Chilli chaos again...

Oops.

The house has turned into a chilli jungle again. I guess I should have realised that 35 little seedlings would turn into monster plants and take over the place.

These are the survivors:

Lombardo 6
Aji Colorado 6
Trinidad Scorpion 5
Hot Lemon 4
Early Jalapeno 4
Jalastar 3
Purple Serrano 3
Padron 2
Bailey Piquin 2

So... I have to 'get rid' of a few. I want to keep at least two of each, just in case.... But any takers on any of the others?

Ski trips + tiny chilli plants

This time of year is slightly problematic for chilli growers that ski; two things that aren't exactly compatible, unless you have a heated greenhouse and live near a ski resort.

Each spring, every inch of space under the grow lamps is jam packed with beautiful, flourishing green, albeit very small, chilli plants. Plants that I haven't left alone for more than a few hours (an advantage of working from home).

How then am I supposed to just up and leave for a week? Completely forget about them as I whizz about on the ski slopes, laze around in the spring sunshine with a yummy glass of wine and lounge around by the fire with a good book?

Actually it was quite easy once I got there. :D

But the week before I left was filled with anxiety. I was going to have to leave all of my teeny tiny hopefuls in their teeny tiny pots for a WHOLE WEEK! :O With no-one to water them, feed them, re-pot them, talk to them or squish any little nasties that might take a fancy to them. :'(

I have an extra grow lamp this year, so they weren't quite as squashed up, i.e. light wasn't a problem. But watering was worrying me.

I eventually decided on the re-pot and drown-them tactic. And it worked! :) Yay.

2 March

17 March

I have juggled them about, so it is difficult to compare plant by plant, and the first photo was taken 6 days before we left, i.e. there is a 15 day time difference, but still....

2 March

17 March

I was expecting half of them to be exceedingly unhappy. They were thirsty, sure. And I did have to spend an hour or so squishing little green nasties. Which, of course, I did before I'd even taken my coat off, ruthlessly leaving the hubby to unpack the car, etc. :D

But look at the size of them! :) The healthy chap in the middle is a Purple Serrano and the lanky one is an Aji Colorado. Two favourites in our kitchen.

Right. Off now to buy some quality compost for them...

Jalastar and Lombardo (capsicum annums) neck and neck

Of this year's chillies, the Jalastar and Lombardo capsicum annums are currently leading the race to fruition:

Now aged 3 weeks and 5 days (sown 28 January), these are my two strongest plants (Lombardo front left, Jalastar back left) at the moment:

All sown on the same date, not only is there a fair difference in development between the varieties, as you can see from the lanky Aji Colorado twig at the back right of the picture, but even within the same variety, as you can see from the two Lombardo plants at the front.

I think this is normal even when seeds and plants are grown in exactly the same conditions, but in my case it's probably more likely due to slight differences in light, heat, water and potting compost. Everything basically... Hmmmm need to be more consistent...

:)

This year's chillies

I'm really late with my chillies and tomatoes this year, having sowed the majority of them just last week (13th March).

Slow progress....

There is however some sign of life :) Look what popped up during the night.

Maskotka bush tomato babies.

Luckily I had the foresight to at least sow a few chillies in January.

Two Jalastar & One (surviving of two sowed) Chiluacle Negro capsicum annums.

My list of chillies and toms sown this year is:

2 Jalastar capsicum annum - after the heat of last year, I'm opting for milder varieties this year
2 Chiluacle Negro capsicum annum - only one germinated
2 Aji Colorado capsicum baccatum - our absolute favourite to date
1 Cayenne capsicum annum - after the heat of last year, I'm opting for milder varieties this year
1 Trinidad Scorpion capsicum chinense - sown for a curious family member - hope it survives the postal journey :/

2 Maskotka bush tomatoes
2 Supersweet 100 F1 cherry tomatoes
2 'supermarket' baby plum tomatoes - shop-bought favourite that I saved some seeds from - experiment

Still growing in the greenhouse...

Alright, so the photos I posted in my last entry were a little misleading. I realise that now. Nothing is that pretty and colourful at this time of year... So I've just been down to the greenhouse to take stock of what's still growing and here are some photos taken today...

Pearl tomatoes from Spain, that's all I know about them unfortunately. I managed to dig out and dry some teeny tiny seeds from my favourite supermarket-bought tomatoes last winter and they rewarded me with hundreds of absolutely de-licious baby plum tomatoes. A definite on next year's list. Just have to remember to save some seeds....

Robson Angola - A variety I received from Angelica as a baby plant. Although tasty, they were a bit too mealy (mjölig) for me. Not going on next year's list, but it was fun to try and they are really dark and made an attractive addition to salads and other dishes.

Gardener's Delight, last year's favourite. Big disappointment this year. Probably because I was blown away by my pearl tomatoes. Tested growing them outside too, but they were attacked by what was presumably blight.

A really fun chilli, the Jamaican Bell capsicum baccatum. Although fabulously attractive and dead easy to grow, producing lots of fruit, it definitely wasn't worth growing for the Scoville factor. One or two had a bit of a kick in the seeds, but this is more of a sweet pepper than a chilli. Not going on next year's list.

The Hungarian Hot Wax capsicum annuum surprised me. Absolutely nothing happened for ages (my inconsistent fertilizing may have had something to do with it...), then it sprouted. And boy did it sprout. These babies are huge. I can see where they get their name too. They're really shiny!

These are a bit of mystery these ones. The seeds came from a seed chain I joined last winter through Odla and the (home-made) packet simply said '1cm chilies'. Now correct me if I'm wrong, but these are not 1cm long... Perhaps they meant 1cm wide...? Anyhoo, they tasted a bit kinda Thai chilli-like. Not decided if they're going on next year's list or not...

Again, probably due to my inconsistent fertilizing, my Serrano's (seeds kindly donated by Patrik) started sprouting again after more than a month of nothing. At the moment they're teeny tiny. Ever the optimist, I'm hoping to get something out of the plant before it dies. These were fantastic! Silly hot, particularly for their size. Definitely on the 2011 list.

Now, my Cayenne Long Slim capsicum annuum plant produced lots of really really mild (basically sweet peppers) fruit early on in the season, leading me to think I'd mixed my seeds up. Then all of a sudden a really hot one came along. It sprouted another bunch of peppers quite late on, which have just started turning red. Let's hope they have a little more heat in them...

This is a funny little one, another donation from Angelica - a Hot Scotch Bonnet capsicum chinense. It has grown reeeeeaaaaally slowly, and I mean reeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaally slowly. It can't be more than 15cm high - after a whole summer and almost a whole autumn in the greenhouse! And look! A pepper has appeared! Ok, I have zoomed in - in actual fact this teeeeny tiny fruit is no more than a cm wide...

Check out these twin Aji Colorados capsicum baccatum joined at the stalk. Another tongue-numbing favourite - definitely going on next year's list.

These two are the only fruits produced by the only Italian Red Pepper plant I grew this year. Not going to bother next year.

That's about all there is going on inside the greenhouse. I will be posting an update of what's growing in the kitchen garden outside the greenhouse when the risk of wild boar is over.

I was taking photos this morning when a bunch of them sauntered right by me (ok, well not right by me... but you know what I mean...), scaring the bejeesus out of me! Needless to say I scarpered quick as a flash and have been indoors ever since...