Chillies

[Moonlight]

Here is my chilli pepper Rogues Gallery. They look ok to me but what should I be trying to do next? Pot size? Side shoots? etc. Never grown chillies before and these are all plants grown from seeds sent by Edwin, in the chilli seed swap. (Ist pickie copied and pasted from my Diary they seem to be growing quite rapidly now).

Jun 7, 2013 22:33:48 GMT Moonlight said:

Time for a chilli update.


Pimiento Crystal, Numex Twilight, Fish and Pimiento Piquillo.

Still growing.

Pimiento Crystal





Fish





Numex Twilight




Pimiento Piquillo

[sweetpea]

I'm no chilli expert ML but I have grown them off and on for a dozen or so years only because my daughter in law who is Ethiopian loved chillies, the hotter the better.
Usually I just let them get on with it without any stopping or pinching out. In my case they have all ended up in 5" pots where they will stay for the remainder of their time.
Right now your chillies seem a little more advanced than mine.
You will soon see flower buds appearing followed by the white flowers then the fruits. I find they tend to be later than tomatoes but they do carry on for ages even right up to Christmas in my case.
You can of course harvest them at the green stage or later when they are fully ripe. just don't rub your eyes after handling them.
ps I didn't know chillies could boogie

[steve]

I never stop mine either, you can tell Fish can't you? rather distinctive leaves

The larger plant is ready for potting on, if there are plenty of roots coming out the bottom of the pot then you can move them on, They seem very slow for ages and then suddenly take off, a bit like tomato seedlings but even slower, they look good healthy plants and are comparable with mine, what they need more than anything and what they have had only a few days of so far is good sunny days, temps up and sunny days and they will take off no problem, you will probably have chillis on in July which will carry on through Aug/Sept even in to October with a sunny autumn (please god)

[Moonlight]

Jun 15, 2013 8:23:43 GMT steve said:

I never stop mine either, you can tell Fish can't you? rather distinctive leaves

The larger plant is ready for potting on, if there are plenty of roots coming out the bottom of the pot then you can move them on, They seem very slow for ages and then suddenly take off, a bit like tomato seedlings but even slower, they look good healthy plants and are comparable with mine, what they need more than anything and what they have had only a few days of so far is good sunny days, temps up and sunny days and they will take off no problem, you will probably have chillis on in July which will carry on through Aug/Sept even in to October with a sunny autumn (please god)

Is there anything wrong with just potting them all on at the same time? This something I have thought about a while. If you know roughly the end size pot that you are going to need why not skip a few potting up stages?

[Moonlight]

Jun 15, 2013 7:30:34 GMT sweetpea said:

ps I didn't know chillies could boogie

Only because they had lessons from the bananas

[sweetpea]

Lol

[steve]

You might get away with putting the larger plant in to it's final position (I put some in pots and some straight in to the greenhouse border soil) the final pot size isn't critical really mine are usually around 6 - 8" depending on what I can find empty in the greenhouse pot stash but the smaller they are the more watering and feeding you will have to do, the larger the lesser work, especially if you are out for a day or couple of days then a small pot can dry out on a sunny day and cause them to wilt if not caught in time (can you remember sunny days?)

The reasons for potting on gradually do seem strange but if the plant has a good rootball when potting on it will get a good start in the new pot, if it doesn't have much of a rootball then it can sulk or even rot especially if overwatered at this time

[Moonlight]

Jun 15, 2013 10:36:53 GMT Moonlight said:

Jun 15, 2013 7:30:34 GMT sweetpea said:

ps I didn't know chillies could boogie

Only because they had lessons from the bananas

But I need to be careful other wise the dancing carrot will get jealous that the s and s are getting all the attention.

(nb I am going to stop being silly now.)

[sweetpea]

Jun 15, 2013 13:09:59 GMT Moonlight said:

Jun 15, 2013 10:36:53 GMT Moonlight said:

Only because they had lessons from the bananas

But I need to be careful other wise the dancing carrot will get jealous that the s and s are getting all the attention.

(nb I am going to stop being silly now.)

The words, 'Mission' and 'Impossible' spring to mind

[sweetpea]

Here are my chillies as of 19th June.
Not much different to yours Moonlight.