Spring is upon us once again and the weather has been really nice as of late. Over the past week the daytime temperatures in the porch have been sitting around 88F and the chilli plant tribe has been enjoying some much welcomed sun. The germination rates were excellent for me this year and some varieties germinated in as little as eight days, whereas most took around 14 days, with the exception of
Chocolate Habanero,
Habanero Numero Diez and
Red Mayan Habanero, all of which took close on four weeks to germinate.
On the 6th February I sowed eight seeds for
Caribbean Red Habanero and seven germinated. However, the seedling I kept appeared to be fine at first until it started developing its first set of true leaves and then it became apparent that something wasn't right. The true leaves were taking far too long to develop and on closer inspection I noticed they were distorted and mottled, so rather than play around with a seedling that may have been diseased I threw it away and sowed some Peruvian White Habanero seeds instead. I've kept two seedlings and we shall see how they turn out later in the season.
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| Chilli Plants in the Porch - 29th March 2020 |
I won't be posting individual photos of the new varieties until later in the season, when I know for sure that they're all true to type. In the meantime, I'll just post an occasional group shot of the new varieties. Here are some photos that were taken recently showing the individual tribe members that you've already met, plus one group shot that was taken yesterday evening showing all of the newcomers.
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| Aji Mochero - 24th March 2020 |
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| Alberto's Locoto - 24th March 2020 |
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| Aribibi Gusano - 24th March 2020 |
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| Chocolate Habanero - 24th March 2020 |
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| Habanero Numero Diez - 24th March 2020 |
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| Inca Red Drop - 24th March 2020 |
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| Mako Akokosrade - 24th March 2020 |
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| Mini Rocoto Brown - 24th March 2020 |
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| Red Mayan Habanero - 24th March 2020 |
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| Ring of Fire - 24th March 2020 |
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Yellow Jelly Bean Habanero - 24th March 2020
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| New Chilli Varieties - 29th March 2020 |
The new walk-in plastic greenhouse arrived on the 26th March and I'll be clearing a space and putting it up towards the end of April or beginning of May. The garden centres closed their doors last week due to coronavirus and like an idiot I hadn't bought any compost. The 2020 growing season nearly ended last Thursday for me, but thankfully I was able to purchase what I need on eBay and it arrived this evening. All hail the Chilli Gods.
