Well, it's that time of year again. Yeah, you guessed it, folks — the 2018 chilli growing season has begun! Spring is officially six weeks and three days away and soon the sun will hopefully be cracking the flagstones, which will be a much welcomed change from the miserable weather we're having at present.
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Season Started - 3rd February 2018
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This afternoon I sowed all the seeds for the
Capsicum chinense varieties and Mini Rocoto Brown, which is a new one for me. It's always recommended to sow the seeds for
Capsicum pubescens varieties as early as possible because some of them can take an entire age to ripen, and having never grown this variety before I really don't know what to expect.
Here's a list of all the varieties that were sown earlier:
- Aji Charapita
- Chocolate Habanero
- Dorset Naga
- Mini Rocoto Brown
- Red Mayan Habanero
- Yellow Jelly Bean Habanero
The first job as always was to sterilise the plant pots, clear plastic cups (you'll see what these are used for in just a moment), heated propagator and compost. A mild bleach solution was used to sterilise the equipment and the compost was sterilised in the oven at 150C for one hour and then left to cool.
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Sterilised Plant Pots and Clear Plastic Cups - 3rd February 2018
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Sterilising the compost kills off any nasties, such as larvae eggs or fungi spores, which could potentially take up residence later on and destroy some of the seeds. The heat coming out from the propagator would soon awaken these little beasties. I've had some batches of seeds fail in previous seasons and on closer inspection it wasn't uncommon to find small white larvae feasting on them. Since I began sterilising the compost this has no longer been an issue.
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Sterilised Compost - 3rd February 2018
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I always sow more seeds than I need for each variety so that I can pick the healthiest-looking seedlings to grow. Not all seeds will germinate, and those that do will not always grow into healthy seedlings. I hate having to sow new seeds for a given variety because the first batch was of poor quality. It's at times like that when I wish I'd sown a few more, so now I do.
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Chinense and Pubescens Seeds Sown - 3rd February 2018
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After covering the seeds with a thin layer of compost and applying water, I place a clear plastic cup over each plant pot to help retain heat and moisture. These will be removed for a few hours each evening to help with air circulation once the seeds have germinated. All empty space in the heated propagator is filled with scrunched up newspaper to help retain more heat.
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Chinense and Pubescens Seeds in Heated Propagator - 3rd February 2018
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The grow lights will go onto a 16/8 cycle in about six days once the first seeds have germinated. All hail the Chilli Gods.
