The 2021 chilli growing season officially came to a close for me on the 18th November when I finally took down the remaining six plants, which were
Aji Lemon,
Inca Red Drop,
Inca Berry,
El Oro de Ecuador and both
Aji Largo plants. Most of the remaining chillies were ripe and many more were in the process of ripening, so after giving them all a good wash I put the partially ripe ones on a table in the bedroom and the first ones are now ready and will be going in the freezer this evening. It's always sad to see the chilli plants go.
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Chilli Plants to Be Taken Down - 18th November 2021
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Plant Pots to Be Emptied - 18th November 2021
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I'm seriously impressed by how well the chilli plants have done this season. The Aji Largo plants have been like pod factories and the
Fatalii plant has certainly surpassed my expectations by how well it has produced. The Fatalii plants I've grown in the past always produced average yields, but this year's plant was the most prolific Fatalii plant I've ever grown. Even when I took it down on Wednesday it was still in the process of setting new fruits. However, given how the temperatures have now dropped and the cold weather is just around the corner it really wasn't worth keeping it any longer.
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Chilli Harvest - 18th November 2021
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This year's chilli harvests are currently taking up three freezer draws and I think the next 12 months are going to be extremely hot and spicy for Spicemad. All of the smaller-fruited varieties, with the exception of
Yellow Jelly Bean Habanero, have been made into powders. And by the way, if you didn't already know,
Cumari do Pará makes an excellent chilli powder. It has a very distinct citrus-like aroma and is great sprinkled over veggie pizza. The Brazilians certainly know a thing or two when it comes to chilli peppers!
The walk-in plastic greenhouse, AKA
HMS Walk-In Plastic Fantastic, has been tidied out and zipped up until next year. I've sprayed both zippers with WD40 because they were being a bit stubborn and hopefully she'll see us through another growing season. Next year, I may only use it to grow one or two plants because the light levels are a bit of an issue.
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Walk-In Plastic Greenhouse - 18th November 2021
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Here are a couple of photos showing the last two chilli harvests of the season. The first one was taken on the 31st October and the second one was taken on the 18th November and shows the final chilli harvest of the season.
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Chilli Harvest - 31st October 2021
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Chilli Harvest - 18th November 2021
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All of this year's chilli plants were watered from the seedling stage onwards using my own water profile, which is a mixture of RO/DI water and filtered tap water (water that has been filtered through the sediment filter and carbon filter and bypassed the RO membrane). It seems to have worked a treat too. Regular tap water just doesn't work well for me because I think it contains too much alkalinity, which raises the pH of the compost and eventually results in nutrient lockout.
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Washed Plant Pots and Growing Equipment - 19th November 2021
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I plan on starting next year's chilli growing season a little earlier than this year's, maybe around the 20th January. The plants would benefit from an earlier start, especially the
Capsicum pubescens varieties. I've already purchased seeds for some new varieties and I'm looking forward to sowing them. Once Christmas is out of the way it won't be long until the madness begins again. All hail the Chilli Gods! 😋
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