Chillies!

MissShihTzu

Hi

I have some chili seeds which I've been propagating on my window sill and a heated propagator. I used the seedling compost to start them off.

About half have taken and looking at the instructions, I can now re-pot these in larger pots. I have a mini greenhouse where I plan to put the seedlings.

My question is: Which is the best compost to use when re-potting? Should I carry on with the seedling compost or change to something else. I plan to feed with tomato feed.

TIA

Zardaz

MissShihTzu wrote: »

Hi

I have some chili seeds which I've been propagating on my window sill and a heated propagator. I used the seedling compost to start them off.

About half have taken and looking at the instructions, I can now re-pot these in larger pots. I have a mini greenhouse where I plan to put the seedlings.

My question is: Which is the best compost to use when re-potting? Should I carry on with the seedling compost or change to something else. I plan to feed with tomato feed.

TIA

I use a good-quality non-peat compost, with about 30% perlite through it, and add in about 5% home-made pure worm compost. Plus a couple of spoons of crushed eggshell and rock dust.
But no need to go to that extent if you don't have all the ingredients, just make sure that the substrate is not too "heavy" or packed too tight, and is well draining and "rich".
The hotter the chili, he more warmth they will need. I wouldn't take any any chilli plants off heat and into a greenhouse until the nights are > 8 deg C.

Here's a shot of my Carolina Reapers in my Vitopod propagator:

MissShihTzu

Wow Zardaz! Your plants look amazing. I only hope mine are half as good!

This is the first time I've grown from seed, so of course hugely excited and want to get this right. The nights are still pretty cold, so did wonder about putting the seedlings out there just yet, so thanks for that. I'll keep them indoors for a while longer.

It was a real mish mash of stuff - some were in pots without a propagator. And they've turned out best of all. Some were in unheated ones which I kept on the windowsill - some have taken, others have not. And some I took from the windowsill and put in a small heated propagator, and they seem to be coming along very slowly. Only one more seed has taken in that, and I plan to move that to the windowsill to see if it improves. The chillies I have are Jalapeno and Anaheim which isn't as hot.

Thanks again!

I prepared 5 big pots for chilis a few weeks ago and was very pleased with meself. Popped in the seeds and THEN went to check what type of chili they were (yeah, I know)... they were fuppin' ghost peppers. Not so pleased with meself the next day, I whipped out the seeds and put chard, charrots and beans in the pots instead. So folks, read those labels before you buy chilis!

That is all...

MissShihTzu

Meep, meep - I didn't mean to LOL, but I did!! Maybe you should try selling the ghost peppers? Plenty of people would buy them!

gandalf

I've made lovely chilli jam with ghost peppers. I did try one raw but I wouldn't recommend anyone try that 😜

Currently growing Padrons, Jalapenos, Birds Eye Chilli's the plants are all flourishing. Also have a couple of small weak Carolina Reapers but not confident I'll get anything out of them (if I do I'll try one of the chilli's raw). The Scotch Bonnets I planted did not work out at all.

PeadarOBriain

I have always had good success with John Inns, no.1 (seedlings), no.2 (potting on) and no.3 (mature plants)
Make sure you harden off your chili’s for 1-2weeks before going to the greenhouse.

MissShihTzu

PeadarOBriain wrote: »

I have always had good success with John Inns, no.1 (seedlings), no.2 (potting on) and no.3 (mature plants)
Make sure you harden off your chili’s for 1-2weeks before going to the greenhouse.

Thank you! I did a bit of reading up, and yes, I did use John Innes No 2 to pot on. The chillies are now in the greenhouse, but have covered over loosely with plastic as the nights are still a bit chilly (sorry!). Feeding with tomato feed. I'll get some No. 3 in the week as well so that I'm ready. They're continuing to do well and took to opening the flap of the greenhouse to let the plants breathe and get air of sun, covering over again when it gets wet/dark ðŸ˜

Bilbo65

Last year was my first time growing peppers in the greenhouse. Great success, except that we ate all the sweet peppers immediately but I stored the hot stuff in a sealed plastic container after drying. Bad mistake, they all rotted. I'll be more careful how I save my hot peppers this year.

MissShihTzu

Bilbo65 wrote: »

Last year was my first time growing peppers in the greenhouse. Great success, except that we ate all the sweet peppers immediately but I stored the hot stuff in a sealed plastic container after drying. Bad mistake, they all rotted. I'll be more careful how I save my hot peppers this year.

You can freeze hot peppers. My friend at home in the UK did this quite successfully. I'm not sure if she blanched first though. I'll ask her

Bilbo65

MissShihTzu wrote: »

You can freeze hot peppers. My friend at home in the UK did this quite successfully. I'm not sure if she blanched first though. I'll ask her

Thanks for that hint. Looking forward to your friends advice.

Tree

We dried our hot peppers last year and processed them a bit to make flakes. They're wild fruity as chilli flakes go. Highly recommend. This year's chillis are still small yet, a few apaches and machu pichu got potted on, but the slow burn and bubblegums are still wee.

Wolftown

Bilbo65 wrote: »

Last year was my first time growing peppers in the greenhouse. Great success, except that we ate all the sweet peppers immediately but I stored the hot stuff in a sealed plastic container after drying. Bad mistake, they all rotted. I'll be more careful how I save my hot peppers this year.

Plastic container straight in to the freezer once off the plant. I had a few Chenzo chilli plants that were overwintered for 5 years and always had hundreds in the freezer for cooking with.

When using them just make sure to chop them as soon as you take them out as they'll go soft once they defrost.

Brian?

I see a lot of people using green houses. I’ve never used a green house to grow chillis. Once they are ready to transplant I put them outside and I always get a great crop.

I put my Young chilli plant outside yesterday, I’m not worried about them at all.

FYI, last 2 years in the Netherlands. But years of growing chillis in Ireland the same way.

For preservation:

Most of in the freezer. The rest get dried. I empty the seeds out of a few dried chillis around March and plant them indoors.

MissShihTzu

Hi all!

Back again for a bit of advice...

I've potted up most of the seedlings which are now in the mini greenhouse and seem to be taking off pretty well. Last week, when we had a bit of sun, I had to open it as it got way too hot and the seedlings wilted. They're all fine now, but something appears to have had a munch on some of the leaves which must've happened when I had the greenhouse open. Can anyone recommend a good pest/insect repellent to stop the critters having a snack? I've read good things about neem oil, but some people say it killed their chillies...

TIA

Supercell

Mine are outside the last couple of weeks and doing fine. The slugs do like them, i do use the blue pellets...

Brian?

MissShihTzu wrote: »

Hi all!

Back again for a bit of advice...

I've potted up most of the seedlings which are now in the mini greenhouse and seem to be taking off pretty well. Last week, when we had a bit of sun, I had to open it as it got way too hot and the seedlings wilted. They're all fine now, but something appears to have had a munch on some of the leaves which must've happened when I had the greenhouse open. Can anyone recommend a good pest/insect repellent to stop the critters having a snack? I've read good things about neem oil, but some people say it killed their chillies...

TIA

I put coffee grounds around the soil. Keeps off slugs and fertilises at the same time. If it’s aphids I spray the leaves with soapy water. I can’t find soap flakes in the Netherlands so I grated anbar of soap

MissShihTzu

Thanks guys. I'll get some coffee grounds and spread round the plants.

QQ - would a very weaK solution of dish soap and water be OK to use?

Dial Hard

A solution of insecticidal soap/washing up liquid in a spray bottle should take care of whatever eating them, MS. Some people also also a tablespoon of oil to the mix to help it stick and stop it drying out.

A word of caution on the tomato feed too, don't overdo it or you'll get lovely big fruit that taste of absolutely nothing. Don't overwater either, the dryer you keep them, the hotter the chillies.

Supercell wrote: »

Mine are outside the last couple of weeks and doing fine. The slugs do like them, i do use the blue pellets...

These are *really* bad for hedgehogs, just fyi. I find the copper tape you wrap around the top of your pots absolutely brilliant for keeping slugs and snails away. Saved my courgettes last year.

Brian?

MissShihTzu wrote: »

Thanks guys. I'll get some coffee grounds and spread round the plants.

QQ - would a very weaK solution of dish soap and water be OK to use?

Never tried liquid “soap”, I prefer to use real soap as I know it’s 100% ok. You can get soap flakes in the supermarket, they’ll last you years

MissShihTzu

Bilbo65 wrote: »

Last year was my first time growing peppers in the greenhouse. Great success, except that we ate all the sweet peppers immediately but I stored the hot stuff in a sealed plastic container after drying. Bad mistake, they all rotted. I'll be more careful how I save my hot peppers this year.

MissShihTzu wrote: »

You can freeze hot peppers. My friend at home in the UK did this quite successfully. I'm not sure if she blanched first though. I'll ask her

Bilbo65 wrote: »

Thanks for that hint. Looking forward to your friends advice.

Finally got an answer from my friend! She washed and chopped the chillies, removing the seeds first. No blanching needed.

She was also talking about drying them - by putting on a low oven heat for 10 minutes, but I warned her to be careful drying them (after reading some of the posts) and to make sure whatever container she put the dried chillies in is sterile and airtight.

Wonder if a small Kilner jar would do the job?

Brian?

MissShihTzu wrote: »

Finally got an answer from my friend! She washed and chopped the chillies, removing the seeds first. No blanching needed.

She was also talking about drying them - by putting on a low oven heat for 10 minutes, but I warned her to be careful drying them (after reading some of the posts) and to make sure whatever container she put the dried chillies in is sterile and airtight.

Wonder if a small Kilner jar would do the job?

I store dry chillies in a ramikan. They can go mouldy if they're stored in an airtight jar, I've learned from experience to leave them breathe.

CelticRambler

MissShihTzu wrote: »

She was also talking about drying them - by putting on a low oven heat for 10 minutes, but I warned her to be careful drying them (after reading some of the posts) and to make sure whatever container she put the dried chillies in is sterile and airtight.

If chilies are dried properly, there's no need for the container to be sterile or airtight. The traditional way to dry and store them is in long strings in a shed, in much the same way as you'd store onions or garlic.

Some people go on to bottle the dried chilies in oil. That's where you need to be a bit more careful, because the oil will go rancid if the bottle/jar isn't filled to the top and airtight. The idea here is to flavour the oil rather than preserve the chilies.

Last year, I froze the small quantity I had in excess of my daily needs - just cleaned out the seeds (kept for sowing this year) and chopped and bagged them. If I have any spare this year (very poor germination, so no expectations) I'll be drying them in a dehydrator - am trying not to be too dependent on freezer storage for veg.

captainshamroc

I lost all this years chilli plants to slugs since I put them out. I had only 13, Jalapeno mostly as I love them fresh in tacos. Not too bothered as I still have a freezer drawer with enough to get me to next year. I'll have to be a lot more careful next year.

Freezing is easy. They do lose texture though when you defrost so will be soggy. Still good for cooking though. You can puree them and put in ice trays as well if you want a simple cube you can fire in to a curry or sauce.

I use a dehumidifier to dry them until they crunch. The kitchen smells great for days afterwards :-)
You can use a oven at a low temp either with the door open or if its just a small amount needle a string through them and hand them above the kitchen window for a while. I haven't done this in a few years so cant remember how long it took.
As mentioned you need to be careful with chilli oil. Boil the jars first to kill any bacteria is a must.
https://www.chilipeppermadness.com/chili-pepper-recipes/hot-sauces/ has a load of recipes for sauces and oils as does youtube.

MissShihTzu

Hey all

Back with another question if that's OK. My seedlings are now about 8 inches in height, and I recently potted them all in 18cm pots. What's the correct size to use next as they grow bigger?

TIS :)