Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat
Growing => Grow Your Own => Topic started by: afcb on January 11, 2018, 18:43
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First ever attempt at growing these this year (new greenhouse!). So many to choose from, any recommendations and tips on growing ? How hot is to hot ?!
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Taste and heat are very subjective - some I consider mild Mrs Dog considers volcanic - and can vary from not only year to year from the same variety but also in fruits from the same plant depending on many factors such as amount of sun and watering regime. A few that I find grow easily and, probably as importantly, are productive are Bulgarian Carrot (5,000 - 30,000 SHU), Purple Gusto (20,000-30,000) and Prairie Fire (70,000) - Jalapenos are around 5,000SHU. I'd also recommend Lemon Drop (15,000-30,000), which have a lovely lemon flavour, although I find that they tend to mature a bit later (I was harvesting in December last year from plants that were started in January). Of the very hot chillies I've only grown habaneros, which have a wonderful flavour before the heat kicks in and takes over!
Others that I like the flavour of include Sandia, Palivec, Joes Long, Big Jim, Beaver Dam, Anaheim and Espelette.
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I found Basket of fire easy to grow, with enough heat for me and the family, and an attractive small plant with different colours as different chillies come to ripeness. There are loads of alternatives though, and it depends how hot you like them (and you never really know until you've bitten one). Whatever turns you on, I would sow, with heat, mid February, later if you don't have the heat, then pot on until it looks right. Basket of Fire were fine in 8" pots in the greenhouse. Now got more dried chillies then I can ever use!
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I would suggest starting off with what I would call kitchen chillies, cayenne, jalapeno, if you can source the seed chinesse dragon back are very productive. These will give you a chance to see how you fair with the heat side then if your happy move to habs and then the super hots. The good thing about the kitchen types is they are easy to grow and they dont need long growing seasons.
I have started my super hots (bhut white jolokia,chocolate trinidad scorpion,yellow fatalli) already in my grow tent with LED lighting, end of the month and the lemon drops will be sown. March is kitchen chilli time. I have three greenhouses and grow a lot and eat a lot :D. I grow mine in pots that you can obtain from florists for next to nothing, a general compost with fish blood n bone and both perlite and vermiculite mixed in,I use maxicrop on the seedlings and use it as a liquid feed on the mature plants as well as tommy food once cropping.
Chillies are pretty easy to grow, dont over water them, little bit every other day works well for me.
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I go with Aidy on this one, as we have had enormously differing heats from the same varieties grown in the same soil right next to each other!
We grow Joe's Long Cayenne every year,as they fruits look great being around 10-12 ins long. and Jalapeno Early, as they fruit for months, plus whatever else takes our fancy. Padrons are mild and reliable (with the odd hot one of course) and I can recommend these too
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As per above really.
I would have a go at growing at least one hot variety this year though, just in case the kitchen types aren't hot enough for you! Otherwise you'd have to wait until next year to get some hot ones on the go due to long growing season of hot ones (as Aidy said). I like Caribbean Antillais as they're hot but also a bit fruity. To give a rough idea of how hot these are, (350,000 Scoville), 1 of these normally does a curry for 4 people at our house, but of course this is just to my preference. Although I do taste them when chopping to judge how much to use (just a little dab on the tongue).