Chillies, Toms & Sweet Pepper growing

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

 

[tedebear]

Disaster has struck in Tedebear mansions, we bought a little greenhouse and have underestimated the power of the sun on the top shelf, result - all capsicums, beans and cucumbers on top shelf have cooked and died. Round two planted today...

 

[Cheshire Cat]

What sun? Its freezing oop north.

PS. does anyone know about using the seeds from butternet squash? Would they work and if so have I left it too late now?

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

The good weather seems to have kick-started the plants into life this month. Nice plumage!

How's everybody else doing?

 

[Marc]

great shot Tom, gave me the idea to grab the camera and start learning how to use it for close up shots myself!

Pic 1 - NuMex Mirasol
Pic 2 - Spagna
Pic 3 - Ring Of Fire
Pic 4 - Jalapeno
Pic 5 - Chillis left and back, Sweet Peppers on the right

 

[Gilliver's Travels]

Thanks for the tip.
Meanwhile, think I've managed to sort something out. Not Suttons, but Dobies - they deliver anywhere within the EU. So have just ordered both their seed varieties:- Chilli Pepper Fatalii, and Capsicum Joe's Long F1. Sounds pretty hot stuff already!! And ordered some lemon grass seeds too. Heaven...

Thanks everyone. Will let you know how it all goes.

Update - the Cretan sun has been propitious! The lemon grass seeds from Dobies germinated in 4 days and are sprouting nicely. Chillies growing a bit more slowly, so in desperation for a curry fix I cheated and bought some small plants locally. Have just harvested a couple (from flower to monster six-inchers after a month) and they really are centre-of-sun hot.

Capsicum Joes are growing very nicely from seed, but Fatalii seeds seem, well, fatally flawed. Anyone else tried those varieties?

 

[jevs]

That's a nice tidy greenhouse Marc....mine resembles a scene from Hiroshima, and i'm a gardener

 

[ben andrews' girlfriend]

I'm growing chillis, sweet peppers and general herbs.

The photos are MASSIVE - apologies!!!

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

Looking GOOD there folks

 

[PHCgull]

quick q from a novice chilli grower - is it too late to plant this year?

got some jalapenos and anchos from some cumbrian chilli place, I have planted them tonight in seed compost and will try to germinate them quickly in the boiler room, then grow them on in the grrenhouse.

but am I too late?

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

quick q from a novice chilli grower - is it too late to plant this year?

got some jalapenos and anchos from some cumbrian chilli place, I have planted them tonight in seed compost and will try to germinate them quickly in the boiler room, then grow them on in the grrenhouse.

but am I too late?

I think the accepted wisdom is that you might be too late to plant them in order to get chillis off them this year - tho not too late to get some healthy growth and many flowers. Then prune 'em back over the Winter to give you a head start next year. Marc? Is that about right?

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

THPP is happy to report he is now the proud owner of one red hot chilli pepper with another half dozen on the way. Scores of white flowers, most of which go brown and drop off, and the leaves are looking decidely unwell, but the chillis keep on coming - YAY!

 

[Marc]

yeah too late to plant and get fruit, but as THPP says you can Overwinter them so you will indeed get a head start next year.
My lot are coming along very nicely, will get some more pics this week

 

[Marc]

gayness, the upload thingy aint working so I'll post some pictures in the week.

Needless to say I've got one red chilli almost ready to be pick, my sweet peppers are coming on in leaps and bounds and I've got growbags for the toms....happy gardening!

 

[Marc]

well I'm still unable to upload any pictures so descriptions will have to do for now:

Got a load of chillies from the freezer (last years crop) and threaded some fishing line through them to make a Drying string, stuck them in the greenhouse and checking on them alot. Any mouldy ones get thrown away but the rest should dry out enough to be cut finely into powder. You can dry them in an oven on a low heat but I wanted to try the natural way first.

Chillies as a whole are coming on bloody nicely, a few red ones now, the Spagna and Hot Marbles look excellent. Yellow Bhut Jolokias have started to fruit.
Sweet Peppers are flying along, got some really tasty big ones on the go so wont be long before i'm consuming them!

 

[clapham_gull]

My mini sweet peppers are flowing nicely as are all the tomatoes. Some we grew from plants are full of fruit.

Also the peppers from plants are growing nicely and the ones from seed just starting to flower

However, on a variety of plum tomato a first few have appear (from research) to be suffering from blossom end rot, doesn't appear to be blight.

Any idea how to ensure the rest of the fruit survive ? I've read it's a calcium deficiency.

 

[Marc]

yeah my plums suffered from that last year, not sure how to deal with it though sorry

 

[Danny-Boy]

All my stuff is outside but it seems to be going well, the toms are starting to fruit.

Raspberries have been MASSIVE this year, they love the cha;ky soil. So do the goosegogs.

Have also planted a josberry bush which I think is a gooseberry/blackcurrant cross, but grows very high, almost like a proper bush. Very vigorous, fruit a bit of an acquired taste though.

Only just got some late runners in, I put up the sticks about a month ago but couldn't find any plants until now..

PS for fruit-picking recomment Dymock Farm outside Seaford en route to Eastbourne. Cheap and friendly.

 

[clapham_gull]

yeah my plums suffered from that last year, not sure how to deal with it though sorry

I've been reading a combination of watering with epsom salts and dried milk powder in the soil helps.

 

[clapham_gull]

I am also growing globe artichokes, although the blackfly seem to love it.

My efforts (tomatoes and sugar snap peas)