Heatwave

 With the recent heatwave the plants in the chilli houses have been growing a pace.  Space has become a premium, particularly with all the Scotch Bonnets that were planted as replacements.

The chilli forest is thriving

Flower buds forming on the Paper Lantern Hab

Some of the chillies that were overwintered from last year have started to flower, the Chilli de Arbol even has a couple of small chillies growing, the first of the year.

Black Pearl, a pretty little ornamental variety with small black fruit

De Arbol, the first to bear fruit this year

Etna, this small hot variety is very resilient and easy to grow

Whist potting on some of the larger chillies I thought it would be a good opportunity to test out some new pots.  These soft fabric root-pouches are designed to increase root growth by air-pruning the tap-roots.  As the thick taproot grows through the fabric of the bag, the root is burnt by the air and pruned short. This forces the root to throw out more of the fine side shoots, increasing the root mass and allowing more nutrients to be taken up.

I've planted up a number of the more well-established chillies and await with interested to see how they fare.

L to R Golden Cayenne, Friar's Hat, Scotch Bonnet

Some weeks back one of my Friar's Hat chillies suffered a bit of extreme pruning when an overweight moggy crashed through the roof of the chilli  house and snapped the stem in two.  Well, less than a month later the plant is looking very healthy with lots of new growth bushing out from the base.  Proof, if proof were needed, that pinching out chillies does result in sturdier and bushier plants.

26 days later...