THE CHILLIES THREAD 2018

Discussion in 'Edible Gardening' started by ARMANDII, Jan 1, 2018.

  1. Dublin George

    Dublin George Apprentice Gardener

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    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?
     
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    • shiney

      shiney President, Grumpy Old Men's Club Staff Member

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      @Dublin George Chillies are extremely promiscuous and will cross pollinate with almost any remotely related plant. To breed them true to what you want you need to isolate them (plastic cage is usually good enough) and pollinate them by hand (actually, using a brush).

      Since we got what we set out to achieve a few years ago we only keep the Hybrids and Nagas in the greenhouse and no other related plants. So they cross pollinate amongst themselves (but Nagas are a bit snooty and rarely want to pollinate with anything else). Any of the plants that we keep for ourselves are kept in the greenhouse and we take seed from the ones that are closest to what we prefer. This doesn't guarantee the right result but they're good enough for us nowadays.

      I've just changed from our normally procedure, mentioned in my last post, and not kept the potted on plants indoors. They're now in the heated propagator - about 60 or 70 of them - and being guarded by Sarafi the cat. The seedlings had whitefly on them and we had been picking them off by hand but it's never really successful. We don't use chemicals on them (they don't take kindly to anti-bug sprays when they're very young, anyway) and usually hose off whitefly - but can't do that whilst they're so young.

      I expect them to race ahead now as they kept at a temperature of about 24C (don't know exactly as the propagator and heating unit is so old that all the numbers have worn off the controls. I built the propagator 42 years ago and it still has the original heating cables and controls). It will just depend on how much light they get.
       
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      • joh98.mac

        joh98.mac Gardener

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        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. :mad:

        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
         
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        • Loki

          Loki Total Gardener

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          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 ;)
           
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          • Freddy

            Freddy Miserable git, well known for it

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            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.
             
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            • HarryS

              HarryS Eternally Optimistic Gardener

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              @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 :blue thumb:
              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 :blue thumb:
               
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              • joh98.mac

                joh98.mac Gardener

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                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.
                 
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                • shiney

                  shiney President, Grumpy Old Men's Club Staff Member

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                  It sounds to me as though they got going too quickly. Possibly too much heat when they had germinated. We germinate ours at room temperature, then transfer from our sprouter to a tray of compost and still keep them at room temperature until they get to the two or four leaf stage. Then we pot on and give them heat and light.

                  Others probably do it differently.
                   
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                  • Loofah

                    Loofah Admin Staff Member

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                    I'm following the Shiney Method this year and it's working well. When transferring I place the rooted seedlings at the bottom of the seed tray and build up the compost as the plants grow in an attempt to get as much root growth as possible
                     
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                    • HarryS

                      HarryS Eternally Optimistic Gardener

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                      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 .
                       
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                      • joh98.mac

                        joh98.mac Gardener

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                        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. :-)
                         
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                        • shiney

                          shiney President, Grumpy Old Men's Club Staff Member

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                          Our kitchen is about 70F and we germinate the seeds in a seed sprouter (no additional heat) which is placed on the worktop, under a cupboard. So no direct light. Once germinated they're put in a seed tray and on the windowsill.
                           
                        • joh98.mac

                          joh98.mac Gardener

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

                            Scrungee Well known for it

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                            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.
                             
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                            • shiney

                              shiney President, Grumpy Old Men's Club Staff Member

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                              We tend to water from the bottom. This way it helps to avoid fungus gnats as well.

                              We went away for two weeks, just after putting the germinated seedlings into seed trays, and had the trays sitting in cat litter trays with 2" of water in the bottom. They survived very well.
                               
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