Unsecure chicken perches

[Ain't Nobody Here]

I have a very healthy looking pepper plant on my kitchen window sill. Loads of peppers, a couple of which are turning red. However, they look like chillies . Is this normal and will they turn into big peppers? The label shows the big fat capsicum type. Should I remove some to give a few of them more of a chance to grow big?

 

[sjp]

saddly I think you've got a rogue chilli plant. sweet pepper plants don't normally set that many peppers at once

the photo is a bit small to tell properly

[LolaLayla]

I think that is a chilli plant too. It is growing really well though!

[Ain't Nobody Here]

I was hoping you wouldn't say that . Ho hum, cue chillies with everything .

 

Here's a larger photo (just in case there's any doubt ).

 

[Olly]

This happened to me a couple of years ago, and I believe there was a news story at that time as quite a lot of people bought sweet peppers that turned out to be chillies. Don't do what I did - couldn't believe they were chillies so I bit into one to test it ...

[Ain't Nobody Here]

Oh dear, I won't be doing that then .

[chickencam]

Definately chillies.

 

You will be able to make loads of curry and chilli jam, I prefer chilli plants to sweet pepper plants. the sweet peppers that I have grown have never been as nice as bought ones and for a lot of effort you get very few fruits, whereas chillis are easy and you get loads. They freeze well for use in cooking, just chop from frozen and use as normal.

[Ain't Nobody Here]

They freeze well for use in cooking, just chop from frozen and use as normal.

 

Thanks . That was going to be my next question .

 

Actually, this is my next question . Should I pick them at a particular size? What happens to them if they get bigger than about 9cm (the largest at the moment) - do they get tough or less hot?

[chickencam]

You can harvest them either green or red, and I think that it depends very much on the variety how hot they are, yours look like the medium strength thin chillies used a lot in asian food, the hottest ones are Scotch Bonnets which are roundish and thin skinned and the tiny thin ones are quite hot too. I think that yours will be hotter than the fat chillies that you get on pizza etc, you can reduce the heat by removing the seeds, before cooking.

 

If you keep the plant well watered and fed they will sit for quite a while, you will see them start to wrinkle when they have been left too long, that usually takes a few weeks.

[Ain't Nobody Here]

No denying this was a chilli plant . Can't believe how well it's done .

 

[Olly]

it looks great - just a shame it's not what you expected!

[Snowy]

Oh wow! I tried a few varieties of pepper and chilli in my greenhouse and they were nowhere near as impressive as that! (in fact they were really pathetic ) Hope you have a good supply of frozen chilli now

[The Dogmother]

That looks great ANH, mine is a piddly specimen and keeps getting white fly

[Ain't Nobody Here]

Funny you should say that . There was rampant whitefly on mine the other week so I took it outside, sprayed it with washing up liquid and blasted it with the hose. Thought I'd got rid of the little critters but I notice today they're back with a vengeance .

 

I think I might just pick all the chillies and freeze them.

[LolaLayla]

ANH those are impressive!

I have tried to grow sweet peppers in the past and usually manage to get one reasonable specimen However shortly after seeing your first posting I saw a rather droopy looking chilli pepper in Aldi and thought I could maybe revive it. It is now looking quite healthy sitting in the greenhouse but the chillies are only about 1cm long at the moment. I hope I haven't left it too late in the season to get decent sized ones. I may have to bring it in for some heat. Does anyone know how long the plants last?

[Ain't Nobody Here]

I don't know, but mine is looking a bit sad in the leaf department. Not sure if that's the whitefly .

[LolaLayla]

I reckon if it could last another month the chillies would be a reasonable size. It would be great to have some frozen to use over winter. They are quite expensive to buy and I usually end up buying a bag of them, using a couple then the rest shrivel in the bag I did not know you could freeze them until I read it on this thread

[chickencam]

That is a fab plant , I grew some chillies from seed this year and they have barely even flowered and as they have grown the lower leaves have fallen off. I have not had any problems in the past, but it has been a weird season.

[LolaLayla]

it has been a weird season.

So true. The tomatoes in the greenhouse were really late ripening and my courgettes outside came to nothing, having been prepared for a glut (talk about counting your chickens ) The mange tout were the success story this year and my friend seems to be up to the eyeballs in beetroot

[Ain't Nobody Here]

While we're on the subject, my raspberry canes were a total disaster this year. One cane produced about a dozen berries, the others never even flowered . Did I do something wrong or is that just one of those things?

[LolaLayla]

I bought some fruit bushes 2 years ago from Aldi (love the shop for good value seeds and plants) but I am ashamed to say they have been neglected and I get a handful of berries each year (with birds getting an equal amount even though I net them). I think the secret is in the pruning but I have just lopped away at the old bits in the hope I may have more success next year. I am afraid my gardening is often led by instinct which isn't always right plus a smattering of book reading. Anyway I'm sure someone will be able to tell us where we have gone wrong.

[chickencam]

I f they are summer fruiting raspberries they should be cut to the ground as soon as they have fruited leaving any sturdy new canes that have grown up since the spring to grow on and fruit next summer. If they are autumn fruiting ones then they need to be all vut to the ground after fruiting leaving room for next years canes to grow up in the spring then fruit in the autumn. They also like to be weed free and have a good mulch and feed in the spring.

[LolaLayla]

I think I have cut mine correctly but I will need to feed them in the spring. Thanks for the info