Chillies 2023

First ripe pepper of the year, an orange pepperoncini that was overwintered

 

I have a data logger in my pop up greenhouse that has appalling ventilation. You can see it hits 35c on sunny days, which I think is too much for chillies to set fruit? We have two weeks of good weather coming up, I'm not too sure what to do. There aren't many flowers on these plants at the moment, so I might just leave them be...

 

I don't know about too much heat causing problems with blossoming. My little greenhouses also get very hot on a sunny day so I have made sure to keep fans running, the louvers and vents doing their jobs and if it gets really warm, shade cloth that I throw over the top.

I've never had heat kill my plants, I think because of the circulation and shade, only cold or pests have been my enemy. I leave my chillies in the greenhouses because that is their forever home once they go outside. It is convenient to keep them there.

If the lowest you are going is around 10c 52f, I don't understand why the plants need the blow up covering. Is it not already warm enough that whatever flowers you get, won't drop off?

 

I never take much notice of greenhouse thermometers in the summer as if the sun is out they get hot.
Different thing to scorch though, which you get in total bright sunlight through glass, which is where shading comes in.
I've never thought of the paint on type shading actually lowering the greenhouse temperature but it does stop leaves from scorching in bright sunlight.

Interesting that high temperatures stop fruit setting?
It does only appear to be a peak for a short part of the day.

 

Yeah I was thinking it's for a short time so hopefully won't matter. I had a cheap lean to conservatory when I first moved in to this house and it got up to almost 50c during summers unless the doors were wide open, managed to lose a few plants then

@CanadianLori , I've grown chillis outdoors here before and they do a lot better under cover, but that's with the well ventilated greenhouse and converted shed. And we have a few 6c nights forecast. If it was in my backgarden I wouldn't mind just taking them out during the day but it's a bit of an annoyance to go down to the allotment to lug out 11 large pots

I think I'll just let them be and see, maybe try and figure out how to get more airflow without the cover blowing off

 

From now on my greenhouse door will be open during daylight hours, and the vents open automatically.
I dont think, if we get any sun, that is down here,, you can't actually over ventilate during the summer months.

 

@Hanglow Even just lifting the base of the plastic off the ground should let the cooler air suck under and up?

 

The covering needs to be pegged down so it doesn't blow away, but I've got some water pipes I could use between the sets of pegs, that should work

 

First chilli has been harvested and eaten

Hungarian Black- not hot and not that tasty but very early and an attractive plant.

 

Hello all,

Chilis and Sweet Peppers are growing well. I have some flowers but no fruit yet though I can see some Sweet Peppers starting to form.


Main greenhouse hydro systems.


Sweet Peppers (4 varieties)



Birds Eye and Cayenne


Jalapeños

In my small greenhouse, I have tomatoes grown in the same way but they were started much later and are still fairly small.


8 x Maskotka


4 types that I haven't tried before (in pairs).


Spares in soil

I suppose I shouldn't be posting about tomatoes here but I think it gives a complete picture of what I'm growing this year.

Bye for now.

Ademission

 

My goodness @Ademission your set up looks hospital sterile! Mine looks more toward the other end of the scale. I couldn't afford those type of hydration systems so I only set up a capillary type arrangement.

I've got a couple of Shineybrids almost ripe and many more right behind those plus one 7 pot yellow is close. Actually this is early for me. I'm usually still waiting for another month to have fruit.

 

Hello CanadianLori,

The greenhouses are at their cleanest about now. We always start the growing season with a full clean. After vacuum cleaning last years debris, we spray the ceiling, floor and walls with Jeyes fluid to kill anything that may compromise the plants. We then use a smoke bomb to kill off any insects, slugs etc that may be hiding. All of the above is done with the greenhouse totally empty. The Wilma systems are then cleaned and are put back into place. Don't worry though, it won't look so clean for long as inevitably, the squished chilis, dead leaves and insects will give it a "lived in" feel.

The Wilma systems have been bought in stages and though there is some outlay, they do get used every year and they do take the pain out of watering as they are only topped up occasionally. They are ideal for when we go on holiday as they will last the duration if they are topped up just before.

I did an inspection of the plants today looking for aphids and was surprised that I didn't find any. I can put off the neem oil spraying for a couple of weeks. I did however notice that we already have the beginnings of some fruit, but not very big yet.

Ok on the 7 pot yellows. I'm not growing any superhots this year as 2 years ago I grew quite a lot of the hotter varieties but didn't do a lot with them. This year I'm only growing my culinary staples. I am however trying a few new varieties of tomato in the other greenhouse and I'll let you know how they turn out.

Thanks for your comments. Always appreciated.

Ademission

 

This is one of the locotos I put outside in the ground unprotected on April 30th. They just sat there not doing much, I assume because the ground temperature was too low. But they've now perked up a bit now it's warmed up, although they don't get much direct sun.

 

Redskin is easily my earliest sweet pepper, as usual.