[viettaclark]

I've been faffing about with a paintbrush playing God and I don't know if it was me that made the chillies or they did it themselves!
Would be nice to know before I go bonkers. There are masses of flowers starting....

[mumofstig]

I always tap the ones that grow on the kitchen windowledge, same as you do for tomatoes

[peapod]

or you could get a little make-up brush and dust pollen from one flower to another.

Edit - thats what you did! But it does work as you have seen! Also, spray a fine mist of water on them too

[realfood]

They are self-fertile, but they still need to be tapped with the fingers to get the pollen to the right bit.

[poohpouri]

last year I just let mine grow in greenhouse and there all produced hundreds of chillis

[oldcow]

I've been faffing about with a paintbrush playing God and I don't know if it was me that made the chillies or they did it themselves!
Would be nice to know before I go bonkers. There are masses of flowers starting....

Faffing with a paintbrush helps... All the flowers I did that to did set and produced a chilli, while the other ones sometimes dropped.

[shokkyy]

I've never touched a single chilli or tomato plant with a paintbrush, nor tapped or sprayed them or anything else, and it's never stopped them having huge crops of fruit

[Growster...]

Mrs Growster's chilli paintbrush technique is second to none, and the results are always worthwhile.

She also brings a few plants indoors each year so that they can grow again the next year, from the same size that they finished.

[prakash_mib]

hang on !!! masses of flowers? in march?
mine has just 4 set of leaves 

[sarajane]

DITTO  -  when did you sow these chillis, or did you overwinter them and if you did, I want to know how ! !

[8doubles]

I occasionally overwinter a chilli plant in a closed conservatory and you do get a better crop if you tickle the flowers with an artists brush or a soft feather in a drinking straw.
If the plants are in an open greenhouse where plenty of pollinating insects can do the job there is no need to interfere, but just to make sure i sometimes do.

[viettaclark]

Yes, I overwintered 2 types of chilli and a red pepper.  I threw half the plants even though they were sprouting because I'm growing different ones this year and would have too many! (Still got dried ones from last year!!).
I just cut back the plants to a couple of inches of stalk and left them in their original big pots on a light window sill. Switched off the radiator at that end of the room but the room was still comfortable. Gave them a dribble of water every 2 weeks or so but otherwise forgot about them and when they started shooting beginning of Feb gave them a feed. Flowers started end of Feb. and I am the proud mummy of 8 chillies already with loads of flowers coming!!
So proud....

[prakash_mib]

Yes, I overwintered 2 types of chilli and a red pepper.  I threw half the plants even though they were sprouting because I'm growing different ones this year and would have too many! (Still got dried ones from last year!!).
I just cut back the plants to a couple of inches of stalk and left them in their original big pots on a light window sill. Switched off the radiator at that end of the room but the room was still comfortable. Gave them a dribble of water every 2 weeks or so but otherwise forgot about them and when they started shooting beginning of Feb gave them a feed. Flowers started end of Feb. and I am the proud mummy of 8 chillies already with loads of flowers coming!!
So proud....

dont have a jealous smiley