The chilli plants have now been re-potted into their final pots and moved into position for the growing season. Well, sort of, anyway. In three or four weeks once they've grown a bit more I'll most likely end up having to juggle them around again until I can find the best spot for each one. It's all about the growth habit. Obviously I'm familiar with the growth habit of varieties I've grown before, but I'm unsure when it comes to the new ones.
All of the porch plants are in 7-litre pots and this will be the maximum pot size for all chilli plants this season. In 2018 two of the porch plants (Chocolate Habanero) were grown in 10-litre pots and another two (Red Mayan Habanero) were grown in 12-litre pots. Last season two (Chocolate Habanero and Trinidad Moruga Scorpion) were grown in 7-litre pots and two (Red Mayan Habanero) were grown in 12-litre pots. I can comfortably house five plants in the porch providing I use a maximum pot size of 7-litres. The varieties growing in the porch are: Peach Habanero, Chocolate Habanero, Red Mayan Habanero, Habanero Numero Diez and Yellow Jelly Bean Habanero.
Chilli Plants in the Porch - 20th May 2020
I started re-potting the plants on Tuesday afternoon, and after mixing 11 batches of compost (because I only have a 25-litre container to work with), working out which pot size to use for each plant, lashing bamboo canes together to build a cage (for one of the Capsicum pubescens varieties), and cooking layered chicken enchiladas and Mexican rice in between doing all of this, it took me a tad longer than planned. The plants spent the night on the floor in a bedroom and were watered-in the following morning.
All of the window plants are in 5-litre pots, except for Aji Largo and a Yellow Jelly Bean Habanero plant. The minimum pot size I use for growing Capsicum pubescens varieties is 7-litres. Typically, the larger the pot the better for plants of this species. Yellow Jelly Bean Habanero has a bushy growth habit and grows very nicely in a 7-litre pot in the bedroom window. As a general rule, 5-litres is the maximum pot size I'd use for plants growing on windowsills or in windows, but if the growth habit is favourable and there's enough light then sometimes I may use a 7-litre pot.
The varieties growing upstairs in windows or on windowsills are: Yellow Jelly Bean Habanero, Heat n' Neat, Aji Largo, Aribibi Gusano, Peruvian White Habanero, Mako Akokosrade, Aji Mochero and Dwarf Chiltepin. The varieties growing downstairs on the kitchen windowsills are: Heat n' Neat, Naga Khorika, Ring of Fire and Aji Mochero.
All of the greenhouse plants are also in 7-litre pots, except for Inca Red Drop, both of which are in 5-litre pots. One plant is growing in the glass house and the other is growing in the walk-in plastic greenhouse. I typically find that 5-litres is a good pot size for Capsicum baccatum varieties because it ensures that they don't grow too large and start taking over the greenhouse. I've always had good yields from plants of this species when growing them in 5-litre pots.
Here are some photos that were taken on the 20th May showing some of the individual varieties, plus one group shot showing all of the newcomers.
Rather than place slug pellets directly onto the compost I place them around the water trays instead. Providing they don't get wet they may only need replacing once or twice per season. When I do a bit of cleaning in the greenhouse I brush them up, remove any dead leaves or other unwanted bits and then reuse them. At the end of the season before taking down the greenhouse I brush them all up and flush them down the toilet. Doing it this way has always worked well for me, but if you have curious pets or small children then it's probably not the best option.
Yesterday, HMS Walk-In Plastic Fantastic was battered by 27mph wind and 34mph gusts. The wind is still strong today but not as bad as it was yesterday — thankfully!
The framework held up okay, but shortly after filming the above video clip I needed to make several repairs to the plastic cover. One of the straps holding the cover to the framework was torn off and had to be sewn back on, and another was in the process of being torn off. After fixing both I then decided to put three extra stitches in the remaining nine cover straps using some old dyneema lines I had knocking about.
Walk-In Plastic Greenhouse Repairs - 22nd May 2020
Then I noticed that the plastic cover had been torn away from the zip in two places at the points where the sides of the door are tied to the framework, so I had to fix those too. Only one repair is shown in this next photo though. The other one is at the bottom of the cover.
Walk-In Plastic Greenhouse Repairs - 22nd May 2020
I think there needed to be more give at the four points where the sides of the door are fastened to the framework, so what I've done is fasten rubber bands to the framework and tied the cover ties to the bands instead.
Walk-In Plastic Greenhouse Repairs - 22nd May 2020
I also made another batch of Habanero hot sauce last Sunday, this time using Red Mayan Habanero chillies. I've still got quite a few chillies in the freezer to get through, so I'll be making a few more batches of hot sauce over the next few weeks.
Spicemad's Habanero Hot Sauce - 21st May 2020
Anyhow, we've now reached the enjoyable part of the season where most of the tedious work has been done and we can finally take our seats for the show. It will be interesting to see how the new varieties perform. All hail the Chilli Gods and HMS Walk-In Plastic Fantastic.
The weather was wind-free and sunny on Friday, so I took the opportunity to assemble the new walk-in plastic greenhouse. Compared to all of the other plastic greenhouses I've owned, this one is 6-inches wider and 15-inches shorter in length, making it square as opposed to rectangular. It also has a higher pitched roof, which is good because this will allow the rain to run off properly instead of it forming into pockets of water near the eaves. This was a problem I encountered with some of my previously owned walk-in plastic greenhouses.
Walk-In Plastic Greenhouse - 10th May 2020
Walk-In Plastic Greenhouse Floor View - 10th May 2020
This greenhouse has four shelves on each side as opposed to just two shelves on one side. However, I never use the shelves because they don't support much weight and have a tendency to warp after a while. Also, plants on the shelves can be thrown off very easily when the greenhouse starts flapping around in the wind. Believe me, it's no fun being greeted by the sight of your beloved chilli plants upside down on the floor first thing in the morning!
Instead, what I do is use the poles from the shelves to help reinforce the framework. The good thing with this greenhouse having eight shelves is that the spaces between the poles on each side of the framework are smaller. The manufacturers can be very tight-fisted when designing the framework for these plastic greenhouses, and if there's too much space between the poles it allows the wind to blow the plastic cover inwards, which in turn hits the plants.
I used to reinforce the framework on all of my previously owned plastic greenhouses by connecting old poles together with bamboo canes and lashing them to the sides. This also helped to prevent the plastic cover from being blown inwards. With the new greenhouse this is less of a problem because the spaces between the poles on each side of the framework are smaller, especially now that I've put the shelf poles to good use.
This next photo was taken in 2014 and shows how I reinforced the sides of an old walk-in plastic greenhouse. As you can see, without the two additional horizontal reinforcements on each side there would have been large spaces between the original poles, allowing the plastic cover to be blown inwards. The second photo shows how I've reinforced the sides of the new greenhouse.
Walk-In Plastic Greenhouse Reinforcements - 22nd April 2014
Walk-In Plastic Greenhouse Reinforcements - 10th May 2020
I've reinforced the back too. The top middle pole is the original one and the piece below is what I put in using poles and connectors from the shelves. I would have added another piece at the bottom but I didn't have enough four-way connectors. The bamboo canes are there to help reinforce the framework and to stop the cover from being blown inwards.
Walk-In Plastic Greenhouse Reinforcements - 10th May 2020
The greenhouse has no guy-lines either, but then again they're pretty much useless and have a tendency to snap, so I guess it doesn't really matter. Fortunately, my greenhouse is situated between a bay tree and a small fence, and together with an old plastic parasol base these are the things I anchor it to, using rope. I don't apply much tension on the rope, just enough to ensure that the greenhouse doesn't get blown over into next door's garden. To prevent friction on the plastic cover I tie dishcloths onto the rope at the six points where it touches.
Walk-In Plastic Greenhouse Reinforcements - 10th May 2020
Walk-In Plastic Greenhouse Reinforcements - 10th May 2020
This is also the first plastic greenhouse I've owned which has ties on the cover for fastening the sides of the door to the framework. With all the previously owned ones the sides of the door just used to flap around in the wind, which only added to my anxiety. The wind is the only element I dislike. It has a tendency to make me feel very uneasy.
Walk-In Plastic Greenhouse Door View - 11th May 2020
Hopefully, this greenhouse will become a happy home to nine plants, but if I utilise all of the floor space then I can probably squeeze in another one, possibly two. It sounds good in theory, but in practice it's another thing. Whilst on the subject of plants, it's getting a tad overgrown in the porch now and I'm seriously going to have to start thinking about re-potting the plants into their final pots. I may start doing this in the next few days because it's not very healthy for chilli plants to be packed too closely together.
Chilli Plants in the Porch - 11th May 2020
If the season goes according to plan and all the new varieties are well behaved then I should hopefully end up with lots of nice chillies. May the Chilli Gods bless HMS walk-in plastic fantastic and all who sail in her.
What a difference two weeks can make when it comes to growing chilli plants. Since re-potting the whole tribe on the 16th April there has been a significant amount of new growth and if they carry on at this rate I estimate that most will be ready to go into their final pots in another couple of weeks. In the previous two seasons I've had some plants growing in 10-litre pots and others in 12-litre pots, but this year I think 7-litres will be the maximum pot size for all plants. This makes the job of moving them much easier, and plus I have more plants this season than I've had in the previous two seasons, and at some point I'll no doubt be very grateful for the extra space.
Chilli Plants in the Porch - 1st May 2020
Chilli Plants in the Porch - 1st May 2020
Chilli Plants in the Porch - 1st May 2020
Here are some photos that were taken between the 30th April and 1st May showing some of the individual varieties, plus one group shot showing all of the newcomers and one shot showing three of the tribe members enjoying a much welcomed drink.
Aji Mochero - 30th April 2020
Alberto's Locoto - 30th April 2020
Aribibi Gusano - 30th April 2020
Chocolate Habanero - 30th April 2020
Habanero Numero Diez - 30th April 2020
Inca Red Drop - 30th April 2020
Mako Akokosrade - 30th April 2020
Mini Rocoto Brown - 30th April 2020
Mini Rocoto Brown Leaf - 30th April 2020
Red Mayan Habanero - 30th April 2020
Ring of Fire - 30th April 2020
Yellow Jelly Bean Habanero - 20th April 2020
New Chilli Varieties - 1st May 2020
Mini Rocoto Brown (left), Inca Red Drop (centre) and Aji Arnaucho
The bay tree has now been given a good haircut, the wild strawberry plants now have a new home in a large pot, and very soon I shall be putting up the walk-in plastic greenhouse. Hopefully, the Chilli Gods will be kind to us this year and bless us all with nice, chilli plant friendly weather.
