I spent a happy few hours last night researching this topic, and discovered that most videos on potting up chillie seedlings , grown it seemed to me, in jiffy pellets, were buried very deep , and also most people removed the jiffy pellet covering.
Something I had not done myself, but can now see the sense in it. Lets the very young roots move outwards much more easily.
Sorry to go on about gardening so much as most posts seem not to do so.
Its a pleasure to talk about growing things.for a change .
We have a resident chilli expert called Stacey who is currently busy battling health issues and so has more important things to do than go on about gardening but I noticed while going through my planner notes she suggested planting seeds at the beginning / mid of February not December. Have you planted your Nov Mem? It'd be fantastic if you could keep us updated on their growth and croppage if you have so we could decide whether there'd be enough value in planting so early.
The Jamaican Scorpion chili sounds unpleasant. I grew chili from seed last year nothing extreme just seeds from chili in the local supermarket. I did think the Ghost Chili from Mexico was the hottest but later found out that someone has discovered a chili called the Carolina Reaper. It averages a 1,569,300 on the Scoville scale with peak levels of over 2,200,000 Scoville Heat Units (SHU). How anybody can eat this is beyond me, but people do. Mad World.
Gardening got me through having three strokes in 24 hours ,and then three week's in hospital six years ago so I might disagree about the importance of it in relation to health issues.
Good luck to Stacey.
A nurse asked me if I would look after the watering of the stroke wards tomatoes when they were away on the weekend break.No one worked at weekends in the physio dept then, might have changed now.
Those litlle plants kept me going at a very low point in my life as has gardening up to now.
Anyway moving on will keep you informed ref the chillies.
They were sown on 15th December and put into the airing cupboard at between
22 c and 27 c.in jiffy pellets
50 % have germinated so far,t show signs of life with the seed just swelling.
I'm new to growing chillies, this being my first season. I've read that they should be planted fresh from seed each year. Is there are reason why they can't be kept going from year to year?
They can be kept going if they like the conditions you give them over the winter but can be a bit finicky and usually some won't survive. No harm in trying though. When I've kept both peppers and chillies alive it was without leaves in a sort of dormant state - the stems remained green and any sections which turned brown from the tips were removed. In the spring new stems start growing from the points where the old leaves had fallen (or had been removed) from. I kept them in a room where temps were never outside the range of 10 to 20C (usually towards the lower end of that range) and didn't water them unless the compost was bone dry. I know others keep them growing (with leaves) on a sunny windowsill but find I always and up overwintering aphids too when I try that!
A trowel in the hand is worth a thousand lost under a bush.
One company that sell chilli seed recommend tying the seed into cotton fabric, or similar, putting the little bag into a thermos flask then topping up with warm water to soak overnight. I don't bother, just plant the seed in my standard heated propagator as I would any other seed and have not had a failure yet.
Some chilli seed, especially the 'hot' ones need quite high heat and good lighting to germinate so chilli plugs may be a better bet.
I agree with Aaron LD it is a mad world, but there again, I don't like cream, or bananas, or chard, or ................!!
I've saved an apache chilli plant this year. It was brought indoors still with chillies on about October time.
The room is constantly warm as it's in the kitchen but it's not getting a lot of direct light. The plants still looking healthy though and with lots of leaves on, I've picked all the chillies now and just treating it like a house plant.
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Mel M I agree 100% with you about this..
I spent a happy few hours last night researching this topic, and discovered that most videos on potting up chillie seedlings , grown it seemed to me, in jiffy pellets, were buried very deep , and also most people removed the jiffy pellet covering.
Something I had not done myself, but can now see the sense in it. Lets the very young roots move outwards much more easily.
Sorry to go on about gardening so much as most posts seem not to do so.
Its a pleasure to talk about growing things.for a change .
We have a resident chilli expert called Stacey who is currently busy battling health issues and so has more important things to do than go on about gardening but I noticed while going through my planner notes she suggested planting seeds at the beginning / mid of February not December. Have you planted your Nov Mem? It'd be fantastic if you could keep us updated on their growth and croppage if you have so we could decide whether there'd be enough value in planting so early.
Did Stacey also recommend soaking the seeds in cold tea?
The Jamaican Scorpion chili sounds unpleasant. I grew chili from seed last year nothing extreme just seeds from chili in the local supermarket. I did think the Ghost Chili from Mexico was the hottest but later found out that someone has discovered a chili called the Carolina Reaper. It averages a 1,569,300 on the Scoville scale with peak levels of over 2,200,000 Scoville Heat Units (SHU). How anybody can eat this is beyond me, but people do. Mad World.
Hi Clarington.
Gardening got me through having three strokes in 24 hours ,and then three week's in hospital six years ago so I might disagree about the importance of it in relation to health issues.
Good luck to Stacey.
A nurse asked me if I would look after the watering of the stroke wards tomatoes when they were away on the weekend break.No one worked at weekends in the physio dept then, might have changed now.
Those litlle plants kept me going at a very low point in my life as has gardening up to now.
Anyway moving on will keep you informed ref the chillies.
They were sown on 15th December and put into the airing cupboard at between
22 c and 27 c.in jiffy pellets
50 % have germinated so far,t show signs of life with the seed just swelling.
However moving on.
I'm new to growing chillies, this being my first season. I've read that they should be planted fresh from seed each year. Is there are reason why they can't be kept going from year to year?
Forgive me if this seems a stupid question.
They can be kept going if they like the conditions you give them over the winter but can be a bit finicky and usually some won't survive. No harm in trying though. When I've kept both peppers and chillies alive it was without leaves in a sort of dormant state - the stems remained green and any sections which turned brown from the tips were removed. In the spring new stems start growing from the points where the old leaves had fallen (or had been removed) from. I kept them in a room where temps were never outside the range of 10 to 20C (usually towards the lower end of that range) and didn't water them unless the compost was bone dry. I know others keep them growing (with leaves) on a sunny windowsill but find I always and up overwintering aphids too when I try that!
One company that sell chilli seed recommend tying the seed into cotton fabric, or similar, putting the little bag into a thermos flask then topping up with warm water to soak overnight. I don't bother, just plant the seed in my standard heated propagator as I would any other seed and have not had a failure yet.
Some chilli seed, especially the 'hot' ones need quite high heat and good lighting to germinate so chilli plugs may be a better bet.
I agree with Aaron LD it is a mad world, but there again, I don't like cream, or bananas, or chard, or ................!!
I've saved an apache chilli plant this year. It was brought indoors still with chillies on about October time.
The room is constantly warm as it's in the kitchen but it's not getting a lot of direct light. The plants still looking healthy though and with lots of leaves on, I've picked all the chillies now and just treating it like a house plant.