I have had a go at growing chilli peppers for the first time this year (inspired perhaps by the Gardeners World trial). After a slow start they all germinated and were transplanted into 3.5 inch pots to grow on. They are now ready to be potted on. Question is into what? As an experienced tomato grower i know that those plants need as big a pot as you can give them, but as fo chillis i dont know, i guess they have different requirements to tomatoes.
So then what sort of size pot and compost do I need for my chillis, and how do I care for them after that?
Thanks
I pot on into 12" pots and then treat them as toms. They get fed with tomato at the same time as the toms, stay in the greenhouse and watered so the compost is just damp.
Depending on variety they can get quite large so I do support them.
Whitefly, spider mite and aphids can be a problem at times but misting them every now and then helps.
On the whole they are tougher plants than toms and can stand a level of neglect and still give a very good crop. I grow about 30 plants a year and store the crop in the freezer.
HTH
Jerry
That sounds reasonable advice, I keep mine in a tray on the polytunnel staging and water from below, the general humidity usually keeps away the nasties llike RSMite...
;D
Yup, sounds about the same as my loving care, except mine probably do get slightly more neglected. Chillis don't like to have cold wet roots so don't water in the evenings and I don't tend to leave mine sitting in water over night. Give them a little shake once in a while to help polination along. You can harvest the fruits as soon as you like, from small and green, right through all the different colours.
I would not feed chillies as much as tomatoes, they resent it.