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Things are coming along very nicely here with the chilli plants. It's been a while since I last posted an update, so on Saturday afternoon I got the camera out and went into battle with the forces of nature. It's either too sunny, and the photos end up being over exposed, or it's too windy, which makes the job of focusing the camera much harder. You can't win! What should only take a couple of minutes per plant can sometimes take 10 minutes or more. I think it would be much easier and far less time consuming to make and upload videos than it would to take photographs of the plants. I also took photographs of the plants last month too, but due to time restrictions I didn't get around to posting an update last month, so I've included those photos in this update instead.

Chilli Plants in the Porch - 5th July 2025

A few days ago, I decided to cull four of the chilli plants! All four of them were very strong and very healthy plants, but sadly none of the pods were true to type. The pods on three of the plants (7-Pot Barrackpore and Isabela Island Red Habanero x2) were also undersized. I decided that it wasn't worth wasting time on growing any of them, not to mention fertiliser, which costs money, and water. They were also taking up a lot of space and blocking out light which the other plants could greatly benefit from. However, they weren't particularly in the way, and had the pods have been true to type then I would have kept all four of them.

I guess it is all part of the experimentation of growing new varieties. Sometimes, a given variety may not be true to type, and in such cases it may be worth cutting your losses (no pun intended), especially if the pods that the plants are producing are undersized. Either way, I've kept all of the unripe pods, which are now in the freezer, and this is why we grow chilli plants in the first place — for their delicious fruits, be they ripe or unripe! The varieties that I took down were Red Savina, Isabela Island Red Habanero (x2) and 7-Pot Barrackpore, the seeds for all of which came from the same seller. I've also made a mental note of where never to buy chilli seeds from in the future! Having not grown any of them before they may have been the correct varieties, but the pods certainly weren't growing true to type, which may possibly be due to poor fruit selection. I didn't take photos of the plants before the cull but I did take photos of them in June, and those photos can be seen below.

New Variety - 7-Pot Barrackpore - 1st June 2025 (Now Culled)

New Variety - Isabela Island Red Habanero - 1st June 2025 (Now Culled)

New Variety - Red Savina - 1st June 2025 (Now Culled)

The chilli plants are using a lot of water this year, which I think is due to the mass-produced peat-free compost that they're growing in being somewhat hydrophobic. With compost mixtures that I've used in the past the plants normally needed watering every other day, except when the weather was very hot, but this year, all but one of them are needing water on a daily basis even when the weather isn't hot.

Add to that six tomato plants growing in 7-litre pots, which get watered twice daily, two rows of carrots, six rows of beetroot, six runner bean plants, nine French bean plants, four courgette plants, four rows of potato plants, two rows of leeks, six tomato plants growing outside in the ground, three hanging baskets full of petunias, 37 pots of mixed flowers, three troughs of lettuce and two thirsty hydrangea plants growing in the ground, all of which get watered every other day using a two gallon watering can, a 15-litre bucket and numerous trips back and forth from the kitchen sink. I feel like the water man. I'm surprised that the water company hasn't been driving up and down the road checking to see where the leak is. Although we've been having brief showers here and there it's not been sufficient enough to soak the ground thoroughly. We've only had one good downpour so far this summer when it rained all night long. Anyway, it's meant to be getting up to 30C here at the weekend, so that should be fun. The water company will be pleased!

The weather has been quite strange as of late. We've had a few days where it has been very sunny and very hot and then strange cloud formations appear, the sky takes on a silvery haze, the temperature drops quite considerably and then the wind picks up and it starts blowing a hoolie. This lasts for several hours or more, and yet on such days whilst I'm stood in the garden under a silvery and somewhat gloomy looking sky it is still possible to observe the bright orange sun setting over the sea in a cloud free sky not too far away. I have a theory on it, but I'll keep it to myself.

Chilli Plants in the Greenhouse - 5th July 2025

Here are some photos showing this year's chilli plants. The photos that I didn't get around to posting in June appear at the top of each batch, followed by the photos that were taken on Saturday. The only varieties that I failed to photograph in June were both of my C. pubescens varieties (Aji Largo and San Isidro Rocoto), although they were down on the list to be photographed, I just forgot. Both of my C. pubescens varieties suffered from a bad aphid infestation in June, and once the weather changed from being sunny and somewhat calm most days to windy and rainy they also took a battering too. However, this happens most years to my outdoor plants, so I'm used to it.

The Aji Largo plants are coming along very nicely and have now gone into fruit production mode. I isolated flowers on both plants recently using the PVA glue method. There is also a nest of ants living in the compost of one of the pots. The plant on the left has company. 😁

Aji Largo - 5th July 2025

Aji Lemon, Aji Lemon, how we love your fragrant ways! This variety is always a pleasure to grow. 💛

Aji Lemon - 1st June 2025

Aji Lemon - 5th July 2025

This year's Aji Mochero plant is growing in the greenhouse in a 7-litre pot and it has now gone into fruit production mode and has already set lots of pods.

Aji Mochero - 1st June 2025

Aji Mochero - 5th July 2025

This year's Chocolate Habanero plant is using a lot of water. Half a litre per day isn't enough and some days it has used close to a litre. This is a lot of water each day for a plant growing in a 7-litre pot, but if this is how much water it needs then so be it. The water man will see to it. The plant has now gone into fruit production mode.

Chocolate Habanero - 1st June 2025

Chocolate Habanero - 5th July 2025

The Dwarf Chiltepin plant is growing in the greenhouse in a 7-litre pot and is coming along very nicely. This is probably my favourite Chiltepin variety to date. The pods of this variety are very tasty and they pack a punch! Fresh or dried, they also make a great addition to any pot of chili.

Dwarf Chiltepin - 1st June 2025

Dwarf Chiltepin - 5th July 2025

The Fatalii plant seems happy enough in the greenhouse growing in a 7-litre pot. This variety always seems to be quite a late one for me, but the wait is always worth it.

Fatalii - 1st June 2025

Fatalii - 5th July 2025

This year's Mako Akokosrade plant is cooking on gas! Just like Fatalii, another fantastic African variety, Mako Akokosrade is up there as being one of the most fragrant C. chinense varieties that I've tried to date.

Mako Akoksrade - 1st June 2025

Mako Akokosrade - 5th July 2025

This year's Malawi Bird's Eye plant is very compact and is growing in a 5-litre pot in a kitchen window. As you can see, there are now quite a few ripe pods ready for harvesting, and these will be set aside to dry. The good thing about these small plants is that they are very prolific and you can get several flushes of fruit per season if you time everything correctly.

Malawi Bird's Eye - 1st June 2025

Malawi Bird's Eye - 5th July 2025

This year's Orange Habanero plant is growing in a bedroom window in a 5-litre pot and is doing pretty well considering. I've picked a few green pods from the plant and also the first few ripe pods and now the plant is setting more fruit. This variety is much underrated, in my opinion. It has always been one of my favourites, but nowadays I guess a lot of people have abandoned the old classics in favour of all the new superhot hybrids that are now in existence.

Orange Habanero - 1st June 2025

Orange Habanero - 5th July 2025

Papa Joe's Scotch Bonnet is getting bigger by the day and has now started pumping out pods. There's always room here for Papa, but he's a large unit and requires a lot of space!

Papa Joe's Scotch Bonnet - 1st June 2025

Papa Joe's Scotch Bonnet - 5th July 2025

This year's Peruvian White Habanero plant started branching much earlier and much lower down compared to the plants of this variety that I've grown in the past. As a result, the growth of this year's plant is a lot more untidy than usual. Either way, it is still doing great and has already produced lots of pods, which is the main thing!

Peruvian White Habanero - 1st June 2025

Peruvian White Habanero - 5th July 2025

All four of my Ring of Fire plants are doing exceptionally well this year. Two of them are growing on a windowsill in 5-litre pots and the other two are growing outside in the greenhouse in larger pots. One is growing in an 8-litre pot and the other is growing in a 10-litre pot. I will soon start picking some of the green pods to freeze for later use in Indian curries and then the plants can start producing their next flush. Some of the pods will also be left to ripen and will then be dried.

These next eight photos show the indoor Ring of Fire plants that live on a windowsill.

Ring of Fire - 1st June 2025

Ring of Fire -5th July 2025

These next four photos show the Ring of Fire plants that live in the greenhouse.

Ring of Fire - 1st June 2025

Ring of Fire - 5th July 2025

The San Isidro Rocoto plant is doing very well and has now started setting fruit. As with both of my Aji Largo plants, I've also isolated flowers on this variety too, again, using the PVA glue method.

San Isidro Rocoto - 5th July 2025

I also have a Red Chiltepin plant growing outside in the garden, and during the strong winds we had a few days ago the top part of the plant looked like it was in a mosh pit doing the windmill and wind vane head bang. Needless to say, it was enjoying itself that much that its head came off and now it has been given the name Anne Boleyn the Red Chiltepin (I'm a poet and I didn't know it). I guess this happens quite frequently to these plants in the wild. Now, it will focus its energy on the lower growth and will also start putting out new branches from the main stem. I know this because it has happened before in previous years to other Chiltepin plants that I've grown outside in the garden.

Anyway, wherever you are in the world, I hope that your chilli growing season is going well and that you're on track to receiving a bountiful harvest of wonderful spicy goodness. Hopefully, by this time next month there should be some significant fruiting going on.

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