chillis - am I too late?

[aquilegia]

Is it too late to sow chillis?

I sowed some in january - but they didn't happen. I wasn't too fussed as I had some plants left from last year. But now I've lost those plants too.

[aquilegia]

[supersprout]

hi acqui, as my mum got older and more forgetful she often didn't plant til late. I still remember one Christmas she had thriving chillis in pots that were still fruiting cos she hadn't sown until April, and that was in Northumberland!

[peterpiper]

hi .it isnt to late for your chilis.
peterpiper

[katynewbie]

???

Just looking at my freebie packet from Grow Your Own mag, says sow March to April, so we should be ok!!! Where's the smiley for fingers crossed...?!!

[amphibian]

???

Just looking at my freebie packet from Grow Your Own mag, says sow March to April, so we should be ok!!! Where's the smiley for fingers crossed...?!!

Weird packet that, it claims to be cayenne, but the image shows upright chillies, as does the article in the mag, yet cayennes grow downward.

[plot51A]

I just planted some today so hope its all right  :)

[Curryandchips]

I treat chillies the same as tomatoes, so based upon that - ok!

[MattyJC]

Thats reassuring Curry, I sowed both my habenero Paper lantern and 2 lots of Tomatoes yesterday morning! :D

[flowerlady]

Do hope its not too late, have only one suitable window cill and the toms had that!! 
Have just managed to clear the cill for the next customers, chillies and aubs have it  ;D

[David R]

not too late, i have always sown in late march and have had great success, even with outdoor grown plants.

This weekend I shall be sowing about 100 aji seeds sent to me from Bolivia. I intend to have several kilos of chillis by the end of the year to make aji paste with.

[flowerlady]

erm ....  what's aji paste  ???

[David R]

flowerlady, aji paste is a concoction made by my lovely missus with aji chillis (deseeded), a splash of oil and little else. what she does is blend the aji, chuck them in a pot, add the oil and boil them up. The resultant paste is used like passatta or tomato paste as the basis for meat sauces etc.
The paste is used instead of tomatoes and provides a nice alternative.

Hope this makes sense. D

[flowerlady]

mmmmmmmm  sounds like dynamite ...  hot too?  ;D

[bennettsleg]

Last year our chillies were complete pains.  Sowed them in March and they took forever to germinate and we only managed to get a few chillies off the odd plant.

I hear tell that chillies need a good level of heat to germinate effectively, so I'm going to put mine over the radiator (no airing cupboard) this year & see what happens.

Hope the Aji's work out ok.

[Svea]

i sowed some last sunday, and they were up by this sunday just passed. plenty of time. i also did the tomatos and aubergines at the same time, any earlier than this wont really bring me advantages on the plot as i have to wait for longer to plant them out then.

i didnt do thigns any earlier last year (looking into the 2005 sowing thread) and everything was just perfect. so no rush :)

[bennettsleg]

i have to wait for longer to plant them out then.

What time of year do you plant them out?

[ellkebe]

Same as Svea - planted weekend before last, and up by Monday.

[pakaba]

Hi
First time grower here too.  I planted mine a month ago and nothing happened so I popped them and  some more freshly sown seed into my (borrowed) heated propagator and within a week i have dozens :o of plants......... Not sure what to do with them all now if i can keep 'em all going.

So I hope it's not too late to get a decent crop.  i read elsewhere they are slow to do anything, once you can get them to germinate.

P.

[Mrs Ava]

Well, out of all of mine, only a few are up!  GGRR.  Same with aubergines.  They are always so slow for me, so will sow more more more on Friday - my official seed sowing and gardening day!  ;D

[Curryandchips]

not a single one has germinated, after at least a couple of weeks? I will just have to sow some more I guess ... I cannot imagine not having any chillies this year ...