Chilli progress

The hot sunny conditions we have been enjoying recently have done the chilli plants a lot of good, and many of them have set fruit now, so I thought I had better show you how they are coming on.

This is a variety called "Cyclon"



It looks as if it will not have many fruits, but they will be big ones.

This one is "Sumher":



The fruits of this one are longer and slimmer. When they are ripe they will be red, as will those of "Cyclon".

This one has been grown from seeds I brought back from Turkey last year. I though it was a chilli, but evidently it is a Sweet Pepper / Capsicum / Bell Pepper type. Whatever it is, it's a prolific fruiter!

My chillis are in 10" / 25cm pots, most of them ranged alongside one of the beds in a position that gets maximum sunshine. In the very hot conditions we have been experiencing I am very aware of the need to avoid letting them get stressed, so I have the pots standing in deep saucers which I keep topping-up with water. I also feed the plants with "Tomorite" tomato food once a week.

I have re-potted the Scotch Bonnet plant and moved it outside. It's about the size of a small tree now, despite having been pruned several times!

It is absolutely covered with fruit too:

This is "Black Prince". It has gone quite tall and thin, so much so that I have felt the need to stake it because I think it is vulnerable to wind damage. As you can see, the young leaves are green, but as they get more mature they darken to almost black. Apparently the fruits will also be black / dark purple. The plant has had several flowers, but no fruits have set just yet.



This little fella is "Numex Twilight". It is by far the smallest of my chilli plants. Its fruits will be in lots of different colours.



This is "Numex Suave Orange". This plant has a very thick stem for a chilli, and big wrinkly leaves. The fruits, when they come, will be orange of course!



I think some of the wrinkliness of the leaves may be blistering caused by aphids. I did find a few aphids on the plant, so I have sprayed it with bug-killer to eliminte them before they become too much of a pest.

What is it about growing chillis that is so addictive? We don't eat lots of chillis, but I love growing them, just as I love having lots of different types of tomato. It's a challenge that Ienjoy.