Month: May 2021

First flowers of the season

CGS Growing chillies 0 Comment
First flowers of the season
Blooming good start

This Chilli growing season has now really taken off with the first flowers of the season. I expect to make my first harvest of Chillies in about four  weeks from an overwintered plant.

The main benefit of overwintering Chilli plants is that they have a considerable advantage when it comes to producing fruit. I overwintered three plants from last year. With the arrival of spring, these guys jumped back into life. Leaves started shooting out from previously bare stems and cut back branches. These plants are now getting quite bushy. I have been happy with their progress.  Its become even better than that now , with the arrival of the  first flowers of the season. Read more

Removing netting from peat pellets?

CGS Growing chillies 0 Comment
removing netting from peat pellets

Is this really necessary ?

There is a lot of debate about this.   Some say that not removing the netting from peat pellets  when potting on is necessary. Others disagree. Those for removing the netting say that not removing it impedes the seedlings’  growth. The theory seems to be that netting curtails the formation of the root ball. I am not convinced  about that Read more

All about peat pots for growing Chillies

CGS Growing chillies 0 Comment
Fibre versus peat pots

Talking  seedling pots. This season I learned something  I never knew in all the years I have been growing Chillies.   It would seem that not all” peat” pots are the same. They might  look the same, and, in certain instances, carry the same name, but they are not !

This lesson was something I wish I had known about earlier. Much to my dismay, it cost me five of my seedlings. It was a lesson learned too late.

There is a difference

Let me explain. Over and above the pots, I mentioned in my last post ,I also have some seedlings in even smaller ones (about two inches by two inches).  I noticed that these smaller pots weren’t behaving in the way  I am used to. Read more

How tall should my Chilli plants be?

CGS Growing chillies 0 Comment
How tall should my Chilli plant be at this point the season

So where are we?

This is a question we all get to at some point in growing Chillies . To gauge how well your seedlings are doing, you might well want to ask how tall your Chilli plants  should be by now. There is no hard and fast rule but making a comparison with other Chilli growers may help

My Chillies are doing  reasonably well. Some are already going on two to  three inches high, which is a reasonable height for them to be right now. Soon, the “same size as pot rule “will apply.   Simply put, when my plants grow to the same height as the pot they are in, they get potted on.  In this way, the root ball  that has formed will have the freedom to grow bigger. This, in turn, will allow the plant to grow and get closer to the all-important fruit-bearing stage Read more

Nematodes and Aphids

CGS Growing chillies 0 Comment
Nematodes and Aphids
My first go at Nematodes

And here we go again, the endless battle with bugs in Chilli growing begins already. No sooner had I  taken  steps to controlling fungus gnats with nematodes than the first signs of aphids appeared.  Never a dull moment!

Dosing my seedlings  with nematodes  had its moments .  it was only on reading the instructions, I learned that when applying nematodes, you have to use the whole pack in one go. I was a bit concerned because I realised that I had bought far too much. The package I had claimed it could  treat 15 m2 of fertiliser, Read more