The 2025 Chilli Growing Season Has Begun

The 2025 chilli growing season has begun, and so(w) the cycle begins again! Welcome aboard the merry-go-round, folks. With last year's late start, a minor setback in early April, plus the poor weather we had during the summer, I decided this year to sow my chilli seeds a bit earlier. If the weather turns out to be as poor this year as it was last year then at least there will be enough time remaining for the Rocoto peppers to fully ripen. It's all a balancing act, as you know.

Chilli Seeds Sown - 19th January 2025

Yesterday evening, I made up a batch of potting mixture and sterilised it in the oven at 150C for one hour before transferring it into a bucket and leaving it to cool overnight. This afternoon, I set up the grow light in the kitchen, and this evening before sowing my seeds I sterilised the plant pots, clear plastic cups (which I use as lids) and the heated propagator using a mild bleach solution.

Sterilised Plant Pots and Clear Plastic Cups - 19th January 2025

Sterilised Plant Pots and Clear Plastic Cups - 19th January 2025

Sterilised Heated Propagator - 19th January 2025

This year, I'm growing 19 chilli varieties, so what better date to sow the seeds than on the 19th? Out of the 19 varieties that I'm growing, four of them are new ones and the rest are varieties that I've grown before. I won't be posting photos of any new varieties until much later in the season whey I know for sure that they're true to type.

Chilli Seeds Sown - 19th January 2025

Spring is officially 60 days away and already the nights have started drawing out. It won't be long now until the weather warms up and everything starts coming back to life. By this time next month the evenings will be lighter and the New Year will be just around the corner. I wish you a fantastic chilli growing season and I hope you end up with an abundance of wonderful spicy goodness! All hail the Chilli Gods! 😛

Cleaning Garden Cane Caps

I see a lot of photos online of people's chilli plants and the one thing that always strikes me is just how many growers have bamboo canes sticking out from the canopy of their plants without anything on the top to prevent any nasty accidents. The importance of using garden cane caps can never be underestimated. How much do you value your eyesight? There are lots of horror stories online about people suffering irreversible eye damage or even losing an eye after bending down in the greenhouse or in the garden one day and accidentally impaling themselves on a bamboo cane. My mother often tells me the story about a man she once knew who accidentally lost an eye on a bamboo cane one afternoon whilst bending down in the garden to tend to his plants. Apparently, it was an awful sight — if you'll excuse the pun! 👀

Rubber Garden Cane Caps

A few people have asked me recently where they can purchase garden cane caps like the triangular green ones shown in some of the photos on this blog. You can purchase garden cane caps, also known as garden cane toppers, very cheaply online if you shop around. However, keep an eye out because some places charge a lot more for them than others. I purchased mine on eBay over 11 years ago. When purchasing them, you should buy quite a few at once and then you probably won't need to buy any more. You can just keep reusing the same ones every year. It's all very simple stuff, but it could save you an eye one day!

Rubber Garden Cane Caps

Garden cane caps will need cleaning at the end of every growing season. To clean them, start by giving them a gentle rinse in plain water just to make sure there are no spiders or other small critters living inside, and then place them into a strong bleach solution for 24 hours. After this time, give them a rinse and then set them aside to dry for a day or two before storing them away until the following season. They'll come up looking like new every time. As I gradually start taking down my chilli plants towards the end of the growing season I place all of the garden cane caps that I've collected into a bag, and once they've all been collected I then place them into a small bucket and clean them all at the same time.