Chillies

So begins the prepping of paper pots (prompted by tweets of New Year sowings). We are sowing chillies this year as we were given a growing kit by ♥ friendly neighbours ♥.



We don't have a heated propagator, though we'll wrap the punnets in plastic bags. The seeds will have to make their own way. How do they do it?

We planted:
4x Habanero. The fruit depicted on the packaging of the chilli growing kit looked like the Caribbean Red. A dense bush 90x90cm. Produces 4cm lantern-shaped fruit (445,000 SHU).

4x Firecracker. A compact plant, 60cm tall. Produces conical fruit about 3cm long. The fruits ripen from creamy white to purple, through orange to red (30,000 – 40,000 SHU).

4x Hungarian Hot Wax. A compact plant, 60cm tall. It takes 3-4 months to produce 10cm long mild green (2000 - 3000 SHU) or medium red ( 3000 - 4000 SHU) fruit.

4x Bulgarian Carrot. A compact plant, 60cm tall. It takes 70-90 days to produce 8-10x2cm orange mild/medium fruit (2000 - 5000 SHU).

2x Rokita. A 40-70cm tall bush. It produces up to 15cm long, red, medium hot fruit (30,000 - 50,000 SHU). Grow on a windowsill.

Rain Stopped Play on St Patrick's Day

New seedlings:

Roxton and Musselburgh Leeks

Chillies

This Cooks Garden Carribean Hot Pepper blend was an impulse purchase brought on by the tedium of wheeling a shopping trolley around a supermarket. We bought it in the gloom of the New Year, lured by the promise of the bright, jewel fruit pictured on the packet. We did not expect that the seeds would be mixed. Frustratingly, the varieties are not named on the packet but we think we can identify three varieties in the picture and hope that our limited sowing will produce a plant of each.

This is the first time we've grown chillies and frankly it is already proving disappointing. We regret not planning to plant a more interesting type of chilli, not regular supermarket fare, to make the most of our limited windowsill space.

Perhaps a visit to Spitalfields City Farm is on the books in the hope that they've got something intriguing in their nursery plant sale.