Saturday 8 October 2011

Chillis maturing

Most of my chillis are reddening-up now. They have taken a long time to do so, but the unusually warm and sunny weather in late September and the early part of October has given them a real boost. Here you can see my six chilli pots lined up enjoying the Autumn sunshine.



This one called "Fuego" is probably my favourite one. It's certainly a good-looker, though I wish it had produced hotter fruit.

Fuego F1
Some of the chillis have produced wierdly-shaped fruits. This is the unknown variety I called "Long Medium". This particular fruit looks as if it has a red propellor at the end.

"Long Medium"
This is the first of the "Pinocchio's Nose" to ripen. Most of the rest of the fruit on the plant are conventionally shaped, whereas a couple decided to grow a sort of crown around the stem area.

Pinocchio's Nose
The "Serrano" ones are a bit disappointing. The plant, and its fruit are much smaller than those of the same variety I grew last year. Still, it is interesting to watch their development. The red colour starts at the tip and works back towards the stem, like this:

Serrano
These ones are nearly fully ripe:


Some of the "Cherry Bomb" fruits have got quite big. This one is about the size of a ping-pong ball. Should look good when it's ripe.

Cherry Bomb
These ones are "Hot Portugal", another variety with lots of visual appeal, though not much heat (this year, at least).

Hot Portugal
Since the weather has now turned a lot cooler, I have picked a fair few of my chillis before they are fully ripe. I don't want to lose them after all this time. They will usually continue to ripen OK indoors, if kept somewhere warm, unless they are really immature. I don't have a greenhouse, but if I did, I would be thinking about bringing the pots under cover.

9 comments:

  1. Those chillis look amazing. I'm impressed. Tried some bell peppers a couple of years ago but with little success.

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  2. The look lovely. Those serranos are shorter and thicker than the kind we see around here. The last shot the peppers look like they are glazed ceramic.

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  3. Nice selection. Stupidly (in retrospect) I grew my chillis from a mixed seed selection so now I don't know what I have which I am finding quite annoying - especially when it comes to blogging about them. They do all seem to have made it through winter though so I am feeling like a proud parent. Your plants are looking fabulously healthy.

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  4. Great selection of chillies Mark, mine are coming to an end now. It's been such a good season for them I may not grow them next year to save space as I have 100s in the freezer!

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  5. I have to admit they look good Mark. By the way did you get my email?

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  6. Very nice, I love your Pinocchio's Nose variety...most unusual.

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  7. Wish we could trade a few chillies, Mark. I prefer my chillies mild, yet I have this variety that's locally called "Volcano" as it's very hot.

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  8. Great chillies Mark. The late warmth has certainly been good for colouring them up. I only grew two varieties, but they have done well and I am thinking about bringing a couple of plants into the house to keep them going a little longer, and possibly over winter. Best of all, this year they are hot! I think it was watering them less that worked so much better, last year they looked great but tasted of nothing at all, at least this year I get to use them in my curries and chillies!

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