Chilli Growing Diary 2007

Here are this years selection, we have found some new ones on the market, particularly the Naga's and the Black Pearl, so lets hope we get a good season with plenty of fruit. Any spare ones of these will be available at Farmers Markets from April to May time whilst any we have grown on and are fruiting in manageable pot sizes will be sold off at the larger shows we do. Fish is being regrown again after last years got wiped out with the weed kill incident.

This Years Varieties

Bih Jolokia & Bhut Jolokia: (Capsicum chinense) Originates from the northeast of India, particularly Assam. It belongs to Capsicum Chinense family and is known by many names in the different Indian provinces. Bih jolokia translates to 'poison chilli' in Assamese. Bhut Jolokia translates to 'Ghost chilli' probably due to its ghostly bite. Fruits are 5 to 8.5cm in length, 2.5 to 3cm in diameter (at shoulder), with an undulating surface. Both are being grown along with the Dorset Naga.
Black Pearl: (Capsicum annuum) Compact, bushy ornamental variety. Plant grows about 40-50cm tall sets masses of 2cm small roundish pearl shaped pods which ripens from black to a rich, deep red.
Exploding Fire: (Capsicum baccutum) These are tall growing plants, up to 5 feet with 100's of fruits around 2cm long on the tips of branches. Plant with mature red fruits resemble an exploding firework.
Fish: (Capsicum annuum) Plant produces good yields of 30mm long by 13mm wide hot peppers. Peppers turn from light green with dark green stripes, to orange, to red when mature. Plant has green stems, white and green leaves, and white flowers.
Goat Horn: (Capsicum annuum) South East Asian, fruits stay dark green for some time before ripening to bright red. High yields 1cm x 15cm long resembling a goats horn. Good flavour for Thai curries.
Habanero Peach: (Capsicum chinense) Lower growing plants than normal, less than 60cm. High yields. The pods are longer than some Habanero's, have nice thick flesh and wonderful fruity flavour.
Habanero Burkina Yellow: (Capsicum chinense) Rare African strain of habanero. Bright yellow, pendant fruits, more rounded than others in this family. They have the heat and strong flavour associated with all chinense types.
Jalapeno Purple: (Capsicum annuum) The Purple Jalapeno is an ornamental version of the standard Jalapeno pepper. Very productive, maturing to dark purple and finally to a scarlet red. Twice as hot as the normal Jalapeno.
Lemon Drop: (Capsicum baccutum) Peruvian Chilli with bright yellow, crinkled, cone-shaped fruits are about 60cm long and 1 cm wide and mature from green to yellow, good hot lemony flavour.
Navaho: (Capsicum annuum) Early, heavy yields of thick fleshed fruits with medium heat. Fruit increase in heat and flavour as they ripen to bright red.
Peruvian Orange: (Capsicum baccutum) Tall plant with 1cm x 4 cm deep orange fruit. Strong citrus like flavour, hot but not to fierce.

This Years Equipment

Growth Technology Chilli Focus Chillis and peppers have specific nutritional requirements. While it is true that they can perform reasonably well with general purpose “feeds”, the best results will be achieved by using a formulation designed specifically for them. Chilli Focus is precisely formulated for the needs of chillies and peppers – it does not contain urea. It supports the production of healthier, more vigorous plants and colourful, juicier fruits.
Growth Technology Root Riot Cubes Made from composted organic materials, these cubes have a great spongy texture which retains the perfect air/water ratio for healthy, rapid root growth. Suitable for both cuttings and seeds, Root Riot® consistently outperforms alternative media. The cubes are specially inoculated with micro nutrients and biologically active ingredients to nourish young plants, and to aid root development.
Greens Horticulture Wilma 4 Pot You can use any growing medium with the Wilma System, whether you’re a fan of soil, clay pebbles, rockwool, coco, or any other medium for that matter. We recommend using clay pebbles as this ensures plenty of aeration at the root zone and also makes the systems easier to set-up and manage. Wilma Systems are based on re-circulating hydroponics and utilise a simple dripper system to allow timer-based scheduled feeding. Feeding plants little and often has been shown to be much more effective at growing large, high-yielding plants when compared to hand watering once a day. The timer-based dripper system also dramatically reduces the risk of overwatering / overfeeding that is associated with hand watering plants.
Greenhouse Sensation Vitopod Precise control - the accurate electric digital thermostat can be set to any 1°C between 5°C and 30°C and the display shows the actual and the set temperatures. The lower temperatures are ideal for over-wintering cuttings and prized plants, the higher temperatures are great for getting hot chillis and exotic plant seeds off to a flying start and the middle temperatures are perfect for everything else. Large vents in lids and sides – for superior humidity control, so your plants don’t suffer from damping-off. Even Heat - our Vitopod delivers an even heat throughout the base, so there are no hot spots or cold spots and your seeds and cuttings will germinate evenly. Height adjustable – add the extra layers to give plants more space. Perfect for when the weather is taking its time to warm up enough for you to plant-out and for protecting taller mature plants from the cold. Robust - the Vitopod is built to last. The lids and sides are made from a robust acrylic and are treated to protect them against the UV deterioration which makes other propagators turn yellow and brittle.
Greenhouse Sensation NFT Hydro System GS200 5 plant, it constantly pumps a stream of water and nutrients to the plant roots and provides unrestricted access to oxygen. The nutrients for the NFT include all the elements plants need for healthy growth. The planter reservoir is completely emptied and refilled every 3 or 4 weeks, so no elements are ever too depleted or too concentrated. (Now called the Vivigrow 5 Plant Kit).