Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat

Growing => Grow Your Own => Topic started by: carlrmj on January 27, 2012, 17:52

Title: Chillies
Post by: carlrmj on January 27, 2012, 17:52
Hi

What type of chillies will you be growing this year.

I love chillies ,I only started growing fruit and veg  last year and only grew prairie fire from wilko's,small red hot and loads of them.

I've just bought a selection pack from wilko,6 varieties Anaheim,Cayenne,Fresno,Hungarian Hot Wax,Jalapeno and Rokita as I want a greater choice and some which are a bit milder and larger.

I also  grew some bell peppers but they were not as successful,and Aubergines which were a waste of time

Thanks Carl
Title: Re: Chillies
Post by: gobs on January 27, 2012, 18:12
I do not know yet. We don't use too much chillie and a couple of plants can provide oodlos of fruit. But definitely growing Peters or Packers or whatever they are called.

Sweet peppers are trickier, but not that hard. They need warmer than toms, most won't do anything just so outside here. Aubergines can be really trying. But do not give up if you like them, it's possible.
Title: Re: Chillies
Post by: mumofstig on January 27, 2012, 19:24
Pretty in Purple being sown this weekend  ;)
Title: Re: Chillies
Post by: GingerH on January 27, 2012, 20:03
I usually have a couple jalapeno plants that tend to have about five peppers on them. I also grew a habanero plant last year but it didn't produce any peppers until the very end and then it got too cold. I guess I need to plant it earlier or plant them in some fiberglass planters (http://www.newprocontainers.com/fiberglass-planters) so I can take them into the house in the winter. I'd like to plant some banana peppers this year too.
Title: Re: Chillies
Post by: shokkyy on January 27, 2012, 21:03
I grow Superchilli every year because they're nice and zingy, dead easy to grow and give an enormous crop for very little effort or space. From a couple of quite small plants in 8 or 10" pots I can easily keep us in chillis all year, and we do eat a lot of chillis.

And every year I grow one or two other types to try them out. Year before last I did cayenne (ok but a bit mild), last year fataalii (needs better summer than we had last year, not a single chilli but I've overwintered one plant) and this year I'm doing peach habanero. And this year I've got a polytunnel to put them in, so fingers crossed the season will be long enough to get a crop from both fataalii and habanero.
Title: Re: Chillies
Post by: RobertSongs on January 27, 2012, 22:25
I started some Bhut Jolokia (saved seed from tesco) in the airing cupboard between a wet paper towel inside a zip lock bag, they germinated in two days so today i`ve been and bought some John Innes 1 and have potted three up and put them on the kitchen windowsill covered with a plastic bag..i will be doing the same with what i call everyday chilli`s (jalapeno i think) from morrisons ya know the ones where ya get three green ones and a red one in a pack for about £1.50..I have also saved some seed from the dried chillis in bags from asda`s world food isle they are lovely long thin jobbies with good heat and a lot of flavour, similar to a kashmiri...I grew too many varieties last year from online traders that seemed like a good idea at the time but they were more suited to stuffing than chucking in a curry..so this year i will just grow what i know we will use in the kitchen  because its all saved seed from what we use already..I`ve got a 12 pot aquapot system to go in my tunnel this year so am chomping at the bit.!! :wacko:
Title: Re: Chillies
Post by: Mr Rotavator on January 27, 2012, 22:39
I've gone for:

Californian Wonder
Frenso
Jalapeno
Numex
Demon Red
Sweet Romano
Hot Thai Culinary (Cayanne I think)

I'm also going to need something mind blowingly hot I think
Title: Re: Chillies
Post by: sowitgrowit on January 27, 2012, 22:41
I grow Superchilli every year because they're nice and zingy, dead easy to grow and give an enormous crop for very little effort or space. From a couple of quite small plants in 8 or 10" pots I can easily keep us in chillis all year, and we do eat a lot of chillis.

That sounds very interesting! Is "Superchilli" a variety/brand, or have you created it yourself using weapons-grade plutonium? It certainly sounds too good to be true!!

If you could point me in the direction of where to pick some up I'd be very grateful; I'm thinking of growing some chilis/peppers this year (they were my first ever foray into growing my own when I lived in a flat with no outdoor space whatsoever, so it would be nice).
Title: Re: Chillies
Post by: Woodhousemoor on January 27, 2012, 22:42
Will be growing Scotch Bonnets and a mixed pack of what is promised to be super hot chillies.
Title: Re: Chillies
Post by: Auntiemogs on January 27, 2012, 22:48
Alberto's Locoto (Realseeds) for me because they look so fleshy and I think they may store well in the freezer.  :)
Title: Re: Chillies
Post by: compostqueen on January 27, 2012, 23:53
I grew those this year, and still have a couple in the greenhouse which I'm trying to over-winter. They are small, bright red, bottle shaped fruits with black seeds. Not very hot.  They grow very big, like a tree, apparently  :)

I grew peach habanero last year and it got me into all sorts of trouble.  Don't handle it with bare hands I beg you!

Biala Shipka is a hot one, and very prolific, plus you can save the seeds  :)
Title: Re: Chillies
Post by: shokkyy on January 28, 2012, 01:01
I grow Superchilli every year because they're nice and zingy, dead easy to grow and give an enormous crop for very little effort or space. From a couple of quite small plants in 8 or 10" pots I can easily keep us in chillis all year, and we do eat a lot of chillis.

That sounds very interesting! Is "Superchilli" a variety/brand, or have you created it yourself using weapons-grade plutonium? It certainly sounds too good to be true!!

If you could point me in the direction of where to pick some up I'd be very grateful; I'm thinking of growing some chilis/peppers this year (they were my first ever foray into growing my own when I lived in a flat with no outdoor space whatsoever, so it would be nice).

Superchilli are one of the easiest and most reliable varieties to grow. Even in last year's awful summer I still got a big crop from just a couple of plants, and I'm still using the dried chillis from 2010 when we had a good summer. They are small enough to grow on a windowsill if you want to. They are an RHS recommended variety, so they shouldn't be too hard to get hold of. I know Nicky's Nursery and Thompson & Morgan both sell them, and you can sometimes find them on ebay too.
Title: Re: Chillies
Post by: Auntiemogs on January 28, 2012, 01:30
I grew those this year, and still have a couple in the greenhouse which I'm trying to over-winter. They are small, bright red, bottle shaped fruits with black seeds. Not very hot.  They grow very big, like a tree, apparently  :)

I grew peach habanero last year and it got me into all sorts of trouble.  Don't handle it with bare hands I beg you!

Biala Shipka is a hot one, and very prolific, plus you can save the seeds  :)
I'm going to try for that this year CQ. Glad they're not too hot but hoping they won't get too huge as going to overwinter them in Mum's conservatory!  :lol:
Title: Re: Chillies
Post by: compostqueen on January 28, 2012, 10:28
I think they make trees and that they get trimmed up at Christmas. Have a look on Google images  :D
Title: Re: Chillies
Post by: Chiswickian on January 28, 2012, 12:01
I've grown several varieities of chillies over the years and , for what it's worth, this is how I got on with them:

Lemon Drop - nice , slight citrus tang to medium hot fruit. Quite productive - a lax plant so tends to droop
Anaheim - nice fruit for stuffing and drying, low yield on quite large plants
Friar's Cap - large plants but in that year I had not one fruit set. It flowered - but all buds dropped. I will try again though.
Cherrybomb - I struggled to get fruit big enough to use, all very small and low yield
Apache - stunning plant. Compact and neat, productive and easy and medium to hot tasty fruits. My favourite.
Scotch bonnet - you'll know this is a hot one - and I found it to be so though low yielding and small fruits.
Habanero - note spelling ;) - similar in habit to Scotch Bonnet but very pretty peach fruits with a lovely hot flavour.
Cayenne - decent sized plants with only a moderate yield and nothing special in terms of flavour/ heat

I grow in pots outdoors. I have had little success with them in the borders. They like to be kept on the dry side and don't overfeed. I have no greenhouse at all so mine are grown on the pation, in pots like I say, in a sunny west facing West London garden.

Though Apache is, for me, the best chilli around I have masses dried, frozen and as chilli flakes so this year I will grow Habanero as it's so pretty, Friar's Cap (also known as Friar's Hat as it beat me last time I grew it and I want a challenge and another variety - yet to be decided - I'm watching this thread for recommendations!!
Title: Re: Chillies
Post by: sunshineband on January 28, 2012, 12:32
Last year had some random small plants from Aldi that were amazingly productive

Named ones we also grew were:

Cayenne - good crop (not as hot as usual -- was it the weather? Dries well)
Bulgarian carrot - Fair crop but not very hot
Peach habanero -- disastrous (will try again this year - maybe they were in too small pots)
Tabasco - very small plants with hardly any flowers (second year running they have been like this so won't grow this year
Black Pearl - gorgeous small very hot chillies, that dry well)

new for this year:

Krakatoa - upright fruits, medium hot -- so says the packet  :lol:
Title: Re: Chillies
Post by: Chrysalis on January 28, 2012, 13:04
Tabasco from last year are going strong and very hot!  Still in the sunny porch. Took ages to fruit, but has kept us in chillis all winter.  Will grow two plants again this year.
Title: Re: Chillies
Post by: Lardman on January 28, 2012, 13:22
...and I want a challenge and another variety - yet to be decided - I'm watching this thread for recommendations!!

Try something from the Rocoto's
Title: Re: Chillies
Post by: snails2go on January 28, 2012, 13:29
I grew Cayenne and Demon Red last year with really quite good results.  I planted my Naga far too late and they didn't come to anything.  But (fingers crossed) it looks like at least one of the Naga plants has survived the winter :-)

This year I'm going to add Black Pearl & Jalapeño plus some sweet peppers.
Title: Re: Chillies
Post by: Sadgit on January 29, 2012, 08:39
I normally go over the top, so I decided to cut back this year... but ended up with loads of types again :D
DORSET NAGA
PETER PENIS
CHOCOLATE HABANERO
BOLIVIAN RAINBOW
SCOTCH BONNET
BIRD EYE
PURRIRA
WHIPPET'S TAIL
JALAPENO
THAI HOT
PRAIRIE FIRE
BLACK HUNGARIAN
VARIEGATA
BIG JIM
Title: Re: Chillies
Post by: AdrianH on January 29, 2012, 09:18
Last year I grew 13 varieties but this year I've managed to cut it down to 7.

Hot Lemon
Rodeo (we normally grow CherryBomb but Rodeo apparently has a sweeter edge making it good for stuffing)
Cyklon
Bulgarian Carrot
Joes Long Cayenne
Red Paper Lantern
Trinidad Scorpion Morouga Yellow

Last year we also had Dorset Naga, chocolate habanero, black Hungarian, Hungarian hot wax, Telica jalapeño, orange cayenne and CherryBomb and others that I can't remember!
Title: Re: Chillies
Post by: Sadgit on January 29, 2012, 09:29
ahh Hot Lemon!! I forgot about those this year... fantastic chilli. one more for my list :D
Title: Re: Chillies
Post by: puffinstuff on January 29, 2012, 11:23
I've gone for Bhut jolokia, fatali, a mixed selection.  Put them in the cupboard witht he immersion heater and they've all come to fruition.  Dorset Naga seeds have not come up.  Shame!!
Looking for ward to a long hot summer.  Well, got to be positive about these tings.

Title: Re: Chillies
Post by: Chrysalis on January 29, 2012, 16:30

Looking for ward to a long hot summer.  Well, got to be positive about these tings.


In your dreams, pal! :tongue2: :D :tongue2: :D
Title: Re: Chillies
Post by: ally on January 29, 2012, 21:32
my husband has taken on a chilli challenge, he brought me the top ten chilli seeds from sdcf a few years back and as i havent had much luck he has brought a heated propergator and is waiting for 55 ... yes 55 seeds to germinate!!  its been a week and nothing so far!  if anyone has any advice then please let me know!!!

i do love twlight, its so pretty .... it my only successful plant from last year. lovely and hot!
Title: Re: Chillies
Post by: JayG on January 29, 2012, 22:00
I've only grown about 5 varieties of chilli over the years and none of them came up in less than a fortnight, so no need to worry (yet!)  :)
Title: Re: Chillies
Post by: compostqueen on January 29, 2012, 22:03
I did well with cayennes this year. Some of them are surprisingly hot!  I made chilli powder with them

I love the Lemon Drops  :)
Title: Re: Chillies
Post by: irot on March 02, 2012, 14:39
I'm growing NuMex Twilight that I picked up at Hampton Court Flower show last year, and some Serrano chillies that I got free from Wahaca - they give you a little matchstick collection of chillies with every meal :D

I'd like to grow some peach habaneros, but there's not too many sites selling them so if anyone could recommend where to get some from, that'd be great!
Title: Re: Chillies
Post by: Chiswickian on March 03, 2012, 09:52
I have some seeds of peach habanero. They came from Cookoo Box Chillies. I have more than I need though so could post you a few or if you are ever in Chiswick.....(I see you are just over the river).
Ian