Curry Recipes Online
Curry Chat => Lets Talk Curry => Topic started by: tempest63 on February 08, 2019, 09:22 PM
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We've have had a remarkably hot and humid summer with higher than average rainfall this year. My little chilli bush has grown and extra 18" in height over the last month alone and is absolutely covered in red chillis with ample green ones as well. They are very hot little things but I'm not sure exactly what variety. I noticed the other day that my father's is even better than mine. We are fortunate enough to have temperate weather allowing for these plants to easily survive over the winter.
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Indeed it is that time and I have also been considering for the last 2 weeks, which plants to grow this year (in 12" high pots, on a south facing windowsill, behind double glazing), if only I had a greenhouse, or a poly tunnel, or couple of acres...
I have my regular 'go to' favourites (Pictured below), which I have bought in places such as supermarkets, DIY stores and garden centres.
When I am deciding which to grow, it is about what do I intend to use them for, what am I cooking, how many do I want, what heat factor and what will the wife find most pleasing to look at - I still have not decided, I have a week or two more before it gets too late I think.
- The 'Paper Lantern' are hot-ish and defintely should not be harvested until the skin begins to shrivel, plants last 8 months.
- The 'Pinocchio's Nose' never get chance to ripen to red and I can eat them fresh from the plant, plants will last 12 months but even with feeding, fruit will reduce in size.
- The Patio 'Super Chilli' are abundant, quite hot once red and colourful for in the window (brownie points), plants will last 12-14 months.
- I have never had any luck with the Fresno but I have grown the Red Cherry. Very slow growers (2 crops per season), very low yield with 7-8 fruit at a time (usually have to grow 3-4 plants at once, takes up the whole window, no brownie points) but they are hot and when sliced fresh from the plant, they will stain anything, gloves are strongly suggested. With a little care, replanting in fresh soil during the winter and feeding during the rest of the year, I have grown these plants for 2-3 years (definitely no brownie points).
Hopefully will give some suggestions.
(http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/imagehost/pics/ca71bbdcbb3feafc303e13d31df5ef70.jpg) (http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/imagehost/#ca71bbdcbb3feafc303e13d31df5ef70.jpg)
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Chilli Plug plants should be available in march, thats how i got my Dorset Naga's last year, i bought three, two of which didnt do well because the holes in the pots were too smalland didn't drain, they are currently all cut back to the stem in a cabin in the garden, hopefully come march they will liven up, easier to grow than from seed imo.
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Had a superchilli plant just hanging on from overwatering last year that still seemed green in its stems. Saw flickers of green leaves sprouting in conservatory in December so brought it indoors where the leaves grew a little, watered a little when they began to droop and responded ok each time. Suddenly largest leaves started to wilt and didn't respond to water - so repotted and added a little growmore granules. Not looking good at all - so back into conservatory where at least it will catch some sun. Not exactly hopeful. My dads green fingers I have not inherited !
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You may be ok, just don't water it, even during the growing season feed em but let them dry out before feeding them, curry leaf trees and lemon trees are the same, My Naga plants look dead at the moment but hopefully spring will see them shoot again.
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When they have formed a strong set of leaves you can pot on to a warm sunny place, until that time keep them warm and the soil moist, move by holding the leaves and gently support the root from underneath, don't hold the stem, good luck :)
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I was also inspired, Jon, and planted three varieties about two and a half weeks ago. Germination hasn't been great but got seven seedlings so far :)
(http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/imagehost/pics/f613f6dc35c1728aaaceadc2d0e1e138.png) (http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/imagehost/#f613f6dc35c1728aaaceadc2d0e1e138.png)
(http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/imagehost/pics/6cf995dfffec4c23f1fbb36c6bba3193.png) (http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/imagehost/#6cf995dfffec4c23f1fbb36c6bba3193.png)
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Nicely coming on, JonG if your seeds are in seedling pots the above pic shows the ideal size for you to pot on into 3" pots.
Garp i find it fascinating that as i get older growing stuff becomes more enjoyable, esp from seed and cuttings, its like one is creating something, and no i have no interest at the moment in feeding Daisies :)
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Great picture there Garp and I
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Great picture there Garp and I
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Chilli Plug plants should be available in march, thats how i got my Dorset Naga's last year, i bought three, two of which didnt do well because the holes in the pots were too smalland didn't drain, they are currently all cut back to the stem in a cabin in the garden, hopefully come march they will liven up, easier to grow than from seed imo.
Update, all three have gone to chilli heaven :( i will try to overwinter again this year.
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Garp i find it fascinating that as i get older growing stuff becomes more enjoyable, esp from seed and cuttings, its like one is creating something
I agree, Micky, but I also think you have to have a naturally inquisitive mind (or maybe that inquisitiveness comes more with age). As in my cooking, I like to try to create something from scratch using the most basic building blocks. That is why I don't like using commercial pastes/powders in my BIR (unless I have previously managed to replicate said paste/powder from scratch).
Maybe I should wait a bit before I plant mine as I can see them getting to a point where they should move outside, but maybe the frosts will still be around.
I'm no expert, Jon, but I'd be getting them started asap, to give you more chance of them producing fruit.
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As Garp say's get them underway to get the fruit, i gave in and just ordered a heat mat on Ebay for just over
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As Garp say's get them underway to get the fruit, i gave in and just ordered a heat mat on Ebay for just over
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This years
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Their looking good, what are they?
Frozen, yep quite a few gardening type forums said no probs, + RHS store frozen seeds for future use, so i will post how they get on.
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The larger chillies are superhots, E Naga, some naga crosses, original 7 pot, fatalii, SRTSL, BOC, Nepalese naga, the seedlings are Kashmiri, finger, jalape
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Do you use them to make pastes and stuff as well as cooking with them?, you have a lot of plants there.
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Well I put six seeds into damp kitchen paper when I last posted to this thread and in 9 days only one has sprouted. Not sure what to make of that, but the successful seed has been transplanted into a small pot today, so let
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Some seeds are critical of temperature and moisture control, if they are kept warm generally the germination rate will increase
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Good luck Jon :)
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Do you use them to make pastes and stuff as well as cooking with them?, you have a lot of plants there.
I make my own chilli ketchup, super hot chilli pickle, various other sauces etc. Just getting into fermenting then too.
The ones I don
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WOW, that's a whole lot of lovely looking fresh chilis MA :-*
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Thanks guys and wow, that
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WOW, that's a whole lot of lovely looking fresh chilis MA :-*
Cheers, all were superhots, but this year I have some Kashmir and finger chillies on the go too, looking forward to making my own powder with the Kashmiri
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WOW, that's a whole lot of lovely looking fresh chilis MA :-*
Cheers, all were superhots, but this year I have some Kashmir and finger chillies on the go too, looking forward to making my own powder with the Kashmiri
You should be proud of that crop of chillies, good effort. How are you going to dry your `kashmir chillies, then will you just grind them up as required?
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You should be proud of that crop of chillies, good effort. How are you going to dry your `kashmir chillies, then will you just grind them up as required?
I have a dehydrator, I will then just grind in small batches
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You should be proud of that crop of chillies, good effort. How are you going to dry your `kashmir chillies, then will you just grind them up as required?
I have a dehydrator, I will then just grind in small batches
YAYYYY, cool i love Gadgets.
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Update: the remaining 5 seeds from my original 6 batch have sprouted and been potted up. Now I have one which shows two tiny leaves above the soil and two which are just in the process of bursting through the soil.
I
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Pretty useless using lighting of the wrong spectrum for plant growth. Check out full spectrum aquarium lighting. Either led or even older fluorescent. You may be able to get 2nd hand.
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Ok - could you elaborate? I just checked the box and the lightbulb I
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You want full spectrum grow lights or a nice window, the advantage of grow lights is you can extend the exposure time to strengthen and bring the seeds on, for an idea just look at grow lights on amazon, I think Livo was steering you to a light for a fish tank which would also work and if you get a second hand set up it could save you money, if you did that i would certainly start off with a new tube.
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Correct. Normal household lighting, whether incandescent, fluorescent or LED, will emit very little light of the type required to sustain plant photosynthesis. You can purchase lighting specifically designed for internal plant growth, used in indoor hydroponics etc, or a cheap alternative would be fish tank (aquarium) lighting. If you purchase a complete second hand unit the tank itself may function as a terrarium. Usually, aquarium lighting is of the type required to sustain photosynthesis of aquatic plants and will work for terrestrial plants as well, although probably not as well as specially lighting.
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Or, if possible, you could stick em on a sunny windowsill, with a homemade light reflector behind them.
And again if not too much trouble, when the weather is ok, stick em outside in the sun and bring em back in again.
You'll have to start doing that anyway, to harden em off until frosts are past, if they are going to be grown outside.
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Thanks guys. I
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Get some 6500k T5
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Tin foil is the worst reflector, it absorbs more than it reflects.
Better off with matt white paint or fork out for some Mylar.
:)
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Tin foil is the worst reflector, it absorbs more than it reflects.
Better off with matt white paint or fork out for some Mylar.
:)
Yup, don
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I got some jalape
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Well blow me down, I
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Good news Jon. Keep us posted :)
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Hello
I now have about 7 or 8 green finger chillies on my plants - not a great yield from around 12 seeds I started back in Jan.
My question, as a first time chilli grower, is how do you know when to pick them? They have been on the plant maybe 2 weeks now and do I wait for them to turn yellow or orange or red, or will that in fact happen after picking?
If I wait too long will the chillies go mushy? Is it even possible to pick too soon or if there
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Hi Jon,
From what i understand you can pretty much pick them when you want, if not ripe when picked they will not be as hot as if you let them go full term.
If not being used they tend to be either "dried out" by hanging in the sun, or frozen, did you feed them onnce the fruits had set? i remember a guy on youtube saying if you want plants to feed you, you have to feed them.
I havent got a greenhouse or poly tunnel so it is what it is, My Dorset Naga is only going to give a dozen or so.
Remove all fruit if you want to overwinter the plants and have a head start in the spring.....
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Hi Jon,
From what i understand you can pretty much pick them when you want, if not ripe when picked they will not be as hot as if you let them go full term.
If not being used they tend to be either "dried out" by hanging in the sun, or frozen, did you feed them onnce the fruits had set? i remember a guy on youtube saying if you want plants to feed you, you have to feed them.
I havent got a greenhouse or poly tunnel so it is what it is, My Dorset Naga is only going to give a dozen or so.
Remove all fruit if you want to overwinter the plants and have a head start in the spring.....
All sound advice, especially the feeding and de-fruiting. I have also found that as the days shorten any flowers will fail to bear fruit and can also be picked off. I also 'top off' my plants by picking out the top growth shoots to prevent the plant becoming 'leggy' as it tries to grow to the light and will in spring 'bush' out more, producing more fruit.
The only thing I would add is that if they are supposed to change colour, wait, let them and use/freeze when ripe. If you are unsure, then when most fruits over-ripen, the skin will begin to wrinkle. I have found the optimum time is right before that or when they literally are beginning to wrinkle. Different fruit on the same plant will ripen at different times so no need to pick them all at the same time.
I hope that helps.
BAJ
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Thanks guys, I will probably pick them as it will be easy for me to forget them otherwise, and I don
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No you don
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I managed to get 5 years out of some of my chilli plants. Excess chillis - I dry them in the oven for 6 hours @ 50 deg C- then grind to a powder & store
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Ive lost every one so far, i have cut them back, kept them in a frost free environment but clearly not got the soil conditions right, ie just moist. i shall be trying again this winter.