[CH] Early Scottish Chile Madness...???

CallCentreVoice (john@callcentrevoice.com)
Wed, 19 Feb 2003 09:35:14 -0000 (GMT) 

Hi everyone, from a rather chilly Scottish riviera...

AFter a lay-off last year whilst T. and I moved home, I was champing at
the bit to start my 2003 chile plants.  Of course, living in Scotland I
don't have what you'd call a 'sympathetic climate' so I guess I must have
been pretty mad to start the first of the seeds off in mid January :-) 
Nearly all the seeds germinated easily within one to two weeks, using a
heated propagator (fairly cheap; I've had one for around 5 years but this
year have added a second small one and a new larger one, such is my
obsession to ramp up the quantities).  So, now that we sit a couple of
weeks shy of March, I've around 40 small plants, none larger than 4" tall,
but all in excellent condition.  I planted a whole host of different
seeds, mainly governed by what I could get hold of - 'super' habanero,
jalapeno, cherry, tabasco, dundicut (thanks Graeme C@Chile Heads UK),
bonnets, a variety called 'firecracker' and plenty of reserved seeds from
the few varieties of chiles that it's possible to buy in the UK.

Having done a bit of background, I decided to invest in a pair of small
18" 20w flourescent (~100w tungsten equiv.?) tubes which provide the
plants with light during the day (with vents on prop cover open fully) and
at night the lights are turned off and the heated base turned on.  To
maximise the light, I drape some tinfoil loosely over each light,
carefully leaving the vents uncovered for ventilation.  Though I've read
that this can create hotspots, so far it's worked well.  Each plant is now
relishing this 'routine' and I'm beginning to worry that I've started too
early, as though I have a frost-protected greenhouse (thermostatically
controlled electric fan heater helps), it's still too cold - soil temps
reach a lofty 7C and air temps can dip to freezing).

So, that's it started.  The second phase - including Guajillo, Cayenne,
some sweet bells and some seeds extracted from a ristra of 'unknown'
aji-like chiles which I brought back from Barcelona in October '01 - is
now planted, though for reasons of abject laziness I've planted directly
into 2" peat pots and placed them on the prop base, rather than using seed
trays - I think this should work and avoid the trauma of transplantation,
though the first phase didn't bat any of their communal eyelids at this.

Most exciting for me is the promise of a plentiful supply of fresh chiles
(along with tomatoes, garlic, salad onions, beans and herbs which are
either planted in the greenhouse or in pots) for the summer and autumn,
but in the meantime it's all about the waiting game.  The plan for me is
to either get hold of a macro lens for the camera or buy a cheap
macro-capable digital camera and start logging the plants progress.

I was wondering if there were any other Scots on the list - or am I the
most northenly UK chile-head?  The growing season here may be short and at
odds with the chiles native climate, but the greenhouse and a bit of TLC
should help.  It takes me back to my first plants, grown in 1996 - one
Habanero, Hayley, grown from seeds obtained by a chance encounter with
fresh habs in the supermarket, produced 6 pods in her first year and 70
(!!!) in her second.  Sadly, in her third year she was barren, and died
overwinter '98/99.  If I get anything like her yields from my estimated
100 plants this year, I'm going to be stuck for ideas about what to do
with the pods...

So, not really a question, more of a 'status update' and hopefully some of
you guys can give me some tips for keeping the chile plants in tip-top
condition ready for the last frost - which could be April...

Hoots from the Fife Riviera, hovering around -1C with a wind-chill taking
it down to -5C,

John