Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat
Growing => Grow Your Own => Topic started by: stompy on March 02, 2011, 12:42
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Ok, my peppers are through but my jalapeno chillies are not.
I've grown peppers and chillies most years in an unheated greenhouse, the peppers do really well but the chillies not so well.
I get plenty of peppers on the plants and 80% ripen to red no problem
The jalapeno chillies on the other hand don't do so well, the plant grows very well and sometime reaches 3ft high but i get a very poor fruit set and even then most fall off.
I treat them the same as the toms peppers and cucumbers, they get well watered and well fed.
I ended up with about 8 chillies from 6 plants last time.
Has anyone got any advice on growing chillies, or know if im doing something wrong?
Thanks
Andy
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Chillis seem to be one of the only things I can grow! Mine are sown in a heated propergator and they were up in a week this time. They are now pricked out and on the same windowsill which has a radiator underneath.- I think heat is the key!
As for fruit setting and growing on mine did the best when a bit stressed and hot... So they were in a greenhouse (doors open etc) and watered when needed.
I might have some early jalapeno (http://www.realseeds.co.uk/hotpeppers.html - halfway down early green jalapeno) seeds left ( i will have to check when I get home...) if you want any?
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They are the seeds that i use.
Do you hand polinate and do the plants grow really tall?
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They grow upto my waist so only about 3-4ft I usually pinch out several times in the season to encourage more fruit. I don't bother hand pollinating. Are yours setting fruit? Are they rotting when they fall off? Mine are really only ready to pick from Sept.
I'm also trying the Nigel's outdoor chilli as well this year....
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I have piched out before to encourage bushier growth but they still grow to about 3ft and i hardly got any flowers then.
I do get a bit of fruit set but then like you said some do rot off, but i don't get that may set and to be honest i don't get that many flowers.
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Maybe it's just not hot enough? Hmm a bit odd. You said you were feeding with tomato feeder to didn't you?
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No, i don't use tomatoe feed, i use comfrey tea for everything.
I like to be as organic as i can and only use Glyphosate to get rid of things like bind weed, other than that i don't use any other chemicals.
It works for everything other than the chillies, even the mellons thrive.
What i don't get is that the peppers do really well and their part of the same family, so they should be the same!!
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I grew tabasco and cayenne peppers last year not only in the same position but in the same trough on a bedroom windowsill!
I did nothing to help pollination other than give the plants an occasional wiggle. The cayenne set far better than the tabasco. Mixed sweet peppers set well with virtually no attention at all.
My conclusion would therefore be that although all self-fertile they are not all equally good at actually pollinating themselves; the tabasco would no doubt have set better if I'd tickled them with a paintbrush.
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I have grown cayane before and done very well, but we like jalapeno's.
I like them on home made pizza's and we like alot of mexican food, and i especially like chilli popper's, mmm mmm mmm.
Thats why i want to grow jalapeno specifically, i want a glut so i can freeze them down and use them for these purposes when we want them instead of having to buy those pickled ones at £2 a go.
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You could try misting them with water as the flowers develop to help the fruit to set. I don't know why but I've read that this helps. My mistake with chillies in the past has been to overwater them, and the leaves tend to go yellow and both leaves and flowers drop. They are much better if kept on the dry side.
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The plants are very lush and green but like i said hardly any fruit develop.
The misting idea is a good one though, i know it works with runner beans! (not sure why mind)
I'll give that a go, nothing to lose.
They havn't even shown yet so im a little premature yet i supose ::)
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I grew around 4 types last year on the same windowsill and messed around trying to pollinate with a little kids paintbrush. 3 of the types did well includin jalapeno but one produced almost nothing. I grew jalapenos outside in a large cold frame, after starting them inside and they did not do very well. I am trying a few other types this year so hope to get some to grow ok. My advice would be try a few types so if your jalapenos dont do ok at least you will get something.
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I will be growing 2 cayane as well, that will provide us with enough chillies for the year.
But i really want jalapeno's for the reasons stated before.
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Chances are that you're over watering and over feeding ;)
¥
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Mrs Growster uses some of last year's plants, and overwinters them in the warm. She then starts off a new lot from seed.
It worked well last year, although greenfly was a universal problem!
The year old plants did pretty well, and freezing a few is much cheaper of course!