2013 Chilli Season is Here

Well it’s that time of the year when i really should have some chilli seeds germinating. I love this time of year because you forget about last years mistakes and  disappointments  (weather, aphids etc) and are just focused on the possibilities of what to grow this year.

I’m taking a slightly different approach this year and will be aiming to grow a few more varieties than usual, probably just a couple of plants of each variety (we’ll see how that works out though).

Here’s my initial grow list for 2013:

I’ll be planting most of the C.Chinense varieties throughout January and February in order to give them an early start due to their long growing seasons. As usual I’ll be using my trusty heat mat method to germinate them and then switching to my grow light to give them a good start through until the spring.

For now I’ve started off by planting some of the naga’s and habanero’s:

Key to the germination of Chinese’s is to maintain a stable temperature of between 25-30 degrees Celsius so i’ll be keeping the propagator in the house where the night time temperature won’t fall too low. I use a thermometer to keep an eye on the temperature inside the prop – it’s amazing how it can drop off at night if left out in a cold shed or greenhouse.

Growing Chillies Outside

I’m also going to make a more concerted effort to grow a few varieties outside this year. Previously I’ve only tended to move a few pots outside as and when I run out of room in the chilli house. This year I’ll experiment with moving some plants outside (both in pots and in the ground) in the Spring with the aim of maturing the plants outside.

Rocoto’s are well known to tolerate cooler temperatures so I’ll definitely try them outside. I’ll also try some of the  C.Annuum varieties such as Super Chilli F1, Cayenne and Padron that have shorter growing seasons and may fair better outside.

We’ve got a walled garden in the South East of the UK so hopefully if we have a half decent summer (surely we can’t get worse than last years wash out) I should be able to offer the outdoor plants quite a bit of protection from the elements.

More updates on this outdoor growing venture later in the Spring. For now I’ll be concentrating on getting some of the slower growing varieties up and growing indoors.