Re: [CH] Chillies in the UK
Ron Hill (rontah@enigma71.freeserve.co.uk)
Sun, 20 Jun 1999 22:53:00 +0100
At 17:07 20/06/99 +0100, you wrote:
>Well I like a challenge, I live on south coast of Britain where the sun
some times shines(well above the cloud layer).
>
> Most of the people on this mailing list seam to be in the US (where the
sun actual shines). Any advice on growing them in cold climates?
>
>My current set up is 4 sprouted seeds (about 1 inch high today) in a lemon
aid bottle (2 litter). To keep them warm I have the bottle on top of my
Cable Decoder to keep the soil and atmosphere in the bottle warm.
> Each plant has 2 leaves.
>
>Any tips?
Hi James,
One thing that will help you grow chiles in our climate (I'm in East Anglia)
is to grow varieties that mature early here. Cherry cayenne peppers are the
first to ripen for me - you'll find them in the Thomson & Morgan and other
seed catalogues. Gypsy F1 are early also.
I get a useful crop from Serranos, Dragons Claw and Habs, though these
latter need a warm summer and you need to get the seed sown early.
I find that plants grown from seed saved from my previous year's chiles tend
to give better results than the original seed did. (I'll probably end up
with mongrel hybrids in time though :-( )
This year, apart from my own seed saved from last year, I have had 100%
germination from 13 varieties of chiles that I ordered from the U.S. (under
3 days from ordering by email until delivery here in the UK - not bad
service eh! Tough Love Chile deserve a mention for that).
If the weather isn't too warm you may find ripening slow when grown
outdoors, in an unheated greenhouse or in a warm window you should be OK. Be
warned though - once the chile-growing bug bites you'll be hooked ;-) You
don't say what type of chiles your seedlings are but I would recommend
planting them into pots as soon as they get their next pair of leaves, and
keep them warm, Watch out for aphids - they seem to be a nuisance this year
and there aren't many ladybirds about to see them off.
Just out of interest, I have 60 plants (17 varieties) growing in pots in a 7
foot x 6 foot unheated greenhouse. The tallest is now about 15 inches high,
the shortest under 3 inches. Let the sun continue!
Best of Luck,
Ron Hill.