chillies

Chilli growing is now quite popular so most garden centres have a large variety of chilli seeds. They will say on the packet whether they are hot or sweet. There are quite a lot of varieties of sweet chillies. You can find many websites with info on chillies here is one to get you started :thumb:

http://www.chillisgalore.co.uk/pages/varietys.html

 

Thanks walnut,

Although the Scoville scale is a good measure of heat, it is only a guideline. As the Wikipedia article said, it depends on many conditions. I've taken part in quite a few chilli tasting experiments and, for example, found the Dorset Naga sometimes very hot and at others only medium hot. The ones that we have growing now our some of the hottest I, and some of my friends, have tasted and seem to be getting hotter each season. We shall be growing some new ones from seed and shall also try cuttings and see what happens over the next couple of seasons.

With the frosts starting it is now time to bring them back indoors for the winter. I'll need to prune them harder this year as we had trouble keeping up with their winter growth last year.

 

I don't know whether it makes a difference to the heat but I am fairly certain that treating them well (good soil, correct watering, proper feeding, lots of light and warmth) improves the flavour - as I think it does with tomatoes etc. I had a couple of Indian people amongst our lunch guests yesterday and they tasted the chillies. They said that they both eat chillies every day and ours are the hottest they have ever eaten. They also agreed that the flavour was excellent.

If anyone wants a few chillies (whilst stocks last :D) so they can grow them from the seeds just PM me with your address. I shan't be able to send more than 2 or 3 as I am already supplying friends with regular supplies - I also give some to the owner of the local Indian (Bangladeshi) restaurant who gives us the occasional free meal in payment. :thumb:

 

Why not keep the plants? Then you will have a head start next year :thumb:

 

They won't survive in an unheated greenhouse. I bring mine indoors and keep them in the brightest possible place so they have warmth and light. I kkep the by the french doors where there is glass from the floor almost to the ceiling. Last winter every branch kept growing at about 6" per month and I had to keep pruning them. The new season chillies had formed by May (some kept growing all year but not many).