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

[Jason]

Amazing how quickly the fruit grows. I now have over a dozen jalepenos that I could pick. 

Jason

[QuailFlock]

That is fantastic Jason.

Unfortunately, my first crop of capsicums were wiped out by last month's golfball size hailstones. Then two of the fruits were burnt from the 42-degree day last week. Managed to save two small capsicums started turning red in the heat. So much of nursing them over the winter months for a jump start in spring.

Not much luck for me

[Jason]

Sorry to hear of your bad luck @QuailFlock. Those hailstones were massive! Hopefully you have better luck from now on. 

I now have three or four really healthy plants so should get a good crop over the next couple of months. 

There's also another two plants that have fruit but they are clearly not jalepenos, despite being from the same seed packet as my other plants. The chillis are much smaller and thinner. Will be interesting to see how hot they are! 

And as an experiment I also planted some seedlings in another area of the garden that doesn't get as much sun. Those plants are doing okay but aren't anywhere near as big and are wanting to grow along the ground rather than up. I staked them on the weekend to see if that helps them a little but aren't expecting much. 

Jason

[bergs]

Hi @QualFlock,

Yes you would have trouble like me  with all those trees around. Trial and error and shifting plants around according to where the sun is can be very time consuming.

Do you belong to a community garden? I don't really know of one in my area, not to say there aren't any. 

It's very disappointing when your plants don't come up to expectations, but when something happens that you've got no control over, (like your hailstorm) it's more devastating because you've got to start all over again and season is shorter.  

I've got a capsicum in the garden which has been there four years and for the last two hasn't shot, but its still green and alive. It looks like a healthy stalk without leaves, if that makes any sense!

Hi @Scott12 Water your chilies when the leaves show signs of drooping as this is a sign that they need a drink.

The theory is that the drier you can keep chilies plants the more heat the fruit has.

The warmer weather certainly brings them on.

Your also right regarding gardening being a good therapy. It's great to get out in the garden and forget about everything for a time.

Hi @Jason (How about that, I've just worked how these names come up)

Great result from your seeds, they look great.

The warmer weather certainly helps them along.

Chilies being self pollinating there is no way of knowing if they've crossed, especially if there are other varieties grown close by.

If you get a variety that you like it's easy to save the seeds fro your own plant.

Saying that I have sown my own collected seed and on one plant I have two different shaped fruit, so itn must have been from cross pollination. Who knows I may have bred a new chili

Cheers bergs

[Scott12]

Thanks Bergs,

As much as the commonsense involved, I appreciate your advice to water only when the leaves turn. 

That certainly would have saved me some time and netted a better result.

Happy Days Bergs, thanks again for your advice.

[bergs]

Hi All, back in April I bought some chilies from a small fruit shop in Beechworth and they were nice and had a bit of zing to them.

They were shaped similar to Thai chilies, but were bigger and one lot were red and the others black. 

I put a some aside to collect the seed. One lot germinated well, but the other didn't.

According to the labeling the red chilies germinated, but the plants have greenish black foliage, so I'll have to wait until they fruit to actually work out which ones they are.

These were sown on 28th October and they are flourishing. 

They are at the stage to be planted on or put into the ground.

Cheers bergs

[Jason]

First jalepeno harvest today. Will have poppers tonight!

Jason

[bergs]

Hi @Jason,

Do you leave some chilies on the bush so they will turn red? 

They have a bit more zing to them when red.

That's a good harvest and they look very healthy. 

The weather is warm again this week,so there should be more fruit and veg to harvest.

Cheers @bergs

[Jason]

I'm impatient @bergs so typically eat them when green. 

All were mild except for one of the small ones that had some punch. 

Here's the mysterious chilli plant that I am unsure what type of variety it is. I will certainly leave these on until they go red and try them in some curries.

Jason

[bergs]

Hi All, 

bergs wrote:

I've got a capsicum in the garden which has been there four years and for the last two hasn't shot, but its still green and alive. It looks like a healthy stalk without leaves, if that makes any sense!

Here is a photo, it hasn't shot or changed in the last two seasons!!!                                              

 

 Cheers @bergs

---