Topic: scotch bonnet

[thifasmom]

so i happily have grown 2 plants this year and want them to last as long as possible i was going to cut them down as suggested, but was not sure of when to do so, i assumed it was to be done around now, to hopefully get fresh peppers by Christmas.


last week Wednesday i harvested all of the ripe fruits off of both plants to make hot pepper sauce, leaving the green ones for a second harvest which i hope to make pepper jelly with.


but early last week i noticed both plants have started flowering again. so where do i go from here? do i let it flower and grow, should i feed them or should i after the next harvest simply cut the plant down ???.

oh! and one more question, whats the green grub that's eating my peppers, i have only found them on the plant that's giving yellow ripe fruits, i am assuming they are from a moth, as that's the only thing that would sort of stay in the house :-\.

[caroline7758]

That sauce looks great- can we have the recipe, please? :D

[thifasmom]

That sauce looks great- can we have the recipe, please? :D

i got approx 1.5 lbs of peppers i added two small onions, a bulb of garlic and a 4 inch piece of ginger with enough olive oil to blend it, after decanting into jars i covered with a layer of oil. that's it really.

[dtw]

How long does it keep for?

[thifasmom]

How long does it keep for?

hopefully for as long as we want, normally i would make with vinegar which keeps for what seems to be forever, but i tried with oil this time as when i leave whole chillies in oil once the oil remains over the chili for at least 6 months the chili does not grow any mold. we currently have some hot pepper sauce made by a overseas relative in the fridge so when that's done we'll start to use my own. so it should keep till i open it but i will keep an eye on it to make sure it doesn't start to get mouldy. if it does i will remove the mould, top up the oil and keep in the fridge.

[Biscombe]

What a great harvest!

As far as you flowering question goes, it depends if you have a heated greenhouse or good bright windowsill, if not chop it back and over winter.

I had quite a few plants in the greenhouse over winter that just kept fruiting, but I am in Spain, although not mega hot here in the mountains!

[thifasmom]

mine are in the conservatory, its heated during the day but not at night after 10pm. so i wont have to cut back right ???

[Biscombe]

depends what the temp drops to.....

[thifasmom]

can't be 100% sure but i would say no lower than about 10 degrees Celsius.

[Barnowl]

Speaking as an experienced killer of chilli plants I think 10degC should be fine. The crunch point (i.e leaves rot and plant dies) seems to be below 6 degC though some are more sensitive than others.

[thifasmom]

Speaking as an experienced killer of chili plants

;D

I think 10degC should be fine. The crunch point (i.e leaves rot and plant dies) seems to be below 6 degC though some are more sensitive than others.

thanks Barnowl i will leave well alone then, but i wonder if they continue to flower i guess i should continue to feed, i was thinking at a reduced frequency like every 3 weeks, what do you all think. ???

its so much easier in the good old West Indies :D if you want a hot pepper plant you throw some seeds in a corner near a fence where it won't get trampled, etc. when you noticed a young plant growing you warn the kids not to damage or trample it, then when it produces fruit you warn the kids not to dare each other to eat it of the tree (but at some point there will be the odd young mouth on fire that comes crying for you to fix  ::)) anyway you pick when needed to add flavour or heat/ both to a dish or pick a whole lot to make a jar of hot pepper sauce.

its never fed, watered or pruned it will grow to the height of about 4ft with a spread of about 2.5ft. the birds will have some but not enough to warrant netting and if you are lucky they'll spread it around your garden for you but most households only need one plant as it produces more than enough. 

but whatever, whats life without a challenge eh, bring it on England i refuse to surrender >:( i will try to grow just about anything so bring it on ;D

[thifasmom]

thanks Barnowl i will leave well alone then, but i wonder if they continue to flower i guess i should continue to feed, i was thinking at a reduced frequency like every 3 weeks, what do you all think. ???
[/quote]

just want to find out do i continue to feed or not? thanks inadvance for the replies.

[Duke Ellington]

Hi thifasmom

Myself and my dad have grown scotch bonnet for years. He kept one growing in the kitchen overwinter for three years. It would produce new flowers and the next spring it would just keep going. Like you I have them in the conservatory but one winter the temps in my conservatory were so cold [I have a radiator in there but its not on during the night]that the leaves and flowers fell off it ~basically it curled up and died. You might be lucky in your conservatory. My dad didn't cut his back but it was in a warm kitchen. I make a scotch bonnet sauce too and will post the recipe shortly in the recipe sections. Yours looks good enough to give yourself a serious sweat!!  ;D

Duke

[thifasmom]

Hi thifasmom

Myself and my dad have grown scotch bonnet for years. He kept one growing in the kitchen overwinter for three years. It would produce new flowers and the next spring it would just keep going. Like you I have them in the conservatory but one winter the temps in my conservatory were so cold [I have a radiator in there but its not on during the night]that the leaves and flowers fell off it ~basically it curled up and died. You might be lucky in your conservatory. My dad didn't cut his back but it was in a warm kitchen. I make a scotch bonnet sauce too and will post the recipe shortly in the recipe sections. Yours looks good enough to give yourself a serious sweat!!  ;D

Duke

hi so I'll leave my plants well alone no pruning, i suppose they wont get to big are already 3ft high with about 2ft x 1ft spread, currently not taking up to much room, I'll monitor our conservatory temps as the nights get colder and will move the plants inside if the temps are getting to low at night. do you continue to feed over the winter or do you restart feeding in the spring? we use our sauce as a condiment to our food rarely cook with it, but i know lots that do.

[Duke Ellington]

I stopped feeding the plants over the winter and started it up again in the spring and basically watered enough to keep the plant alive. By all means cut the plant back if you wish. I did on a few of mine mainly because they grew out of shape. But our scotch bonnets tended to stop growing once they got to a certain height and size because we never increased the pot size. As you know chillies for the most part like their roots contained and produce more fruit in this country in a small ish pot!

Duke

[thifasmom]

I stopped feeding the plants over the winter and started it up again in the spring and basically watered enough to keep the plant alive. By all means cut the plant back if you wish. I did on a few of mine mainly because they grew out of shape. But our scotch bonnets tended to stop growing once they got to a certain height and size because we never increased the pot size. As you know chillies for the most part like their roots contained and produce more fruit in this country in a small ish pot!

Duke

thanks for the info Duke. i didn't know about them preferring a smallish pot root contained bit, but i do now ;). my pots might be on the big side then, i have them in those black flower buckets from Morrison. i think i might feed them till the next harvest of ripe fruit then stop till spring. i don't think mine will get any bigger, but i might prune to encourage more branches for next year with the hope of a bigger crop.

[Duke Ellington]

Next year I want to grow some okra in the conservatory~Ive never done it before but I am up for the challenge!!

Duke

[moonbells]

Hmm not sure about the pots - we've had a handful of chillies in previous years from 5" pots, this year we were determined to pot to 8" ones and we've got a fantastic crop. Not to mention a 6' tall Friar's Hat with over 40 fruits on...

moonbells

[Duke Ellington]

I suppose its all relative but i consider 8 inches a small pot. I meant that if you put a chilli plant in a huge pot like a tub or planter it somtimes puts alot of effort into leaves and plant growing and not producing as many chillies!

Duke:)

[thifasmom]

Next year I want to grow some okra in the conservatory~Ive never done it before but I am up for the challenge!!

Duke

same here, tried growing them outside three years running with absolutely no success this year didnot even attempt as the greenhouse was not clear for a crop of anything, but it is clear now and ready for next year challenges ;).