Chilli Plant Update - 31st July 2023

It would seem that the rain dance I performed in mid-Spring has backfired on me somewhat. Parts of Europe have been suffering from heat waves and wildfires, but here in North Wales the weather has been mostly overcast and raining for the last three weeks, and it is set to continue into the middle of August, much to the disappointment of the chilli plants. We've had the occasional day of partial sun, but it doesn't take long for the heavens to open back up again. It's good for the garden if nothing else. Still, we can't complain really. Rain is much more preferable to heat waves and wild fires, and for that I thank the Gods kindly! 😁

Chilli Plants in the Porch - 31st July 2023

I moved some of my outdoor chilli plants into the walk-in plastic greenhouse a few days ago because of the non-stop rain. Up until then they'd spent the past two and a half months living outside. Spring was hot and dry so I just left them out. I have five plants in the plastic greenhouse at present. When it's not raining four of them go outside for the day and the other one is placed in the doorway where it gets the most light. I leave the greenhouse door open 24/7, which means I don't have to make a point of opening it early in the morning just in case the sun comes out. The Rocoto plants are fine outside, but I think even they are now getting bored of the non-stop rain.

Anyhow, despite the rain we're currently getting the chilli plants are doing fine and all are now fruiting. Some varieties (Peruvian White Habanero, Ring of Fire, Jalapeño M and Malawi Bird's Eye) have already produced their first flush of fruit and are now starting to produce their second flush. I've been picking green chillies from my Ring of Fire plants for several weeks and the other day I picked the remainder from both plants so that they can start producing their next flush. I've also had several ripe Aji largo peppers from my indoor plant growing in a 5-litre pot and most of them were used for seed saving. I've also had two ripe San Isidro Rocoto peppers and another one is now starting to ripen. I have true-to-type seeds from both varieties currently drying on a shelf in the bedroom.

Ring of Fire - 25th July 2023

I dodged the rain drops recently and took a few photos because I thought maybe it was time to post a quick update. Some varieties are not included because there really isn't much to show at present.

Aji Largo - 28th July 2023

Aji Largo - 28th July 2023

Aji Mochero - 28th July 2023

Aji Mochero - 28th July 2023

Aji Mochero - 28th July 2023

Cumari Pollux - 31st July 2023

Guatemalan Orange Rocoto - 30th June 2023

Guatemalan Orange Rocoto - 30th June 2023

Guatemalan Orange Rocoto - 28th July 2023

Guatemalan Orange Rocoto - 28th July 2023

Guatemalan Orange Rocoto - 28th July 2023

Jalapeño M - 28th July 2023

Jalapeño M - 28th July 2023

Jalapeño M - 28th July 2023

Orange Habanero - 28th July 2023

Orange Habanero - 28th July 2023

Orange Habanero - 28th July 2023

Papa Joe's Scotch Bonnet - 28th July 2023

Papa Joe's Scotch Bonnet - 28th July 2023

Papa Joe's Scotch Bonnet - 28th July 2023

Papa Joe's Scotch Bonnet - 28th July 2023

Papa Joe's Scotch Bonnet - 28th July 2023

Prairie Fire - 28th July 2023

I hope your chilli growing season is coming along okay and that you're keeping everything spicy! Remember, if it doesn't burn on the way in and burn on the way out then it's really not worth eating. All hail the Chilli Gods! 😛

Chilli Plant Update - 26th May 2023

Ladies and gentlemen, please take your seats, the show is about to begin! All of the chilli plants were re-potted into their final pots just over a week ago (on the 15th and 16th) and have now been moved into their positions for the growing season. Everything is coming along nicely and the weather has been very kind to us as of late. All of the outdoor plants are now fully hardened-off and can take direct sun without burning, which is just as well because it's been quite hot here over the past few days. As of writing this the temperature in the walk-in plastic greenhouse is 96F and the temperature in the porch is currently 82F.

Puno Pica Orange Rocoto - 16th May 2023

Aji Charapita - 15th May 2023

The varieties growing outside in the garden are Aji Largo x2, Cap 1445 (C. chacoense), Cap 500 (C. eximium), CGN 19198 (C. eximium), Cumari Pollux (C. praetermissum), Aji Crystal, El Oro de Ecuador, Sukanya Rocoto, Puno Pica Orange Rocoto and Guatemalan Orange Rocoto. Living amongst the tomato plants in the glasshouse I have Scarlet Lantern and Orange Habanero, and indoors I have Aji Mochero and Malawi Bird's Eye x1 living in a kitchen window, Jalapeño M x2 living on the lounge windowsill, Fatalii, Chocolate Habanero, Caribbean Red Habanero, Papa Joe's Scotch Bonnet and Prairie Fire x2 living in the porch, Ring of Fire x2 and Malawi Bird's Eye x1 living on the landing windowsill and Dwarf Chiltepin, Aji Largo x1, Yellow Jelly Bean Habanero, Peruvian White Habanero, San Isidro Rocoto and Aji Charapita living in the bedroom windows. We're now fully booked for this season, but if you'd like to book a spot for next season then you'll be able to do so in a few weeks. 😁

Chilli Plants in the Porch - 25th May 2023

Chilli Plants in the Garden - 18th May 2023

Here are a few photos that were taken last week showing some of the individual tribe members that you've met before. Some varieties I'm growing this year are not new ones for me, but the seeds were purchased and not saved from my own plants, so for that reason I'm going to treat them as if they are new varieties and I won't be posting any photos of them until later in the season when I know for sure that they're true-to-type.

Aji Largo - 18th May 2023

Aji Mochero - 18th May 2023

Cumari Pollux - 18th May 2023

Fatalii - 18th May 2023

Guatemalan Orange Rocoto - 18th May 2023

Jalapeño M - 18th May 2023

Malawi Bird's Eye - 18th May 2023

Papa Joe's Scotch Bonnet - 18th May 2023

Peruvian White Habanero - 18th May 2023

Ring of Fire - 18th May 2023

Yellow Jelly Bean Habanero - 18th May 2023

I received some granular fertilisers last year but I've not yet had a chance to try them out. Something I did recently was measure the EC and pH values of each of the fertilisers at quarter strength, half strength, three-quarter strength and full strength doses in my source water. Then I made a concentrate of each fertiliser by dissolving three tablespoons of it in 500ml of deionised water. Now all I have to do when I want to make up some feed is add a sufficient amount of a given concentrate into any given volume of my source water until I reach my desired EC value.

I find it much easier doing it this way. Sometimes I may only need 300ml of fertiliser for a small plant, but depending on how strong I want the feed to be, the minimum amount I can normally make when using granular fertiliser is about 1.25-litres. The remainder normally ends up sitting in a plastic bottle in the porch until it's needed. I always make my water up to the same EC, and if I want to know what EC value any of the fertilisers adds to the water at a given dosage then all I have to do is deduct the EC value of my source water from any of the EC values that I have recorded for the fertilisers. Now that I know what EC value each of the fertilisers adds to water at a given dosage then I can apply the same method to any source water if need be. The only thing I'd need to know beforehand is the EC value of the water I was adding them to.

Would anyone like a bottle of WKD? "Der Richie. I'm in the pube with the holiday monkey. Run, run, run!"

Fertilisers - 26th May 2023

Anyhow, I've just received word that demons are attacking the nun's chapel, so to mark the special occasion I've made myself a chocolate and chilli ice cream. The following track is taken from Azazel's latest masterpiece titled 'Aegrum Satanas Tecum', if anyone is interested. 😈

All hail the Chilli Gods.

Chilli Plant Update - 15th April 2023

The chilli plants were all given new shoes on the 10th April because their toes were starting to hurt. Both Capsicum eximium varieties were sown in March and are therefore much smaller than the rest, but even they were given new pots. I was able to re-pot them without disturbing their roots. On the same day I also decided to get rid of both superhot varieties (Moruga Scorpion and 7-Pot Jonah) because I still have some Moruga Scorpion chillies in the freezer from 2021 and I still have most of the Dorset Naga chillies in the freezer from last year. I guess it just goes to show how often I cook with superhot chillies.

Chilli Plants in the Porch - 10th April 2023

As I've mentioned on this website in the past, although I do sometimes grow superhot chillies, they're not my favourite chillies or my go-to chillies of choice for day-to-day cooking. I'm not bothered whether I have them or not, but when I do have them I either use them in my hot sauce recipe or in my chicken phall curry recipe, but they're not an essential ingredient in either. My chicken phall curry recipe works just as well when made with Habaneros and Scotch Bonnets, except you may need to add a few more of them because they're not as hot. In the 15 years that I've been growing chilli plants I've always preferred the heat and flavour profiles of Habaneros and Scotch Bonnets to those of superhot varieties. The hottest varieties I'm growing this year are Fatalii, Chocolate Habanero, Caribbean Red Habanero and Orange Habanero, all four of which are hot enough for my liking.

Chilli Plants in Their New Pots - 10th April 2023

Aji Largo - 10th April 2023

I'm happy to report that the chilli plant tribe is coming along nicely, and as of writing this post the sun is out and the temperature in the porch is 77F. In about four or five weeks most of the tribe members should be ready for their final pots.

Chilli Plants in the Porch - 13th April 2023

Chilli Plants in the Porch - 13th April 2023

Chilli Plants in the Porch - 13th April 2023

Here are some photos that were taken on the 13th April showing some of the individual varieties that have been mentioned on this website in the past, plus one group shot showing all of the newcomers to this year's tribe.

Aji Largo - 13th April 2023

Aji Mochero - 13th April 2023

Cumari Pollux - 13th April 2023

Fatalii - 13th April 2023

Guatemalan Orange Rocoto - 13th April 2023

Jalapeño M - 14th April 2023

Malawi Bird's Eye - 13th April 2023

Papa Joe's Scotch Bonnet - 13th April 2023

Peruvian White Habanero - 13th April 2023

Ring of Fire - 13th April 2023

San Isidro Rocoto - 13th April 2023

Yellow Jelly Bean Habanero - 13th April 2023

New Chilli Varieties - 13th April 2023

Whilst taking photos of the plants on Thursday afternoon I spotted something from the corner of my eye which at first glance I thought was compost, but it later turned out to be a horrific murder scene of the cannibalistic kind. The little one was murdered in broad daylight!

Spider Cannibalism - 13th April 2023

If you read my previous post you'll know that I'm growing an unknown seedling that I found in the compost bucket on the 21st February. I labelled it as 'the mystery' because I'm not sure what variety it is. I thought at first that it might be a Sukanya Rocoto, but now I think it is an Aji Largo. Not only does it more closely resemble Aji Largo than any other variety I'm growing, but at this stage of growth every year my Aji Largo plants always develop some oedema on their leaves, and the mystery variety also has some oedema on one of its leaves. If it turns out to be an Aji Largo, which I suspect it will, then that means I'll have three Aji Largo plants on the go this year.

The Mystery - 13th April 2023

I made two batches of hot sauce recently. On Thursday evening I made a batch using Orange Habaneros, and yesterday evening I made a batch using Chocolate Habaneros. When you're fortunate enough to blend large batches of chillies you really get to appreciate the unique aroma that each variety has. The Orange Habanero and the Chocolate Habanero are both very delicious chillies, but the Chocolate Habanero really does have a distinct smoky aroma, which was very noticeable yesterday evening when blending the sauce. This next photo shows the blended hot sauce just prior to being bottled. It looks like it has a rusty orange colour because the flash fired on the camera, but its true colour is a gorgeous shade of brown, as can be seen in the front bottles in the second photo.

Spicemad's Habanero Hot Sauce - 14th April 2023

Spicemad's Habanero Hot Sauce - 14th April 2023

Now that the chilli plants have been re-potted into their second pots I can start a feeding regime. Hopefully, by this time next month the sun will be cracking the flagstones and the chilli plants will be like triffids crying out for new shoes. All hail the Chilli Gods. 😁