Good Evening All,
I have just returned from my daughter who lives in North Devon. She has 6 very large chili plants which are full of flowers but the flowers open then just drop, only one has set. :'( She does not have a green house, but they are on window sills so get plenty of light. What can she do to make the flowers set?
she should hand pollinate them, either with a little brush or a cotton bud. Or if there are too many flowers, just shake the stems every time she goes past them. It's very satisfying :D
Quote from: Rhubarb Thrasher on August 17, 2009, 21:36:34
she should hand pollinate them, either with a little brush or a cotton bud. Or if there are too many flowers, just shake the stems every time she goes past them. It's very satisfying :D
Good advice ^^^^^.
Or she could get some flys or bees to do it for her! ;)
Thanks Rubarb, I'll tell her to try that.
What variety are they?
My Trinidad Perfume did the same thing until I moved it outside. It is now setting fruit, albeit in a rather desultory fashion.
I haven't had the problem with indoor chillies before but those have usually been annuum or baccatum varieties, so I'm wondering whether the chinensis type aren't keen on self pollination. Has anyone had the problem with e.g. Scotch bonnet?
Quote from: Barnowl on August 18, 2009, 11:19:19
What variety are they?
My Trinidad Perfume did the same thing until I moved it outside. It is now setting fruit, albeit in a rather desultory fashion.
I haven't had the problem with indoor chillies before but those have usually been annuum or baccatum varieties, so I'm wondering whether the chinensis type aren't keen on self pollination. Has anyone had the problem with e.g. Scotch bonnet?
I think you've hit the nail on the head there, and it might well bear thinking about for future refernce regarding suitability of a given chilli as a houseplant.... Been a wierd year for mine.... the Anaheims are covered in fruit, the Jalapeno's are really only just flowering now adn starting to set adn the Tabscos has only just started making flower buds :-(
chrisc
Thanks Barnowl and Crisscross.
Her chillies are Scotch Bonnet and Havanero, the one you mention. I'll tell her to put them outside for a while. Trouble is where she is North Devon is right on the edge of Exmoor, so the weather is not very clement.
For what it's worth, I'm in Scotland and my Scotch Bonnets are sitting on the back doorstep(s) with the rest of my chillies. ;)
I've been cropping the overwintered ones since the end of May and this years sowings are just starting to set fruit; so North Devon shouldn't pose many problems. 8) That said, if they've never been outside I'd be inclined to sit them in a sheltered spot during the day & bring them back into the house at night (for the first 7-10 days, until they've aclimatised themselves to the outside world).
When I had chilli plants in the conservatory I used to put them outside for a couple of hours when the sun was shining and used to hand pollinate too. It works well.
Thank you both,
I did tell her to put them outside, better phone her and say bring them in at night for a while.
If taking them outside's a problem then she can use an artist's type paintbrush, brush the insides of the flowers and spread the pollen about, do the bees' work for them! ;D
Great news on the chilli front my daughter's chilli flowers are setting :D she has been putting them outside every day for a few hours a day and bingo the bees have done their work, she has several baby chilli's and sends her thanks for all your advice.