Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat

Growing => Grow Your Own => Topic started by: hasbeans on January 28, 2018, 10:47

Title: chilli plant flowering
Post by: hasbeans on January 28, 2018, 10:47
I grew from seed last year and pruned it back by half in november, hoping to be able to keep it alive for this year.  It's now covered in flowerbuds...I thought it was supposed to stay dormant?
Is it best to remove the buds or let it go and hope for pollination?

Thanks
Title: Re: chilli plant flowering
Post by: engineer on January 28, 2018, 11:29
Well done, if it is indoors and flowering just let it have its head, it is self pollinating, keep an eye open for any overwintering greenfly! Lost mine last year due to these,😠 if there are many flowers it may be beneficial to remove some.
Title: Re: chilli plant flowering
Post by: Mr Dog on January 28, 2018, 11:48
Depends how warm you're keeping them: if its warm enough chillies will grow, and flower. My 2 'seedlings' on the kitchen windowsill are flowering away merrily whereas the overwintering plants in the (unheated) conservatory are very much dormant.
Title: Re: chilli plant flowering
Post by: hasbeans on January 28, 2018, 11:53
Thanks Engineer, I think most credit goes to the south facing window and central heating.
Should notice/taste any greenfly as the plant is a few inches from the sofa at head height!

Mr Dog - I'll leave one somewhere cooler next winter as I guess they burn out if kept going all year round, year on year?
Title: Re: chilli plant flowering
Post by: JayG on January 28, 2018, 12:32
My two cayenne plants used to flower and produce fruit all year round for at least 4 years, although obviously more productive in summer. They are a particularly obliging variety though.

Using past tense because a few weeks ago they succumbed to either being left in the unheated house for a week at Christmas, and/or a whitefly infestation which I hoped would just go away.  :wacko:

As Engineer has already stated, they are self-pollinating, but an occasional tap of the stem can help maximise the setting of the flowers.
Title: Re: chilli plant flowering
Post by: Mr Dog on January 28, 2018, 13:20
I've got a few, hopefully, going into their 3rd year - Prairie Fire, Lemon Drop, Sandia and Dedo de Mocha. Between years 1 and 2 they stood dormant over winter but got a dose of chicken pellets as they burst back into life. I'll do the same again this year, if they survive. I've read that keeping them going full pelt with heat and light does cause them to peter out after a year or so but letting them slow down for a while to recover should keep them going for longer as with Jay's Cayennes.
Title: Re: chilli plant flowering
Post by: hasbeans on February 13, 2018, 10:26
Plant now fruiting.  Thanks all for sound advice!