Chilli Plant

[Kimberley]

Hi all, I'm new to the site and also a complete beginner.  I'm on a (lengthy) waiting list for an allotment in Manchester, so in the meantime I'm trying to be an edible container gardener, so I'm sorry for the long question but ...

I don't know if anyone can offer any advise, but i planted some hot chilli peppers a few months ago and promptly threw away the packet without recording the seeds name.

Now i have 5 lovely chilli plants producing a lot of chillis, until recently.  I noticed a couple of weeks ago that the chilli's don't seem to be growing or maturing at all.  There's no colour change, no size change.
The chilli's that are on the plant are all quite small, the biggest being about an inch long, and are all very deep green in colour.  It's possible that this is as big as they get, but i have no way of checking.

I'm wondering if the plant has ceased productivity for the winter, and I should harvest what i can now, or bear with it ?
Does anyone have any helpful hints ?  Thanks in advance.

[Kimberley]

[ceres]

Hi Kimberley, welcome to A4A, lots of good info here so ask away.  There's a good few people like you doing containers or small garden plots.

Are your chillis outdoors?  If so, that's probably why they have stopped growing.  They're not hardy and a frost will knock them out.  The leaves will droop and blacken and the fruit will go soft.  I think it would be best to pick them and use them as they are.  There are a few chilli experts here who might be able to help more.

[Kimberley]

Thanks for your reply.

They've always been on my windowsill which gets a fair amount of light.

[saddad]

Welcome to A4A Kimberley, whereabouts in Manchester? I'm originally from the wilds of the NorthWest (Rossendale)
;D

[manicscousers]

hiya, kimberley, welcome to the site..we have an allotment in golborne, warrington so not too far from you  ;D
can't offer any advice on your chillies, I'm afraid..but someone who does will be along soon  :)

[dtw]

Have you got a picture?

If not, do they point upwards or hang down?
How thick are they?
Are they chubby in the middle or long and thin?
Where did you buy the seeds?

I would move them away from the window at night, as it gets very cold right next to it.

It's been a bad year for chillies anyway, so they may not ripen.
Try putting some in a paper bag with a banana for a couple of days.

[Kimberley]

Thanks for all your replies.

I haven't got a picture, but they point upwards, the biggest ones are around 5mm thick, and they're chubby in the middle.

I bought the seeds at my local garden centre, but the packets not there anymore...

(As for location in Manchester, I live quite close to the centre, by Sports City)

Thanks for everyone's help

[Barnowl]

Sorry to keep asking questions but are all the plants the same variety and what height are they?

5 mm is pretty thin so that narrows things down a bit (excuse the pun)

As already mentioned I'd agree that they might well be responding to the drop in temperature and heading into a semi dormant stage.

Small chillies rarely ripen off the plant, although large ones might. If they are dark green they're getting closer to turning red - I'd leave them on the plants. Are you still feeding them? If not give them some Tomarite (liquid tomato feed you add to water) or similar.

[Kimberley]

I think they're all the same variety and the bigger ones are a deep green, so I'll leave those ones on.

I fed them for the first time ever the other day (cause I didn't realise that I needed to feed them before that - felt guilty about that)

Ok, so I'll take them away from the windows at night time, and leave them on for a few weeks longer and see if that helps.

One last question, all the very samll chillis that are light green on the plant, will it help the bigger chilli's if I just cut them all off ?

As always, thank you for all your suggestions and comments

[dtw]

Leave them on, as they will keep growing in the indoor heat.
I usually get two crops from indoor grown chillies.

They could be Bird's eye.

Or bolivian rainbow which haven't ripened yet.

they usually start going to the purple stage fairly early on though.
They go from green-purple-yellow-orange-red.

[Barnowl]

I was thinking a Thai Sun or similar. Aren't Rainbow usually a fair bit thicker than 5mm?  Here's the best one I've ever managed in its second (and final) year..

[attachment=1]

At the end of its first year (December I think),  I cut it back to about 6 inches.

The reason I asked about height is that although most chillies will adapt to the size of pot they're in - especially if you pinch out the tip so that they bush, some, like the Bolivian are shorter than others.

[Kea]

They can ripen very quickly in the sun. I've got two plants and i've been putting them outside during the day and as soon as the colour starts to change a day in the sun can be enough to turn them red....as long as they're still on the plant.

[Kimberley]

They look like Birds Eye judging by the picture.  I'll leave them on and see how I fare ...

Thanks for all your suggestions.

I'll let you know how I get on ...