THE CHILLIES THREAD 2018

Shiney, that's a crazy project to breed plants to create your own variety. It's great to see that you've got the result you were after. What do you mean by "isolating" did some other pollen pollinate your peppers? Is that why you can observe a little bit of variation between the different plants of the same variety?

 

So I bought a propagator at the end of 2017, and planted five different types of chili seeds. Everything went well, and I was getting about 75% germination. I was delighted, after a few years of awful crops.

Then one day, as I was gently spraying water onto the soil, one of the seedlings collapsed over. I got a cocktail stick and tried to prop it up, but that was pretty difficult, considering that the shoot was about 2 nanometers in diameter. No way even to get fine thread and hold it up.

And so it died.

They all died. One after the other.

And right now, I'm feeling pretty ... let's say 'peeved', to remain family-friendly.

Is there any way to stop this happening? Why were the shoots so thin? They looked to be about the width of five human hairs. How can I stop them from dying?

And the important question: is it too late to buy seeds and plant some more?

Thanks

 

You could definitely sow some more now, but go for the hardier ones like jalapeño or cayenne. It's to late for super hot ones. What varieties did you try? If I start mine in a prop I take them out as soon as they germinate and move to a light, warm window sill. I'm afraid I don't know what went wrong with yours but I suspect damping off. Hopefully someone more knowledgeable will be along shortly If you feel it's getting a bit late for seeds you could always buy some plants

 

My own feeling is that this was caused by a lack of light, given how spindly they must have been to be flattened by a sprayer.

 

@joh98.mac , PM me your address , I think (need to check ) , I have some Jalapeno and/or Tokyo Hot (Cayenne variant ) seeds left over . I can post these to you gratis
Chillis are a pretty reliable plant , what compost did you use ? I use a good seed compost.
It is getting a bit late to grow from seed , but as Loki said most GC's are selling little chili plug plants . I would give a couple of these a go

 

Yeah, I did that two years ago - had to go to the local Tesco and pick up three seedlings. I got a good crop from them, but it's just not the same.

@Freddy you may be on to something, as the propagator is in the kitchen, but about three feet from the window. Next year, I'm going to try to move it across to the other side of the room, which is going to mean moving the two massive plastic boxes in which we keep our cat and rabbit supplies. Ho hum.

 

I germinate in the airing cupboard at around 30°c , they don't need light to germinate. But I keep a close eye on them and as soon as they show after 6 to 8 days , I take them out and put them on a warm windowsill with plenty of light. I remove the prop lid after about two weeks , so they have a drier atmosphere. Prick them out into pots after 3 weeks .

 

I tried that the previous year, and nothing germinated. Or almost nothing.

Our kitchen is an extension built by the previous occupants, and whilst it is is very roomy, well lit and pleasant, it's also pretty cold. Even with the heating on in that room, it's a good couple of degrees colder than the living room next to it. To the extent that my wife avoids going in there except when she has to. I'm Scottish, so it's basically summer in there for me, all year round. :-)

 

Maybe my mistake was to leave them in the propagator after they had sprouted?

 

I've never had any Chillies suffer from 'damping off', but I always use fresh seed compost, new 'pots' (cells cuts from modular trays), kept them warm and under growlights until they're at the 3"/70mm pot stage.

Those last 3 quotes make me wonder whether the problem was a combination of:

1) Lack of light causing spindly, weak seedlings.

2) Bottom warmth from propagator drying out roots in lower level of seed compost.

3) Inadequate watering consisting of only "spraying" top of seed compost, leaving roots (of weak plants) in hot, dry compost.