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Lycanthrope
Honorary Master
Chillies*
As for advice... Try this site: http://www.thechilliking.com/growing/growing-chilli-peppers-guide/
Seems to know what he's on about.
From personal experience, the things can be pretty tenacious and don't seem to need much TLC although I suppose it might depend on the variety.
P
Picard
Guest
71 views and just 1 reply.
DrJohnZoidberg
Honorary Master
You can ask my dad, he is master chili cultivator. Me on the other hand am able to get rosemary to die. My dad always brings herbs over when he visits (not that kind of 'erb).
satanboy
Psychonaut seven
remember to water
remember not to over water
remember not to over water
I grow a lot of them.
Are you growing them in pots or in the garden?
They need warm temperatures to germinate. Get some old glass jars, and put them in damp kitchen towelling, and then put that into the glass jars, and seal them. Keep the jars in a warm but not necessarily light place. Check back on them every day or so to see if they have germinated.
Make sure that you provide fertilizer for your chillies once they are planted. Some sites recommend not fertilizing until they are older, this hasnt worked well for me. What works is fertilizing them but carefully. Even the tiniest of seedlings need the nutrients provided by fertilizer.
Make sure that your drainage is good, but also provide soil that holds water well. Coco peat/coir is good for this. They need water quite frequently. They love hot temperatures.
Are you growing them in pots or in the garden?
They need warm temperatures to germinate. Get some old glass jars, and put them in damp kitchen towelling, and then put that into the glass jars, and seal them. Keep the jars in a warm but not necessarily light place. Check back on them every day or so to see if they have germinated.
Make sure that you provide fertilizer for your chillies once they are planted. Some sites recommend not fertilizing until they are older, this hasnt worked well for me. What works is fertilizing them but carefully. Even the tiniest of seedlings need the nutrients provided by fertilizer.
Make sure that your drainage is good, but also provide soil that holds water well. Coco peat/coir is good for this. They need water quite frequently. They love hot temperatures.
Thanks! I went to get all the stuff I needed today. I put them in seedling trays. Gonna be growing them in pots.
I got some soil that is specifically for seedlings.
Here are pictures of the seeds that are planted.
I'm going to be putting them outside during the day and moving them to a warmer garage at night.
Cool that looks fine, just make sure the seeds are covered with a thin layer of soil. And keep them moist! Buy one of those pressure sprayers and use them every day. You can also think about covering the seed trays with plastic wrap to keep the moisture in.
For pots, I put shade cloth at the bottom, then about 2cm worth of loose stones (like 1cm or so in size). Then, I make a mix of coco peat and river sand, or sometimes coco peat, river sand and compost. You can leave out the coco peat and just use compost, but I'd recommend at least some river sand in there for drainage.
Be careful with too much water loss with seedlings from too much sun, but for larger plants, the sky is the limit as far as sun goes. Until your seedlings reach about 15cm tall, try to shelter them from the sun just a little bit. Otherwise they dry out and die.
For pots, I put shade cloth at the bottom, then about 2cm worth of loose stones (like 1cm or so in size). Then, I make a mix of coco peat and river sand, or sometimes coco peat, river sand and compost. You can leave out the coco peat and just use compost, but I'd recommend at least some river sand in there for drainage.
Be careful with too much water loss with seedlings from too much sun, but for larger plants, the sky is the limit as far as sun goes. Until your seedlings reach about 15cm tall, try to shelter them from the sun just a little bit. Otherwise they dry out and die.
Cool, they are covered with about 1cm of soil is that okay? I have one of the pressure sprayers will make sure they are moist.
In terms of pot size, do I need a large pot if I want proper chillies or will a smallish pot work? Also if the pot is big enough can it hold 2 or more plants in it?
I think actually reduce the amount of soil covering them if you can. A good rule of thumb is that seeds should be covered by an amount of soil equal to their size. If its too much, they wont reach the surface.
Chillies will grow in pretty much any size pot. Obviously the larger the pot, the bigger they will grow, and the more productive they will be. I think my pots are 15cm to 20cm or so, a little on the small side but my chillies are currently flowering and fruiting. You can always move them to larger pots as they grow. Or perhaps once a certain chilli becomes a favourite, you can promote that one and leave the rest where they are.
What I do is start them in carlton paper in jars, and then move them to 10cm pots. When they get a bit larger, they go into 15cm to 25cm pots. I havent bothered to move any of them to larger pots - none of them really need it at this stage.
You can do that, it would work fine, obviously it would depend on the size of the pot. I also think depth is more important for chillies, so I'd prefer a round or square pot to one of those rectangular ones that go on window sills. I dont do that myself just because it feels easier to look after them if they are in separate pots. When it comes time to repot them into larger pots, you will have to separate their roots, which will have become tangled.
Chillies will grow in pretty much any size pot. Obviously the larger the pot, the bigger they will grow, and the more productive they will be. I think my pots are 15cm to 20cm or so, a little on the small side but my chillies are currently flowering and fruiting. You can always move them to larger pots as they grow. Or perhaps once a certain chilli becomes a favourite, you can promote that one and leave the rest where they are.
What I do is start them in carlton paper in jars, and then move them to 10cm pots. When they get a bit larger, they go into 15cm to 25cm pots. I havent bothered to move any of them to larger pots - none of them really need it at this stage.
You can do that, it would work fine, obviously it would depend on the size of the pot. I also think depth is more important for chillies, so I'd prefer a round or square pot to one of those rectangular ones that go on window sills. I dont do that myself just because it feels easier to look after them if they are in separate pots. When it comes time to repot them into larger pots, you will have to separate their roots, which will have become tangled.
lived666
Executive Member
no need to really bother with germination, a couple of weeks ago I put some jalapeno seeds in some pots outside and occasionaly I remember to water them, started peeking out the pots a few days ago, here is one such pot:
HavocXphere
Honorary Master
Nice thread.
Might give this a shot myself.
Might give this a shot myself.
Also, Pooky you are right regarding super hot chilli germination. But it also applies to growth - they also grow slower and take longer to mature. At least my really hot chillies seem to grow much slower.
I think hot chillies are also more sensitive to cold than "normal" chillies. So I'm hoping that as the weather gets warmer, they grow faster.
A little more background information - the Capsicum genus comprises all chillies, and there are several species that have been domesticated. Capsicum annuum contains jalapenos and bell peppers, capsicum frutescens contains those little red chillies (birds eye chillies and tabasco chillies), and capsicum chinense contains the really hot chillies (habanero, bhut jolokia, 7 pot, etc etc). Capsicum chinense are the ones that grow and germinate slowly.
I think hot chillies are also more sensitive to cold than "normal" chillies. So I'm hoping that as the weather gets warmer, they grow faster.
A little more background information - the Capsicum genus comprises all chillies, and there are several species that have been domesticated. Capsicum annuum contains jalapenos and bell peppers, capsicum frutescens contains those little red chillies (birds eye chillies and tabasco chillies), and capsicum chinense contains the really hot chillies (habanero, bhut jolokia, 7 pot, etc etc). Capsicum chinense are the ones that grow and germinate slowly.
