Chillies

[Martyn Catanach]

Wade

 

Please remind me where 'we' got our chilly seeds from this/last year, i bought a variety of seeds but only some have produced fruit, I need to get some more seeds for next year.

Can anyone recommend a chilly for stuffing and smoking at all ??

 

And is it right that a plant bears more fruit the following year, as I have some in a poly tunnel that I'm thinking of keeping through winter for next year

Edited September 14, 2017 by Martyn Catanach

[Smokin Monkey]

Wades your man for the Chilli's 

[Wade]

 

1 hour ago, Martyn Catanach said:

Please remind me where 'we' got our chilly seeds from this/last year, i bought a variety of seeds but only some have produced fruit, I need to get some more seeds for next year.

Can anyone recommend a chilly for stuffing and smoking at all ??

And is it right that a plant bears more fruit the following year, as I have some in a poly tunnel that I'm thinking of keeping through winter for next year

I get my chilli seeds from one of two places. Nickys Seeds or Victoriana. In previous years I have started all of my chilli plants from seeds - most of which have come from Nicky's Nursery - however this year I bought them as seedlings from Victoriana. 

Some people do keep their chilli plants from one year to the next however the commercial chilli growers I have talked to all seem to start them fresh from seed each year. I was with a chilli grower today who was getting ready for their chilli festival in a couple of weeks and this was one of the questions I asked. He said that if you can keep them alive over winter (which isn't that easy) the chilli production yield is often lower.

I usually dry and smoke all of my chillies that I have not used at the end of the season and then use them as mixed smoked chilli. There are two exceptions. Poblano chillies I smoke separately and produce Ancho chilli powder. My Jalepeno chillies I smoke to produce chapotle chilli.

Both Jalepeno and Poblano chillies are good for stuffing and so are Hungarian Hot Wax. All of these grow well in the UK but you need to start them off early. There are many other chillies that stuff well - you are looking for chillies that are fairly mild with a reasonable size cavity.

Your fruiting problem is most likely due to over watering. If they are kept too wet the flowers will drop without setting fruit. Alternatively it could be a pollination problem. They are pollinated by either insects or by air movement so if they are in a location where insects cannot get to them and there is no breeze for wind pollination very few of the flowers will set fruit.