Chillitastic

03062008209

2008-06-03T13:59:00.001Z

Like most blogs...

2008-02-05T12:27:00.000Z

...this one got neglected. The chillis grew, we had lots, then they died as winter came. Some live yet inside the house where they are constantly infested with whitefly, greenfly etc. Next year I'l grow less, for sure, and probably not keep a blog about it :)

Especially good performers were Thai Orange, Indian Jwala and Aurora.

First chilli growing!

2007-05-31T19:05:00.001Z

The first chilli is of course from the Black Hungarian (it had the first flowers I didn't pull off). It's an indoor plant and pollinated from itself.

A few chillis outside

2007-05-31T19:03:00.001Z

These guys are outside in the yard.

Szentesi Semi-Hot, Rocoto Canarios and Tequila Sunrise. The far left pot I'm not sure about.

Black Hungarian chilli flower images

2007-05-31T18:58:00.000Z

More Black Hungarian chilli flower images. These are outdoors.

Black Hungarian - First Open Flowers

2007-05-21T13:36:00.000Z

What a great looking flower! This is the first one to open of all my plants. It's an indoor-only plant, on a south-facing bathroom window ledge.

Aphids attack!!

2007-05-10T15:30:00.000Z

Little bastards. I noticed a couple on a kitchen windowsill plant, they probably got in through the window. I isolated it outside immediately and, as it wasn't near any others, forgot about it.

Next day I was checking my other indoor plants (downstairs) and spotted a couple more there! You know how this goes - once you see one, you see a thousand.

So, soapy water was sprayed liberally over all of them yesterday. I'm still waiting to see how it goes. There are still a few littl'uns running about the leaves, so they'll probably need more spraying.

Damn it.

Upstairs plants seem clear for now.

Moving outside, batch #1 (~77 days)

2007-05-10T15:27:00.000Z

The first lot to go outside. A Thai Orange, a Szentesi and a Rocoto Canarios.

Note the wire to discourage our local cat that uses this wall as a shortcut!

After I put these guys out the weather turned grey and cold and very windy. I watched in horror from the kitchen window as they looked very cold and sad...

Some outside chillis at about 70 days

2007-05-10T15:25:00.000Z

These guys were left outside right from the start, they've done quite well. They're a mystery chilli that I bought dried in a Thai shop some years ago.

Plants at 77 days

2007-05-07T15:22:00.000Z

Some of the plants in the upstairs room.

Flowers!? At 67 days old!

2007-04-27T13:15:00.000Z

Yikes, flowers are growing on several of my chillis, after less than 70 days!

I'm in the process of clipping them off, as most plants aren't even 1 foot tall yet and not bushy at all.

This shows the flowers forming on the Tequila Sunrise.

Black Hungarian Identity Image

2007-04-19T18:33:00.000Z

At about 60 days, this shows details of plant as whole, stem and leaf of the 'Capsicum annum 'Black Hungarian' chilli.

Tequila Sunrise (~ 56 days)

2007-04-16T16:20:00.000Z

'Tequila Sunrise' chilli at about 56 days. This is going strong, seems to be a fast grower. Now putting out many side shoots, medium-sturdy stems. Average-sized leaves.

Tam Jalapeno (~ 56 days)

2007-04-16T16:17:00.000Z

Tam Jalapeno (Capsicum annuum ?) at about 56 days. Slighty-darker, frequent leaves, medium-fast grower. Average build.

Jamaican Yellow (~ 56 Days)

2007-04-16T16:15:00.000Z

The Jamaican Yellow chilli (Capsicum annuum) at about 56 days. Medium-speed grower, fairly light-coloured leaves, not stocky.

Fatali (~ 56 days)

2007-04-16T16:12:00.000Z

The Fatali chilli (Capsicum frutescens ?) at about 56 days. Recently replanted it seems to be a slow grower, quite stocky and broad-leaved. I suspect it will not be a tall plant.

Group shots (~ 56 days)

2007-04-16T16:09:00.000Z

This is the bedroom group, which get more sun than any others. The big one is the Ole Jalepeno.

And this is the dining room group.

A selection of chilli plants at 44 days

2007-04-05T17:37:00.000Z

These are the average size of plants I have at the moment. Some much larger and some still only two-leaf seedlings.

Szentesi (~44 days)

2007-04-05T17:35:00.000Z

The 'Szentesi' chilli at about 44 days. Note the really long 'starter' leaves.

Hot Purple Prince chilli (~44 days)

2007-04-05T17:33:00.000Z

The Hot Purple Prince chilli at about 44 days.

Tequila Sunrise (~38 Days)

2007-03-30T11:24:00.000Z

This 'Tequila Sunrise' (Capsicum annuum) chilli is the second largest of all the plants so far.

Hot Purple Prince (~ 38 Days)

2007-03-30T11:21:00.000Z

This is the largest of the Hot Purple Princes (Salvia lyrata?), and the darkest of all the chilli plants so far.

Money Spider on Orange Thai Chilli Plant

2007-03-26T13:23:00.000Z

This little money spider has made its home on one of my Orange Thai chilli seedlings in the bathroom. No harm, it can stay!

Tequila Sunrise (~ 30 days)

2007-03-22T12:37:00.000Z

This is the 'Tequila Sunrise' chilli (Capsicum Annuum) at about 30 days after germination.

Been repotting a few more plants each couple of days when they sprout about 3 or 4 leaves.

Paper Lantern (~ 27 Days)

2007-03-19T14:25:00.000Z

Quite a slow developer this, the Paper Lantern chilli. Note the yellow-hued leaves - the most yellow of all of the chillis.

Hot Purple Prince (~26 Days)

2007-03-17T17:27:00.000Z

Detail of the Hot Purple Prince seedling.

Black Hungarian (~ 26 Days)

2007-03-17T17:26:00.000Z

Detail of the Black Hungarian seedling.

Repotting at about 25 days

2007-03-16T12:31:00.000Z

Transfer into larger pots from the mini-trays. Fill the pot and make a hole large enough (and deep enough) to push the knocked-out seedling and soil into. If you do it quickly you should be able transfer it all without the soil all falling off and finding yourself grasping at slim stem and delicate roots in your big banana-like fingers.

Once potted, water and leave to settle in.

All seedlings at about 22 days

2007-03-14T11:38:00.000Z

Some of these started growing after others of course.

Bugs?

2007-03-13T16:50:00.000Z

I just found one of these guys crawling beside one of my seedlings and picked it up and threw it out of the window before I thought to take a picture.

The image below is taken from [here] (I'm sure they won't mind) It looks as if it's a 'carpet beetle', and not a threat...

So, my stair carpet may be in danger, but at least the chillis are fine...

Rocoto Canarios (21 days)

2007-03-13T10:41:00.000Z

Another picture of the Rocotos - it is the biggest of all of the seedlings now. It is finally putting out some new leaves!

All seedlings are out of the propagator now.

It seems that I don't have any Goat Horn after all - I was misreading my labels! All others have sprouted at least one though.

Late developers

2007-03-09T17:19:00.000Z

Finally, I have a sprouting Goat Horn, Jamaican Yellow, Szentesi and Indian Jwala.

All going well so far. Other, more developed seedlings have started to push out the first real leaves to replace the starter sets.

Hairy Rocoto Canarios Seedling

2007-03-08T13:05:00.000Z

This Rocoto Canarios seedling is one of the hairiest yet!

Seed tray view

2007-03-08T13:04:00.000Z

I have now removed all the sprouted seedlings and moved them to a sunny windowsill. The still dormant or very young have been left in the propagator.

Leaf detail and muse

2007-03-05T12:44:00.000Z

This chilli looks pretty healthy.

We've reached the stage now where half of the plants probably need to be taken out of the propagator and left in as much sunlight as possible. I think I'll have to cut up my seed trays to do this and leave the unsprouted chillis in there.

Also, I have some Fatali seeds beginning to sprout today. Still no Goat Horn though.

Little guys

2007-03-04T12:43:00.000Z

You might have to enlarge this one to see them, but I just noticed all these little plants growing in my seed tray. no idea what they are, but they're quite cute anyway.

Water drops on stem

2007-03-03T12:40:00.000Z

I just liked this image.

News: Chillis will make me thin too?

2007-03-02T12:44:00.000Z

"Chilli extract may stop fat cell growth" (see link above)

Capsaicin, the compound that gives red pepper its heat, could inhibit the growth of fat cells, says a new laboratory study.

Oh good...

Hot Purple Prince (~4 days)

2007-03-02T10:41:00.000Z

Another shot of the Hot Purple Prince. Apologies for the bad quality of this one - I was half awake and feeling a bit groggy this morning after a few beers last night!

I'll try and take some better images this weekend. I'd say about 50% of the seeds are now sprouted.

Stuck seed casing

2007-03-01T09:32:00.000Z

This is a pretty common problem - the seed casing isn't pushed off by the growing starter leaves and remains stuck. If left the chilli will often recover or burst it off later, but I've had a few that just die. You can, very carefully, pull it off:

Grasp the chilli seedling with finger and thumb gently. With other finger and thumb grip the seed casing and gently pull, slowly. The casing should slide off with just a little resistance. If it won't budge, don't force it, but leave it another day or two and try again.

Um, we have a problem...

2007-03-01T09:26:00.000Z

Yikes, what happened here? This 'Chinese' chilli is growing, but it's furry root system seems to be mostly out of the ground. It has also failed to release it's seed head.

Georgia Flame (3 days)

2007-02-28T10:03:00.000Z

Just a detail of the Georgia Flame chilli leaf.

Hot Purple Prince (2 days)

2007-02-28T09:33:00.000Z

Check out that lilac colour!

Black Hungarian (3 days)

2007-02-27T12:05:00.000Z

This is the first chilli (the Black Hungarian) to sprout that seems to have a coloured stem.

Tam Jalepeno (3 days)

2007-02-27T12:04:00.000Z

Detail of water on the new leaf of a Tam Jalepeno chilli seedling.

Tequila Sunrise (3 days)

2007-02-27T11:22:00.000Z

Been in Edinburgh for a few days, the seeds were removed from the window and placed on the sofa, out of direct sun (fear of wilting).

On our return I find about 10+ new shoots and some real leafage.

This is the Tequila Sunrise, about 3 days old.

Balloon rising (day 2)

2007-02-22T09:44:00.000Z

I plan to try and take and post a picture every day if I can.

This is the balloon again, 2 days old. The stem is looking very white - no green at all.

Balloon rising...

2007-02-21T11:42:00.000Z

This is the seed-head of the balloon chilli, which has started to grow.

My first sprout picture

2007-02-20T15:19:00.000Z

The Rocoto Canarios seedling. It hasn't quite poked its head out, but you can see the bend of it's neck. There's also sign of life in some others. I'm expecting leafage tomorrow...

the first arrival

2007-02-20T13:39:00.000Z

a pic of the first of my seeds to show signs of life on 18th, a balloon... which was closely followed by two orange thai seedlings...

it is looking very fragile and in need of some serious sun.

First sprout for Ralph

2007-02-20T11:53:00.000Z

Oh yes, it might be tiny, teeny and hardly visible, but the Rocoto Canarios has sprouted.

Just as well, as the Colonel texted me at 8:55am today to tell me that he had 3 more...

Picture to follow later, as the wife has the camera with her.

An interesting fact from Wikipedia about Rocotos (see title link):

The plant has purple blossoms and the seeds are dark brown or black. The plants grow up to 6 ft high if supported.

Sprouts?

2007-02-18T19:13:00.000Z

*sigh*

The Colonel tells me that he's got a sprout, the Balloon. He even sent me an MMS of it.

To me, it looks like a weed that was in his compost... that's what I think...

here i am

2007-02-13T22:45:00.000Z

yada yada yada....

well, yes the daily checking is still showing no signs of life yet... better pictures to come when i get a bright enough day to do some natural sunlight shots...

Still nothing

2007-02-13T11:21:00.000Z

I do realise that it's a bit soon, but each day is a disappointment, when there are no little sprouts in my tray...

I still have to plant another 5 or so types, but am of the opinion that a week or two won't make much difference, and in fact, we may have been too early with the others anyway?

The Colonel says that he was going to take some pictures of his Szentesi seeds using his super-macro lens, but I see no evidence of it. I think he's just a little fearful that my lovely macro picture is hard to beat...

The Colonel Begins

2007-02-09T16:44:00.000Z

The Colonel tells me that he planted all of his seed varieties last night, which actually leaves me behind in the planting stakes (I have 4 types left to do).

Too tired and frustrated to plant seeds tonight though. You need a good, calm frame of mind to begin such things.

Right, off to the pub instead...

What are you growing again?

2007-02-08T14:46:00.000Z

Ah yes, I forgot to mention:

Balloon, Paper lantern Habanero, fatali, Black Hungarian, Aurora, Orange Thai, Tam Jalapeno, Jamaican Yellow, Georgia Flame, Szentesi Semi-Hot, Goat Horn, Tequila Sunrise, Indian Jwala, Hot Purple Prince, Rocoto Canarios, Purple Tiger and Ole Jalepeno.

Should be enough for now...

Pretty seeds?

2007-02-08T14:42:00.000Z

Most chilli seeds look the same - open any supermarket chilli and you'll see what I mean. There are a few varieties that seem to be a bit different though.

Szentesi Semi-Hot:

Planting: Step 7 - Leave it!

2007-02-08T14:41:00.000Z

Cover and place in a warm (cough) place for a week or two.

Planting: Step 6 - Labels

2007-02-08T14:39:00.000Z

Remember to stick some masking tape on the sides, so you know which are which.

Planting: Step 5 - Insertion

2007-02-08T14:35:00.000Z

Drop the seed into the hole.

Like so.

Then cover over with a little soil.

Planting: Step 4 - Dibbing

2007-02-08T14:31:00.000Z

Poke holes about 8mm deep with a suitable object.

Planting: Step 3 - Soaking

2007-02-08T14:28:00.000Z

Soak the seeds with a spray gun of warm water.

Until soaked.

Planting: Step 2 - Earth

2007-02-08T14:27:00.000Z

Filling the seed tray with soil.

Planting: Step 1 - Preparation

2007-02-08T14:24:00.000Z

All the tools are arranged on the table.

Newspaper under the tray, soil to hand, seeds, a plate to examine seeds on, a spray bottle of warm water, masking tape and a pen.

Preamble

2007-02-07T22:54:00.000Z

The chilli seeds have arrived. All 18 varieties. Add to this the few that we have from last year too, and we're looking at perhaps 40 or more plants. It is possible that we have ordered too many seeds, and we have too little space, of course...

I'll be posting photos and updates here, purely for my own pleasure.