Why do you grow Chillies?

[HotStuff]

I started last year with a couple of Apache Chilli plants, I dried the pods, whizzed them up in a grinder and use them for all kinds of cooking. This year I branched out into a number of different varieties, out of curiosity ( and being a guy ) I've now got some Naga Morich, Dorset Naga and Scotch Bonnet. But my favourite has been my Peruvian Purple, which is so different looking to a lot of Chilli plants. I haven't tried any of the fruit yet, but I know I will keep growing them as they look so good.

So why do you grow Chillies? Is it purely for culinary use or is there something else?

[zazen999]

For my food; and I just love watching them grow....they look so fab and that first lick when the first one comes off is such a thrill.

[Snadger]

Cos they're there?

[OllieMartin]

Mine came as part of a mexican garden set, i didnt take not of the veriety and just chucked the seeds in the pot (i wasn't really into gardening then, just cooking)
The pot was waaaaay too small for the number of chillies growing in it (especially since it had tomatoes and coriander in it too!)
So I repotted them. I've now got upwards of 100 chillies growing collectively off 13 plants. Not to mention the 17 tomato plants.

They have been so successful that I now have some Hot Jalapeno seeds and some random pepper seeds i picked up in spain. As well as 5 different varieties of tomato.
Will hopefully get some other varieties ready for next year.

[Caro]

I thought I'd try some in my shiny new greenhouse. I'm a newbie this year, and have successfully grown cayenne and razzamatazz. They've given me a thrill all season, watching them grow, the razzamatazz being really pretty and the cayenne managing really long, "proper" looking chillies.

All that AND you get to eat the spicy little beauties! I've already got seeds for several other varieties to have a go at next year, and i'll overwinter some of this years plants. I'm hooked!

Caro

[Two_Sheds]

I have chilli in every meal, if I can.

And I like growing them because they are a conversation starter - most people (non-gardeners) don't realise you can grow them in this country, let alone on an allotment

[becky250970]

I grow mine because you can grow them anywhere, I haven't yet got my allotment (next month) but I've managed to grow a few plants on a sunny windowsill in the living room. They are fab plants, you get so much for so little and I love to eat them.

I put a couple of Demon Reds in my roasted veg last night and boy were they hot!

[taff]

to eat
and because they look nice.

[OllieMartin]

One of the reasons I think everyone enjoys growing chillies is because they're chemically addictive.
The capsaicin causes your brain to think that your tongue is actually on fire, as a result your body releases endorphins which combat the pain by making you feel slightly 'high', similar in effects to a 'runner's high'; the result of continued exercise. Because this 'chili high' makes you feel so good, it's addictive, like a drug or any other pleasurable feeling; you just want to do it again.

So perhaps we all grow chillies because we want another 'hit'!

[danmon_81]

growing and eating them is very addictive....at the minute for flavour i cant find anything near dorset naga's...yes they're unbelievably hot but they have a distinctive fruit flavour to them.....
I shall be making room in the plot for lots more next year....i feel the cabbages may go!

[danmon_81]

Hi....my names Dan.....and im addicted to chilli's.......

[smallblueplanet]

We grow chillies to eat and for the way they look.

We grow lots of different varieties of chilli now, or try too as some are more difficult to get to fruit than others. We don't just grow them for their heat which is how we started out growing them. The types we grow now tend to be for flavour and/or heat.

Better late than never we have discovered some will grow very well outdoors in the ground, so that means we have more room in the greenhouse! It also means we can try to grow more varieties.

This years 'successes' have been a very tasty Peruvian Orange, Birgits Locoto which is fruiting in large numbers and is the size of a small bush (ditto for Piment d'espelette but that one is in the g/h) and although the aji colorado & cabeza de largato grow well their heat is more variable. The Dorset Naga, mustard habanero & Fatalli will have to be (hopefully) over-wintered...

Oh what fun!

[bluemoon]

We don't like them, so had never grown them. Then our daughter married someone who loved hot things and was always talking about how hot something was and how only he and his dad could eat something like that. So I said I'd grow him some. I bought the hottest chillis I could find (can't remember the name now, they were small, orange and the name began with an F), grew them, stressed them before harvest to increase the heat, then watched in horror as his faced turned purple and his eyes watered when he nonchalantly picked one and tried to eat it whole. He hasn't mentioned hot stuff since.

[Irie Jan]

I tried to grow several types of chilli plants this year! It was my first time from seed. Just wanted to try because I love chillis in all sorts of food! I looked on the internet and just kind of got carried away into chilli seed heaven! lol So many different types of chilli! All seeds were started of in January. Purple Jalapenos I did because they look pretty and that’s all!!! I'm not that taken with the taste never have been with the jalla's and deffo not hot enough for me lol! My white Hab’s were a disaster 1 poor plant left still only about 4inches high??? Also some of the other types I tried did not come to much, such a shame!

I have only had 2 chocolate hab’s on the one plant out of 2 that survived, plant still nice and bushy, looks like is trying for a late second flush of growth. Am bringing this plant in soon to try and over winter, also most deffo trying these again for next year the 2 chill’is I had were fantastic flavor deep rich and smoky is best I can describe and nice and hot

Still waiting for my hot lemon chillis to ripen so not much to say about them as yet! I wish I had started off some cheyenne’s this year but did not bought one of these plants last year it was already giving chillis and very prolific! They are a lovely everyday chilli, bit of a kick but not too hot if you’re a chilli head that is. I will be doing some for next year that’s for sure, also some scotch bonnets. I love the flavor and heat of them especially when I do some caribbean cooking!! Other chillis just don’t cut the mustard then!

I have decided January is too late to start off the hab’s so will be starting just a couple of them soon prob towards end of October. I will start in heated propagator then grown on in an unheated spare room.

[danmon_81]

yep pre-xmas again for me!