Growing and caring for chilli plants

[bergs]

Hi, I'm trying to over winter my Chillies. Last season they were all coming on strong when Autumn came. I thought that if I tried to keep the plants alive it would give me a head start this season. I'm in Victoria (cool temperate).

I have googled it, but it's mainly British and American area guides. I trimmed them back fairly harshly and located the potted ones in a sheltered spot in the garden and backed the watering right off. They are a mixed variety.

So far one is showing signs of shooting. There has been a fair bit of die back which I have now trimmed off. The weather is not far away from getting a bit warmer, so the hopefully, they will take off again and give me earlier crops.

I had preserved (pickled) quite a few but stocks have run out.

Has anyone else had any success in over wintering Chillies? If so please share your methods with us.

Thanks and Cheers🍻Bergs

[bergs]

Jason that is the way to go. Some of my seeds from my Nellie Kellie  have germinated in a plastic container from supermarket items and also placed into another larger 30 litre plastic box to try get the inside temperature up enough.

I pulled my overwintered Jalapenos out because they were struggling with the roots of my Lilly Pillies. I got a rubbish bin full of roots out of the bed, so it was a wonder they lasted so long.

I will prepare the bed with plenty of compost and will need to dig over every 6 months to try and deter the tree roots.

Like you said Quailflock it may be better to buy seedlings each season then you can get them straight into the ground.

I have bought some of the coloured plastic containers from Bunning's Nursery (the flexible type) and will put a few holes in the bottom for drainage, then plant my chillies in them. I will then move them around to try and get the maximum amount of sun. While overwintering they can be kept sheltered and the pots will still give the garden area a splash of colour.

Not long now to the warmer weather and GO CATS Friday night.

Cheers bergs

[QuailFlock]

Good luck with raising the seedlings!

@Berg@, have you consider putting a metal plate between the veggie patch and the Lilly Pillies? The metal plate will force the Lilly Pillie roots go deeper into the ground before getting into your veggie patch, while the veggies usually have shallow roots. You patch soil is therefore become two levels - upper level for the veggie and lower level for the Lilly Pillies.

And what an effort to move the pots around. Please use pot plant stand wheels to save your back

Happy gardening!

[Jason]

The warmer conditions have helped and the new babies have popped up.

[bergs]

Hi Jason,

Thats a good effort to get them to germinate considering the weather we've been having. It looks like your heat pad has worked well. Are they Jalapeno seed from your previous fruit?

My only concerns are that by the time they're ready to plant out we'll be well into the season and they'll be fruiting into the Autumn when the weather is cooling down again. The few chillies I have overwintered haven't shown any signs of shooting yet and if it's the same as last year the newly bought seedling will seem to leap away ahead of last years overwintered plants. I suppose it's the one of the reasons it keeps us in the gardening mood over winter and out in the fresh air.

Quailflock I have three huge Lilypillies along the fenceline at the back Plus a flowering gum and a Peacherine tree on the side as well as the neighbours large Liquidamber and I have put sheets of corrugated iron into the ground, but eventually the roots get ito the vege garden because they will chase the moisture.

I have resigned to the fact that I'll have to keep the soil turned over more often to utilise the patch.

The main problem arising is the growth of the trees (40 years old) is that they block out most of the sun in the yard and this is why I'm going to use pots. I will move the heavy ones around the yard using a hand trolley.

Maybe I will have to shift the vege garden to the front yard

Cheers bergs

[Jason]

I just bought a Mrs Fothergills kit with seeds and some soil like last year @bergs as I had good success. Hopefully by the time the seedlings are big enough to handle the weather will have turned. The forecast for the next week is a little more promising!

I'm also not expecting much from my plants from last year, but we'll see how they go.

Jason

[QuailFlock]

This is exciting, the weather forecast does look very promising!!

@Berg, I have the same tree problem. My backyard has 6 Lily Pillies and neighbour's 4 gum trees shading the northern and western sun. It hardly gets 3 hours' sun in summer
My solution is community garden! Hopefully your front yard and natural strip will help too!

Happy Gardening!!

[Jason]

I planted my jalepeno seedlings on the weekend. Hope it wasn't too early! I also pulled out last year's plants as they hadn't showed any signs of recovery.

Jason 

[QuailFlock]

My capsicum plants come back with three tiny green leaves. One of them survived its second winter. Will be interesting to see if it fruits. Wish me luck!

[bergs]

Hi, 

Jason how big had your chillies grown in a month when you transplanted them?

My first lot of seeds were planted on 30 &31 of July and they didn't germinate until 8th of Sept for the Nellie Kellies and 13 Sept for the seeds from the Asian lady at the wife's Opp Shop. That was about 40 days and 45 day respectively. Since germination they have not done much growing so hopefully they will take off this week with the warmer temperatures forecast.

As you can see in the photos below that after 39 to 44 days they still only have their first shoots. I have bought a seedling from Bunnings and I'm wondering how they get them so big by the start of the Spring season! I know they have perfect conditions and being professionals know how to get them to that size at the right time. Do you think they would start the seed planting early in the new year?

The photos are out of order and I can't seem to change them around so I can write underneath them. There is also a photo of my over wintered Nellie Kellies. you can sort out the photos by what I've written here. Quailflock ,I had a couple of Capsicums that self sowed from my compost and after the third season they fruited but not much bigger than a golf ball and rotted on the bush, so I pulled them out.

Cheers bergs

[Scott12]

I have read the post and found an interest particularly about the feeding.

I had planted a mild and a medium Chilli before winter.

They both appeared to do well and I was a little unsure about location.

My initial approach was seasol however my Dog decided I should replant one separately.

I found one plant unharmed by the Dog  was subjected to pests but more seriously found the leaves were yellowing and the plant appeared to be failing.

I fertilised with poultry manure based pelets which  made a small improve however chelated Magnesium which I sprinkled around the base/ drip line and later sprayed a solution of the same product and I have noticed chilies and the color returning and no obvious pest problems.