Pepper/chilli plants flowering looking for advice

Outkast_IRE

If planting outside i would be saying netting is a must to prevent this. Ah sure lesson learned etc.

sirpsycho

hairynipple wrote: »

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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

That's not too bad, it doesnt look bad enough to prevent the plant from fruiting. Keep looking under the leaves and picking off any pillars you find. I found some green pillars on my peppers last year, after they had eaten small holes in my pepper fruits.

Did you sow these late? They should be well fruiting by now.

Outkast_IRE

sirpsycho wrote: »

That's not too bad, it doesnt look bad enough to prevent the plant from fruiting. Keep looking under the leaves and picking off any pillars you find. I found some green pillars on my peppers last year, after they had eaten small holes in my pepper fruits.

Did you sow these late? They should be well fruiting by now.

Not bad enough to prevent fruiting but theres starting to be a chill at night now, my main worry would be that chilli/pepper plants can be frost damaged quite easily.

david75

Here's my lot. I didn't label them stupidly so im not sure what kind of peppers they are. They're still very small, but there's a food few coming through. Wondering if I should move them to a bigger pot? They've been outside since day one too.

redser7

I'd say bring them in and try and overwinter them for an early/better crop next year.

langdang

redser7 wrote: »

I'd say bring them in and try and overwinter them for an early/better crop next year.

Time to call it alright I think.
I've habeneros outside just about to produce. Dunno If I can justify adding to the little jungle I have inside already!! Be a shame to write them off now I suppose, hmmm

redser7

You could cut some of the plant back and hope to ripen a few on a window sill?

Outkast_IRE

Night time temps are dropping at the moment much more and earlier than i would of expected, mine are in a conservatory and the only one still flowering or wanting too is a mad cayanne plant which is still producing flowers this week and has a load of small chillis growing.

The rest i think have called it a day this year as they can feel the cooler temps/shorter days already.

I will leave them until mid october or late october and then cut them back and keep my fingers crossed for the winter.

JohnK

What’s the deal with the chillies going red? I've had a good few on mine for a few weeks now but they're all green except for one which started to go red yesterday or the day before. Does it actually matter or have any impact on the taste?

langdang

redser7 wrote: »

You could cut some of the plant back and hope to ripen a few on a window sill?

Small enough as it is. It's in a big window box with 2 other plants at the moment - might transplant it to a smaller plot - it's bringing in another few kgs of damp soil to the kitchen that's turning me off it. 5 big ass PiriPiri plants is enough for any amateur indoor chilli grower I think.
There's 2 months left in them at least I'd say if I rig up some lights, kitchen is a fairly constant temp in the current house. If I was still in the celtic tiger windtunnel I was in before they'd be a write off.

Outkast_IRE

JohnK wrote: »

What’s the deal with the chillies going red? I've had a good few on mine for a few weeks now but they're all green except for one which started to go red yesterday or the day before. Does it actually matter or have any impact on the taste?

Yes the taste is different (slightly) but its all down to personal preference really , i like mine red mostly others prefer green.

I think it will get harder to ripen chillis from now till the winter as temps and light are fading . If they are indoors they probably have a better chance of ripening.

Heroditas

They also get hotter when they turn red, don't they?
Anyway, I really must post up a picture of the office Naga - it's absolutely huge now. It's like a small tree!!!
Loads of flowers on it but unfortunately not a single chilli - quite disappointing.

JohnK

Well mine have been indoors the whole time infront of a huge window and thats where they'll be staying although now its getting colder it could get a bit too cold by that window. Strange though that theres not even a hint of red on any of the other chillies and they've been around longer than the one thats going red.

Outkast_IRE

JohnK wrote: »

Well mine have been indoors the whole time infront of a huge window and thats where they'll be staying although now its getting colder it could get a bit too cold by that window. Strange though that theres not even a hint of red on any of the other chillies and they've been around longer than the one thats going red.

It is odd but not all varites ripen the same way, if i was you id start picking and using some.

Outkast_IRE

Heroditas wrote: »

They also get hotter when they turn red, don't they?
Anyway, I really must post up a picture of the office Naga - it's absolutely huge now. It's like a small tree!!!
Loads of flowers on it but unfortunately not a single chilli - quite disappointing.

Have you been hand pollinating ? its what your meant to do with an indoor plant.

Whats happening the flowers do they drop off after a week ?

JohnK

Outkast_IRE wrote: »

It is odd but not all varites ripen the same way, if i was you id start picking and using some.

To be honest I couldnt even tell you what variety it is, I just pickup up one of those little pots in dunnes that had some seeds and a bit of compost but I'm fairly sure the picture on the front had all red chillies on it so I would have thought thats what I'd get, or at least a few red chillies.

iba

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?

Could it be sawfly or some other form of Moth lava rather than caterpillars?

iba

hairynipple wrote: »

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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

Could it be sawfly or some other form of Moth lava rather than caterpillars?

Heroditas

Outkast_IRE wrote: »

Have you been hand pollinating ? its what your meant to do with an indoor plant.

Whats happening the flowers do they drop off after a week ?

Yeah I've been trying to hand pollinate but don't seem to be having much success. I also leave it outside occasionally to allow the wind blow the pollen.

Flowers just drop off after a week or two. It's a pity because it's heaving with them.

langdang

Hoverflies are the job for pollinating, mine attracted swarms when they were outside on hot days.

I've a neglected plant here in the office - has flowers but they don't always produce pollen! Unless there is visible pollen on your finger when you tickle the flowers then I'd say the chances of a chilli growing are slim. I think there's a temperature/sunlight threshold before they will produce pollen. Could be higher than average for the Nagas.

Heroditas

langdang wrote: »

I think there's a temperature/sunlight threshold before they will produce pollen. Could be higher than average for the Nagas.

Yeah I'm thinking the same thing. The plant in the front window at home was almost fried with all the sunlight coming in and it produced quite a few chillies. There was also a lot of pollen visible when I rubbed the flowers.
I'm not seeing any pollen from these ones.

Maybe next year.

Outkast_IRE

Heroditas wrote: »

Yeah I've been trying to hand pollinate but don't seem to be having much success. I also leave it outside occasionally to allow the wind blow the pollen.

Flowers just drop off after a week or two. It's a pity because it's heaving with them.

Have you pollinated using a cotton bud ? its how i do it with a high success rate.

Heroditas

I'll give the cotton bud a go tomorrow.

Anyway, here's the latest photo of the plant.

Japandamo

iba wrote: »

Could it be sawfly or some other form of Moth lava rather than caterpillars?

Sorry for the delay.

It is entirely possible, although I haven't found any in a while so perhaps it was slugs after all. Or maybe they have become moths or butterflies already. Do larvae look much like caterpillars? Because these were light green little guys about an inch long.

Thanks very much for the response, and sorry again for not thanking you sooner.

iba

Japandamo wrote: »

Sorry for the delay.

It is entirely possible, although I haven't found any in a while so perhaps it was slugs after all. Or maybe they have become moths or butterflies already. Do larvae look much like caterpillars? Because these were light green little guys about an inch long.

Thanks very much for the response, and sorry again for not thanking you sooner.

Yes, light green little guys about an inch long - exactly - do a google pic search 4 sawfly

langdang

Well all, how ye getting on with the chillis?
Thought I'd throw up some pics of my portuguese chillis. They are still producing flowers and chillis with the clear sunny days, I suppose the darker days of late november and december might put a stop to that.

Pretty pleased with these, they seem to do well in Ireland and they can be turned into some tasty sauces etc as I've linked to previously. Heat level suits me.

All of my plants grew from the seeds of 3 chillis from the same mother plant.
If you look at the photo's you'll see that each plant is slightly different - some chillis point up, some down, some are pointy, some are blunt, some look like kinda conjoined chillis, like 2 chillis wanted to come out but the fused into one wider almost double pointed chilli.


IMAG0359 Yes, that's a terrible pic - who needs retro effects apps when you've got a HTC smartphone camera?


IMAG0361


IMAG0363


IMAG0365


IMAG0366


IMAG0367


IMAG0357 table for scale.


IMAG0267 same plants 4 months ago for comparison.

Think I might prune back 2 or more of the plants to see if they grow back bushier and stronger. I'll update with pics if I do.

Technophobe

Think I might cut back one or two of mine to see if they overwinter....

Outkast_IRE

My cayenne was still flowering and producing , but i picked the chillis off it and cut it back, i also cut the rest of my plants back , im going to try and overwinter them proper.

Hopfully all should be well.

Heroditas

I'll try again. Latest photo of the Naga plant:

redser7

Outkast_IRE wrote: »

My cayenne was still flowering and producing , but i picked the chillis off it and cut it back, i also cut the rest of my plants back , im going to try and overwinter them proper.

Hopfully all should be well.

Have read a bit about overwintering but never done it, first year growing peppers. I have 3 nice healthy jalapenos planted in the ground inside the polytunnel. Do you reckon I could dig them up, pot them up and bring them in the house?