Chilli plants have gone all autumnal

[Primrose]

Several of my chilli plants have developed brown spots on their leaves, are going yellow & dropping off. Also they're not developing new shoots lower down the main stem. Although the fruits are ripening ok on them they actually look as if they're dying and I won't be able to over-winter them & produce another crops next year. Any idea what's causing this? I've not really had this problem in previous years.

[PLUMPUDDING]

My chilli plants are also dropping their leaves but have some small new shoots in the leaf axils, so I'm going to wait for the rest of the fruits to ripen a bit more and then cut them back as usual and hope for the best.

Have you saved seeds from them to re-sow next year, just in case.

One thing I noticed last year was that one of the pods had fallen into the pot and a little clump of seedlings grew from it during the winter so I had some new plants to follow on without trying. They were in my conservatory with only enough heat to keep the frost off, so I was quite surprised that they germinated. That was "Lemon Drop" a very hot lemon flavoured aji variety.

My favourite is the Rocoto (I might have got the spelling wrong) with the small purple flowers and lovely quite hot fleshy fruits that I'm referring to in the first paragraph.

I had a laugh this week when I'd brought some of the ripe chillis in along with a few of the last cherry tomatoes, and I noticed later that afternoon that there was half a chilli with teeth marks in it. My partner had popped in for a quick lunch and thought he was eating a tomato!

Just thinking, I've never known a worse year for fungal problems with leaves, scab on the apples and all sorts of other things, so I'm clearing up all the leaf debris so there isn't anything lurking for next year.

Hope your chillis survive.

[Tony Hague]

My favourite is the Rocoto (I might have got the spelling wrong) with the small purple flowers and lovely quite hot fleshy fruits that I'm referring to in the first paragraph.

My favourite too !

I thought chillies were deciduous, mine have always lost most of their leaves in winter. I don't often bother overwintering them now - I don't have the space I used to use.

I've got ripe Chocolate Dorset Nagas at the moment. I tasted a slither of one raw last week - it is quite an experience.

[Primrose]

That's interesting about your lemon drop chillis germinating at fairly low temperatures. . I have one of these plants and have saved some seeds so might just put one or two in a pot of compost on an indoor window sill and see what happens.