Pepper/chilli plants flowering looking for advice

zacmorris

I've 5 plants growing at the moment; Devils Brew, Hungarian Black and 3 others that I'm not sure what they are.

The smallest plant began flowering last week but the flowers look like the've died off and sort of closed / gone a brownish colour. It's had a few more flowers the past two days, but it's all very slow. They've been kept in the conservatory, and I've introduced plant food since the flowering.

All of the other plants have started flowering (slowly) and there are lots of buds about to flower, but I can't help but feel there's something not quite right.

Firstly, I think I have a few problems with mites or the likes- most of the plants have some leaves with yellow/ discoloured spots on them, mainly near the bottom. I reckon this could be halting the growth?

They've grown quite tall, but the flowering seems very slow from the first flowers. How long does it take fro the fruits to appear from flowering?
I've rubbed my finger on some of the flowers taking the pollen from them as there are no bees to do it for me

Has anyone had any probs with mites or the likes- and what did you do to cure the plants?

I can't wait to eat them, I'm a chilli addict, plan to pickle some of them similar to the way they do it in Asia / Thailand. A great way to keep a load of them for a few months

Outkast_IRE

zacmorris wrote: »

I've 5 plants growing at the moment; Devils Brew, Hungarian Black and 3 others that I'm not sure what they are.

The smallest plant began flowering last week but the flowers look like the've died off and sort of closed / gone a brownish colour. It's had a few more flowers the past two days, but it's all very slow. They've been kept in the conservatory, and I've introduced plant food since the flowering.

All of the other plants have started flowering (slowly) and there are lots of buds about to flower, but I can't help but feel there's something not quite right.

Firstly, I think I have a few problems with mites or the likes- most of the plants have some leaves with yellow/ discoloured spots on them, mainly near the bottom. I reckon this could be halting the growth?

They've grown quite tall, but the flowering seems very slow from the first flowers. How long does it take fro the fruits to appear from flowering?
I've rubbed my finger on some of the flowers taking the pollen from them as there are no bees to do it for me

Has anyone had any probs with mites or the likes- and what did you do to cure the plants?

I can't wait to eat them, I'm a chilli addict, plan to pickle some of them similar to the way they do it in Asia / Thailand. A great way to keep a load of them for a few months

From you pollinating with your hand to the start of a little chilli starting to grow for me is usually 3 days to 7 days. Depending on how long the flower is open.
I think your a little late in the year with the flowering but you may still get a small chilli batch in as long as it doesnt get ridiculously cold quickly.

No problem with mites on my indoor plants this year, outdoor other plants did have issues. The discoloured spots on leaves to me anyway may indicate a fungal problem , which 2 of my plants actually have due to
A. The summer of damp humid conditions.
B. My initial overwatering.
C. My poor choise of compost this year (next year i will be mixing large quantity of vermiculite and perlite through a John Innes based compost)

Can you identify with any of these
http://www.ikisan.com/crop%20specific/eng/links/ap_chilliDetailedStudyofDiseases.shtml

zacmorris

Outkast_IRE wrote: »

From you pollinating with your hand to the start of a little chilli starting to grow for me is usually 3 days to 7 days. Depending on how long the flower is open.
I think your a little late in the year with the flowering but you may still get a small chilli batch in as long as it doesnt get ridiculously cold quickly.

No problem with mites on my indoor plants this year, outdoor other plants did have issues. The discoloured spots on leaves to me anyway may indicate a fungal problem , which 2 of my plants actually have due to
A. The summer of damp humid conditions.
B. My initial overwatering.
C. My poor choise of compost this year (next year i will be mixing large quantity of vermiculite and perlite through a John Innes based compost)

Can you identify with any of these
http://www.ikisan.com/crop%20specific/eng/links/ap_chilliDetailedStudyofDiseases.shtml

Thanks for the reply,

I can identify with the 'frog eye', but it seems to have slightly cleared up. I have tiny little flies living on some of my plants now too. They're very small so trying to squash them is proving tough.

Two of my plants are flowering much more now and some pollen has come off them. Just hoping there's enough heat / sun left to make the fruit appear. I pleanted them in early MAY, so my patience is starting to run out:rolleyes:

HOpefully they produce some chillis before the real cold sets in. The conservatory is quite warm still, so fingers crossed.

I used potting compost form the beginning so maybe the soil isn't fertile enough either. Thanks for the tips.

I'll throw up some photos soon.

if anyone has any other tips, feel free to pass them on!

Thanks

hairynipple

Im growing jalapenos this summer. They are only starting to flower from last weeks sunshine. I was wondering are jalapenos perrenials? Will they come back next year or will i just pull them when the frost comes

Outkast_IRE

hairynipple wrote: »

Im growing jalapenos this summer. They are only starting to flower from last weeks sunshine. I was wondering are jalapenos perrenials? Will they come back next year or will i just pull them when the frost comes

Outdoors i think they will find it tough to survive the winter as pepper/chilli plants in my experience are very prone to frost damage. I would chance it still though nothing to lose and experience gained.

Outkast_IRE

zacmorris wrote: »

Thanks for the reply,

I can identify with the 'frog eye', but it seems to have slightly cleared up. I have tiny little flies living on some of my plants now too. They're very small so trying to squash them is proving tough.

Two of my plants are flowering much more now and some pollen has come off them. Just hoping there's enough heat / sun left to make the fruit appear. I pleanted them in early MAY, so my patience is starting to run out:rolleyes:

HOpefully they produce some chillis before the real cold sets in. The conservatory is quite warm still, so fingers crossed.

I used potting compost form the beginning so maybe the soil isn't fertile enough either. Thanks for the tips.

I'll throw up some photos soon.

if anyone has any other tips, feel free to pass them on!

Thanks

Have a re-read of some of my previous posts and i talk about the problem with using bog standard compost for pepper/chilli plants.

I said it before but next year without a doubt all my compost will be mixed with equal parts perlite and vermiculite , and when potted up they will all have stones on the bottom of the pot to aid drainage.

hairynipple

Outkast_IRE wrote: »

Outdoors i think they will find it tough to survive the winter as pepper/chilli plants in my experience are very prone to frost damage. I would chance it still though nothing to lose and experience gained.

They are in a tunnel. I suppose there is still a risk of frost damage.

talkabout

Great thread, its a pity i only came across it a few weeks back. I grew a few chilli plants from seed since March and bought a few plants in June that were on their last legs in Homebase. I have a few cayenne grown from seed, a paper lantern, a Golden Cayenne, an Apache and a supposedly scotch bonnet (all purchased) but I'm not to sure. I have had a good harvest from the Cayenne plant and have a bit of an oversupply so i have dried some and froze the rest.

Cayenne.jpg

golden.jpg

apache.jpg

(sorry, two pictures of the Apache, the picture labelled scotch is actually the Apache too.

Outkast_IRE

hairynipple wrote: »

They are in a tunnel. I suppose there is still a risk of frost damage.

Yup will just depend on how quick temp drops etc, worth a bash

Outkast_IRE

talkabout wrote: »

Great thread, its a pity i only came across it a few weeks back. I grew a few chilli plants from seed since March and bought a few plants in June that were on their last legs in Homebase. I have a few cayenne grown from seed, a paper lantern, a Golden Cayenne, an Apache and a supposedly scotch bonnet (all purchased) but I'm not to sure. I have had a good harvest from the Cayenne plant and have a bit of an oversupply so i have dried some and froze the rest.

Cayenne.jpg

golden.jpg

apache.jpg

(sorry, two pictures of the Apache, the picture labelled scotch is actually the Apache too.

I was just about to say its a funny looking scotch when i seen your note
Those plants are looking great, what type of compost etc did you use ?

talkabout

Outkast_IRE wrote: »

I was just about to say its a funny looking scotch when i seen your note
Those plants are looking great, what type of compost etc did you use ?

The Cayenne were potted up a few times using a lidi compost the first time and miracle grow compost thereafter. I have never grown anything before so i had no idea what i was at. The other plants were only potted up once are they were in poor condition and i felt it was too late in the season to re-pot a second time (miracle grow). Next year i intend to be better prepare and like yourself i intend to use perlite and vermiculite mixed in with a good compost. I did put some stones in the bottom of one or two pots to help drainage but I'm not sure it made any real difference. I had aphids a few times but i just sprayed the plants with a hose and it seemed to do the trick. I also had small black flies (nats i think) from over-watering and damp soil but i covered the soil with stones and started watering from the bottom tray and they went away after a week or so.

Outkast_IRE

talkabout wrote: »

The Cayenne were potted up a few times using a lidi compost the first time and miracle grow compost thereafter. I have never grown anything before so i had no idea what i was at. The other plants were only potted up once are they were in poor condition and i felt it was too late in the season to re-pot a second time (miracle grow). Next year i intend to be better prepare and like yourself i intend to use perlite and vermiculite mixed in with a good compost. I did put some stones in the bottom of one or two pots to help drainage but I'm not sure it made any real difference. I had aphids a few times but i just sprayed the plants with a hose and it seemed to do the trick. I also had small black flies (nats i think) from over-watering and damp soil but i covered the soil with stones and started watering from the bottom tray and they went away after a week or so.

Seems to of worked well anyway, the only setback i had this year was from a combination of the compost holding too much water(poor drainage) and me overwatering initially.
Keep an eye in B&Q for the john innes based composts they are meant to be the job, i have some bought ready for my next repotting.

I would say the base of stones on the bottom helped, i will be doing that in all my pots next year.
I have some scotch bonnet growing too , but they are young and im doing a test really to see if they can be overwintered and then hopefully start producing a bumper crop in the spring

The miracle grow compost would be considered a real premium compost , i might have to try one or two plants on it next year and see how they fare out in comparison to the john innes based composts.

talkabout

Outkast_IRE wrote: »

Seems to of worked well anyway, the only setback i had this year was from a combination of the compost holding too much water(poor drainage) and me overwatering initially.
Keep an eye in B&Q for the john innes based composts they are meant to be the job, i have some bought ready for my next repotting.

I would say the base of stones on the bottom helped, i will be doing that in all my pots next year.
I have some scotch bonnet growing too , but they are young and im doing a test really to see if they can be overwintered and then hopefully start producing a bumper crop in the spring

The miracle grow compost would be considered a real premium compost , i might have to try one or two plants on it next year and see how they fare out in comparison to the john innes based composts.

I read on one of the chili forums that the John Innes is the business so I'm going to try that myself next year. The Miracle Grow compost i have was only a euro or so more than the homebase branded stuff so i took a chance with it. I found it wasn't as course as the Lidi compost that i used originally. I must get a picture of my scotch bonnet to see what you think because i think it may be something else or was cross pollinated but the chilies are long rather that bulb shape. I bought it as a dying plant so it may have been mislabelled.

bladebrew

Hey all,

I know this will sound insane compared to some posts on here, but i bought a habanero plant in b&q a few weeks back, it was basically one little stalk as it was very cheap!,
i put it on the windowsill and somehow it has grown, its only about 3 inches tall but it has 2 little habaneros on it already growing:eek:

what the hell will i do with it next?
does it need to be fed with tomato food, or re-potted?
it also seems to be very topheavy since it grew so all the leaves on the top are massive does this matter much?
apologies for the silly questions, but im amazed it has fruit already
any advice appreciated:)

Outkast_IRE

bladebrew wrote: »

Hey all,

I know this will sound insane compared to some posts on here, but i bought a habanero plant in b&q a few weeks back, it was basically one little stalk as it was very cheap!,
i put it on the windowsill and somehow it has grown, its only about 3 inches tall but it has 2 little habaneros on it already growing:eek:

what the hell will i do with it next?
does it need to be fed with tomato food, or re-potted?
it also seems to be very topheavy since it grew so all the leaves on the top are massive does this matter much?
apologies for the silly questions, but im amazed it has fruit already
any advice appreciated:)

In my experience the plants often get top heavy first and then the stem seems to catch up with it and thicken up a good bit. If you think its in any danger of toppling or growing at a mad angle put in a bamboo cane for support to grow it straight otherwise it will sort itself out.

Yes generally when they are flowering/growing fruit you would give them a food to help them .

Japandamo

Hey there, great thread, wish I'd thought of looking at it earlier.

So, had an old unused polytunnel out the back that I decided to put back into active service this year, planted a variety of stuff, seeds I'd bought and others people had left over, among which were an abundance of chilli plants (not sure what variety, although several have come out different to the others).

Was kind of winging it, as I don't have any prior experience with this gardening lark, and it seems to have worked with the tomatoes and such, but a few weeks ago I began noticing huge chunks being taken out of my chillis. I didn't think anything ate them because they were too hot. Started out as only one or two plants suffering, but now it's spread.

Anyway, I've since found some sort of green caterpillar on the plants. Only found three or four of them, they seem to be keeping well hidden. But what the hell ARE they? I've tried looking searching for caterpillar and chillis online and most of them are prescribing a chilli spray as a deterrent to them, but I don't think they're going to mind it much seeing as they're devouring the things.

Any thoughts?

Outkast_IRE

Japandamo wrote: »

Hey there, great thread, wish I'd thought of looking at it earlier.

So, had an old unused polytunnel out the back that I decided to put back into active service this year, planted a variety of stuff, seeds I'd bought and others people had left over, among which were an abundance of chilli plants (not sure what variety, although several have come out different to the others).

Was kind of winging it, as I don't have any prior experience with this gardening lark, and it seems to have worked with the tomatoes and such, but a few weeks ago I began noticing huge chunks being taken out of my chillis. I didn't think anything ate them because they were too hot. Started out as only one or two plants suffering, but now it's spread.

Anyway, I've since found some sort of green caterpillar on the plants. Only found three or four of them, they seem to be keeping well hidden. But what the hell ARE they? I've tried looking searching for caterpillar and chillis online and most of them are prescribing a chilli spray as a deterrent to them, but I don't think they're going to mind it much seeing as they're devouring the things.

Any thoughts?

Havent encountered this one with peppers/chillis as mine are all indoor , i have the complete chilli pepper book as well and no mention of catapillars on the insect pest section, you have an unusual problem it seems, if they are only small catapillars with other plants i did a very thourough manual inspection and pick them off and kill them, otherwise if they are small ladybirds will eat them if you can get some.

Japandamo

Thanks a million for the response and advice. Do you mean to say that I might have discovered a new species??? If that's the case I'll have to think about a name for them, the ones that I'm coming up with at the moment aren't very scientific, though.

Not finding as many as I'd expect with the amount of chillis disappearing. Very irritating, but I'll keep hunting.

Would ladybirds eat caterpillars as well as aphids? I would imagine that if they've been eating chillis they're probably too hot for most predators.

The Master.

this seems like the right place to ask.
i bought one of these just add water type chilli plants from a fruit and veg shop.
cayenne pepper, i have a few peppers growing on four plants but they are green.arent they meant to be red or will they turn red eventually. i had a nibble on one of them and it was out of control, im a wimp.

talkabout

The Master. wrote: »

this seems like the right place to ask.
i bought one of these just add water type chilli plants from a fruit and veg shop.
cayenne pepper, i have a few peppers growing on four plants but they are green.arent they meant to be red or will they turn red eventually. i had a nibble on one of them and it was out of control, im a wimp.

Most chilli peppers will turn from green to read/orange/yellow but not all. I have a few plants that have yet to change colours. Normally, the green fruit in a Cayenne will be bitter and not hot so you might have a Jalapeño Plant.

Outkast_IRE

The Master. wrote: »

this seems like the right place to ask.
i bought one of these just add water type chilli plants from a fruit and veg shop.
cayenne pepper, i have a few peppers growing on four plants but they are green.arent they meant to be red or will they turn red eventually. i had a nibble on one of them and it was out of control, im a wimp.

I grew cayenne this year too , generally with this plant all the fruit will turn to red eventually but you can pick it at either red or green stage whichever you prefer

Outkast_IRE

Japandamo wrote: »

Thanks a million for the response and advice. Do you mean to say that I might have discovered a new species??? If that's the case I'll have to think about a name for them, the ones that I'm coming up with at the moment aren't very scientific, though.

Not finding as many as I'd expect with the amount of chillis disappearing. Very irritating, but I'll keep hunting.

Would ladybirds eat caterpillars as well as aphids? I would imagine that if they've been eating chillis they're probably too hot for most predators.

I meant to respnd earlier to this , slugs are well known chilli munchers , are you sure its not slugs eating them during the night and hiding during the day. That problem i have encountered with other outdoor veg

langdang

Outkast_IRE wrote: »

Japandamo wrote: »

Thanks a million for the response and advice. Do you mean to say that I might have discovered a new species??? If that's the case I'll have to think about a name for them, the ones that I'm coming up with at the moment aren't very scientific, though.

Not finding as many as I'd expect with the amount of chillis disappearing. Very irritating, but I'll keep hunting.

Would ladybirds eat caterpillars as well as aphids? I would imagine that if they've been eating chillis they're probably too hot for most predators.

I meant to respnd earlier to this , slugs are well known chilli munchers , are you sure its not slugs eating them during the night and hiding during the day. That problem i have encountered with other outdoor veg

Interesting to know, would have assumed a creature that was mostly mucous membrane would stay well away from chillis haha! I'm told birds love chillis, apparently they lack whatever is affected by the chilli, but my local birds don't seem to have taken any interest in my piri piris.

Went away on hols, the seasons seem to have changed really quickly, outside plants probably don't have long left :-( inside plants are getting much less sun. Still they've bounced back big time after being parched while I was away. Dunno how many more chillis I'll see this year though.

On the upside, just made some tasty Nandos style sauce - omnomnom....

Outkast_IRE

langdang wrote: »

Interesting to know, would have assumed a creature that was mostly mucous membrane would stay well away from chillis haha! I'm told birds love chillis, apparently they lack whatever is affected by the chilli, but my local birds don't seem to have taken any interest in my piri piris.

Went away on hols, the seasons seem to have changed really quickly, outside plants probably don't have long left :-( inside plants are getting much less sun. Still they've bounced back big time after being parched while I was away. Dunno how many more chillis I'll see this year though.

On the upside, just made some tasty Nandos style sauce - omnomnom....

My inside plants got a great boost from the sunshine this last month and the lower humidity helps them too. I had eaten all the cayannes by mid august and the recent sunny weather made the plant burst into flower it looks like i will have another 8 or 10 chillis off it

The bell pepper and corno di toro rosso and almost done for the season though, i will only be keeping my best mature plants for next year.

Technophobe

Recipe ?

langdang wrote: »

Interesting to know, would have assumed a creature that was mostly mucous membrane would stay well away from chillis haha! I'm told birds love chillis, apparently they lack whatever is affected by the chilli, but my local birds don't seem to have taken any interest in my piri piris.

Went away on hols, the seasons seem to have changed really quickly, outside plants probably don't have long left :-( inside plants are getting much less sun. Still they've bounced back big time after being parched while I was away. Dunno how many more chillis I'll see this year though.

On the upside, just made some tasty Nandos style sauce - omnomnom....

langdang

This
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yp9nmawyOfw
will get you a Nandos style sauce. I've played around with it a bit but that's the basic job. The lemon juice and vinegar are important to lower the pH of the sauce, garlic and olive oil can be an incubator for botulism otherwise....

Normal vinegar will do ya fine, I added some coriander, have tried some Jameson in there too as per this link
http://www.emmashouseinportugal.com/food/portuguese-chicken-how-to-make-piri-piri/
The bigger malagueta peppers used in that recipe are not supposed to be as hot as the smaller ones I have. Either that or she really likes HOT sauce. If I only used my piri-piris and no sweet pepper the sauce would be mental.

The second one looks more like a sauce/marinade for cooking chicken Portuguese style, the first link is more like a Nandos dipping sauce.

Technophobe

langdang wrote: »

This
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yp9nmawyOfw
will get you a Nandos style sauce. I've played around with it a bit but that's the basic job. The lemon juice and vinegar are important to lower the pH of the sauce, garlic and olive oil can be an incubator for botulism otherwise....

Normal vinegar will do ya fine, I added some coriander, have tried some Jameson in there too as per this link
http://www.emmashouseinportugal.com/food/portuguese-chicken-how-to-make-piri-piri/
The bigger malagueta peppers used in that recipe are not supposed to be as hot as the smaller ones I have. Either that or she really likes HOT sauce. If I only used my piri-piris and no sweet pepper the sauce would be mental.

The second one looks more like a sauce/marinade for cooking chicken Portuguese style, the first link is more like a Nandos dipping sauce.

thanks for sharing!

langdang

The first recipe tends to be a bit watery, you could reduce the amount of liquids a bit, depending on personal preference.
Habaneros or Scotch bonnets would work as a substitute for Piri Piris.
Tesco have african bird eye chillis, authentic for an african peri peri sauce - can't recall how hot they are so I'm not sure how many to use. Something you just have to experiment with I suppose!

hairynipple

Image150.jpg



This is where im at with my jalapenos. Not a hope of getting anything from this plant. Well not this year anyways. Found a few caterpillars

langdang

Feckers! Had a few holes in the leaves of plants I had outside but nothing like that. Very disappointing for you, I'm wondering myself should I bring in a habenero that's outside - looks like it might produce if it had another month or two but it won't be happy outside for much longer.