Chillies - growing and overwintering 2017

[Philthy]

L-R Aleppo, Sugar Rush, Aji Omnicolor, Aji Pineapple, Chenzo, Filius Blue

We ate an Aji Pineapple raw. Slight fruity flavour but I wouldn't say pineapple. I still can't get the nuances of chilli flavours. It frustrates me

That Aji Pineapple is a lovely butter yellow, Mitzi
(I'm very much into yellow chillies at the moment, if only for visual appeal.. no idea why )

I concur with your comment on flavour. I can decipher bold flavours usually without issue, like citrus, or smokiness. But the supposed subtle ones such as different fruits, yeah they're lost on me too.
And I find the chilli sauces to be a bit of conundrum, whether my creation (only dabbled to be fair), or ones I've bought. Once I get past the chilli burn I can never quite tell whether I'm tasting the chilli or the other ingredients, like mango, or pineapple. No matter, I love them all regardless
My current favourite is a mid-level chilli sauce where the chief ingredient is carrot (no mistaking that) and I would pour it on my cereal if wasn't for the cost of using it so wantonly

[1Bee]

Hi - 'scuse my butting in.

I have a grafted chilli plant (no idea what type!) which I bought on a whim this summer and which provided a few nice chillies, first ones I've ever managed! It was still flowering in a desultory fashion a week ago. It's in an unheated growhouse in a very sheltered back yard.

I'm guessing it needs a windowsill, now. Do I prune? Repot? What's more important, light or warmth? It's unlikely to get both in our house!

[Thelma Sanders]

Have a look at this

[Mitzi]

Hi - 'scuse my butting in.

I have a grafted chilli plant (no idea what type!) which I bought on a whim this summer and which provided a few nice chillies, first ones I've ever managed! It was still flowering in a desultory fashion a week ago. It's in an unheated growhouse in a very sheltered back yard.

I'm guessing it needs a windowsill, now. Do I prune? Repot? What's more important, light or warmth? It's unlikely to get both in our house!

Welcome to the chilli addicts' thread!

You will find that with most things chilli related, there are different opinions. Chillies won't really grow / thrive / fruit if the temperature is below 10 degrees C (depending on species - some are much hardier than others.) But they have a good chance of staying alive as long as they are kept frost free. Frost will kill them stone dead (again, not sure if some of the hardier ones can stand a slight frost so I'm generalising.)

Personally I do prune the plants I'm overwintering. I cut off pretty much all the sappy green growth but not right back to the main stem, leave some stems to allow for a bit of die back, then I prune again, harder, in about February. I don't repot until spring but if it's in a big pot and you don't have room for it indoors, you could prune the roots and repot it into a smaller pot for overwintering.

I think light is more important than heat as long as it's frost free. In a warm, dark place you are likely to get soft lanky growth as the heat promotes growth but the lack of light means it will stretch and strain to find some light. In a cool bright place, you won't get much growth but any you do get will be healthier and, as long as you have left some leaves on, the plant will be able to photosynthesize. If you have a warm, bright place then the plant may be able to keep growing and fruiting over winter.

Don't feed over winter, or only a very weak feed very occasionally. Water sparingly - too wet and it could rot. Wait until the pot feels light or the leaves droop a bit. All being well, your plant will spring into life again and produce a lovely crop of chillies early next year.

[1Bee]

Thank you, that's a great help! Sounds like it's the dining room windowsill, then, with a short holiday on the bookcase on the landing under the skylight if the temp gets really low. ;-)

[happyhumph]

My dedo des mochas still haven't ripened yet but seem perfectly happy. Still haven't got round to bringing inside but quite mild still here.

[Scoot]

Just blended all my chillies into a paste and froze it. I have been keeping all the chillies (bar a few i have used) i have harvested int he freezer waiting until i had harvested them all. Today was that day, i harvested the last few chillies and so last night i got the chillies out the freezer to defrost then this morning picked the rest. Blended them all up and this is the result...





All ready to just chip a bit off (once it's frozen) when needed and add to dishes throughout the winter.

[Mitzi]

All ready to just chip a bit off (once it's frozen) when needed and add to dishes throughout the winter.

Looks lush! You could freeze it in ice cube trays that way you would have handy portion sizes instead of needing a hammer and chisel.

[Jonny.D]

RE Scoots post, blending Chili's.

Seeing the latex gloves there reminded me of when I blended a load of hot green chillis without gloves, my hands started sweating profusely and burning for what seemed like an eternity.

[Scoot]

Looks lush! You could freeze it in ice cube trays that way you would have handy portion sizes instead of needing a hammer and chisel.

I'll have to buy myself some ice cube holders first haha. Good idea though mind. I'll do that next year. Thanks.

[Small pumpkin]

So has everyone decided which plants are getting over wintered this year?
I'm trying 3. Scotch bonnet....... yellow ( I didn't know that, till it started ripening), chocolate hab ( second year for him ) & Norbert the dragons breath.

They aren't coming anywhere near the house either
Experimenting again!
They are in the tunnel, in a mini greenhouse with a heater and a little fan. Hoping the fan will circulate the heat enough and reduce the number of greenfly that seem to be attracted to overwintering chillies. Greenfly is one of the reasons they're not coming in the house, the little beeps .iss me off . Other reason is sick boy is still using there room

[Mitzi]

Only 3, SP? What do you do with the rest? Wait until they get killed off by the cold or wield the axe before then? Are you like me with lots of green pods still on them?

Congratulations on your Virtual Show results, BTW.

I'm trying to overwinter too many - so far about 8 plants indoors. Have been brutal with the others, which is very difficult for me to do. Would also like to try some of the baccatums in the garage (where they will get no heat and very little light, so probably won't make it.) I'm not sure I can clear enough room for them before frost hits, though.

[Small pumpkin]

Only 3, SP? What do you do with the rest? Wait until they get killed off by the cold or wield the axe before then? Are you like me with lots of green pods still on them?

Congratulations on your Virtual Show results, BTW.

I'm trying to overwinter too many - so far about 8 plants indoors. Have been brutal with the others, which is very difficult for me to do. Would also like to try some of the baccatums in the garage (where they will get no heat and very little light, so probably won't make it.) I'm not sure I can clear enough room for them before frost hits, though.

3 more than I was planning on overwintering!
I've already started cutting others down. All my green pods get turned into chilli powder. And yes I've got loads of green pods! 4.7kg so far and I'm not halfway through on my murderous rampage yet!

[Philthy]

I'll be aiming to overwinter my usual number of first year plants, which post pruning and leaf drop means I'll have allocated space for about sixteen plants in 4 litre pots in my windowsill nursery (all hemmed in together mind so the leaf drop is a fairly crucial part of the process to ensure they all fit and still allows for some air movement among them). West facing window but light still reasonable and provided the room temperature is kept low and stable they'll slumber in there fairly well.

My greenhouse stock has been hit with poxy greenfly also - not as bad as last year thankfully - but the problem has arrived since the 'summer' became cool and wet (late July onwards)? and steadily worsened. I took to rubbing them off as they appeared in their little clusters and that worked for awhile but by mid September they'd started taking over. So I've just left them to it, as technically they're doing me a favour now; hastening the leaf drop that I'd hope for anyway around this time.
I blasted all plants with spray last week to begin reasserting authority
I stopped feeding a month ago, that plus the cool night time temperature has now slowed growth right down.
End of the month I will start bringing plants indoors, cleaning them up and moving to the overwinter space. Of particular importance to me are my Paper Lantern plants (x2), Lemon Drop - firm favourite (x3), Thai Dragon (x1), and Espelette - another favourite (x2).


Many thanks all who voted for me in the chillies category of the VVS - very humbling given the many great entries.
SP, well done on all your efforts especially

[Mitzi]

Of particular importance to me are my Paper Lantern plants (x2), Lemon Drop - firm favourite (x3), Thai Dragon (x1), and Espelette - another favourite (x2).

Can I ask why you particularly like Paper Lantern? I had one, bought it at the Garden Centre last year. It didn't really thrive but produced a few desultory pods late in the season which were pretty much tasteless. I put that down to them taking forever to ripen in the autumn. I overwintered it and this year it really took off, looked much more healthy and produced lots of pods. Again, though, I found them quite spicy when raw but the heat disappeared when cooked, and the flavour didn't seem anything to write home about. I know people love them but I don't understand why. Maybe mine was just a poor specimen. It looked right, though. Anyway, it's gone to the great chilli farm in the sky now. RIP Paper Lantern.