Hi,

I recently thought about growing my own chilli and purchased the chilli growing kit from SDCF, warming mat and a few packs of seeds (Twilight, Sante fe, hot chocolate/orange habaneros).

I planted this time last week, and out of ten seeds in each tray, 2 have already germinated in the one propagator (1 twilight and 1 santa fe) and in the other tray 1 orange habanero.

I have a couple of questions:

1. I assume it is normal for the seeds to germinate at different times?
2. Shall I move the invividual seedlings out of the tray and into the light at this stage, or wait for the others to germinate first? The trays are currently in my office on the warming mat, which hasn't much light.
3. As I have 2 cats in the house, any tips on securing the trays down to stop them from knocking them over?! I started of with the trays in my conservatory, but it wasn't long before the cats knowcked them off the window sill. Not much of a problem when they are still germinating, but that will chnage once the plants are starting to grow!

Thanks,

Wes

Chillies, just like any seedling, need good light, especially when they are starting off; otherwise you'll get very tall, thin, spindly seedlings (etiolated in horticultural parlance). Think salad cress, which intentionally is grown like that, for ease of cutting.
Ideally you need short stems, with the first true leaves, following close on from the cotyledons (seed leaves). So get your seedlings into good light asap.
My experience is all seeds of a particular variety, will emerge over a short period, with the first and last spanning no more than 3-8 days, especially if you have them under controlled heat.
At this time of year, when light is at a premium, many growers (and not just for chillies) use horticultural lamps, to prevent that "leggy" effect.
Personally, I sow a little later (mid Feb), when I know the days are lengthening and light is improving almost daily. I appreciate that it may affect the early cropping times, but I know I get healthy strong plants, that are easy to transplant and grow away rapidly.
Can't help you with the cat problem, I keep ours out of my glasshouse until the plants are big enough.

Hi Moz,

Thanks for the reply.

Your right about the leggy effect. The ones that have germinated over the last week or so look to be growing too tall for their leaves to cope with. I'll put that down to the weather we've been having in London. No sunlight, just miserable cloudy days to spoil our chilli crops Oh well, I guess it's all part of the amateur chilli growing learning curve!

I've got 2 of the SDCF propogators going on the normal size grow mat, and will pot on in due time (if the curent crop improve their leggyness). It might be wishful thinking, but I'm hoping to have around 60+ plants to harvest from. I'll be giving a few away to family and friends, and hope to keep the rest to dry, freeze.

Thanks,

Wes

60+ plants !!!!!!!!!!

That's a market garden.

I tend to grow 3 each of 7-8 different varieties, but possibly a few more padron, because they're not that heavy a cropper. Which means about 25 plants.

I have more chillies than I know what to do with. I make jams and chutneys, obviously I dry and freeze a lot (but not padron) for culinary use, I make chilli powder (that uses up quite a lot), I give them away to friends/family/people in my local, I have compact plants (Prairie Fire) as living decorations in my hearth for Christmas/winter; but after all that, I still have hundreds of chillies left over, just hanging around (see my pathetic ristra here - www.flickr.com/photos/morris278/ ) and I still have chillies on plants in the greenhouse, which were just abandoned at the onset of winter (amazingly they still look okay).

Where are you going to grow them? Some varieties get quite big. I have a 14' greenhouse and one side just about accommodates my "collection".

I'd aim for quality not quantity - don't forget, you're going to need good sized pots ( I use 12"), decent compost and you have to feed them as well.

Cheers

Hmm, on second thoughts, maybe 60 plants will be a little excessive!

I've got a large garden and plan to have the plants growing down the one side when they are mature enough (and the weather improves). In the meantime, I'll be potting on to 12" pots and keeping them all in my conservatory, turning it into a chilli jungle in the process!

I've already had loads of requests from friends and family for a plant when they are mature enough, so I guess if I do go overboard, I won't have a problem shifting them.

BTW, how big am I expecting the plants to grow? I've got Twilight, Sante Fe, Hot chocolate/orange habaneros growing so far and intend to start germinating some of the Bhut Jolokia seeds in mid Feb.

Also, have you tried the Jiffy quick mix compost, or is a decent soil based bag from a garden centre the best bet?

Thanks again for your help and advise.

Wes

Hi Wes,

Like Moz, we tend to hold-off sowing until mid to late Feb - more light means less troublesome seedlings. If the compost plugs sold with the growing kits are kept in good light and you let them have some air on hotter days, and eventually take the lid off, they can stay in the trays until they are about 10cm high without getting too leggy due to competition with their neighbours. Because we need to germinate so many, we sow them like cress (see image) which means we have to prick them out as soon as they can be handled to avoid them getting leggy.

It's not idea, but if we do produce leggy seedlings, we just plant them deeper when potting-on.

For growing plants for indoor use or in less than ideal lighting, it's a good idea to grow a variety that doesn't have the desire to be a big plant. We have just added more seeds in our list that would suit:

Halloween; Thanksgiving; Memorial Day, Christmas; Valentine's Day; Apache and Prairie Fire are all small plants.

That's not to say that the varieties you have can't be grown indoors, just that they are more likely to grow tall if they don't see enough sunlight - the bigger the plant grows in ideal conditions, the leggier it will grow in poor light. If the light is OK, you can control the plant size with the pot you use - a 1Ltr or 2Ltr pot is probably the most you'll need for an indoor plant.

Sante Fe and Twilight are usually keen to germinate; Hanaberos tent to be fussy as seedlings but fine as mature plants. If you have more than one tray on the go, just rearrange the compost plugs so that each tray has seedlings at a similar stage – that helps mange things better.

Compost - we use John Innes formula number 2 from 3" pots upwards. We use a supplier from Somerset - it is very loose (lots of grit), which chillies prefer. If you have compost that looks a little airless, add some grit or Perlite to improve the drainage.

Chers, Steve
SDCF