Chilli heads.

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  • Yum. Last round of jam.


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  • Noice!

    Anyone jamming with a more sophisticated recipe than jam sugar, cider vinegar and peppers? Not sure if worth it as the above works so well(?!)

  • That's all you need.

  • That’s all we do as well, nowt fancy.
    The only thing we find is that it often needs a teaspoon or two of pectin powder to help it set. Perhaps the peppers we’ve used have been especially watery..

    Good score from the local garden centre today, 2 are short date and the 3rd is just out of date so got them for 50p each. Always worth checking the dates and being brave enough to ask lol.
    We use mostly franchi seeds on the allotment for all our veg as they’re far superior to anything from suttons etc. Not had chillis from them before but a quick shake of the packet suggests there’s fucktons in there…


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  • Has anyone got a good source for reading up on growing chillis/decent YouTube channel?
    Seen a bunch of conflicting information and a lot of it seems to be based around people growing in the sunnier US states.

    Some people seem to just whack a pot on the patio and get great results and others seem to struggle regardless.
    My plants this year appeared healthy but never seemed to get off the ground and only a couple really produced pods. I probably germinated a bit earlier than recommended.

    I’m lucky enough to have a 1.8m x 4m bed at the allotment with a chest-height hoop house already earmarked for chillis and peppers next year so can hopefully create the ideal environment with companion plants, maybe olla pots for watering etc. Bed is east west facing, gets a bit of shade in the middle of the day but mostly pretty sunny.
    I don’t have grow lights and powered irrigation isn’t an option as we have troughs, not taps at the plot.
    Have added good soil and cardboard this week to the bed and it’ll get manure in winter.

    I don’t know why but my lack of success this year has really irked me and want to improve things next year, probably because everything else did really well.

    So yeah, if you were designing your ideal chilli bed, what would you do and what info is relevant?

  • Don't overthink it, it's not rocket science.

    Chillies like fluffy (not dense / compacted) soil, and roughly the same nutrients as tomatoes do.
    I always did very well with tomato soil, sometimes added extra perlite (like Perligran, the white little pellets), also tomato / bell pepper type fertilizer is great.

    Let the soil dry out to the point where the leaves look a bit "sad", this will let air get to the roots, don't water everyday, don't let them sit in water or else the roots will rot..

    It's great to start early as mentioned above, indoors, with artificial light (daylight bulbs / tubes are just fine), lots of light close to the plants will give you nice and compact (non-leggy) little plants that are a perfect start for putting them outdoors when it's warm enough (over 10°C most nights).
    Having a little fan nearby while they're indoors (turn on for half an hour a day) will help them become strong!

  • Muchos gracias.
    Overthinking stuff to ocd levels is generally my go to response to most situations…

    I have a bit of a background in ‘indoor farming’ shall we say ;) so understand nutrient levels, fans and the joys of grow lights. Depending on what else is going on there’s a chance I might be able to put them under grow lights but no guarantee on that. Would daylight bulbs in a desk lamp do, or better off with something a bit more dedicated?

    Have just found a guy called ChilliChump on yt, uk based and lots of overly detailed videos for me to obsess over…

  • I used to use a T5 day light bulb and heated mat when I was in to growing chilli's and really made a difference allowing them to be started much earlier and get really strong by the time it was to move them outside. I use to grow them in self watering pots and really aerated soil with perlite and vermiculite mixed in

  • For me both neon tubes and led tubes worked really well..


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  • I've always grown chillies out in a bed in the garden, never had any issues until this year. Not sure if it was a lack of heat over summer but had to dig them up and move them to the communal greenhouse on the allotment to get them to grow. Trying to over winter them for next year.

  • Something like this? Not as big a cost as other options out there. Got a heat mat I can pop underneath.

    BlumWay Upgrade Seed Starter Tray with Grow Light,80-Cells Seedling Tray with Humidity Dome/Indoor Grow Kit for Deep-Rooted Seedlings, Adjustable/Timed Light Plant Starter Set https://amzn.eu/d/hIZ7fbM

  • If you know what flavour you like, just dial it with herbs, spices, different type of sugar etc. I roast the chilli fruit (seeds in) with sweet peppers (seeds out), loads of garlic, little onion, then into a pan with cider vinegar, sugar, and some tomatoes. And add earthy herb/spices (cumin, coriander seed, anything else lying around), balsamic vinegar to knock back the sweetness, or honey for a sweeter taste if you prefer.

    I tried a few times flame-toasting the chillis and peppers on a kitchen gas hob to get a deeper, smokey flavour, but tbh. can’t really tell the difference with just roasting in an oven ….barbecue/smoke them for proper smokey flavour

    ——
    Sort-of edit; should have said I’m after a less-sweet, more chutney, savoury flavour.

  • Something like this? Not as big a cost as other options out there.

    Never used any of those kits, I just bought cheap led-tube jobs from the hardware store (like ones you would screw to the ceiling of your garage for example), like these 👍

  • Ace, you've given me the confidence to mess around with the next batch

  • Oh right I’m with you, alas I don’t quite have space for something like that. Shame as would work well in the potting shed on the allotment but no power there.

    The at-home germination space is a 60x30cm bit next to the balcony door in the lounge so needs to be fairly discreet.

  • How warm do you need it to overwinter chillis?

  • 10°C to be on the safe side I've read.. some can tolerate a bit lower temperatures.
    In my personal experience the bigger issue is watering during that time - they need only very little water but if it's a bit too little they die 🙂

    You can also overwinter them in the warm rooms you live in, they will get leggy though (could just cut back again in the spring).

    Long story short chilli plants are perennials but it's a bit hit and miss in reality / in our climate.

  • I’m interested to find out what temps my potting shed drops to at night/overwinter(we only got it this summer). We’ve insulated it with the shiny bubblewrap and will cover the open vents for winter but obvs there’s a lot of glass. I’d assume it would absolutely get well below 10°c in there without help.
    I can section off the lower shelf with more insulation and do the underside of the top shelf as well.
    Hopefully will be enough for the chilli I’m overwintering in there.

    Might go crazy and treat myself to a max/min thermometer for in there


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  • That looks really nice!

  • Thanks, was a treat to ourselves to encourage us to spend more time at the allotment, our flat was also getting really messy with every available surface covered in seed trays in spring. Just need to do as much as possible to keep it dry and cosy in there for winter.
    It’s one of these

    I suppose we could add clear bubblewrap to the windows for a bit of double glazing but I’d imagine that’ll cut the light levels down dramatically.

  • I've been somewhat spoilt for me birthday, this is a highlight I thought would be appreciated in here, it's a very cool book.


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  • Aye yooo. I've got the same Chile Piquin unopened in the kitchen as well. Anyway, what's the word on that Salford?

    Also, big up @spinnnout Sorted me out with some of that Lemon Drop mentioned above. Psyyyyched I be for next years growth.

  • Anyway, what's the word on that Salford?

    Very tasty, strong vanilla notes, getting a tour of the distillery tomorrow after food at purezza, I've really been treated.

  • Got those propagators with lights I posted upthread. After a week in my basket scamazon sent me a 25% off voucher so went for it.
    The quality is a bit more rigid than I expected and the light is a nice blue/white but as the tubes are a little short each end of the tray is a little less bright.
    It’s dimmable but the leds flicker on the lowest 2 settings.
    Only minor annoyance is that the timer is 3/6/12 but no 18hr option. And it needs to be turned on via the switch so can’t just use a mechanical timer.


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Chilli heads.

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