Chillies 2024

ECO_Mental

Hi all

Moved out to the country and got myself a polycarbonate polytunnel (10m x 4m) in September so nothing growing in it yet bar a bit or garlic and some onions, but getting ready for and cant wait for the upcoming veg season.

Needless to say I got a load of gardening presents for Christmas and one present was a load of Chilli seeds, I love hot food and a grew some chilli plants about 10 years ago in my Mothers glass house and was a great success, bought the plants from B&Q so already had the head start.

I have managed to cobble together a heated propagator using using a smart plug, a hot plate from an incubator and using Home Assistant to run some automations that I can regulate the temp up to 30deg +

Looking at the YouTube and from the seed packets its saying that I need to maybe start germinating in Jan/Feb for some of the hotter peppers (I have some Carolina Reapers!!) as it can take up to 3-4 weeks and by the time they are hardened off and the need for a long growing period you need to hit the ground running. The only thing I am missing is a grow lamp but I have a few weeks to source this as well.

What are your plans for 2024? should I be starting to germinate the seeds in the next few weeks?

Had a read through the 2023 and it was interesting so decided to start a 2024 thread.

Deub

I hope to be on board the chilli train for 2024 as well. I grew some chilli this year to try. I took the seeds from a fresh chilli bought in supermarket. The plant is looking healthy right so I might keep it. I bought some cayenne seeds and will try to plant them mid-jan.

Supercell

Looking forward to joining the chill train soon. Tbh I'm looking for quantity and spicyness rather than anything fancy this year. My wife makes a fantastic chili sauce so my aim is to get the goods for that.These will be started inside but grown outdoors.

All starts mid January, time to get seed researching ( recommendations welcome !).

https://morningchores.com/hot-peppers-for-cold-climates/

Tree

I'm a lifelong (5 years) apache fan (don't seedsave though), a good mid to hot, fruity, easy to grow bush. I'm getting more seeds for next year and then find some unusual ones to go with.

We've made hot sauce with them, but mainly we make chilli flakes and through a few in the freezer for slicing into stir fries.

ECO_Mental

The seeds I got in my present box from Red Dragon Welsh Chilli Seeds are, Dont know if I have enough room in my propagator to try them all but I suppose I will get the hot ones up and running first as they can take time. I would love to start now but might wait a few week and go with Mid Jan

Poblano (Ancho) -- Will plant these and dry them out and use for birra tacos

Jays Pink - Supposed to be Super hot

Carolina Reaper -- Will have to try this

Count Dracula -- medium

Khang Starr Leamon Starrburst --- Hot

Sugar Rush Peach Stripey -- Medium level but nice stripy orange/red colour will give these a go

Aji Pineapple --- Medium level

Kasmiri Mirch -- Mild

Sweet Banana -- Mild

Bill Hook

I grew Cayenne (12 plants) and Tobasco (11 plants) last year. The Cayenne were fantastic, huge crop and great taste. The Tobasco were a complete failure. So this year I am going with Cayenne again and I will buy a few more varieties to try out. I grow Padrón peppers every year and they usually end up being quite hot and make very nice pickled chillis (jalapeño style).

Supercell

Anyone got theirs in a propagator yet? Planning on starting mine next weekend, Summer 2024 begins! Some new varieties this year, very exciting.

ECO_Mental

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121615056#Comment_121615056

I am ashamed to admit it but yeah I put a few seeds in my propagator last week 😔...could not help myself as I know I am early but my propagator is something I cobbled together from some home automation kit I had lying about the place (I had a hot plate from all things a chicken incubator!!) and I want to see if it worked, so I put in a few super hot chillies that should take 3 weeks or more to propagate. I only put 10 seeds to see how to work it best and how the soil temps are suing my automation etc

The temps below are the temp of the plate and I have it set to go off at 34deg and kick back on at 30 deg. With this I am maintaining a soil temp of about 29 degs. You can see I have been adjusting the bottom and top limit to get the temp ideal at around 29degs. I am killing two birds with the some stone here doing a nice home automation project with Home Assistant and germinating seeds.

Need to source a grow lamp next!!

Bill Hook

I'm holding off sowing the seeds until the start of February. The trickiest bit for me is minding the plants until the weather is warm enough to move them from the house to the (unheated) polytunnel.

Supercell

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121617721#Comment_121617721

Yeah, i do the in and out shuffle during May to harden off before planning outside around mid June or whenever the forecast is for it to have mild nights.

ECO_Mental

Bloody Hell!!! my Carolina Reapers and a couple more chillies just germinated and only after a week...I though it was going to take 3-4 weeks according to all the advice...way too early I know..

but at least my seed propagator works a treat

Deub

I did my cayenne today. I don’t have heating mats so they will have to do with room temperature. It will be survival of the fittest here.

Exiled1

Plan to start tomorrow. Will spread seeds in wet tissue, seal in plastic bag and put in top of hot press. It has never failed me.

ECO_Mental

Well 9 of the 10 I planted 3 weeks ago have come up (one more today), a couple of Caroline reapers but also Kingstarr Lemons, Sugar Rush Stripey and Jays Pink. They are a bit leggy as the lighting setup I have is not the best (its just an LED bulb 😕 not a grow light...).

I think this week end I might plant 10 more as this is the best time to go, these first ones were because I got too impatient!!

Supercell

Last year i repotted my leggy ones into deeper pots so the soil was nearly up to their leaves again, worked fine.

Not making that mistake again of going too early!

scarepanda

I wasn't going to do chills this year... Then I found some old jalapeno and sweet pepper seeds in the box when I was sorting out my seeds a few weeks ago. Ended up buying some cayenne chilli seeds when I was doing the seed order.

I sowed the old seeds yesterday and will do the Cayenne later on (it only came in the post today).

Were not massively into fresh chillis, so the Cayenne will be dehydrated and used for chilli powder. And the jalapeno preserved and used as a topping.

Stephen_Maturin

Late to the game this season but better late than never! Drastically reducing the number of varieties and plants this year, just these six (might add a demon red too) to keep things simple

Have gone for:

Cayennetta, Lemon Drop, Habanada, Balls of Fire, Serrano, and a mystery chilli from one of the restaurants in Chinatown on Parnell st

Wishing everyone a bountiful year, fingers crossed for a scorching summer!

Deub

My cayenne decided to show up 2.5 week after seeding. Now starts the fun of trying not to have them leggy.

ECO_Mental

Don't know what I'm going to do with all these fellas...made a big mistake in that in the 1st batch I had them all labeled in the seed tray but when I moved them into the little pots I forgot what went where...I decided that what the hell let's play Russian Roulette...it could be a reaper or a sweet banana🫣🫣

I'm probably going to give away a few plants to a few friends.

Supercell

Mine are all fairly leggy now, par for the course, will be repotting this weekend. Out of my new (really) hot seeds only one out of the pack of 10 germinated, quite disappointed but have plenty others, just not on the silly hot scale. Trying some non spicy peppers also for the first time this year. I've had great success with the spicy ones outside before so hoping the bigger non spicy ones will grow well to, here's hoping for a decent summer!

ECO_Mental

Hows everybodies chillies comming on....here are the ones I planted in early Jan (well most of them)

An these ones I planted early Feb, as you can see there isnt toom much of a difference and there was no point in going very early. Even tough the very early ones are a bit stronger. I have them in a very sunny window sill and they get light all day long and from two aspects as well.

Supercell

Here's some of mine earlier thinking, eh, no thanks..

Deub

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121838374#Comment_121838374

Mine are like yours currently. One decided that after a full month, it was time to germinate.. took it long enough

Supercell

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121837647#Comment_121837647

Looking good, the January ones will be huge by the time the weather is warm enough to plant out.

The dark one in the second picture looks interesting , what's that or is it just a trick of the light?

Bill Hook

I only pricked mine out yesterday. They are tiny and are looking very sad this morning.

ECO_Mental

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121840683#Comment_121840683

Hi yeah the ones with the dark leaves are either Jay's Pink or Count Dracula....first year doing seeds and I f**ked up all the labeling of my seeds...its going to be Russian Roulette come August...

Supercell

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121841876#Comment_121841876

Jeeze those Jays Pink have a scoville rating of 1,000,000, thats a bit insane!

Stephen_Maturin

My lot, a month after planting in early Feb

Cayennetta well in the lead development wise followed by Lemon Drop

Nothing to be seen from Habanada or the mystery chilli. The mystery chilli was dried so I’ve a suspicion it had been oven dried as opposed to air, hence killing any seeds. Oh well.

Should prick these out soon, they’re getting a bit big. Plan is probably to take the nicer of each variety of seedling and pull the other one. Usually this would be unthinkable for me but I’m doing a stripped back grow this year which I want to stick to. No mercy unfortunately.

SouthWesterly

Had to start again. Slugs got into my propagator and decimated all but 5 plants. Sowed more seed yesterday.

Stephen_Maturin

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121891052#Comment_121891052

Ah god, commiserations

Had a big holiday weekend of socialising planned after two particularly punishing weeks at work so of course I’ve awoken sick as a dog…

I guess I’ll have to trade the partying for catching up on some light gardening instead

Probably high time for me to move my seedlings into slightly bigger pots and onto the heat mat

Stephen_Maturin

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121891052#Comment_121891052

What varieties had you planted, as a matter of interest?

SouthWesterly

https://badskinsgarden.be/winkel/peper/chili-superdeal-1/

https://badskinsgarden.be/winkel/peper/chili-superdeal-2/

https://badskinsgarden.be/winkel/paprika/paprika-superdeal

@Stephen_Maturin Above are the links. Planted all 10 seeds per pot as germination can be hit and miss.

Stephen_Maturin

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121891461#Comment_121891461

Jayz some collection

How do you find the superhots go in our climate? Know they can be a bitch to germinate (hence you planting all 10 of the seeds I imagine), even my habanadas didn’t germinate this year - chocolate habs were the same last year, and that’s with scarification, heated propagator etc. only ones out of 15 varieties that didn’t germinate last year

SouthWesterly

My first year was last year. My fish pepper did really well but nothing else as far as I know. Labels rubbed off.

Got them from Karl last year.

Trying this crowd in Holland this year. A lot cheaper. First batch germinated well only for the slugs. I saved 5 plants which I have in the propagator under light

ECO_Mental

Chillies coming along well enough...I am thinking of getting them into their main big pots and maybe plant directly into the soil in the polytunnel....might be still a bit cold but the tunnel can reach 30degs no problme if we get any sun at all. (hit 35 this week with the windows closed)

Might still be a bit too cold at night though, although I could cover them inside the tunnel at night. I feel they are getting too big for the little pots they are in.

Question what size pots do you use I have a load of 9.5 litre ones are they too small?

Deub

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121925272#Comment_121925272

They are nice !

Mine are not so far along. They are tiny in comparison. I did them at the end of Jam but stil…

Stephen_Maturin

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121925272#Comment_121925272

Looking good!

I would probably opt for the pots, the soil might not be as warm?

SouthWesterly

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121925272#Comment_121925272

Night time is the problem. It's still very cold , even in the tunnel

2011abc

Stephen_Maturin , I’ve just started reading Master and Commander so you can imagine how your username caught my eye ( “My good sir”…I am having to resist talking to the family like the two boys in the books ) Anyway my chillis seem to be going well .Majority of seeds kindly donated by Karl Butler from FB Irish Chilli Growers group as I do a lot of horticulture in my secondary school .Fortunately they are also paying for most of the heat and light as this chilli business seems to be energy intensive! Anyway they are at home with me for the fortnights Easter hols .The Mrs will be glad to get her windowsills back .I put some outdoors in a plastic box in direct Sun for an hour or two yesterday .Depressingly it was 23 degrees about five warmer than indoors .Curse you Irish government not putting a cap on energy costs !!!

2011abc

Varieties include red , orange and yellow Habanero ,Rawat Thai Chilli (hot!) , Romanian Giallo ( yellow ) Bhut Jolokia , Buena Mulata , Prairie Fire , Hungarian Yellow , Purple fLash and tons of Cayenne and Padron etc

ECO_Mental

Lady Birds doing a great job on one of my chillies….over all they coming grand, weather obvioulsy slowed them down a bit over the past few weeks. Hopfully the bit sunshine we will get over the nxt week and a change in the weather will bring them on better

SouthWesterly

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122026913#Comment_122026913

Are yours planted in beds?

ECO_Mental

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122027028#Comment_122027028

Yeah I have just over half in in the beds in the polytunnel…Ill see how they get on there, I think I read somewhere that in pots they might put more energy into the fruit if they are in pots but we will see

SouthWesterly

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122027109#Comment_122027109

Ill be interested to see how you get on. Ive about 30 coming up in small pots. will transfer into bigger ones as they progress. planted 48 tomatoes into beds yesterday in the tunnel. Mine is full with leeks,celery, onions and garlic.

Stephen_Maturin

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121948657#Comment_121948657

A drink with you sir! My hearty congratulations, I wish you good health and a fair wind on what I can promise is the most marvellous journey. Handsomely now with the chillies!

When you get onto the second book stick with it - it’s very different from all of the other entries and some people (damn’d cowards and scrubs all if you ask me) give up because of that. Persevere and you’ll be rewarded with one of the finest series of novels in English (it really is hard not to start talking like the lads haha, I finished them years ago and it comes back as easy as kiss my hand…okay that’s enough! 😂)

Haha anyway back to the chillies

My handful have gone well oversize for their little starter pots - have been mad busy with work and travel and fun to get around to repotting them (always find that particular task a bit of a chore) but am determined to get them into their next pots this evening

They’re generally looking good, I’m a little bit concerned about the Serrano though it’s looking a bit leggy compared to the others (middle back) and not as lush in foliage…not sure why as they all get the same amount of light. Anyway I’m sure moving to a bigger pot will do them all the world of good

ECO_Mental

Is this the first flower starting to bud??

Chillies are coming on grand, the ones in the pots are doing a lot better than the ones in the beds..I think the black pots I do have them in absorbe the heat more as well. Keep going anyway.

Bill Hook

Yep, that looks like a flower and your plants look really healthy. I'm jealous, mine are all still small and miserable looking.

Supercell

Starting to harden mine off now, going out in the sun for an hour a day, which will go to two then three. I saw a youtube video where a fella said if you have a few cloudy days forecast thats a great way of hardening them off, was thinking of just popping into a shady spot but afraid the bloody slugs will get them before they are big enough to fend them off themselves.

Deub

My Cayenne chillies are shocking. They are small even though they stay inside since Jan. It is like the last 2 months were wasted I’ve just put them outside in a small greenhouse and they will decide what they want to do.

ECO_Mental

Chillies are flying along and getting more and more flowers, they look fine and healty and well. The ones in the pots are a lot better thn planted in the ground. Might start thinking about feeding them?

Chilles planted in the ground arent doing as great at all but they have come on a lot over the last week or so with the added heat and sunny days (embarassed buy all the grass coming up the side of the tunnel😯 strimmer is broken thats my excuse…)

scarepanda

I was just coming on here to ask about chilis in the ground. I know on YouTube a lot of people grow them in pots. I was hoping to plant them in the beds with the tomatoes this year as I have automatic watering set up for the toms and I'm not the best at regular watering, especially now I have the soaker hose set up.

I wonder is it the confines of the pots that they like or that pots are probably warmer? If it's the confines they like would planting them in an open bottom pot in a bed be a happy medium?