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flowers on my chillies
derbyduck
Posts: 137
in Fruit & veg
can anyone help iv'e got 4 chillie plants growing on a window sill they are doing well and have flowers on 2 of the plants and there is a chille pod on each of the plants ,but the flowers on the plant with the largest pod seem to be dying off and going brown ! anyone know what iv'e done wrong ?
DD
0
Posts
It just means they haven't been pollinated so won't form a chili. Try using a soft headed paintbrush to pollinate the next lot, just fluffing it gently over each flower in turn to transfer pollen.
There are many causes of flower drop. Often pods will only set when the plant is ready. Lack of pollination is one cause. You can pollinate by shaking the plant, or sticking a pinkie into its private parts.
I tried pollinating them using a cotton bud, i'll go with the paintbrush , could it be that the chillie pod as stopped the plants reproduction system working ?
DD
No. A cotton bud is fine. Google and you will find many reasons, including excess heat and so on.
You can even give the flowers a light flick with your fingers. They're self-pollinating so all you're seeking to do is to give the internal pollen transfer a bit of a kick along.