Summer months

So despite the lack of updates, the garden has kept growing.  I had a disappointing crop of seedlings from the seeds I planted.  Only about 50% germinated and I lost many due them drying out.  Whilst I took every care to keep the seedlings watered, the Root Riot cubes seemed to be very quick to dry out and I lost many due to a moment's inattention.

However, the seedlings that made it were duly planted out in one of the Quadgrows and a Chilligrow. In order to save me having to check for watering so regularly (yes, I am that lazy), I then hooked them up to an additional 25l reservoir which would supply the 'grows via a water level valve (Greenhouse Sensations again).

Once that was done, I practically ignored the plants and just let get them on with the job of growing...

The greenhouse is looking full, time for a prune

Plenty of lush growth in the Chilli Forest

Twilight Chillies, this year's chilli challenge plant.

More Twilights

Even more Twilights - Just the one plant but it seems to be thriving. 

Peach Bhut Jolokia 

Flowers on the Cayenne

Kashmiri Mirch chillies, mild chillies with a brilliant red colour (when ripe) which are used to add fantastic colour to curries without excessive heat.

Joe's Long Cayennes - these were the chillies we used last year for the chilli challenge. These could be record breakers by the time they ripen!

It's not just chillies in the greenhouse. The Sweet-Millions tomato is also doing really well in a Quadgrow.

New year, new start

So things have been dormant for a while.  I've not had time over the winter to do much with the greenhouse but now spring is springing and I thought it was about time to dust off the propagators and get the seeds started.

Last year I planted the seeds nice and early but was then stuck with a mass of rapidly growing seedlings and nowhere for them to go until the greenhouse was built.

This year I've left it a little later to plant the seeds and I'll keep them well away from the overwintered  chillies to avoid transmitting aphids to the new seedlings when they arrive.

As for the overwintered plants, most have succumbed to mould. I didn't get round to installing the planned passive solar system in time for winter and the greenhouse has been quite damp. I'll get the heating sorted in time for the new seedlings but last year's stock has effectively been written off.

I've opted for 16 different varieties this year, a mixture of old favourites and some new superhots. I've using Growth Technology Root Riot cubes this year to see how they perform.  Although more expensive than seed trays or jiffy pellets, with fewer seeds to plant the expense is less important than the germination and survival rate.

So here are this year's contenders...

Kashmiri Mirch, Chocolate Scotch Bonnet, Jay's Peach Ghost Scorpion, Trinidad 7 Pot Brown

Black Naga, Peach Bhut Jolokia, Hot Lemon, Paper Lantern

Moruglah F2, White Bhut Jolokia, Joe's Long Cayenne, Twilight (this year's Chilli Challenge seeds)

Chocolate Habanero, Fatalli, Naga Morich, Bubblegum 7 Pot

The heated propagators are up and running, the lights will come in to play once the seedlings start sprouting.

Home Again...

Well I deserted the chilli plants for two weeks and fled to the sunnier climes of Spain. More specifically the Northwest region of Galicia, home to the town of Padron.

Pimientos de Padron can be found in most tapas bars in the area, a plate full of these small green chillies is fried in olive oil and generously seasoned with salt.  Although predominantly sweet, a percentage of these peppers are hot enough to cause alarm.  The percentage tends to vary from batch to batch and although some claim it's about 10%, I must admit that in my (fairly extensive) investigations it was more like 5%.

Pimientos de Padron

However, one batch prepared by an aunt, contained a red one that literally took my breath away and left me gasping and nearly speechless for a good five minutes.  That'll teach me to be complacent! 

I made sure to collect some seed from her chillies and will be growing them on next year.

Upon my return I visited the chillies that I'd relocated to my parents' garden to see how they had fared in my absence.

Red Scotch Bonnet

Yellow Scotch Bonnet

Squat Frog

Most of the plants are dripping with fruit although we'll need some more sunshine to get the fruit to ripen. Somewhat disappointingly, both Dorset Nagas are devoid of large fruit although there are a few small ones forming. Whether they'll get to a decent size and ripen in this somewhat dismal weather is open to debate.

Loco

Black Pearl

The Chilligrows are proving their worth with the plants within growing to impressive sizes, their branches bending under the weight of the fruit.

The Chilligrows in the greenhouse

Paper Lantern Hab

Paper Lantern Hab

Trinidad Scorpion

Superchilli

Friar's Hat

The hydroponic unit is working overtime

And there's plenty of fruit to show for all the growth. This is the Orange Magnum Habanero

L to R: Joe's Long & Friar's Hat

Joe's Long

Naga Jolokia

Fruit Brust Habanero

I suspect that I'll need to come up with some new recipes to use up what promises to be a bumper crop of chillies.  All we need is a week or so of sunshine to get the fruit ripening before the growing season comes to an end.

Census

With everything growing so fast I though it would be a good time to take stock of all the plants that I have in the garden.

The Black Pearl, Etna and Loco were overwintered, the rest are this year's planting.

These are all yellow and red Scotch Bonnets, I have quite a few...

The plants overwintered from last year haven't performed as well as expected but there are flowers and fruit on a few.

Space is now at a premium in the large chilli house. Most have flowers on the way and a few have pods forming.

Including the Golden Cayenne which has plenty of fruit forming.

Happy New Year

Well no recent posts and nothing much to mention. The chillies have been cut back for overwintering and are safely ensconced on the window sills inside the house.

I've rigged up the growlight to provide a little extra light during these dark months. It does an admirable job of lighting up the chillies, along with the back garden and half the neighbourhood.

As for the Chilligrow experiment, well they seem to be coping as well as the potted chillies. I've had to cut back the watering as the continually damp soil promoted mould to form on the surface of the soil. However, the chillies need less water and nutrients during the winter anyway so I doubt it will do them harm.

I'm now lining up the chillies for the new year's growth. I'm concentrating on the superhots as they offer a better return for yield per space, despite their longer growing season. The new seeds for 2013 are:

Habanero Magnum Orange
Trinidad 7 Pot Jonah
Scotch Bonnet Red & Yellow
Dorset Naga
Bhut Jolokia (Ghost Chilli)

The seeds are now planted so fingers crossed we'll be seeing some results within a week or two.

As for the chilli sauces, well I've gone from one extreme to the other. Firstly was the Christmas Cracker, a seasonal cranberry and apple with a mild chilli hit. Is was popular at the Christmas dinner table, even with those who don't appreciate the hotter sauces.

And then there was the Hellish Relish...

Three Dorset Nagas, five Black Nagas and about two dozen Red Habaneros went into making just three bottles. The hardest part of making the sauce was the tastings. After sampling half a teaspoon of the devilish brew it required 20 minutes and a pint of milk for the burn to die sufficiently before I could taste again.

There's still two bottles left but when and where I'll find anyone brave enough to tackle them remains to be seen...

Chilli Grow a Go Go

I've had a savage restructuring of my chilli plants in preparation for the oncoming winter.  The plants won't survive outside so I've selected the most valuable plants to keep and the rest have been consigned to the great compost heap in the sky.

Those lucky few plants that made it through the selection process have been given a brutal haircut to encourage them to through out new side shoots and put more energy into growing a strong root system.

The Orozco gets a haircut

I've also invested in a couple of Chilligrow planters from Greenhouse Sensation. These clever planters have a reservoir of water and nutrients underneath which continually feed the plants via a capillary 'wick'.  The plants can never be overwatered because they only draw up as much as they need. In addition, any nutrients in the soil aren't washed out as they can be when watering from the top of the pot.

Yellow Scotch Bonnet, Red Habanero and Chocolate Bhut Jolokia fruits

The Scotch Bonnet and Red Hab had performed so well this year that they certainly earned themselves one of the coveted places in the Chilligrow.  The last spot was reserved for one of the Chocolate Habaneros.  These plants produced absolutely no fruit all year but they are sturdy specimens so I decided to give one a second chance and see if it could redeem itself.

Chocolate Bhut Jolokias and a Trinidad Scorpion

The other planter has two of the Chocolate Bhut Jolokias and a Trinidad Scorpion that I grew on late in the season.  Because I had a spare plant and in the interests of scientific endeavour, I planted a second Scorpion in a similar sized pot in identical compost, without the aid of the Chilligrow's reservoir.

The chillies in their winter residence on the windowsill.

This will be my experiment's control so it'll be interesting to see how it fares compared to the sophisticated planter.

Superhots

Hot and superhot varieties of chillies take a long time to mature so it's no surprise that mine have only started ripening now.  I dragged the camera out again for an update on their progress.

The yellow Scotch Bonnet has been a fantastic plant and is covered in fruit at various stages of ripeness. I grew this with seed collected from a Scotch Bonnet I bought at Sainsbury's.  Not bad value really considering I got a curry out of it as well!

My Black Naga turned out not to be black after all but more of a burgandy/brown colour.  I suspect that it's a Chocolate Bhut Jolokia. Still, the 1,000,000 Scovilles will come in handy I'm sure.

Now these shiny cherry-looking chillies are supposed to be Scotch Bonnets. Except that they're quite clearly not.  I bought these seeds online and, because the plant and leaves are the same size and nature as a Scotch Bonnet, suspect that these are a cross-breed with another variety.  I've not tasted them yet so  I'll report back with my findings.

More of the evil-looking Nagas.