Chilli Plant Update - 18th May 2022

A week ago today I re-potted all but one of the chilli plants into their final pots and moved them into their positions for the growing season. Realistically, they could have done with being re-potted a bit sooner, but never mind, all is good. Everything is coming along nicely and we even have our first fruits of the season starting to form, which are Bangalore Torpedo and Bell Pepper. I was going to wait a couple more weeks before re-potting the Mako Akokosrade and Antillais Caribbean plants, but both were large enough and roots were poking through the drainage holes in the pots, so whilst I was at it I re-potted those too.

Chilli Plants in the Porch - 10th May 2022

Chilli Plants in the Porch - 10th May 2022

Ring of Fire - 11th May 2022

This year's Aji Largo plant is in an experimental compost mixture, which is mostly comprised of Westland New Horizon Organic Peat-Free Compost with a few of my own additions, including something to lower the pH. I put it into this mixture about four weeks ago when I re-potted all of the Capsicum pubescens varieties into 5-litre pots. It seems to be fine so far, but perhaps it may require a bit more fertiliser throughout the growing season than the other three Capsicum pubescens varieties. I was going to put a couple of other chilli plants into the same mixture, but I decided against that for this season. I figured I'd experiment with Aji Largo because I still have about 1.6 kilograms of Aji Largo peppers in the freezer from last year, and I cook with them on a regular basis. I'm getting through them slowly.

Compost Mixture - 11th May 2022

All four of the Rocoto plants spent their first night outdoors last Friday, and all four of them now have some sun damaged leaves. Silly me... If it's stupidity you're looking for then they don't come any more stupid than Spicemad! Ideally, they should be covered with two layers of horticultural fleece and one layer be removed after about two weeks and the final layer about two weeks later. I only have two small pieces of horticultural fleece, so for that reason they'll just have to harden up.

Sun Damaged Capsicum Pubescens Leaf - 16th May 2022

Here are a few photos that were taken two days ago showing some of the tribe members that you've met before. I didn't have time to get a group shot of all the new varieties this time around, but I'll try next time.

Aji Largo - 16th May 2022

Aji Largo Flower - 16th May 2022

Aji Lemon - 16th May 2022

Antillais Caribbean - 16th May 2022

Chocolate Habanero - 16th May 2022

Dorset Naga - 16th May 2022

Fatalii - 16th May 2022

Jalapeño M- 16th May 2022

Mako Akokosrade - 16th May 2022

Malawi Bird's Eye - 16th May 2022

Orange Habanero - 16th May 2022

Peruvian White Habanero - 16th May 2022

Ring of Fire - 16th May 2022

Some of the chilli plants have a bit of a calcium deficiency going on and I think this is caused by the pH of the compost being too low. When I re-potted them into their second pots on the 30th March I added too much of something by mistake, which in turn made the mixture too acidic. Rather than having a pH of around 6.5 it had a pH of 5.1 instead! I measure out my compost mixture using plastic jugs and instead of adding half a jug of something I added two jugfuls by mistake, which should have been two jugfuls of something else. It's just as well I'm not a pharmacist or I'd likely have poisoned someone by now. 😁

Interestingly enough, most varieties seemed just fine growing in that mixture. The varieties showing symptoms of calcium deficiency are Cappuccino Chiltepin, Orange Habanero, Papa Joe's Scotch Bonnet and Peruvian White Habanero (I think). However, on the plus side the mixture that I made up last Wednesday now has the correct pH and this should hopefully fix the problem. Nearly all of the plants now have roots poking through the drainage holes in the pots, so they're already well and truly rooted into the fresh compost mixture, but just for added measure I've given a CalMag foliar feed to the varieties showing symptoms of calcium deficiency.

Just over a week ago I noticed something odd going on with one of the top leaves on the Peruvian White Habanero plant, but it doesn't look much like the typical symptom of calcium deficiency. It then started affecting one half of the new growth at the top of the plant. It looks more indicative of mite damage than it does calcium deficiency, but at this stage I'm leaning towards it being a symptom of calcium deficiency, especially given how calcium is not a mobile nutrient and only the new growth is affected. However, now that it has rooted into the fresh compost mixture and been given a foliar feed with CalMag the new growth is starting to look normal. I've taken some photos of the odd-looking leaves and will include them in the next update, but if you look closely at the photo of it above you'll most probably be able to make them out. Hopefully, by the time I post the next update I'll know what the cause of it was. If the symptoms persist then I'll treat it will neem oil.

I have a hunch that Guampinha de Veado is going to be a very tall plant, probably too tall for my small walk-in plastic greenhouse. It was already 32-inches tall before I re-potted it into its final pot (7-litres) last Wednesday. If it ends up being a tall plant then it will have to live outside in the garden with the Rocotos. I did a little digging on it before buying seeds and I didn't see any mention of it being a tall variety. As some of you may know, I'm not a big fan of tall chilli plants because they're not practical for my growing situation.

Anyhow, summer is well and truly on the way and hopefully we'll get a better one than last year. I hope your growing season is going well. All hail the Chilli Gods. 🌶