[shokkyy]

I always grow a couple of chilli varieties, but this year is the first time I've tried Habanero. The plants grew very strong and healthy but the horrible summer clearly wasn't long enough for them to ripen. When it started getting colder I brought them inside because they were smothered in fruit that just hadn't ripened yet. They are ripening off well inside, but what's puzzling me is that almost all the fruit is really tiny. There's a few decent sized chillis, but the vast majority are ridiculously small, albeit ripe.

Anyone know if this is normal for Habanero? Or is it because they needed more feed (i've used slow release tomato feed) or more water or a longer summer? Anyone know what might have caused it?

[mumofstig]

How tiny is tiny - they are quite small

[shokkyy]

Here's a piccie. That's a 5p coin in the middle. The biggest one is what I'd call a decent chilli size but the others are really quite tiny.

[compostqueen]

They might be fiendishly hot. Take great care with them

If you don't know specifically what type of habanero you've got there it's difficult to say what the eventual size should be. There are lots of habaneros

[shokkyy]

Actually, I just went back and looked at the original listing where I bought these seeds, and they're described as being 1" long and 1.5" wide, so clearly mine are a lot smaller than normal.

[VegGirl7]

I've found that the fruits I got earlier in the year were normal size but the ones that the plant has produced later in the season, over the past couple of months, have been much smaller... 

this is on my jalapeno chili plant (in it's 2nd year) kept in the house all year round - I put it down to the plant being a little tired toward the end of the season and lower light levels - but then I could be wrong!

could it just be poor light, cold conditions and too many fruits trying to grow/ripen at the same time?

Also, agree with compostqueen - the small ones are often the hottest! 

[shokkyy]

Well, removing the seeds from those tiny ones is completely out of the question

Luckily, I like hot. I always grow a lot of Superchilli, which is a Thai chilli and supposed to be quite hot, but I always chuck 4 or 5 of them into a chilli without removing seeds, and that's fine for me. Maybe I'll try just 1 or 2 of the Habanero until I work out how hot they are.

[SG6]

How big is the pot and how big is the plant?
I usually think of them as small(ish) plants when in reality when I have visited the Chilli Fair at Westdean a 3ft high plant is normal with them being in a 9" or 12" pot

[New shoot]

Maybe I'll try just 1 or 2 of the Habanero until I work out how hot they are.

Hot hot hot    They are about the same eye watering strength as Scotch Bonnets which I grew last year.  Still working my way through them as they are wickedly spicy.  Very good though  

[rich24uk]

It will be down to the climate and weather that we had this year. Not good at all for chillis, especially those needing a full season like your habs.

If you want to reduce the number that you get and have the plant put a bit more effort into just a few bigger fruits you can try not nipping shoots out (did you do this?) or taking some buds off before they flower so that the extra energy goes into the remaining few.

If you still have the plant you can also overwinter it now which would give it a nice growing season and a head start in March when the sun comes back out

[Steve_LF]

Same story with my Habeneros, got a few proper sized ones and absolutely loads of little ones. 

[LeeR]

Well, removing the seeds from those tiny ones is completely out of the question

Luckily, I like hot. I always grow a lot of Superchilli, which is a Thai chilli and supposed to be quite hot, but I always chuck 4 or 5 of them into a chilli without removing seeds, and that's fine for me. Maybe I'll try just 1 or 2 of the Habanero until I work out how hot they are.

Well it depends on the variety of habanero you use, but I wouldn't assume that 5 super chillies = 1 habanero or you might be in for a bit of a shock    Super chillies are about 30,000 to 50,000 shu and a chocolate habanero is about 450,000 shu.  The chilliman (http://www.thechileman.org) has a database of most chillies if you want to find one that just right for you. 

[shokkyy]

Well that'd be good actually, because I was looking for a variety that was hotter than Superchilli but not too hard to get a crop from, which a lot of the hotter varieties are. These have given me a good crop, though they clearly need a much longer season than Superchillis, but just with very tiny fruit. When they're that tiny you don't really have the option of removing the seeds even if you want to.

I was planning to keep these alive in the house over winter so they'll hopefully crop earlier next year. No point doing that with Superchilli because they grow on very quickly and give me a huge crop even with a bad summer like this year. Unfortunately they have immediately become covered in those tiny flies and sticky residue, which is the reason why I hate having to bring chillis indoors. Too cold to put them outside to clear it now, though I might be able to risk a day in the polytunnel if I pick a warm day.

[savbo]

my Habaneros are just the same - small and hot.

Got this idea from a mate who learnt it in spain this year

Roughly blended about a dozen (seeds mostly removed) with a piece of ginger, a small clove of garlic, olive oil and salt, and put the mush into those tiny jars you get portions of jam in.

Absolutely delicious if VERY hot.

sav

[engineer]

My son asked me to grow on some chilli plants that he had germinated, silly me 
he turned up at the lotty with about 40 10" pots  , There was about ten different varieties, being an easy touch i did grow them on, and looked after them. I must say that for the poor weather we have had the crop was quite good, many small fruits, but also many mature ones.
Some of the varieties and SHUs are:
Naga Viper    1,349.000
Naga King      1,041,427
Spanish Naga 1,086,844
Ring of Fire         357,000

with reference to overwintering (for next year) i have tried the following and the plants appear to be very happy

if you have a number of plants, knock them out of the pot and trim the rootball back to the size of a large orange, place four around the edge of a 10-12" pot and fill with a damp compost (not wet) and place on the kitchen windowsill.

If you only have one or two trim the rootball back and repot into 4" pots, and place in a light warm place.

Re-pot them into 8-10" pots the following year once they show new growth.

i am also trying to overwinter some at the lotty but i am not saying anything about them until i get the results in March