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The 2019 Chilli Growing Season Has Ended

Tuesday, November 26, 2019

Well, that's the 2019 chilli growing season done and dusted! Yeah, that's right; it officially ended for me on Saturday 23rd November when I took down both Red Mayan Habanero plants and the remaining Chocolate Habanero plant. During the last four weeks the night time temperatures in the porch have been sitting between 40–44F, and as a result the three aforementioned plants had started dropping lots of leaves. Things were beginning to look a bit unsightly in the porch, and nobody wants to be labelled as an eccentric witch without a broomstick, so I decided to take down the remaining three plants and call it a day for this season.

Chilli Plants in the Porch - 23rd November 2019

Some people believe you can grow hotter chillies by causing stress to the plants. There are numerous methods used for doing this, such as the Heretic's Fork, Spanish Tickling, Crucifixion, depriving them of nutrients, prolonged exposure to intense sun, or allowing them to dry out completely between watering, to the point where they wilt. I've even spoken with people who told me they'd inserted pins and screws into the main stems in order to mimic attack from predatory insects!

The reason I bring this up is because some of the late harvested Aji Rainforest and Chocolate Habanero chillies were much hotter than those I ate from the same plants earlier in the season. I'd never thought about it until recently, but obviously cold exposure can have the same effect by causing stress to the plants. Incidentally, Chocolate Habanero has been a very prolific variety for me this season, and from just two medium-sized plants I've harvested close on 840 grams of ripe chillies.

This next photo shows a chilli harvest I did on the 12th October, just six days after posting the previous update, and the following one shows another harvest from the 4th November. It took until early November for all the Aji Rainforest chillies to fully ripen, and by that time all the leaves on the plant had dropped off.

Chilli Harvest - 12th October 2019

Chilli Harvest - 4th November 2019

Here's a photo showing all the remaining chillies that were harvested on the 23rd November. I left the chillies on the plants for as long as possible in the hopes that most would be ripe or semi-ripe before doing the final harvest of the season, and my patience seems to have paid off in the end. I'll get the green ones used up first before delving into the ripe ones.

Chilli Harvest - 23rd November 2019

All the growing equipment has been washed and stored away ready for next season, and the only thing I have left to do now is bag the seeds that I saved a couple of months ago, all of which are still in small containers sitting on a shelf in the bedroom. They should be well and truly dry by now. Here's a little tip for you. If your cane caps are mouldy at the end of the season, just place them into bleach water for 24 hours and they'll be as good as new.

Washed Plant Pots and Growing Equipment - 23rd November 2019

The Chilli Gods have rewarded me well this season, and my hot and spicy freezer compartment is once again chock-a-block with lovely chillies. All my seed shopping has now been done (unless something else catches my eye between now and next February) and I'm already looking forward to next season, when I'll be revisiting some old favourites and trying out many more new varieties. The 2020 growing season will start in just over two month's time, and if you don't hear from me before, I'll see you then. Adios, amigos.

Chilli Plant Update - 6th October 2019

Sunday, October 06, 2019

The chilli growing season is now slowly coming to a close, but there's still a few weeks remaining before it officially does so. Preparations will soon begin for next year's growing season, and I've already received seeds for some new and interesting varieties, and more are en-route and should hopefully arrive one day next week. Thanks to some very good seed sellers we are not able to get hold of many interesting varieties that were previously unheard of. A list of highly recommended seed sellers can be found on the links page, if you're interested.

The night time temperatures have dropped quite significantly around these rare and dismal parts, and for three nights last week the porch plants had to endure lows of 54F. I will heat the front porch if it's necessary, but I'm hoping it doesn't come to that. After all, there's no point in making chilli growing any more expensive than it needs to be.

Chilli Harvest - 21st September 2019

Some of the chilli plants have already been taken down. Ring of Fire was taken down two weeks ago, and yesterday afternoon I also took down Mako Akokosrade, Aji Mochero, Habanero Numero Diez, Aji Guaguao and one of the Chocolate Habanero plants (the bedroom plant). The next ones to go will be the Jalapeño M plants, just as soon as the remaining chillies have ripened up.

Chilli Plants to Be Taken Down - 5th October 2019

Chilli Plants in the Garden Rubbish - 5th October 2019

Plant Pots to Be Emptied - 5th October 2019

Washed Plant Pots - 5th October 2019

There are plenty of chillies ripening up on the Red Mayan Habanero plants, and there are many more that have still yet to do so. The first ones will be ready for harvesting in about three day's time. I'll make a couple of batches of hot sauce with some of these and then the rest will be kept for cooking.

Red Mayan Habanero - 5th October 2019

This year's Chocolate Habanero plants have been very productive. I made a batch of hot sauce two weeks ago and used approximately 300g of these chillies. The bedroom plant has now gone but there are still lots of chillies yet to ripen up on the porch plant. Check out the monster pod in this next photo!

Chocolate Habanero - 5th October 2019

The Yellow Jelly Bean Habanero plant will be staying for a while longer yet because there are about 50 chillies still to ripen. The remainder of last year's pods were used up recently in a hot sauce, along with some Aji Charapita and Dorset Naga chillies for good measure.

Since the last update both Malawi Bird's Eye plants have put out lots more flowers and set more fruit, so they too will be staying on for a while longer at the chilli plant luxury hotel and spa. Even if the chillies don't have chance to ripen, a late harvest of green ones is still a bonus.

Chilli Harvest - 2nd October 2019

Most of the tomato plants have been taken down now, so Cap 1445 was moved into the glass house last Wednesday. It happened at just the right time too because the compost was soaking wet from all the rain we've had recently. Since posting the last update I've picked quite a lot of ripe chillies from this plant.

Cap 1445 - 5th October 2019

Cap 1445 - 21st September 2019

Cap 1445 - 25th September 2019

The Mini Rocoto Brown plant was also moved into the glass house last Wednesday, although I don't know why I bothered to be honest because it hasn't set a single fruit all season, and chances are that it's not likely to now either. Things were looking promising when I posted the last update, but obviously it wasn't meant to be. Perhaps nature is mocking me! I had to soak the compost on several occasion to prevent the plant from being blown over during strong winds, and I don't think it helped matters much.

It is putting out lots of flowers but they're not producing any pollen. Some Capsicum pubescens varieties have done very well for me when grown outside in the garden, and others not so much. If the plant hasn't set any fruit by the end of the month then it will be taken down and new ones will be started next year. At least now I know what I'm working with.

Mini Rocoto Brown - 5th October 2019

There's a fair amount of chillies on the Aji Rainforest plant that have still yet to ripen, and unfortunately they take an entire age to do so too. These will eventually be going into my next batch of curried apple and chilli chutney, the recipe for which is currently a work in progress.

Aji Rainforest - 5th October 2019

Aji Lemon is always a prolific variety and this year's plant has been no exception. Plenty of these chillies have made their way onto cheese and onion sandwiches this year. I'm just waiting for the remaining pods to ripen before I take down the plant.

Aji Lemon - 5th October 2019

Here's a photo showing my latest batch of Habanero hot sauce. The only thing that varieties in this recipe is the type of Capsicum chinense chillies that are used, which in turn alters the colour, heat and flavour slightly of each batch. As you can no doubt see, the Chocolate Habanero chillies that were used in this batch give the sauce a deep orange colour.

Spicemad's Habanero Hot Sauce - 5th October 2019

I'm currently in the process of making my way through the remainder of last year's chillies, a fair amount of which were frozen at the green stage. I've almost finished off the Capsicum baccatum varieties now, and then next on the menu — the Dorset Nagas!

Chilli Plant Update - 12th September 2019

Thursday, September 12, 2019

It's now reached that point in the season where everything starts coming together nicely and all my efforts are rewarded. The freezer compartment starts to fill up once again with wonderful spicy goodness and I get to taste new varieties for the first time, which is always fun! As much as I like chillies I don't always eat them on a daily basis, and even now I still have a fair amount of pods in the freezer from last year. The green ones are usually the last to get used up, so this year I intend to leave the chillies on the plants for as long as possible to ensure that nearly all are ripe before being picked. There's a lot of ripening taking place here now, so I think it's time for an update.

Chilli Harvest - 9th September 2019

Two weeks ago the Red Mayan Habanero plants were treated for aphids, but before doing so I picked off all the old green chillies and removed some of the lower growth to allow for more light and better airflow. No doubt this will have set them back by a few weeks, but it's no big deal because if necessary they can remain in the porch with the heater on until Christmas. Welcome to the chilli plant luxury hotel and spa!

Red Mayan Habanero - 9th September 2019

Red Mayan Habanero - 8th September 2019

The Chocolate Habanero plants have been very productive this season, which may be due in part to me hand pollinating the flowers. This variety is always worth growing because the chillies make for an excellent hot sauce. Both plants are several weeks behind the rest of the tribe because the seeds weren't sown until around the 10th March.

Chocolate Habanero - 8th September 2019

Jalapeño M chillies take an entire age to ripen and so far I've only picked about eight. Two chunky pods were de-seeded on Sunday evening and a third one is marked out, but looking at how many seeds I have from the first two pods it already appears to be enough. My seed stock for this variety needs replenishing because the old batch was saved in 2015.

Jalapeño M - 8th September 2019

The Ring of Fire plant has produced lots of wonderful spicy goodness, and most of the chillies have now been picked and frozen. The remaining ones are going through the ripening process as I write this and should be ready for picking in a couple of days.

Ring of Fire - 8th September 2019

Ring of Fire - 29th August 2019

Picking ripe chillies from the Yellow Jelly Bean Habanero plant is an almost daily routine at this stage in the season, and just when I think I've picked them all I catch a glimpse of something yellow from the corner of my eye and find another cluster hidden away beneath the foliage.

Yellow Jelly Bean Habanero - 8th September 2019

Yellow Jelly Bean Habanero - 9th September 2019

I've still not had any ripe chillies from the Cap 1445 plant yet, but that may be about to change now that the weather has turned autumnal. It appears that this variety requires a fairly long growing season. Once the tomato plants have finished it will be moved into the glass house so the remaining berries have chance to ripen.

Cap 1445 - 10th September 2019

The Mini Rocoto Brown plant was moved numerous times throughout the summer and didn't appear to be doing much, but now the nights have become cooler it has started producing a lot of flowers and even looks to have set a few fruits. I don't know what will become of this plant to be honest. If it sets fruit then it can spend winter in the glass house, but if not then I'll take it down and start a new one next season.

I don't think it's very keen on the compost either. Normally I make up my own mixture using two types of compost with a couple of additions, but when I came to re-potting this plant I'd ran out of my usual mixture and had no choice but to use bog-standard multi-purpose compost instead.

Mini Rocoto Brown - 8th September 2019

Mini Rocoto Brown Flower Bud - 8th September 2019

Mini Rocoto Brown Flower - 8th September 2019

Mini Rocoto Brown - 8th September 2019

The Mako Akokosrade plant is growing in a 7-litre pot in the bedroom window. The pot is raised off the floor by about two feet to ensure that the top of the plant receives sufficient light to prevent it from growing leggy. It has remained the same height all summer and appears to be very happy where it is.

Mako Akokosrade - 8th September 2019

I love the flavour of these Aji Mochero chillies, and they pack a nice amount of heat too. I think the plant has performed very well considering it's growing in a 5-litre pot on a kitchen windowsill and only receives direct sun from about 3PM until sunset. Several people have commended on how attractive this variety is, and they're not wrong either.

Aji Mochero - 8th September 2019

Aji Mochero - 28th August 2019

Aji Mochero - 1st September 2019

Aji Mochero - 9th September 2019

The Habanero Numero Diez plant is another variety growing in a 5-litre pot on a kitchen windowsill, and in terms of fruit set has done very well. Most of the chillies have been undersized, but there have been some very large ones, two of which have now been picked and set aside for seed saving.

Habanero Numero Diez - 8th September 2019

Habanero Numero Diez - 28th August 2019

Habanero Numero Diez - 8th September 2019

I picked a glut of ripe chillies from the Malawi Bird's Eye plants about two weeks ago and they're now in the process of setting more fruit. Some of those chillies can be seen in the photo below this next one. When the plants require water next I'll give them a light feed. I don't feed smaller-fruiting varieties as often as the larger ones.

Malawi Bird's Eye - 8th September 2019

Chilli Harvest - 29th August 2019

The Aji Guaguao plant has set more fruit since the last update and I noticed earlier that another four pods are starting to ripen up. This variety is obviously not one that's well suited to being grown on windowsills, so please don't let my ramblings put you off from trying it. When grown under optimum conditions the plants can be very prolific.

Aji Guaguao - 8th September 2019

Aji Rainforest is a variety that requires a fairly long growing season. Most of the Aji Lemon chillies have now ripened, but so far I've only picked about four ripe ones from this plant. In previous seasons when all Capsicum baccatum varieties were grown in 7-litre pots the Aji Rainforest chillies were some of the last ones to ripen up.

Aji Rainforest - 25th August 2019

Aji Rainforest - 8th September 2019

I've grown Aji Lemon many times since 2009, but none of the plants ever produced chillies as large as some of the ones I've had this year. I don't know why that is; perhaps I went a bit mad with the feeds. The chilli shown in this next photo is just an average-sized one though.

Aji Lemon - 8th September 2019

Aji Lemon - 9th September 2019

So as you can see there's lots of ripening taking place here now. The Red Mayan Habanero plants are still flowering and setting fruit and the Mini Rocoto Brown plant has still yet to decide on what it wants to do. Apart from that everything is going as expected.

Chilli Harvest - 30th August 2019

The chillies shown in this next photo have been set aside for de-seeding, which is something I'll get around to doing in the next couple of days. Chilli seeds can last for many years if stored correctly, but as a general rule I like to save new ones every four years or so, just to be on the safe side.

Chillies for De-Seeding - 10th September 2019

I'm really impressed with how well this season has gone considering the weather hasn't exactly been chilli plant friendly. It won't be long now until it's time to start making more hot sauce and another batch of curried apple and chilli chutney. All hail the Chilli Gods!

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Spicemad

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The 2019 Chilli Growing Season Has Ended

Chilli Plant Update - 6th October 2019

Chilli Plant Update - 12th September 2019

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