded a few chillis as I was cooking and followed pretty much the same process as above but no time in the heated propagator for them. The hotter chillis really need the heat to germinate and get going!

Edit - forgot to say I left the seed germinating bags near a rad aswell. Altho the heat of the sun might do this time of year.

yellowlabrador

Aldi are offering large veg plants in pots tomorrow. I'm sure I saw a mention of peppers among them. I'm going to try and get one. The past few years have been quite miserable so I'm still hoping this year will be better.

Outkast_IRE

I marinated the chicken with the scotch bonnets today and fried it up to go with a little sweet and sour sauce :eek:

Man those scotch bonnets pack a punch, i wouldnt even eat one, the chicken from just being marinated and fried with them packed a lovely punch, they are quite different to other chillis i have tried , i would call their flavour almost sweet/fruity, it actually went well with the sweet and sour sauce.

But i dont think i would add them to a curry the sweet/fruity flavor could ruin it for me, im currently reseaching jamaican jerked chicken recipes

Heroditas

Outkast_IRE wrote: »

Anyone have any general idea of timescale from flower being pollinated to edible fruit ?

It can depend on the types of pepper.
From my own experience, it can be about a month to two months.

I had got an Aerogarden for Christmas and grew 7 plants in it. I transplanted them two weeks ago and put them outside. The front of the house faces south west so they receive plenty of sunlight.
It's interesting to watch them struggle to survive. They not only had to put up with the shock of being transplanted from a hydroponic kit to pots but also now have to contend with the elements. They seem to be hanging on in there, despite the awful weather we're having this summer. If they can hold on for the next week or two, I reckon they'll be fine.
One of them is starting to show a huge amount of fruit at the moment. I'm stunned!

Also, I appear to have successfully got a couple of Scotch Bonnet seeds to sprout up in the attic by half burying them in compost in a couple of packages you get in the supermarket. They are placed near my latest Aerogarden project (herbs) so are benefiting from the light spilling off it.

Last, but by no means least, I got a Naga Jolokia "grow in a can" kit in Florida last year and managed to transplant it to a large pot a couple of months ago. It yielded one chili from it in January after I started to grow the plant last June.
However, now it's starting to flower again and the fruit are gradually getting bigger. They're also getting a lot more potent! I'll stick up some pictures later.



That kit also sprouted another two plants a couple of months ago - they appeared practically overnight in the pot!! I've transplanted both of them - one is growing ok outdoors and the other is now in the office!

Outkast_IRE

Heroditas wrote: »

It can depend on the types of pepper.
From my own experience, it can be about a month to two months.

I had got an Aerogarden for Christmas and grew 7 plants in it. I transplanted them two weeks ago and put them outside. The front of the house faces south west so they receive plenty of sunlight.
It's interesting to watch them struggle to survive. They not only had to put up with the shock of being transplanted from a hydroponic kit to pots but also now have to contend with the elements. They seem to be hanging on in there, despite the awful weather we're having this summer. If they can hold on for the next week or two, I reckon they'll be fine.
One of them is starting to show a huge amount of fruit at the moment. I'm stunned!

Also, I appear to have successfully got a couple of Scotch Bonnet seeds to sprout up in the attic by half burying them in compost in a couple of packages you get in the supermarket. They are placed near my latest Aerogarden project (herbs) so are benefiting from the light spilling off it.

Last, but by no means least, I got a Naga Jolokia "grow in a can" kit in Florida last year and managed to transplant it to a large pot a couple of months ago. It yielded one chili from it in January after I started to grow the plant last June.
However, now it's starting to flower again and the fruit are gradually getting bigger. They're also getting a lot more potent! I'll stick up some pictures later.



That kit also sprouted another two plants a couple of months ago - they appeared practically overnight in the pot!! I've transplanted both of them - one is growing ok outdoors and the other is now in the office!

Very interesting do stick up the pics, the sunshine today has helped my plants a great deal, between my two largest plants they have 6 chillis growing and loads more flowers opening they appear to be the cayanne chillis at this stage . I will post photos soon

Heroditas

OK, here's a few pics.
The first few are of the Naga kit.



25th June 2011




21st August 2011




11th September 2011




22nd June 2012


Baby shoot from the same Naga kit that I re-potted a few weeks ago:




The next two photos show the roots from the plants I took from the Aerogarden and also the re-potted Aerogarden plants. The Aerogarden plants are all the ones in the pots on the concrete.






The plant in the top right hand corner of the last photo seems to be really thriving outside and I must have counted about 15 chillies starting to sprout on it yesterday!

redser7

Do you mind if I ask where you are from? Havn't seen sunshine like that around here in a long time

Heroditas

redser7 wrote: »

Do you mind if I ask where you are from? Havn't seen sunshine like that around here in a long time

It may be hard to believe but that photo was taken on the morning of the June bank holiday Monday three weeks ago!

Heroditas

Final few shots for the time being.
The first one is a close-up of the chilli plant in the top right hand corner in the previous post. In it, you can see all the chillies starting to grow.

The second shot is a close-up of my "propagating pods" in the attic.
Nothing fancy, just the chilli/tomato/veg containers you get in Superquinn with a bit of fertiliser in them, lightly watered once and the chillies placed in them.
What I found helps is if you place the seeds with the "round" part of the seed facing up and the "pointy" end down in the dirt.
Also, I don't completely cover them. That way, they can benefit from the light on them.

The third photo shows the Aerogarden in the attic. Two of the pods didn't work in the latest herb kit so I took the dead seeds out (front right and front left) and replaced them with two little shoots of the Scotch Bonnets from the propagating pods.

The Bonnets and Aerogarden kit were placed up there three weeks ago so even with minimal warmth the Bonnet seeds have sprouted. Good quality light helps a huge amount.
Also, the seeds weren't from a packet or a kit - they were simply seeds I took from a chilli I bought in the shop!

To be honest, all you really need to get chilli seed to sprout is to stick them in some sort of container, keep it moist and then have a fluorescent light shining on them for about 15-16 hours a day. A bog-standard fluorescent bulb you use in a lamp would probably do the trick!

redser7

Fascinating, thanks

langdang

Heroditas, that Naga is amazing! Never thought they would grow like that in Ireland!

My tall plants are starting to grow some side branches now, wish we had more sunny days like yesterday.
Think I might move 2 of mine outside in a mini-plastic-greenhouse. See how they do versus the others keep in higher average temperatures but less light.
I have one smaller plant in the office, about 4 feet away from a 4 tube fluorescent light. Really bad aircon here so great average temps for chillies (bad for working in though), but I think it needs more light - it had a few flowers but no pollen.

Heroditas

langdang wrote: »

Heroditas, that Naga is amazing! Never thought they would grow like that in Ireland!

The window faces south/southwest so the plant gets loads of light streaming in on it, even during the winter.
Also, I occasionally gave the room a blast of the central heating over the winter to keep it going.
The fruit are still quite small on it but they're absolutely lethal - they give a good decent burn for about 10mins when you eat them. Then again, I have a very high tolerance at this stage so they may affect others a lot more.

langdang wrote: »

but I think it needs more light - it had a few flowers but no pollen.

Can you place it near a window? That'll give it adequate light.

langdang

Heroditas wrote: »

Can you place it near a window? That'll give it adequate light.

Naw, if it's not on my desk anything could happen it.

What type is that chilli you have growing so well outside in the corner? Looks like it does well in Irish conditions. Do you have some outside permanently, or is it just on good days?

I've just sent an advance party outside to a cheapo mini plastic greenhouse, lets see how they do...

redser7

Be careful to ventilate with those greenhouses. Temps can rocket up very quickly. And condensation can build up overnight so let it clear in the morning. And weigh the frame down with blocks or it will fly away with your plants inside!

langdang

redser7 wrote: »

Be careful to ventilate with those greenhouses. Temps can rocket up very quickly. And condensation can build up overnight so let it clear in the morning. And weigh the frame down with blocks or it will fly away with your plants inside!

Thanks for the tips, tis well weighed down alright!
On a few good (but intermittently cloudy) days when I was around the house I've seen the temps rocket up alright - that's fine if I'm hanging around the garden anyway and can open it a bit for airflow but not much good if I'm not there to keep an eye on it.
Might have to slash some vents in the sides to allow some airflow, we'll see how it goes. I have surplus plants anyway, to allow for "experiments" like this.
I would have kept them inside but two plants I had in the parents house are producing a lot more side branches - due to more light I assume.


Outkast - any chillis forming for you yet?

Heroditas

langdang wrote: »

What type is that chilli you have growing so well outside in the corner? Looks like it does well in Irish conditions. Do you have some outside permanently, or is it just on good days?

They're called Red Fire apparently.
I have them out all the time and they really seem to have come on in leaps and bounds with the warm weather over the last few days.
I guess if they could survive the month of June we've just had, they'll survive anything!!

Outkast_IRE

langdang wrote: »

Thanks for the tips, tis well weighed down alright!
On a few good (but intermittently cloudy) days when I was around the house I've seen the temps rocket up alright - that's fine if I'm hanging around the garden anyway and can open it a bit for airflow but not much good if I'm not there to keep an eye on it.
Might have to slash some vents in the sides to allow some airflow, we'll see how it goes. I have surplus plants anyway, to allow for "experiments" like this.
I would have kept them inside but two plants I had in the parents house are producing a lot more side branches - due to more light I assume.


Outkast - any chillis forming for you yet?

Yes loads of chillis are formed , all plants are now flowering with most growing chillis , i will post pics , im very happy so far anyway.

Plant leafs look a little dry here as im having trouble judging how much water to give them in these bloody humid conditions,but they will perk up in a few hours just after giving them a nice watering now.

18AD

Nice plants there everyone. Good work.

I didn't spot it in the thread, but what plant food do you use? I just potted some chillis near the window, but they may be helped with some added nutrients.

Outkast_IRE

18AD wrote: »

Nice plants there everyone. Good work.

I didn't spot it in the thread, but what plant food do you use? I just potted some chillis near the window, but they may be helped with some added nutrients.

Im using a organic tomato and veg food, its made by earth matters is the brand, it seems good so far , i have only been using it the last 2 weeks since fruit starting growing, but since i started using it , flower prodcution is massive on all plants and im hoping it will all mature into fruit.

Im adding it once a week only.

langdang

I'm using a Chilli Focus


Haven't used it in a while now, and have only used a little of it. The compost I'm using has enough nutrients for a few weeks. I'd trade any amount of feed for several hours of good sunlight per day! What a summer...


EDIT - Outkast - my chillies used to be a bit wilty when I had them them in 5inch pots (or smaller for the smaller plants). Like yours they would perk up after a watering or overnight, but could wilt very quickly again the next day. I put them in big 7litre tomato planters and I haven't seen any more wilting since. But it hasn't exactly been hot or sunny here since, so I can't really say which is the dominant factor!
Also - the planters I have are awful big things to be using indoor, too big for average window sills etc - there may be a happy medium somewhere between the two!

Outkast_IRE

langdang wrote: »

I'm using a Chilli Focus


Haven't used it in a while now, and have only used a little of it. The compost I'm using has enough nutrients for a few weeks. I'd trade any amount of feed for several hours of good sunlight per day! What a summer...


EDIT - Outkast - my chillies used to be a bit wilty when I had them them in 5inch pots (or smaller for the smaller plants). Like yours they would perk up after a watering or overnight, but could wilt very quickly again the next day. I put them in big 7litre tomato planters and I haven't seen any more wilting since. But it hasn't exactly been hot or sunny here since, so I can't really say which is the dominant factor!
Also - the planters I have are awful big things to be using indoor, too big for average window sills etc - there may be a happy medium somewhere between the two!

ya the leaves which were curling a bit have perked up since, i think it was having 4 days with very high humidity, we had a warm less humid day yesterday and they are looking good again,

I will keep an eye out for suitable pots but im going to try my best to overwinter these guys indoors so i cant get anything too unwieldy, they seem happy enough so i will see how they go.

Heroditas

I decided to get a tub of that chilli focus and used it for the first time today.
The plant I have here in the office has really come on in leaps and bounds in the last two weeks! Some of the leaves on it are massive and dwarf anything on the original naga plant at home.
I'll post some pictures later.
The only downside is it appears to have some uninvited lodgers at the moment so I'll need to get rid of them before they destroy it.

In other news, unfortunately the chillis on the plant above have stopped growing so I'm left with loads of very very small ones.

langdang

Have my first colour changing chilli, orangey-red now.
Also have some uninvited lodgers of the fungal variety.
Will put up pics of both later...

Outkast_IRE

These curled up leaves on my cayanne chilli plant never came right, the rest of the plant is fine but the new growth leaves are all coming up like that , any ideas guys, its just on the cayanne none of the others they have all gotten identical watering, compost and fertilizer,
im down to 2 theories ,

1. these two plants are in a long style pot , maybe its time to seperate them and repot them individually.
2. maybe the cayanne is more prone to the high humidity , im not messing guys for the last 3 weeks most days the humidity has reached 99% at one stage or another .

On another note the scotch bonnet seeds i took from the fruit are after germinating etc , so far have 6 small little plants , fingers crossed they grow nice and strong and i can over winter them successfully.


UPDATE:
decided to replant the two cayanne chillis in the long pot separtly in big pots, what i discovered whilie doing it was pretty annoying, even though i thought i was being really careful with the watering , and from the top the soil felt moist and not soaking , when i dug out the plants the compost was sopping deep down , far wetter than i would of liked.

So i put stones/pebbles in the base of the new pots they are being planted in , in an effort to help with drainage, as well as mixing a small amount of sand into compost .

So top of my list for next year is vermiculite, and perlite to mix through the compost to make it better at drainage .