Peppers and chillies

General tips / questions on seeding & planting

Moderators: KG Steve, Chantal, Tigger, peter

ken
KG Regular
Posts: 420
Joined: Fri Nov 25, 2005 9:37 am
Location: West Kent

Having concluded that temperatures and light levels are too low to expect peppers and chillies to ripen, I'm busy taking my plants out for compost. As well as ripe fruit, there are a few green peppers and quite a lot of green chillies. I know these can be used as they are, but will they ripen if left on windowsills, as happens with tomatoes?
Monika
KG Regular
Posts: 4546
Joined: Thu Jul 06, 2006 8:13 pm
Location: Yorkshire Dales

I have tried it with sweet peppers, Ken, and unfortunately, it hasn't worked, they started rotting.

But do you know that you can keep chilli plants over winter for a second year as long as your keeping place is frostfree? Apparently, they break out again in spring and will grow more strongly the second year. I have not tried it myself so can't vouch for it working, but it sounds quite plausible.
ken
KG Regular
Posts: 420
Joined: Fri Nov 25, 2005 9:37 am
Location: West Kent

Many thanks, Monika. Yes, I did know that you coud over-winter chillies - or, at least, some chillies. I believe some are perennial and some annual. However, I grew my peppers and chillies hydroponically, in the conservatory. They all flourished, with plenty of fruit of very good quality. But the chilli in particularly went mad. I think if I tried to keep it for a second year it would take over the conservatory. From the one plant this year I got 66 ripe chillies and 54 green, which is more than I need...
PLUMPUDDING
KG Regular
Posts: 3269
Joined: Mon Jan 07, 2008 10:14 pm
Location: Stocksbridge, S. Yorks

I'm rather surprised that my outdoor peppers are ripening well at the moment, but the ones in the greenhouse are only just changing colour.

I've tried bringing the picked green fruits in to ripen in the past, but find them rather slow and the fruits often go soft before they colour up enough.
vegpatchmum
KG Regular
Posts: 469
Joined: Tue Jun 30, 2009 3:49 pm
Location: North Lincolnshire

Tomorrow I'm bringing ALL my chilli plants into the house to finish ripening on the windowsills! They are ripening in the greenhouse but the process is very slow this year and I don't want to run the risk of losing the lot to a frost.

VPM
x
Nature's Babe
KG Regular
Posts: 2468
Joined: Tue Nov 03, 2009 6:02 pm
Location: East Sussex

vegpatchmum - did u take them off the plant? Have you tried hanging whole plant upside down to ripen them ? My peppers ripened well outdoors too I think they're fine in a sunny sheltered spot
Sit down before a fact as a little child, be prepared to give up every preconcieved notion, follow humbly wherever and to whatever abyss nature leads, or you shall learn nothing.
By Thomas Huxley
http://www.wildrye.info/reserve/
ken
KG Regular
Posts: 420
Joined: Fri Nov 25, 2005 9:37 am
Location: West Kent

Thanks, NB. Yes, I did take them off the plant. Hanging upside down (the plant, not me!) sounds a good option, but not in this case. The plant was huge....well, at least 4ft by 3ft.
vegpatchmum
KG Regular
Posts: 469
Joined: Tue Jun 30, 2009 3:49 pm
Location: North Lincolnshire

Nature's Babe wrote:vegpatchmum - did u take them off the plant?


No. I intend to bring in as many of the plants as I can fit into the house. In paticular it's the 'Skinny Chillis' and 'Peach Habanero' that I want to bring in because they are way behind the 'Wilkinsons Patio Chilli' (true variety name unknown) and 'Cayenne'.

Have you tried hanging whole plant upside down to ripen them ? My peppers ripened well outdoors too I think they're fine in a sunny sheltered spot


No! Does this really work? I'm leaving the sweet peppers where theya re because I only have a few plants and tend to use the peppers as needed. But the chillis are a different story as we use loads and I need them ripe for successful drying (I was told green chillis don't keep as well as reds?). The cayennes I thread into a bunch and hang above our Rayburn and the smaller patios I leave to air dry before putting them into a jar for use through the year.

I've never grown the Skinny and Habaneros before so very keen to see what they turn out like.

VPM
x
Nature's Babe
KG Regular
Posts: 2468
Joined: Tue Nov 03, 2009 6:02 pm
Location: East Sussex

mine ripened so have not tried it - it works with tomatoes so might with chillis too. :)
nice chilli website here -
http://www.chillisgalore.co.uk/

and here a chinese green chiilli pickle
http://www.chillies-down-under.com/pick ... llies.html
Sit down before a fact as a little child, be prepared to give up every preconcieved notion, follow humbly wherever and to whatever abyss nature leads, or you shall learn nothing.
By Thomas Huxley
http://www.wildrye.info/reserve/
User avatar
Primrose
KG Regular
Posts: 8054
Joined: Tue Aug 29, 2006 8:50 pm
Location: Bucks.
Has thanked: 37 times
Been thanked: 281 times

I've now got all my remaining chilli & pepper plants indoors on a window sill to ripen. I won't keep the peppers after I've picked the last of them but all the chillies will be over-wintered. Last year after the chillies cropped I pruned them hard back & they soon sprouted new leaves & gave an early spring crop, then a good summer crop. (This was Hungarian Wax variety - a large fairly mild chilli). This year I'm growing several chilli varieties & will try the same technique with all of them.

However my 2 Hungarian Wax chilli plants which were over-wintered last year now have quite gnarled stems and no lower buds left from which new shoots could form, so have come to the conclusion they're not worth trying to keep alive a second winter, especially as the leaves have now started dropping off them.
Nature's Babe
KG Regular
Posts: 2468
Joined: Tue Nov 03, 2009 6:02 pm
Location: East Sussex

Hi Primrose, I was wondereing how often one could overwinter them, thank you.
"My green thumb came only as a result of the mistakes I made while learning to see things from the plant's point of view."

obviously you see things from the plants point of view :D
Sit down before a fact as a little child, be prepared to give up every preconcieved notion, follow humbly wherever and to whatever abyss nature leads, or you shall learn nothing.
By Thomas Huxley
http://www.wildrye.info/reserve/
PLUMPUDDING
KG Regular
Posts: 3269
Joined: Mon Jan 07, 2008 10:14 pm
Location: Stocksbridge, S. Yorks

My Rotoco chilli is now three years old. I prune it back quite hard after picking the fruits in November/December and it puts on lots of new growth and starts flowering in about May. I freeze the fruits and they last for ages. I do the same with the Aji variety, Lemon Drop, which is also at least three years old. I do save a few seeds of each though just in case they don't get through the winter, or if the plants are losing their vigour. These seem quite happy in the greenhouse and conservatory with just enough heat to keep the frost off.
User avatar
Primrose
KG Regular
Posts: 8054
Joined: Tue Aug 29, 2006 8:50 pm
Location: Bucks.
Has thanked: 37 times
Been thanked: 281 times

Oh I've grown a Lemon Drop for the first time this year so will try to keep it going over winter. Pretty yellow colour but didn't think it had a particularly strong citrus flavour as the seed providers claimed. Perhaps the flavour becomes more pronounced as the fruit really ripens ??
User avatar
Colin_M
KG Regular
Posts: 1182
Joined: Tue Oct 03, 2006 7:13 am
Location: Bristol

For anyone with a glut of chilles, don't forget that they freeze really well.

For me, this gives the benefit of something very close to fresh chilles all through the winter, plus it's easy to just take one or two out as needed & chop them up whilst still frozen. This produces less juice on your fingers(and less risk of wiping some in your eye by mistake, for the really hot ones).
vegpatchmum
KG Regular
Posts: 469
Joined: Tue Jun 30, 2009 3:49 pm
Location: North Lincolnshire

Colin do green chillis freeze as well or is it just red ones? I tend to air dry my red ones but it's the green ones that I have issues with. If I could freeze them then that would be brilliant.

So how do you prepare them for freezing? Chopped or whole? Seeds in or out? Stalk on or off?

Apologies for all the questions :oops: :D

Thank you
VPM
x
Post Reply Previous topicNext topic