Chilli Fans

[Tigger]

I found this site which might be of interest to those of you with a liking for hot chillis.

http://www.thechileman.org/naga_morich.php

[Geoff]

I thought you were going to be telling us about a cooling process.

I grow lots of chillis with reasonable success but am a miserable failure at Sweet Peppers. Do you treat them exactly the same? Am I choosing the wrong varieties?

[Jenny Green]

What goes wrong with your sweet peppers, Geoff?

[Chantal]

I have trouble with them too, they're tiny and often rot on the inside.

[sandersj89]

Funny, the last 3 years I have grown one called Gypsy with huge success. Lots of lovely red peppers that even had to freeze and soup them.

This year thought I would grow a new type to ring the changes. Big mistake.

I am trying to grow Marconni Rossoand out of two sowings have had one germinate from the first batch of 8 and 6 from the second batch of 15. Treated the same as previous years, sown on the surface of compost with a covering of vermiculite with a bit of bottom heat. Chillies sown on the same day in the same way have 2 or 3 pairs of true leaves, the peppers have stalled at one pair.

They are in a warm greenhouse with supplimentary light early morning and in the evening.

Very frustrating!

Jerry

[Geoff]

They are very slow and sometimes little bigger than fleshy chillis, sometimes distorted (could be aphids) and sometimes rot as they swell. Tried New Ace for a few years, changed to Pimento this year. They are germinating slower than the chillis. I've grown them in Grobags, 8" pots and the border with not much difference. I want them like those Falkland Island ones on Countryfile the other week!

[Jenny Green]

From memory (didn't grow any chillies this year) they do germinate more slowly, so that shouldn't be a problem. I grow a variety called Cristal that I brought back from Spain a couple of years ago.
When do you sow? They need the heat of summer when they're flowering and setting fruit, which means sowing early March. I find mine sometimes rot towards the end of the season as the temperatures cool down.
I think Jerry might have hit the nail on the head with the mention of different varieties. If they're adequately watered, fed and kept warm they should grow normally. I would try a few different varieties to see what suits your conditions.
Sometimes gardeners are too quick to blame themsleves!
I wold send you some of my seed but it's too late to sow now and I doubt it'll keep another season. If I bring some back from Spain in June I'll let you know.

[Garlic_Guy]

Have a look at: http://www.peppermania.com/

I bought 5 packs of quite unusual chillis from them last year. Despite being based in the USA, the seeds arrived a few days later by post. They were only $2 per packet (and no pstage on top), so compare very favourably with stuff from this country. However the choice available is beyond compare with most other sites I've seen.

The main website sells all sorts of stuff, but the main link for seeds is here: http://www.peppermania.com/chile_seeds.html

Can I particularly recommend these:

For people who are wary of very hot chillis, but want something with a fantastic flavour and aroma: http://www.peppermania.com/chinense_10.html

For something both hot and unusual: http://www.peppermania.com/chinense_8.html

For people who really like their chillis to have a bit of bite: http://www.peppermania.com/chinense_2.html


You may have noticed my family loyalty to the Caribbean island of Trinidad..... (by the way, I have no commercial connection with these people - I was just pleased with the range they sell and their service).