Help on chillies - what to grow

[gavinjconway]

Hi chilli growers.. My son loves chillies and has asked for me to grow some for him. I have a new plot and start this season from scratch.. hence I have never grown them and need some advice on variety and basics on growing. Not too hot - just a good all rounder that is easy to grow. Any suggestions or offers of a swap. Thanks in advance.

[goodlife]

Good time to start chillies is during February= now.. There is nothing unusual with their growing methods..just few basics 'rules'..they will need early start for you to able to get decent crop, they will need bit of help from gentle heat for germination, and you need to keep them potted on more often..so when you prick the seedlings, plant them into smallest pots you have and only pot into little bit larger when they've filled the smaller pot with roots.
They will benefit being in GH or tunner as rarely UK summer outdoors is warm enough for them for long term..odd days perharps but that is not enough.
As for varieties...UHHH..that is difficult one..just like with tomatoes, there is 'millions' of varieties around, different colours, heats, flavours and uses..
Perharps havin a look at the some of the chilliseed companies site would give you more idea..you can always make a list and see if anybody here has spare for those you have picked.
Here is couple of companys I've ordered from before..http://www.chileseeds.co.uk/index.htm and http://www.nickys-nursery.co.uk/catalog/advanced_search_result.php?anchor=top&SASSpage=http://www.nickys-nursery.co.uk/seeds/pages/index.htm&keywords=chilli&page=1&sort=2a
And other one, although in Finland, but they have good growing info and sell seeds too.. http://fataliiseeds.net/

[BarriedaleNick]

Perhaps a good one to interest your son would be Chinese 5 colour.  It's smallish variety and the plant produces good yields of 1 ¼" long by ¾" wide hot peppers. The fruits grow upright and turn from purple, to cream, to pale yellow, to orange, to red when mature.  Theya re quite hot but visually they are great plants.

[Alex133]

Jalapenos are nice, not too hot, quite chunky and usually get a good crop. I'd suggest that unless we have a wonderful summer they won't do well outside of a greenhouse or polytunnel.

[gavinjconway]

Thanks peeps for the info. I have 2 greenhouses (just finished fitting glass today in the snow in one at the plot) so I will do them in them along with my peppers and egg plant... all for my son. But hey he helps me loads on the new plot.  

[saddad]

I like ring of fire... hot without being stupidly so... nice sized fruit that dry well without wrinkling too much.. ideal for stringing for the kitchen... 

[Sparkly]

I like ring of fire... hot without being stupidly so... nice sized fruit that dry well without wrinkling too much.. ideal for stringing for the kitchen... 

This is our standard chilli too.

We have tried growing quite alot of varieties, but last year went back to the ring o fire and prairie fire.

[Jill]

My vote goes to Ring of Fire for best allrounder too.

[tai haku]

lemon drop; bit more unusual, different to the chillis he'll have seen in shops.

superchilli; very easy to do well with.

Both super prolific.

[chriscross1966]

I find cayenne to be pretty bombproof in my GH (and previously in my polytnnel)... plant a couple fo tagetes nearby, stick a yellow trap over them and an ant-bait station under them and that should do for the pests....

[gavinjconway]

I find cayenne to be pretty bombproof in my GH (and previously in my polytnnel)... plant a couple fo tagetes nearby, stick a yellow trap over them and an ant-bait station under them and that should do for the pests....

Thanks Chris - will do..

[Vinlander]

Talking of what's in the shops - there are various hot ones, but it's very hard to find the mid-hot varieties that are best in salads because they provide a flavour you don't get with sweet peppers, and you can put enough in to really taste it without turning the salad into an iron-mouth contest. They can also make hot dishes really flavoursome by using loads...

Hungarian Waxpod is the classic one, mild when green, medium with extra flavour when red. I tend to avoid the white/yellow stage where the heat is there but the flavour is underdeveloped.

I can also recommend Tobago Seasoning - the real chinensis flavour but with not much more heat than H.W. It seems much, much earlier than Numex Suave for me. Trinidad Perfume has maximum flavour with minimum heat but it's even later than Suave.

Cheers.