I'm really looking forward to the first ripe Habanero chillies of the season, but that moment is still a few weeks away yet. This afternoon whilst sorting through some of the photos from last year's growing season I came across one showing a couple of very juicy looking Red Mayan Habanero chillies on the plant, and naturally this made me feel quite hungry. During that moment of hunger I decided it would be a great idea to cook up a nice spicy
chili con carne for this evening, and whilst my searingly hot concoction was braising away in the oven I took the opportunity to finish editing some photos of the chilli plants so I could post an update.
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| Chilli Plants in the Porch - 23rd July 2019 |
Both
Red Mayan Habanero plants are coming along nicely and a few small chillies are now starting to form. The photo below was taken nine days ago whilst sorting out the porch plants. Both are now in their permanent position for the season and I have no intentions of moving them unless it's absolutely necessary.
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| Red Mayan Habanero - 16th July 2019 |
Both
Chocolate Habanero plants are looking very healthy and are now starting to set fruit. One is growing in a 7-litre pot and lives in the porch and the other is growing in a 5-litre pot and lives in a bedroom window. If you've been following the blog since the beginning of the season then you'll already know that this variety was started off a few weeks later than the rest and was sown in place of Antillais Caribbean, all seeds for which failed to germinate.
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| Chocolate Habanero - 23rd July 2019 |
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| Chocolate Habanero - 23rd July 2019 |
The trusty old
Jalapeño M plants are growing in 5-litre pots on the landing windowsill and are coming along great. Flower production has slowed right down and they're now in the process of producing nice juicy fruits.
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| Jalapeño M - 23rd July 2019 |
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| Jalapeño M - 23rd July 2019 |
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| Jalapeño M - 23rd July 2019 |
The
Ring of Fire plant is also growing in a 5-litre pot on the landing windowsill and is coming along great. I picked six green chillies from it a couple of weeks ago to use in a chicken curry, and since then the plant has started producing lots more fruit. The growth habit of this variety is perfect for a windowsill and it doesn't take up too much space.
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| Ring of Fire - 23rd July 2019 |
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| Ring of Fire - 23rd July 2019 |
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| Ring of Fire - 23rd July 2019 |
Last year, I grew two
Yellow Jelly Bean Habanero plants and both had slightly different growth habits. One was low and very compact and the other was slightly taller and less compact. I preferred the growth habit of the former and so this was the plant I saved seed from. It was also the more productive of the two. This year's plant was grown from last year's seed, and thankfully it has the same growth habit as its mother. It lives very happily in a 7-litre pot in the bedroom window.
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| Yellow Jelly Bean Habanero - 24th July 2019 |
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Yellow Jelly Bean Habanero - 23rd July 2019
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The
Cap 1445 plant was moved into the garden a few weeks ago and given extra support. That same night we had strong winds and when I checked the following afternoon I was horrified to discover that a large piece of it had been snapped clean off. I've now secured it as best I can, and thankfully there have been no more breakages since doing so.
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| Cap 1445 - 23rd July 2019 |
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| Cap 1445 - 23rd July 2019 |
The
Mini Rocoto Brown plant was moved into the garden over a month ago and since then it has been placed in several different spots. It must have been receiving too much direct sun where it was originally because some of the leaves became scorched. For that reason it was re-potted into a 20-litre pot and moved to a more shaded spot.
The problem then was that it didn't appear to be getting enough sun, so on Tuesday evening it was moved yet again. I now think I've found the best spot for it, but we'll see. I may end up having to over-winter this plant in the greenhouse.
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| Mini Rocoto Brown - 23rd July 2019 |
The
Mako Akokosrade plant was living in the front porch up until about 10 days ago, but is now living in a bedroom window. The flowers are producing a lot of pollen and I have a hunch that this variety may turn out to be very prolific.
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| Mako Akokosrade - 23rd July 2019 |
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| Mako Akokosrade - 23rd July 2019 |
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| Mako Akokosrade - 23rd July 2019 |
The
Aji Mochero plant has set a lot of fruit and is growing really well on a kitchen windowsill. It doesn't require water very often and gets fed about once every two weeks.
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| Aji Mochero - 24th July 2019 |
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| Aji Mochero - 24th July 2019 |
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| Aji Mochero - 23rd July 2019 |
The
Habanero Numero Diez plant is growing very nicely on a kitchen windowsill and is producing a lot of flowers and has set a lot of fruit. The first fruits that formed remained small and squat, so I removed those and added them to a pasta dish at the weekend. The newer ones are larger and have the correct shape, and I've marked out three good-sized pods for
seed saving, should this variety turn out to be a keeper.
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| Habanero Numero Diez - 23rd July 2019 |
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| Habanero Numero Diez - 24th July 2019 |
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| Habanero Numero Diez - 24th July 2019 |
Both
Malawi Bird's Eye plants are living happily on a kitchen windowsill and are loaded with pods. I picked the first ripe ones several days ago and they were added to a chicken curry.
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| Malawi Bird's Eye - 24th July 2019 |
The
Aji Guaguao plant is living on a kitchen windowsill and has so far only produced two small chillies. Judging by its size, this variety is obviously not one that's well suited to being grown indoors.
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| Aji Guaguao - 23rd July 2019 |
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| Aji Guaguao - 23rd July 2019 |
The
Capsicum baccatum varieties (
Aji Rainforest and
Aji Lemon) are doing really well and have set a lot of fruit. Both are growing next to each other in the greenhouse and are somewhat entangled. For this reason I haven't taken photos of the plants because trying to put them back into position again would be a real pain in the neck.
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| Bumble Bee on Aji Rainforest Flower - 23rd July 2019 |
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| Aji Rainforest - 23rd July 2019 |
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| Aji Rainforest - 23rd July 2019 |
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| Aji Lemon - 24th July 2019 |
We're currently having a blast of hot weather from North Africa and it's just what the chilli plant tribe needs. The last three days have been really hot and today is said to be the hottest day ever recorded in Great Britain, at least according to the BBC. This means that lots of chemical computers are about to start malfunctioning and the zombie apocalypse is imminent.
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| Sunset From the Garden - 23rd July 2019 |
When you know that you're on an eternal merry-go-round it is absolutely fine to imagine yourself being somewhere else. All hail the Milky Way. All hail the sun. All hail the Chilli Gods.
