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Id like to grow some chillies, has anyone on here done it?
I did venture into the world of tomatoes last year but it was a lot of effort for not a lot of yield.
Should I grow chillies from seed or do I buy plants?
Which ones should I go for, Ghost š
It depends on the variety how easy it is to grow from seed. Some are apparently arses whilst many are happy enough.
About the right time for planting seeds. I have done both. Advantage of buying is you can get just the one plant and dont need to bother choosing which seedling to keep.
Pah to ghost though. I have one which hasnt quite learnt it should be producing chillis not sitting around on its arse.
Lemon drop chillis grow well and fruit really heavily (least mine do).
Ta! Do you grow yours in a greenhouse? What do you feed them?
Overwinter them inside next to patio doors and then just put them outside in summer. Greenhouse would be better though. I use "chilli focus" which I suspect is a bit pointless compared to normal plant food but since I dont use that much I fell for the hype.
Fairly easy to grow but you've probably left it a bit late this year, I'd normally get the seedlings going at the end of February. I've had the most success with habaneros and jalapeƱos. ghost seem to be a bit harder. Still, they're cheap enough so go for it.
I think we had a thread a year or so ago... I'll have a look.
I bought seeds from Simpsons online, I think it was. Planted, kept in the airing cupboard (yes, I have an old style boiler), when the shoots had leaves put on a windowsill. Grew nicely.
Only problem was my kitchen doesn't get enough sunlight, so I had tall, gangly plants instead of bushy ones. So you need good light (greenhouse, ideally) and not much air movement. The wind'll kill em. Easy enough to grow from scratch though.
[url= https://singletrackmag.com/forum/topic/i-bought-a-chilli-plant/ ]Old thread[/url]
When to plant depends on the variety. Prolly a little bit late for some of the hotter varieties.
Somewhere like Seaspring seeds also sells them as starter plants/plugs so should be able to get them now and not have the hassle of trying to get the seeds started.
Habaneros need space and lots of time IME (I sowed on radiator in early Feb, harvested in November!). Grew a fast variety one year where the flowers came way too early, so really needed some attention to make it grow more greenery first rather than fruit. Planted that in April and harvested well before summer.
My favourite were Lemon Drop, which were more sensible plants.
Agree that you'r a bit late. Normally sew my seeds over christmas hols.
mine are comign on well this year - I'm growing bhut jolokia for the first time - my god they are tempremental! wouldn;t recommend them as a starter plant! Wheter I even get the plant to maturity remains to be seen - It's still only 8 mm tall!
Yup, grown them with varying successes in greenhouse and indoors.
Mostly Apache / Cayenne varieties from seed.
Branched out with I think Basket of Fire and others last year - some were fearsomely hot!
Last year, grew loads from seed, still munching way through the dried fruits - also made a bundle of chilli jam. Not sure it's that late - can get caught by late frosts. Last year was so warm and dry that usual black / green flies weren't a bother.
We bought a plant for a fiver from Waitrose-dahling - was almost cheaper than the few chillies that we needed
Thing's unstoppable - grows and fruits like a bastard
They're not ded hot but they're OK by us
For casual chilli growers lemon drops are a good variety, prolific fruit, fairly easy to grow, very tasty. Tai dragon another good choice, also prolific fruit, easy to grow, good hot heat.
Will be looking for some plants to buy later this year as we've left it too late as usual.
I'm chucking some plants in the greenhouse next week. I'll just get whatever the garden centre has and put Tomorite type stuff on them when the fruit comes out. Habaneros give loads of fruit and if you get too many, slide a load onto string and dry them out. I'm still using dried out ground produce from about 4 years ago and it's a fun, drunk dare to sniff the jar.