Topic: Who's growing Chilli's?

[Charlotte Sometimes]

Do you all grow them indoors?...

Its been like the hokey-cokey this year.  At one point everything indoors (aubs, chillies) was so infested with aphids that I chucked everything outdoors and let mother nature's critters pick them clean.  Which they did in record time!  If we don't get much more sun soon, I shall bring 'em back in.  I started out with 50/50 indoors/outdoors as an experiment.  The indoors ones flowered much more quickly, but they are still fruiting after being moved outdoors.  I think you do at least need to start them indoors for best results.  I believe my sowing date for these was about mid-March.

[Mrs Ava]

50/50 this year.  I am growing lots more chillis and aubergenes this year, so things have gotten tight in the greenhouse.  Our deck is south facing and a real oven, the wood really absorbs the heat, so I have a selection in pots on there to see how they go, and I must say, they are going great at the moment!  I grew a couple of plants in the open on the allotment last year, and although they were covered in chillis, they never turned red, but they were still very useable and very nice indeedy!  ;D

[Rox]

guys, I know we've had this somewhere before on the site, but can I ask how many of you pinch out the tops of your chilis/sweet peppers? and if so, whether this really does not only bush out the plants but speed up the cropping time a little? Mine are VERY slow and I'm starting to get a bit impatient  :( I'm growing the Thai hot chilis - they're apparently supposed to be dwarfs, but mine are about 12-14 inches right now, so I'm wondering what the deal is.  ??? cheers!

[Jill]

Never pinched mine out.  In fact this year I was going to try on a couple to compare and then discovered they'd started branching all by themselves ;D 

[Moggle]

I am growing 1 long thai plant this year, thanks to EJ  :) Is still in a small pot, waiting for me to clear the bottom of the grow-house and get a growbag in there.

[Val]

I didn't sew mine until late April, maybe thats the problem. Its certainly not the weather, its been so hot out there. I'll keep them going to see what they do in the end.You never know they might suddenly do something even if its keel over and die.

[Ken]

First time I've grown anything this year. I have chilli's growing in my green house, the plants are about 2 foot high with small flowers on.
The leaves at the top of the plants are dark green but are crinkly is this a problem.

Ken.

[Mrs Ava]

Never pinched.  Some branch, some don't, all grow like the clappers and produce more than I can eat fresh!  Thank goodness for dried and frozen chillis!  ;D

[Charlotte Sometimes]

The leaves at the top of the plants are dark green but are crinkly is this a problem.

I think I know what you mean (hard to tell with no photo).  The tops of mine look like that sometimes.  As far as I know its normal and will not affect fruiting.  Tomatoes also do this (i.e. the top growth kind of curls under).  Not to worry, IMO.  I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong!  ;)

[Ken]

Thanks for the info, I've been looking at books, they all seem to miss enough out to keep you guessing.

Ken

[Jill]

Interesting one that crinkly leaf thing.  It's only my habaneros that occasionally seem to get it and then only the bigger ones.  They're not fruiting yet but have loads of flower buds so I'm not anticipating a problem.

[grubbyhobbit]

I'm growing Firecracker, Heatwave, Cayenne and Poblano - they're just starting to come into flower following an aphid attack - do I need to get my paintbrush out and hand pollinate as they are in a small greenhouse?

Also, some of them seem to have gone a bit "rusty" around the edges of the leaves, what is this?

[Ken]

Hi,

Don't know about rusty but now I've found out how to get photos of my crinkly leaves on my post thanks to Jerry. A book I have says mist plants regularly to keep down spider mite and encourage fruit set, don't do it in direct sun light.

PS this is not why my leaves are like this, I had crinkly leaves before I started.

[sandersj89]

I have never needed to hand pollinate my chillies, they seem to be fine on thier own so far.

As to crinkly leaves, mine get that from time to time. It is perfectly normal and does not seem to effect the yield. However it also can be a sign of aphid attack. Gently trun the leaves over and look down into the growing tip and you may see some aphids lurking.

Jerry

[swainclubber]

mine just wont produce any pollen..its had dropped about 20 flowers thus far..but i did leave it in the conservatory for 3 days whilst i was away, and the plant turned into a crispy dried up mess...but now it is ok again hehe!!

and today a flower finally had pollen in it, then the plant dried up again whilst i was at work..perhaps the near death experience has made it decide that he REALLY does not to reproduce.

well i hope that is the case anyway!!

[silverback]

grew apache f1 last year could not stop it got a crop of about 50 chilis about 30mm, could not stop them from growing and i normally manage to kill most things green