Chilli babies

No, not jelly babies; CHILLI babies!

My chilli seeds were sown this year on February 14th - Valentine's Day - and they are big strong plants now. Most of them already have a fair number of fruits forming, although of course these are still very small. This post shows you how my "babies" are developing...

This first one is "Hot Portugal"  - presumably named after its characteristics and country of origin... It certainly is prolific. The plant is only about 50cm high, but it already has dozens of flowers and tiny fruits. Don't you think that these fruits look a bit like lizards or snakes sticking their tongues out?

Hot Portugal

The next one is "Fuego F1". I'm hoping this one will be my perfect chilli - quite hot, but not TOO hot; with plenty of flavour; a decent size; a nice vibrant red colour when ripe... I don't ask too much, surely?

Fuego F1

This one is one I have grown from seeds I saved myself. Originally from a single fruit I bought at a foodie exhibition /show. The fruits are small, round and deep red when ripe. I don't know it's official name, so I have just called it "Short Fat", after its appearance.

"Short Fat"

This one is another from self-saved seeds. Also an unknown variety, nicknamed "Long Medium". Last year it did really well, producing a prodigious quantity of fruits, which were quite big, not especially hot, but visually very attractive - about 10cm long, pointed at the tips, vibrant red colour when ripe. At the moment though, the one fruit that is beginning to develop looks suspiciously like a Bell Pepper or Sweet Pepper! Will it get longer as it grows, I wonder? The plants of the capsicum family are notoriously promiscuous, and it could well be that last year's plants were fertilised with pollen from a completely different variety. This year's chilli could be absolutely unique!

"Long Medium"

I have two other varieties as well: "Pinocchio's Nose (very long thin fruits), and "Serrano", but neither of these has set any fruit yet.

You can read more about the ones I grew from last year's seed (and see a photo of "Long Medium" in full production) in an earlier blogpost called The 2011 chilli selection

If you live in the UK and are serious about growing and or eating chillis, you MUST (if you haven't already) visit the website of the South Devon Chilli Farm - or even better, visit their farm / shop itself! Fellow blogger James from Chillipepperheaven recently wrote about a visit that he made to SDCF earlier this year. James is a real chilli fanatic and often blogs about the wierd and wonderful chilli products you can buy these days. His blog is worth a visit if you share an interest in such things!