Spring has sprung

Well I’ve been a little quiet on the blog front for a while. Truth be told I haven’t been doing much on the chilli-growing front, just allowing the plants to get on with the business of growing and gradually shifting some to the greenhouse outside to harden off.

Pimientos de Padron

I managed to escape for a holiday to Morocco for a well deserved break (well, at least in my opinion it was well deserved) and left the chilli plants at the tender mercies of my family & friends with strict instructions not to forget to water them.

Thankfully I got back to find that none had dried out (I’ve got my assistants well trained!).  However the greenfly had made an unwelcome return and decimated a couple of the plants, causing leaves to curl and shrivel and flowers to drop.  Normally I’d take the eco-friendly approach and spray them with soapy water to get rid of the aphids but I wasn’t feeling in a very forgiving or patient mood and instead treated them to the horticultural equivalent of a napalm strike.

Hopefully the plants will make a recovery but I’m going to have to be extra-vigilant to ensure they don’t make a comeback.

Hungarian Hot Wax chilli

Whilst in Morocco I did buy a bag of dried chillies from the souk. I’m not sure what variety they are but the pods are a couple of inches long and the skins look very thin.  I’ve not tried them for heat yet but the shopkeeper  assured me that they were ‘very hot’.  Judging from some of the chilli sauce I tried in the night market I don’t doubt him. I’ve extracted seeds from a couple of pods and will see how I get on growing them.

Meanwhile the plants at work have been doing well, putting on lots of growth and plenty of flowers.  Of particular note is the Friar’s Hat chilli, which is looking very sturdy and sporting plenty of immature fruit.  I’ve been pinching out the tips of the plants to prevent them from getting too tall and to encourage them to throw out more side shoots and put more energy into producing flowers and fruit.

Friar's Hat

Padron

The great chilli give-away has continued apace with more little plants finding new homes amongst friends and colleagues.  I’ve even taken a few up to the poly-tunnel on the work’s allotment.  I had a few Padron peppers that hadn’t fared too well at home (I think in part due to the overcrowding) so I’ve taken a risk and planted them directly into the soil in the tunnel as a sort of kill-or-cure remedy.  Joining them are a few of the Hungarian Hot Wax chillies I had going spare.  It still may be a little cold for them at night so I’ve left them under cloches as well for added protection. We’ll see how they get on – I suspect that if they survive and manage to gain a foothold in the poor soil then the resulting chillies will have a real kick to them.

Padron chillies at the back of the polytunnel and Hungarian Hot wax chillies under the cloches

Back at home, with a battle for supremacy raging between the chillies and the tomatoes for window-sill space I’ve had to find some more room outside.  I’ve purchased a small growhouse to go on the patio and it’s allowed me to shift most of the plants outside.

These little growhouses seem like a neat solution and are reasonably attractive in the garden as well.  The downside is the build quality of these houses is disappointingly low. Even the sturdier (and more expensive) houses are still very flimsy and badly finished.  I had toyed with the idea of making my own, along similar lines to the one I built last year.  It wouldn’t have been any cheaper but certainly would have been more substantial. Unfortunately, a lack of time forced me to compromise and go with a flat-pack version instead.

Maybe next year…