Best Variety i have tried is 'cayenne' tough, vigorous and matures quickly. I get 2 big baskets full each year from only 6 plants. Cayenne have long fruits 7-8cm curved at the ends. Red when mature.They dry very well, make excellent chilli oil, crushed chilli flakes and chilli pastes. I also string them and give them to friends as they look great in the kitchen.
The how too, i agree with others on germination etc.
Here are my tips on growing. They are easy they just need protection. I can grow them outside in a south facing hot spot. When planting out (after hardening off)a good tip is to lay flat stones at the base of the plant the stones soak up the sun in the day and radiate it back to the plant at night, keep them from getting a shock as the night temp drops. Remove the stones when everything has warmed up enough.
The other thing to do, if its a dry year, is to plant in holes filled with a little compost and manure mixed into the soil and make sure the soil surface is lower than surrounding in order to water to the plants and maintain moisture, especially when in flower as they need the water most then. Mulch also works. Feed regularly through the growing season with a weak liquid fertilizer, i use home made 'black jack'(nettles/comfry, bonfire soot and cow dung suspended in sack in a water butt) keep soil evenly moist and spray liquid seaweed fertiliser monthly during growing season. I now use seeds saved from the previous year so that each year i get better plants and a better harvest as the seeds come from the plant that did best, natural selection.
SWEET PEPPERS
I treat sweet peppers the same way, but I also have had trouble growing them: not managed to get mature fruits in 3 years of trying to grow 'Corno di Toro Rosso' got huge fruit but only a few got red most stayed green before the frosts hit and 'Big Banana F1' which bore miserable little pale green fruit. The real winner for me was 'Giallo d’Asti'i got the seeds from
http://www.seedsofitaly.com.These mature yellow and are absolutely delicious, thick sweet flesh and mature very quickly. From a march sowing transplanted in May came through yellow in late summer with plenty of time for all fruits to mature. Apart from the right cultivar i find that i really need to sow in Jan/Feb to get mature plants ready to set out as soon as possible.
Note on my climate i garden in southern France but in the mountains with min temps of -15 winters with earlier springs but prone to snap freezing due to winds in spring then heating up running to arid dry in summer. Its a battle even with chillies and peppers who really suffered in the dry heat this year july.
If you, in england, can get get the planys up and strong undercover to plant out late May at flowering stage you could be onto a winner with enough weeks to get mature fruit.
I have stacks of cayenne chilli seeds if you would like some to try.
Best of luck
