Spicemad

The weather so far this summer has been a bit weird. We've had a few sunny days here and there and then we had a two day heatwave where temperatures reached 40C. Since then most days have been overcast and so far this year the light levels haven't been great. Three mornings ago the temperature in the porch was only 58F, which is the coldest it's been all summer. There is some strange goings on. Things seem to be quite slow this year, and not just the chilli plants but the runner beans, courgettes and tomato plants are taking their time too. Normally, by this time of year the runner beans and the courgettes are producing like crazy.

As mentioned in the previous post, this year's porch plants are in larger pots than normal. Three of them (Chocolate Habanero, Orange Habanero and Fatalii) are in 10-litre pots and one of them (Carolina Reaper) is in an 8-litre pot. It's not uncommon for me to put a couple of the porch plants into either 10 or 12-litre pots, but never before have I put all four of them into large pots. It's a bit crowded in the porch this year, but nonetheless, all four plants are now starting to set fruit. I have a hunch that it's going to be quite a long growing season.

Chilli Plants in the Porch - 26th July 2022

Outside in the garden the Rocoto plants are also setting fruit. When the sun makes an appearance they get about eight hours of direct sun per day. All four of them were fine during the heatwave and didn't seem fazed by it. The same was also true for Cumari Pollux, Guampinha de Veado, Criolla Sella and Aji Lemon. All of the outdoor plants needed watering twice daily during the heatwave. Criolla Sella has been living outside on a permanent basis for the past couple of months because there was no room for it in the greenhouse. Guampinha de Veado has now grown too tall for the greenhouse so it too now lives outside on a permanent basis. Cumari Pollux and Aji Lemon live outside during the day and then I put them into the greenhouse at night.

Chilli Plants in the Garden - 26th July 2022

The following photos were mostly taken on the 21st July. A few others were taken on the 15th and 26th July.

The Aji Largo plant growing in the Westland New Horizon Organic Peat-Free Compost has set a lot of fruit but it's taking its time. As mentioned in the previous post, it doesn't look as healthy or as vibrant as the two Aji Largo plants I grew outside last year. Its leaves are light green in colour with undertones of yellow. A few days ago I managed to pull out a small sample of compost through the drainage holes using a small stick, just enough to test the pH. The result came back at 6.4, which is fine, so it doesn't appear to be a pH issue. It's not being overwatered or under watered, and like the rest of the plants, it gets fertilised about once every 10-14 days, so I'm not really sure what the issue is.

I decided to grow this variety in the aforementioned brand of compost just to see how well it performs, and to be honest the results don't look great. I'm not overly concerned about it because it is an experiment after all and the plant is still producing fruit. Whether or not the fruit reaches a good size will remain to be seen. I think anyone who is using this stuff for their prized houseplants will be greatly disappointed. It seems to be comprised of wood fibre, twigs, coir and lots of gravel and horticultural sand. Hopefully, there are better peat-free products on the market than this stuff. It also dried out very easily too.

I'll be starting an experiment soon, and if it works it will hopefully boost some of these crappy peat-free composts. I used to use a certain brand of peat-free compost for growing chilli plants and they always did really well, but then the manufacturer who made the product was bought out by another well known company, and said company completely changed the formula of the compost and removed one of the vital ingredients, which in my opinion made it work so well. I'm going to add that ingredient back in and see how much of a difference it makes. It could make for an interesting blog post in the future. Westland New Horizon Organic Peat-Free Compost has its uses, but being a stand-alone compost mixture isn't one of them.

Aji Largo - 26th July 2022

Aji Lemon - 21st July 2022

Antillais Caribbean and Mako Akokosrade were started off much later than the rest of the plants and are about six weeks behind, but both are now starting to set fruit.

Antillais Caribbean - 21st July 2022

This year's Bell Pepper plant has done very well considering it's only growing in a 5-litre pot on the lounge windowsill. It has produced about seven or eight large peppers, one of which was eaten a few weeks ago and another one of which is nearly ready for picking.

Bell Pepper - 21st July 2022

Bell Pepper - 26th July 2022

Chocolate Habanero - 21st July 2022

Dorset Naga now lives in the glasshouse with Bangalore Torpedo, Antillais Caribbean and the tomato plants for company. I needed to make room in one of the windows for another variety. I can only grow three plants per window, so I knew at some point I'd have to juggle things around a bit. Given how superhot varieties aren't my favourite chillies and that Habaneros always take pride of place here; it wasn't a difficult decision to make. Anyhow, the Dorset Naga plant will do much better in the glasshouse. It had set quite a lot of fruit when indoors, but it will set even more now that it's living in the glasshouse.

Dorset Naga - 21st July 2022

Fatalii - 21st July 2022

This year's Jalapeño M plant is doing really well. It has produced a good amount of chillies given that it's only growing in a 5-litre pot on a windowsill. Some of them are very big too. The ones shown in the photos below are the second flush. The first flush was picked at the green stage.

Jalapeño M - 21st July 2022

As mentioned above, this year's Antillais Caribbean and Mako Akokosrade plants were started off much later than the rest and are about six weeks behind.

Mako Akokosrade - 21st July 2022

Malawi Bird's Eye is producing very well this season and I'm drying all of the ripe chillies on a windowsill. Once dried, they will eventually be processed into chilli flakes or chilli powder.

Malawi Bird's Eye - 15th July 2022

Malawi Bird's Eye - 21st July 2022

Orange Habanero - 21st July 2022

Peruvian White Habanero - 21st July 2022

Ring of Fire has done really well for me this season. I've been picking chillies at the green stage and using them in curries and I'm drying all of the ripe ones on a windowsill. Once dried, I'll put them into a jar on the spice rack and use them in Indian curries.

Ring of Fire - 21st July 2022

I've still got quite a few of last year's chillies to get through, so over the next few weeks I'll be making a couple of batches of hot sauce to get most of them used up. Hopefully, by this time next month the Capsicum chinense varieties will have produced lots of nice juicy pods. All hail the Chilli Gods! 😁

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