Chilli Growing 2010


Growing Diary 2010
This year we have a few more different hot ones plus some more of the Naga strains and a few more unusual ornamentals. We will again use the three hydro NFT systems which hold five plants each to hopefully get some bumper Naga crops again for our sauces. All the seeds listed below come from Nicky's Nursery who have a great range of chilli seeds, plus we will also be growing a few popular ones to sell again and markets. Growing year >>>

Sourced from Bhut Jolokia: (capsicum chinense) Bhut Jolokia seeds, Ghost Chilli or Ghost Chile. The 'Blistering Hot' Indian Chilli Pepper that originates in the area of Assam, India. Bred and tested by the Chile Pepper Institute in Mexico (this source is one of the hottest peppers in the world) the origin of the seed they used was from Bih Jolokia bred in Assam India. Fruits of red/orange Bhut Jolokia ripen from green to orange through to red when fully ripe. Up to 1,001,304 Scoville Units. Cajamarca: (capsicum chinense) Cajamarca is a beautiful fruit that starts a vibrant purple unique to chinense varieties and matures to a rich red. The wonderful fragrant aroma of chilli pepper Cajamarca captures your attention with its intense, spicy citrus fragrance and the classic Habanero fruity undertone. Very Hot. Fatali: (capsicum chinense) High yielding plants, wrinkled extremely hot peppers up to7 cm long by up to 2 cm wide. Fatalii fruits ripen from lime green to lemon yellow when mature. Native to Central African Republic. Habanero Devils Tongue: (capsicum chinense) Extremely Hot, Devils Tongue chillis ripen from green to yellow and then a golden yellow when mature. Habanero Yellow Bumpy: (capsicum chinense) Pendant fruits up to 4 cm in length mature from green to light yellow. A beautiful Habanero with a fruity tropical taste. Plant height up to 45 cm loaded with lots of fruits. Tasty and ornamental. Mem Jolokia: (capsicum frutescens) This chilli is commonly known as “Mem Jolokia” in Assam and is well known for its pungency and flavour. Mem jolokia belongs to the “Bird’s eye chilli” group, small very hot chillis. The chilli is usually consumed in green, red (full ripe) and pickled forms. Very hot. Masquerade: (capsicum annum) Very early ornamental variety with a unique colour pattern. Long fruits are purple and mature through yellow, orange and finally red. Excellent in pots and containers. Hot Pepper. Medusa: (capsicum annum) An old favourite, ornamental chilli Medusa Fruits are thin and twisted in a cone shape, held prominently upright over the foliage. Fruits start out ivory and as they mature turning yellow to orange and finally red. Can produce up to 50 fruits. Good manageable size to grow in pots. Peppa Orangina: (capsicum annuum) Ornamental Peppa Orangina has round-shaped fruits that change colour from white to clear orange, similar to Solanum pseudocapsicum. It’s suitable for growing in 12-15 cm pots and also makes a nice small patio or garden plant in warmer locations, covered with fruits in late summer and autumn. Purple Flash: (capsicum annuum) Ornamental compact, mounded plants are uniform with a striking colouration, almost black leaves with bright purple flashes. Peppers are small round black and very hot. Attractive and unusual foliage plant for borders, landscaping, pots and containers, looks good on the Patio. Sangria: (capsicum annuum) Ornamental Compact rounded plants which have a full and somewhat spreading habit, and produce striking purple and red fruits but no heat. Speed Ball: (capsicum baccatum) Fruits ripen from green to red. Small pear shaped fruits approx 3.5 cm long by 2 cm width, produced on a beautiful small chilli tree. Medium hot chilli pepper with a fruity flavour. Last years harvested seeds to sell plants at market include: Red Missile, Demon Red, Aurora, Lemon Drop, Chocolate Bhut, Elephant Trunk, Calcutta, Orange Cheyenne

Feb 28: After weeks of snow and very low temperatures for around here, we have finally sown some seeds on a very wet sunday morning. Outside temperature is only around 4-5° C, but slightly warmer in the greenhouse, as now I've replaced a broken glass in the roof. The rest will be during this week as well. The temperature is set at 26° C in the heated vitpod propagators, which will probably drop at night and soar over during the day if the sun comes out, some shading may be needed to keep direct sunlight of the plastic of the propagator lid to keep temperature down.		We are using Root Riot cubes for germination which are made from composted organic materials, they have spongy texture which retains the perfect air/water ratio for healthy, rapid root growth. Suitable for both cuttings and seeds, The cubes are specially inoculated with micro nutrients to nourish the young plants, and also beneficial rooting fungi to aid root development. these are being supported in some old jiffy plug trays so we can map out the rows of seeds to remember which variety is which, don't rely on just labels only as you may wash them off
pop the seed in the hole...	......and push him in	All seeds have been dropped onto the Root Riot cubes and pushed down the small drilled holes to a depth of about 10mm. The cubes now need to be kept permanently moist, this can be checked by gently squeezing the cube to see if any water bubbles on the surface, if not water them, we also make sure they are not sitting in water by using a capillary mat or similar to absorb and even out the excess water in the bottom of the tray, anything absorbent will do, we are temporarily using cardboard sheets at the moment.
don't forget a plan of your seeds!	First few days were tricky to get used to again as the full sun this time of year into a greenhouse heats a propagator up very quickly. Monday morning after a hard frost the sun came around onto them and temp was 37° C when I caught it 10am so I am wetting the plugs twice a day with this kind of heat, opening the vents when in sun and keeping a really careful eye on them, but then remembering to close them down again at night. Mar 5: First up after 5 days were the Red Missiles, followed other varieties a day later, so conditions can't be too bad.	Vitopod propogators
March 14: After 2 weeks now we have a good amount showing, some only just emerging, but still no signs of the extra ones put in from last years seed we saved, the Elephants Trunk and the Calcutta. Temperatures have been low overnight with frosts most days, so the temperature in the propagator, has been struggling to maintain a decent temperature.	first signs of life	all in root riot cubes
April 14: Another month gone and still a very cold spring with the odd days of sunshine but not enough to give the seedlings much of a kick start. Although they have all germinated well most are still quite dormant. April 18: Have potted them all on into 7cm square pots and topped up with potting compost to keep them warm, overnight temperatures still not much above freezing, but have to watch out for the fierce sun when it does show as its quite easy to loose the lot on a hot day.		April 28: At last we have had a little bit of decent warmth and sunshine, all the plants have now started to grow, almost doubling in size this week. Have given them all a weak feed with chilli focus. As soon as they start to show good roots in this size pot I will put them into final pot size depending on variety, small ornamentals will go into 3 litre pots while the larger will get a 5 litre pot. I am also now checking the plants in the rockwool cubes as soon as the roots show they will go into the NFT systems.
clean up tank and fill up	ideally should have more roots showing	five plants in postion
up and running	May 2: Washed out all the NFT tanks this morning and gave the small pumps a quick brush up. I am using Ferro nutients again this year as they seem to work well for me, working out at correct strengh and pH straight from the bottle. Have filled up 2 tanks, pump on to wet down the bottom fleece layer and placed 5 plants per tank. As can be seen above the roots are through the bottom of the rockwool cube so will begin to pick up feed straight away. One more tank to get ready but plants are still a bit small on the last five.	May 30: Last NFT tank set up today, below are the Bhut Jolokia's which are to go in it, but as they were growing so slowly I decided to put them back in soil for a few weeks as they were not going to send out decent roots in just a rock wool cube. I then cut a 3 inch rockwool cube all the way thro, washed most of soil off the plants and inserted into rockwool with roots poking thro the bottom and placed in the NFT tank. They seem quite happy with this method and already growing well. All the other plants are now potted on into final size pots. Lets hope for some decent weather now.
repotted in soil	rockwool cut thro	most of the soil washed off
Five Bhut Jolokias in NFT	2 – 4 litre pots	Devils Tongue, 3 weeks in the NFT
July 01: All plants now doing well as we have had good long spells of bright hot weather, plants need watering twice a day, with some composts holding onto their water longer than others. NFT tanks were given the four week empty and refill now with the grow and bloom mix of Ferro. Disaster in one tank as the Fatali plant has fallen over and snapped its stalk as I hadn't given them support string to grab hold of, so have washed down a pot plant of soil and replaced it, new plant seems to have settled in OK as growing well this week.	July 06: Most plants are in flower with some of the earlier ones in full fruit like the Padron and the Orange Cheyenne. The ornamentals Medusa and Aurora also have good crops of chillis showing. July 22: No ripe chillis yet but most have fruit on apart from the extra hot ones which are just starting to flower. The watering is never ending at the moment twice a day, with full strength chilli focus 10 ml per liter every week. NFT tanks need topping up every 10 days now as the plants are consuming nutrients rapidly.	Purple Flash
Padron	Medusa	Orangina
The Padrons are really quite mild but amongst them is a hot one, hence their title of ‘Russian Roulette Chilli’. A great tapas dish so take a frying pan, add some olive oil and fry the peppers until the skin begins to blister and scorch, drain them and drizzle with olive oil and a sprinkling of sea salt. The Fatali and the Devils Tongue are beginning to look like wrong seeds as they are resembling large green bell peppers at the moment	Sangria	Masquerade