Hi All,

Do any of you guys grow chilie peppers?

I'm going to have a go with some in my conservatory this year.
I'd like to try a hottish one and a milder one and use them for cooking
and making chilie sauce.

Looking at various web sites shows that there is a huge variety to
choose from.
Does anyone have a favourite or recommend something for a beginner?
I would prefer a heavy cropper with large fruit (I guess :-) )

Thanks,

Jeff
(NE England)

In article ,
Jeff Taylor writes:
|
| Do any of you guys grow chilie peppers?
|
| I'm going to have a go with some in my conservatory this year.
| I'd like to try a hottish one and a milder one and use them for cooking
| and making chilie sauce.
|
| Does anyone have a favourite or recommend something for a beginner?
| I would prefer a heavy cropper with large fruit (I guess :-) )

Why? The crop depends more on the year than the variety; last year
was a disaster for any crop that needed heat and sun. Generally,
lots of smaller (hot) chillis are more useful than a few large ones.

I like Thai ones (often called Thai dragon) for a hot one. I don't
like the taste of habanero, and don't find it half as hot as the
Merkins claim. In my experience, the bird's eye chillis can be
quite a lot hotter. But they don't taste as nice as the Thai ones.

Jalapeno has an interesting flavour, and is good on pizzas etc., but
I regard it as mild. However, I am a true colonial, born in the last
days of the British Empire, and was brought up with such things. You
may not find Jalapeno mild.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

Nick Maclaren wrote:
In article ,
Jeff Taylor writes:
|
| Does anyone have a favourite or recommend something for a beginner?
| I would prefer a heavy cropper with large fruit (I guess :-) )


Thanks for the reply, Nick.

Why? The crop depends more on the year than the variety; last year
was a disaster for any crop that needed heat and sun. Generally,
lots of smaller (hot) chillis are more useful than a few large ones.

A couple of varieties that I saw advertised were described as 'heavy
croppers as opposed to the 6 - 10 fruit that you get from some varieties'
I assumed from that that there were heavy and light croppers.

I like Thai ones (often called Thai dragon) for a hot one. I don't
like the taste of habanero, and don't find it half as hot as the
Merkins claim. In my experience, the bird's eye chillis can be
quite a lot hotter. But they don't taste as nice as the Thai ones.

Jalapeno has an interesting flavour, and is good on pizzas etc., but
I regard it as mild. However, I am a true colonial, born in the last
days of the British Empire, and was brought up with such things. You
may not find Jalapeno mild.



Thai dragon looking good for the hot one :-)

Thanks again,

Jeff
(NE England)

Jeff Taylor wrote:

Do any of you guys grow chilie peppers?

Yes! Although it would be fairer to say I *have* grown chili peppers
since I'm just ending my first year. 18 months ago I hadn't grown much
of anything, but last Christmas I decided I would plant some herbs and
some carrots, and things seem to have grown out of all control (sorry!)
from there.

I'm going to have a go with some in my conservatory this year.
I'd like to try a hottish one and a milder one and use them for cooking
and making chilie sauce.

Looking at various web sites shows that there is a huge variety to
choose from.

I find looking through seed catalogues overwhelming sometimes.

Does anyone have a favourite or recommend something for a beginner?
I would prefer a heavy cropper with large fruit (I guess :-) )

Last winter, as a present, I was given five little sachets of varieties
of chili. I think it was an offer from a magazine. Sometimes it's nice
to have decisions like that taken out of your hands. I sowed three of
them - Cherry Bomb, Jalapeño and Numex Twilight. This year, I've sowed
some "Thai Dragon" just today (don't take that as advice though - I'm
sure it's far too earyly if I had any sense!)

Cherry Bomb was certainly the most successful. I could easily have had
enough from those plants alone, but Jalapeño also did well, if a bit
later. It was an incredibly cool and wet summer, which is far from
ideal for chilis, but they didn't really seem to mind - they set fruit
and ripened outside as much as I could want. Numex Twilight matured and
ripened much later, but it's very pretty with the tiny upright fruits
turning yellow/orange -- purple -- red.

Not much to choose between the first two for heat - neither are hugely
hot - but Cherry Bomb is probably hotter. How you prepare them makes
much more difference - leave all the pith & seeds and Cherry Bomb is
"hot enough" (for me at any rate), but if you're careful to leave just
the red/green flesh you'd hardly notice they're there. That defeats the
purpose of course

I've kept two plants of each over the winter, and they seem to be very
happy inside despite the lack of light. They're still trying to flower,
but I'm having none of it until it warms up - last spring I found fruit
didn't really form inside anyway. They'll just have to wait until I
plant them out again. I've also just sown half of one of the other two
packets - Thai Dragon. Probably much hotter.

From what I've grown, the variety I'd recommend would be "Cherry Bomb"
without any doubt. But chilis seem surprisingly easy to grow.

Biggest problem inside for me was spider mite (I think) and fruit not
setting. Biggest problem outside was slugs & snails, though they seemed
to be equally happy to eat the garden twine used to tie them up as to
eat the plants! Neither was much of a problem.

Germination was surprisingly easy (if slow) in general purpose compost
on centrally heated windowsills - 29 from 30 germinated in 3-4 weeks,
with one runty seedling that lived and fruited but never grew as well as
the others. They need heat apparently though: it would probably be
harder outside or in a greenhouse.

Good luck!

Peter

In article ,
Jeff Taylor writes:
|
| A couple of varieties that I saw advertised were described as 'heavy
| croppers as opposed to the 6 - 10 fruit that you get from some varieties'
| I assumed from that that there were heavy and light croppers.

There probably are. But I have had anywhere from 2 to 30 fruit on a
plant, for the same variety. And that is unlikely to be just random
variation as all plants in the same year behave the same.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

Nick Maclaren wrote:
In article ,
Jeff Taylor writes:
|
| A couple of varieties that I saw advertised were described as 'heavy
| croppers as opposed to the 6 - 10 fruit that you get from some varieties'
| I assumed from that that there were heavy and light croppers.

There probably are. But I have had anywhere from 2 to 30 fruit on a
plant, for the same variety. And that is unlikely to be just random
variation as all plants in the same year behave the same.



Interesting thanks.
It's observations like this that you don't see in catalogues.
Oh well, lets just hope for a hot summer!

Cheers,

Jeff
NE England

Peter Robinson wrote:

Thanks a lot for this info, Peter

Last winter, as a present, I was given five little sachets of varieties
of chili. I think it was an offer from a magazine. Sometimes it's nice
to have decisions like that taken out of your hands. I sowed three of
them - Cherry Bomb, Jalapeño and Numex Twilight. This year, I've sowed
some "Thai Dragon" just today (don't take that as advice though - I'm
sure it's far too earyly if I had any sense!)

LOL - Well they do like a long season ;-)
I'm going to try and hold on til next month to sow mine.
Will start them in a heated propagator in the conservatory.


Cherry Bomb was certainly the most successful. I could easily have had
enough from those plants alone,

Looks good and apparently good for pickling too.
Will add that one to my list


I've kept two plants of each over the winter, and they seem to be very
happy inside despite the lack of light. They're still trying to flower,
but I'm having none of it until it warms up - last spring I found fruit
didn't really form inside anyway. They'll just have to wait until I
plant them out again.

Yes, I've read about people over-wintering them.
Might try it - conservatory get cold in the Winter but never freezing.
Nothing to lose.


From what I've grown, the variety I'd recommend would be "Cherry Bomb"
without any doubt. But chilis seem surprisingly easy to grow.


OK.
Thai Dragon
Cherry Bomb
Garden Salsa

Biggest problem inside for me was spider mite (I think) and fruit not
setting. Biggest problem outside was slugs & snails, though they seemed
to be equally happy to eat the garden twine used to tie them up as to
eat the plants! Neither was much of a problem.

Mine will all be inside.


Germination was surprisingly easy (if slow) in general purpose compost
on centrally heated windowsills - 29 from 30 germinated in 3-4 weeks,
with one runty seedling that lived and fruited but never grew as well as
the others. They need heat apparently though: it would probably be
harder outside or in a greenhouse.

Good luck!


And you too!
Thanks again for sharing all this.
Can't wait now...

Cheers,

Jeff
NE England

Jeff Taylor wrote:

Peter Robinson wrote:

This year, I've sowed some "Thai Dragon" just today (don't take that as
advice though - I'm sure it's far too earyly if I had any sense!)

LOL - Well they do like a long season ;-)
I'm going to try and hold on til next month to sow mine.

Very sensible!

Yes, I've read about people over-wintering them.
Might try it - conservatory get cold in the Winter but never freezing.
Nothing to lose.

My thoughts exactly. Was half expecting them to wither away and die.
Jalapeño isn't looking too great, but it's still growing. The others
are romping away, and they're not getting too spindly with the lack of
light either, though I did give the 2 Cherry Bombs a bit of a haircut
today to keep them bushy.

Garden Salsa

Nicky's Nursery says "The best pepper for salsa and sauces." - can't be
bad!

Biggest problem inside for me was spider mite (I think) and fruit not
setting. Biggest problem outside was slugs & snails, though they seemed
to be equally happy to eat the garden twine used to tie them up as to
eat the plants! Neither was much of a problem.

Mine will all be inside.

If you have trouble with the fruit setting (not enough bees finding
their way into your conservatory) you might try hand pollinating. Not
too much nitrogen, and not too much water either.

And you too!
Thanks again for sharing all this.
Can't wait now...

I'm so impatient for the sun to come out!

Peter

Hi..

Jeff Taylor wrote:

Do any of you guys grow chilie peppers?

Me..!

I'm going to have a go with some in my conservatory this year.

Well I'm just overwintering some pots in a conservatory in northern
direction..

Looking at various web sites shows that there is a huge variety to
choose from.

Indeed. Personally I'm a fan of sorts cultivated in Europe..! :-)

Does anyone have a favourite or recommend something for a beginner?

In the year 2008 I'll grow/keep the following sorts (x _or_ x to y _of_ 10):

# Cayenne Pepper, Cajun-type Chilli, European Grandpa, (7 to 8)
# Piment de Bresse, France, (2 to 3)
# Mirasol, Spain, (3 to 4)
# Leutschauer Schotenpfeffer, Bavaria|Bohemia|Silesia (4 to 6)
# Bulgarian Carrot, (6 to 7)
# Serbian 3, (6)
# Pequin from Ischia, an Italian bird pepper, (8)..
# and possibly some heirlooms from the Kosovo..

I would prefer a heavy cropper with large fruit (I guess :-) )

Well there is a hottish one sort called "Barkers Hot" (9), an Anaheim-type
Chilli with large fruits that are _really_ hot.. :-)

--
cu
Marco

Marco Schwarz wrote:

In the year 2008 I'll grow/keep the following sorts (x _or_ x to y _of_ 10):

# Cayenne Pepper, Cajun-type Chilli, European Grandpa, (7 to 8)
# Piment de Bresse, France, (2 to 3)
# Mirasol, Spain, (3 to 4)
# Leutschauer Schotenpfeffer, Bavaria|Bohemia|Silesia (4 to 6)
# Bulgarian Carrot, (6 to 7)
# Serbian 3, (6)
# Pequin from Ischia, an Italian bird pepper, (8)..
# and possibly some heirlooms from the Kosovo..

I would prefer a heavy cropper with large fruit (I guess :-) )

Well there is a hottish one sort called "Barkers Hot" (9), an Anaheim-type
Chilli with large fruits that are _really_ hot.. :-)


Danke, Marco.

I might check out some of those...

Cheers,

Jeff
NE England

Marco Schwarz wrote:

Jeff Taylor wrote:

Do any of you guys grow chilie peppers?

[...]

Well I'm just overwintering some pots in a conservatory in northern
direction..

Why "in a northern direction" as a matter of interest? I'm trying to
give mine as much light as possible over winter to stop them going
leggy.

Peter

Hi..

Peter Robinson wrote:

Why "in a northern direction" as a matter of interest?

Well it's our so called "magic plant hospital", means it seem to be able to
heal all kind off plant disease(s) and it's our favourite place for
overwintering coldwater aquaria.. :-)

This conservatory - it gets natural light from above and two vertical
sides..

Low temperatures - low needs relating to lighting - low-maintenance..

My chillies - stagnate in growth but stay green, they look well but don't
lose any leaves - and this is why I'm really content..! :-)

I'm trying to
give mine as much light as possible over winter to stop them going
leggy.

--
cu
Marco

Marco Schwarz wrote:

Peter Robinson wrote:

Why "in a northern direction" as a matter of interest?

Well it's our so called "magic plant hospital", means it seem to be able to
heal all kind off plant disease(s) and it's our favourite place for
overwintering coldwater aquaria.. :-)

Ah

This conservatory - it gets natural light from above and two vertical
sides..

So it's not so much north facing as north, east, west and up facing!
Sounds ideal.

Low temperatures - low needs relating to lighting - low-maintenance..

My chillies - stagnate in growth but stay green, they look well but don't
lose any leaves - and this is why I'm really content..! :-)

I don't really have anywhere cool, dry, light and safe from frost, so
I'm contenting myself with making sure my chilis are growing in a
sensible way rather than not growing much at all.

Incidentally, from the ones I didn't bother digging up I can attest to
the fact that they really aren't hardy even in these days of global
warming

Peter

Hi Jeff
'Ring of Fire' is an easy to grow plant with good yield and as the name suggests, plenty of heat. One of the other 'Cayenne' varieties would be milder - I like 'Joe's Long' as the fruit can reach 25cm easily. Both these varieties dry well for storage or grinding into powder or will freeze for more like the fresh fruit. Simpson's seeds list over 70 varieties including both of these so I know what you mean about choice. If you need any more specific advice about chillies try checking out www.chillisgalore.co.uk

Hi Jeff
'Ring of Fire' is an easy to grow plant with good yield and as the name
suggests, plenty of heat. One of the other 'Cayenne' varieties would be
milder - I like 'Joe's Long' as the fruit can reach 25cm easily. Both
these varieties dry well for storage or grinding into powder or will
freeze for more like the fresh fruit. Simpson's seeds list over 70
varieties including both of these so I know what you mean about choice.
If you need any more specific advice about chillies try checking out
www.chillisgalore.co.uk


Thanks, Richard.

Just had a look at chlliesgalore and it seems a very good site.

Must admit, 'Joe's Long' sounds tempting...
'Ring of Fire' - hmmm, I'm just a novice you know :-)

I was only going to try a couple of varieties but I think it could be 4
now :-)

Cheers mate,

Jeff