Chilli heads.

Also bought these at a local african supermarket; not completely sure what they are but usually the chilies from that store are quite mean, so will use with caution.

You could always ask them in the shop before you buy, but I guess that would take all the fun of discovery out of it. :)

First batch of seeds went into the propagator this afternoon

..any progress yet? What kind are you planting this year?

I also put down some seeds a week ago, most germinated by now, and I have put them directly in rather big (7L) pots yesterday.

Got a lot of problems with aphids and fungus gnats last year (that came with the cheap soil I bought at the DIY warehouse) and lost 10 of the 15 well established plants I had going 😥
So this year I got the proper good shit that usually only the weed heads use.
Hung up some of the sticky yellow things just in case but so far so good 👍
Also got some more LED lights as well..

Obligatory start-of-season-sprout-pictures:

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No sign as yet… Rooster spur—did well outdoors in pots last year, nice to look at, dry very well. “Hot yellow” and “hot”—some seeds from last year I saved in envelopes, sp. anuum I think. Two lots of other random packet seeds, one chinensis one F1 annuum. No big-uns, last year’s poblanos were v. big plants and only just had time to fruit.

[update: 2020-02-20] looks like better germination of the ones I saved than I expected, so I shall have to thin. Read this on potting on too, will be giving it a go:

Set chilli plants deep in their pots, burying the stems up to the first leaves. Like tomato plants they will generate new roots on the buried stem, bring better stability and nutrient uptake. Just make sure the lowest leaves are not sitting on the compost surface.

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Little update about three weeks later.. got the impression that they're taking a bit more time this year.. most are looking healthy though 👍

How are yours doing @aglet ?

Anybody else growing some this year?

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They look great! What you using soil wise during propagation?

Just about to sow some habanero and Carolina reaper.

I think i'm going to mail-order plants later in spring. Looks like nothing survived the winter this year.

Planning to sow mine next week. Got delayed as Simon got covid and was quarantining in the room the heated propagator is kept in. Going to grow some padrons this year.

They look great! What you using soil wise during propagation?

Cheers man ✌️

I do not sow directly into soil but let the seeds germinate in little plastic containers with wet kitchen roll that I put somewhere warm, like on the router.
The seedlings go directly into big pots filled with fluffy, nutrient-poor soil (have used regular seed starter mix and potting soil "for tomatoes" in the past, this year it's BioBizz Light-Mix and Canna Bio Terra Plus, both have hardly any fertilizer in them, will start adding this when watering next time, now that the plants are little bigger).

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Slow going—not yet ready to pot on. Anyone want some plants?

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That's a great haul. Mine have been...unpredictable.
On the other hand, last years stuff is still going strong on the windowsill and starting to thrive again.

Poor start to mine too - scaffolding and netting covering the south-facing window, plus a bout of spider mites knocked back my best plants from last year :( I think I've eradicated them by cleaning with diluted surgical spirit, but it's to the point where they could start infecting the new seedlings and I might have to ditch the lot.

I need to do a chilli audit, but think we have 8 varieties this year, including some new plants my gf bought from Shannons in Forest Hill. If anyone is looking for a kickstart to the season, they've got a great variety, 6-8 inch tall, £3-4, under a 'dynamite chilli' brand.

Not sure if I said, but padron peppers were a real surprise last year. Grew 3 plants on a sunny windowsill, and would get a decent tasty crop every 3-4 weeks. The plants were slender, not gangly and sprawling and easy to look after. If left on the plant, the fruit gets increasingly hot, which you learn to dial to your taste.

Trying padrons this year, the seedlings are taking forever to grow even though they are in a heated propagator.

Did a bit chili plant re-potting today. This guy handled the winter best this year.

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looking good 🙂

An update on the one posted above, seem very healthy.
Also promised myself no more chili plants this year. Did not go as planned..

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Love padrons, will be interested to see what kind of crop you get.

I’ll have another go at overwintering, no success this time. This year’s lot from scratch have been mostly repotted (also feat. a lot of basil & shiso)—if anyone in East London wants some plants I have way too many…

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I bought 6 chilli plants locally, 2 are at home pictured, 4 at allotment.

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^ numex sounds fun variety btw.

some pics from this year's plants 🙂

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This made me chuckle.

https://twitter.com/BrendanOde/status/1542935109938053121

Want to buy a selection of hot sauces for the workshop. Any recommendations on small batch stuff?

https://vengefulspirit.co/

This guy's stuff is terrific.

https://worldfamoushotsauce.co.uk

All hand-made and packed, so the turnaround times are a bit lengthy, but well worth the wait. Original is a banging hot sauce, but the Pineapple Ghost is incredible. I'm addicted to the stuff. Also worth getting is the Carolina Reaper salt, which I now have on practically everything I eat.