Chillies 2019

But Look what happens when you keep household cleaning stuff away from your wee baby plants !

You’re doing ok there.

 

Thank you. :-)

I am still smarting from four years of utter and abject failure when I had to sit and watch every single plant die. What I have never been able to understand is that when I first grew chilis (2012, if I remember correctly), I just got seeds, tossed them into a couple of small pots on the window sill, watered them occasionally, and hey presto ... hundreds of chilis in my freezer that autumn, as well as loads to give away to my father-in-law and colleagues.

Hmm, thought I. Why don't I hone my technique, and I can get a higher yield next year? So I got little trays, planted the seeds and put them in a warm room. Within 72 hours, there was mould forming on top of the earth, and nothing came up. Nothing.

The year after that, we moved to our new place, where the kitchen is much colder than where we used to live. I tried again. And again. And again. Every year, everything died and I was forced to go to B&Q to get some seedlings that someone else had grown, and plant them. They did OK. But it was still 'seedlings that someone else had grown' and there was the dissatisfaction of that.

I considered jacking it all in. I was getting so angry that I wanted to gather all of my growing stuff, and take a hammer to it all.

Now, this year, I have a 'greenhouse' outside, waiting to take the plants, but as you can see, it's in erm.. a bit of a sorry state. That was the storms of late last year, and as there was nothing inside it, I resolved to fix it in the spring. That's for a weekend soon.

Thank you for the tips so far, please keep them coming!

 

@joh98.mac good for you in persisting. I've had a couple of years where the crop was dismal but like you, it never stopped me from trying again.

I use capillary watering (bottom up) as I have a tendency to drown everything if I don't. This has worked well for me for the last 2 years and I will again be setting up the outdoor area to carry on once it's warm enough to heat the greenhouse and move everybody out there.

 

I’m a learner too. I read all these seed sowing threads for tips myself.

This year I’m kinda swamped with seedlings but whether or not they turn into actual real plants that end up in the garden remains to be seen. I don’t grow anything that can be eaten.

So many things can go wrong every step of the way.

I have a wee wooden growhouse and a cold frame.

 

Now, you see how you guys inspire me? I just went out, reassembled the 'greenhouse' and stood it upright. The cat litter in the bottom is 15 kg so frankly, if the wind manages to knock that over again, I say, 'Respect'.

There are about two or three slight tears in the polythene near the top, and there is a crack in the frame but with the cat litter in the bottom, it looks as solid as ever. I might wait for the water to dry and duct tape up those tears.

We're buying a house soon, so I hope to get a real, honest-to-goodness polytunnel in the garden when we move.

EDIT: oh, and yes .. the garden is a mess. I'll be out there at the weekend, weeding and also sweeping the paving stones. All this growing stuff has made me want to take pride in the garden. I planted some sunflower seeds, too. We did a cycle tour down the Danube a few years ago, and came across hundreds of thousands of dead sunflower fields. It was still beautiful, but we decided then to plant some at home. I hope the last frosts have gone!

 

Nice one! You can reinforce the plastic fittings with duct tape and it does come in different colours so green should be available.

I did the same when I had one of those but used sand instead of litter - probably would have been less expensive to use your idea but I just never thought of it!

Tape both sides of the plastic where it is ripped. It really makes a difference.

 

I'm going to do that, yes. It will be at least a month or so before the chilis are ready to go out there. Last year's heatwave killed them off, but this year, if I have to water them twice a day, then so be it.

 

I hear you. But I don't think I will have enough seedlings to justify using the bottom shelf. But you know, you might be right. Hmm .. does B&Q sell to-measure paving stones??

 

Does it ever not drop below 15°C in SE London??

 

Smart! I hadn't thought of that!

Really looking forward to getting a heated greenhouse or a tunnel!