I exerted myself yesterday evening. I blew all the cobwebs off the chili growing equipment and sowed the chilli seeds, and so it's official — the 2021 chilli growing season has begun! I like to spend time planning out my chilli grow as best as possible because it's all too easy to get carried away and sow too many varieties, and later in the season when all have turned into fully grown plants it can be a royal pain in the backside having to juggle them around to make space.
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Season Started - 13th February 2021
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This season I'm growing a total of 20 varieties, five of which are new varieties and one of which is my over-wintered
Peruvian White Habanero from last year. As with last year, I won't be posting photos of any new varieties until much later in the season when I know for sure that they're true to type. This also applies to
Caribbean Red Habanero,
Fatalii,
Trinidad Moruga Scorpion and
Orange Habanero. Although I've grown these four varieties many times in the past, I never saved seeds from any of the plants and so I had to buy more, and I can't guarantee that they'll be true to type until later in the season. That being said, Fatalii is an easy one to identify because it has a distinct leaf shape.
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Chilli Seeds Sown - 14th February 2021
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Here's a list of all the varieties that were sown yesterday evening:
- Aji Arnaucho
- Aji Charapita
- Aji Largo
- Aji Lemon
- Aji Mochero
- Cappuccino Chiltepin
- Caribbean Red Habanero
- Chocolate Habanero
- Cumari
- Demon Red
- Dorset Naga
- El Oro de Ecuador
- Fatalii
- Inca Berry
- Inca Red Drop
- Malawi Bird's Eye
- Mini Rocoto Yellow
- Moruga Scorpion
- Peruvian White Habanero (over-wintered)
- Orange Habanero
My stash of
superhot chillies from 2019 has started to dwindle and is in need of replenishing, so this year I'm growing my two favourite superhot varieties. The seeds for Mini Rocoto Yellow were purchased several years ago and have been sitting at the bottom of my seed box ever since. The website where I purchased them from (which is no longer operational) stated that they were saved from open-pollinated plants, so there's a possibility the plant could be a hybrid. Either way, I thought I'd give them a try. It's a bit like a mystery bag.
As usual, the compost was sterilised in the oven at 150C for one hour, and the plant pots, clear plastic cups (used to cover the plant pots), plastic plant labels and heated propagator were sterilised using a mild bleach solution and then given a thorough rinse. I'm quite thorough when it comes to sterilisation. I think it must be the homebrewer in me. We don't want any nasties rising to power and taking over. We've already got enough of them in government!
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Sterilised Compost, Plant Pots and Clear Plastic Cups - 13th February 2021
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| Sterilised Plant Pots and Clear Plastic Cups - 13th February 2021 |
My over-wintered
Peruvian White Habanero plant is holding its own, and next month when the weather has warmed up slightly I'll re-pot it into some fresh compost. It doesn't look like much at the moment because I've been pruning it back as and where the branches started dying.
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Over-Wintered Peruvian White Habanero - 14th February 2021
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In just five week's time spring will officially be upon us, which I'm glad about because winter gets on my nerves a bit. Thankfully, we don't have very long to wait now. Anyway, that's enough complaining. May your growing season be a good one and may your harvests be plentiful. All hail the Chilli Gods! 😈
