Chilli thread 2022 🌶

Sprog · 03-08-2022 2:18am

Thank you both for the replies - very useful stuff there!

Stephen_Maturin · 03-08-2022 11:24am

Plenty of chillis on the plants despite setbacks!

They’re small but have a lovely flavour and plenty of heat - I quite like green chillis so will harvest half now and leave the rest.

Is it best to leave the remainder on the plant to ripen or will they do just fine if picked and left on the windowsill or whatever? Just keen to avoid any potential further aphid damage

Stephen_Maturin · 08-08-2022 12:42pm

The reddening…has begun!

Ms2011 · 09-08-2022 11:48am

Some purple pepper appearing even after the plants were so badly attacked by aphids in the beginning.

RINO87 · 09-08-2022 3:56pm

Jumping on this thread, didn't know it was here, great reading everyone's experiences 🙂

Have a few different varieties of chili and bell pepper coming on in the tunnel now. Most either in flower, or just finished.

I was probably a little late to the game, had the seeds in a heated propogator from early March, and it was a good 3-4 weeks before i saw anything. About 75% of the seeds germinated. Kept them in the propogator till around may, before moving to small pots in the tunnel, i did not get them into the actual ground in the tunnel until late June sometime.

Things were pretty sketchy after that for a while, they we're pretty limp and needed support. I had early potatoes in that spot in the tunnel so mixed in lots of decayed horse manure to the soil before planting, thought i had maybe over egged it with the manure and that the chilis didn't like it, so laid off feeding for a while, but watered every day.

Last few days of July they begán to look really healthy and flowers appeared. Some of the bell peppers have fruit already.

Hopefully this weather gives the rest the shot in the arm to continue fruiting. It's my first attempt at this so excited to see what happens!

Exiled1 · 09-08-2022 6:10pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119422991#Comment_119422991

You can leave them until later in September/October after they turn red and fully mature. Then pick them and let them dry fully.... it will take a few weeks. When fully dry, put them in a large coffee jar and you will have a supply of peppers for the rest of the year. Great to shred into a curry or any dish needing a bit of heat. I still have half a coffee jar left form last year which will help me avoid picking the current crop too early.

RINO87 · 09-08-2022 7:10pm

Have any of you picked and of the peppers, or tried making a hot sauce?

Stephen_Maturin · 15-08-2022 4:40pm

The reddening continues…

(Dunno why boards always rotates my photos)

Ms2011 · 21-08-2022 8:57pm

Getting big and purple 😁

Ms2011 · 31-08-2022 6:38pm

Harvest

Stephen_Maturin · 01-09-2022 10:27am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119549563#Comment_119549563

They look great! Is there much heat in them?

Stephen_Maturin · 01-09-2022 10:29am

Have dried the first cuttings of my demon reds - great spice off them! Dead handy for crumbling into sauces and the like

Ms2011 · 01-09-2022 2:49pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119552762#Comment_119552762

No, they're not quite sweet either, they have an unusual taste but lovely on a sandwich.

CJhaughey · 06-09-2022 11:16am

I'm getting inspired by these pics and commentary.

Our family loves Chillis, I make hot sauce regularly and we use a ton of them in cooking. I have to start growing them for variety and fun.

c - 13 · 07-09-2022 9:35am

Has been a very late year for ripe chillis for me. Have only taken a handful of ripe Dente de Coyote, Scotch Bonnets & Purple UFO's (overwintered from last year) so far.

Has anyone ever overwintered plants in the ground in a tunnel/glasshouse before ? I don't want to go to the hassle of transplanting and storing inside if I could avoid it this year. Only had 2 survivors from 15 last year's indoor attempt.

Supercell · 07-09-2022 11:16am

I've a nice plant that I used the last of my seeds for this year that i'm going to pot up and leave inside this winter next to a SW facing window so should get a little sun. Will save a couple of chilis for seeds and see how the plant gets on over the winter as an experiment. My wife makes a brilliant chilli sauce from the chilis so want to keep that going if at all possible!

Stephen_Maturin · 07-09-2022 12:16pm

Another cut of demon reds off one of the plants this morn

Stephen_Maturin · 15-09-2022 10:02am

More demon reds this morn, awaiting drying in the oven

I also finally cracked and allowed myself to buy a jar of biquinho peppers - marketed as “Lily peppers” here, they are the most delicious, fruity, sweet but piquant little peppers I’ve ever had. Amazing on pizzas or as a snack pepper, I could eat them by the kilo!

Only downside is the price…€7.50 for a single jar of them!! I ordered seeds for them earlier in the year, got 10 awaiting germination come Jan/Feb…cannot wait! Surely 10 biquinho plants will provide me with a couple of jars worth of these little jewels.

If I can get them growing well they’ll be the star of my garden next year for certain

JPA · 14-10-2022 7:13pm

Anyone ever overwinter their chilli plants and have them come back in the spring? Any advice please?

Slava_Ukraine · 14-10-2022 7:47pm

Had a really bad year with them. Last year, our first was fantastic and we still have loads preserved.

This year, sown well earlier than last, they just struggled to grow. And the fruit well it's more like peppers, absolutely no heat whatsoever. They are still in the greenhouse, well most of them, and will let sit it out until the end of the month to see if they improve, unlikely :(

Stephen_Maturin · 14-10-2022 8:30pm

Trim the plant back quite extensively and water only seldom. Keep inside of course!

Exiled1 · 15-10-2022 2:16pm

My padron peppers went rogue this year. 50% of them were murderously hot so I abandoned them. They grew in multitudes and produced peppers about half the size of a bell.

I have got some fiery and flavoursome sauce by whizzing them and putting in jars with white wine vinegar and a bit of salt. One good teaspoon in curry / chilli con carne etc. turns it to medium heat. Happy days.

ps. with the 100 + jalapeños drying at present I will have enough for at least three years.

youllbemine · 22-10-2022 8:09am

Didn't have a great year with the chillies or peppers myself. Grew around 40 plants of 6 different varieties but not a great crop some failed to produce anything, some are still in flower, some only made small peppers, some om waiting on ripening and a small number produced what I expected. Disappointing. They were sown and planted out at the same time as last year. Not sure if the heat during the summer stunted their growth in the poly tunnel. Will be trying more in pots next year in the house and in pots in the polytunnel aswell as the ground in polytunnel to see if that helps. The cayenne peppers are a beautiful orange colour at the moment, hopefully ripen to red before any hard frost comes. Enjoyed this thread, keep it up folks.

Stephen_Maturin · 22-10-2022 10:02am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119778099#Comment_119778099

Ah that’s disappointing to hear! Around what time of year did you sow/plant out? Could it have been too late maybe?

What kind of varieties did you go with? Definitely going to up my varieties for next year!

Stephen_Maturin · 31-10-2022 12:24pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119748160#Comment_119748160

Were they planted from saved seed from padrons you grew the year prior by any chance?

Is there a possibility they hybridised with another variety of chilli you also grew that year like jalapeños or something?

Exiled1 · 31-10-2022 1:40pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119814989#Comment_119814989

No. Germinated from seed and planted in polytunnel in May. Should have been good. Might try again next year as I love the things.

I have preserved superb sweet red peppers (red marconi) and will try to grow more of them next year. They don't have a huge yield and are fiddly to peel and preserve but have a wonderful taste.

Bill Hook · 02-11-2022 11:09am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119748160#Comment_119748160

Same happened with my padrons this year. Bought the seeds from Brown Envelope Seeds. I was thrilled they were so hot because my main chilli peppers - Biala Shipka from Green Vegetable Seeds - were a huge disappointment. I had excellent plants of what I thought were Thai red chillis (from seed I saved myself) but my amateur seed saving skills let me down; they must have crossed with my red peppers because most of the plants have very mild chillis instead of the fiery ones I was expecting.

Stephen_Maturin · 17-11-2022 12:55pm

Not much going on in chilliworld these days - I left all but one of my plants which I’ve decided to keep over winter, however I’ll be keeping it fully inside in the heated living room so don’t think I’ll prune back much at all.

After all the unseasonably warm weather we’ve had I noticed the plant was covered in flowers so said I might try squeeze another fruiting in!

A couple of days later I came back to check the plant and to my horror the thing had suddenly become covered in aphids (bastards). I went to make the usual dish soap solution but was feeling extra punitive towards the pests so I mixed up a v strong chilli oil (made from the pods of the same chilli plant earlier in the year) and added that to the soap spray.

I must say I’m amazed at the additional effect the chilli oil added. I assumed the capsaicin (as a natural pest deterrent) would help but didn’t expect at all the level of effect!

Usually the dish soap spray treatment takes several days to have any effect but literally twelve hours later the entire plant was cleared of aphids. The ones that weren’t killed outright escaped the plant and just clung onto the edge of the pot, as far from the fire plant as they could get!

Really pleased with the results. Will certainly be adding a bi weekly prophylactic chilli spray to all my plants next season!

2011abc · 04-01-2023 2:46pm

Is it too early to start chillis on a ‘hot plate’ without lights ?

Stephen_Maturin · 04-01-2023 2:57pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120064442#Comment_120064442

What do mean by hot plate, like a heat mat type of thing?

Not too early anyway! Just be sure to pull some clingfilm over the top of the pots you’ll be placing on the heat mat to trap moisture.

I'll be moving into a new apartment next week so will begin all my germination then once settled.

Was unsure whether to start a new chilli thread or keep this one going!

Chilli thread 2022 🌶

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