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.
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