Growing chillies

Nutrient deficiencies

In a previous post, I mentioned my Cherry Chillies and Rocotos were doing well. I also believed at the time that my Madam Jeanettes were more than holding their own. Since then, things have changed. They are just not delivering on the promise they once showed. How this happened I am not sure, but can only put it down to nutrient deficiency. It is certainly not disease or pests creating this problem.

The Madams J’s are not alone in this. There are others. These plants include a Carolina Reaper, a Moruga Scorpion, a Roma pepper, a Peach Bhut Jolokia, two white Bhut Jolokia’s and no fewer than three Madam Jeanettes. It is obvious from their stunted growth and the colour of their leaves that they are struggling

This is somewhat confusing as It’s not like these plants haven’t received the same attention as the plants that are doing well. They have all had the same treatment (including fertilisers, etc), but just don’t seem to want to respond as well as the other plants. It is obvious that something needs to be done

With this in mind, I have decided to examine each plant in detail and try to find out what’s wrong. Hopefully, once I have done this, I can formulate an action plan to see if I can turn things around.  Maybe all it takes is changing the fertilisation of these plants individually. In other words, arriving at a fertilisation plan that caters specifically to the symptoms that individual plants show. It is worth a bash

To start this exercise, I decided to begin with Madame Jeanettes. Considering that just a few weeks ago, I was waxing lyrical about just how well they were doing. It somehow now seems more than a little strange that I am having to give them special treatment to help them survive and start to grow well again.

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Understanding fertiliser labels

Ever looked at a fertiliser label and wondered what they mean? Join the club. On a macro level, I believe I understand what it’s about, but it’s the final detail that gets me flummoxed. Particularly when it comes to dosages. By this, I mean why should one fertilizer with an NPK of 4: 3: 8 (call it fertiliser A) get diluted at the rate of 20 ml per 4.5 litres of water at fruit set, while another (fertiliser B) with an NPK of 2.7: 1: 4. gets diluted at 10ml per litre at the first sign of buds?

The instructions for the fertiliser B recommend using it at 5ml per litre for young plants. The recommendation is then to up the dosage to 10ml from the onset of flowering. In other words, double the dosage. By doing that, does that mean the NPK value of the fertiliser being fed to the plant has been doubled?

Logic would dictate to me that if the container of fertilizer B says it has an NPK of 2.7: 1. 4.4, this ratio would have to apply to at the 5ml dosage.  Surely by upping the dose to 10 ml, this would mean the NPK has now been doubled to 5.4: 2: 8.8.  On the face of it, this would make sense, as it ties in with the NPKs of other fertilisers recommended for flowering plants.

If this is correct, we are getting closer to the NPK of fertilizer A which is 4: 3: 8. However, if I convert the dosage of the fertiliser A to a per litre basis, I arrive at 4.44 ml per litre.  This doesn’t remotely compare to the 10 ml per litre dosage for fertiliser B. To me, something doesn’t add up. It I converted the 4.4 ml per litre of fertiliser A to the same dosage of 10 ml for fertiliser B. Would this mean that at this dosage the NPK of fertiliser A would be 2.25 times greater (i.e. 9: 6.75: 18) at 10 ml?  See where I am coming from?

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Finding the best solution

It’s one thing to make comparisons; it’s another to ensure that the basis for comparison is correct. For example, I recently started a comparison exercise between various solutions for the pre-soaking of Chilli seeds before planting.  The experiment was to determine which of seaweed extract, saltpetre, or plain water with a few drops of detergent is the most effective in seed starting.

It was certainly easy enough to get the varieties part of the equation right. That just took choosing the types I wanted to grow and making sure the seeds for the experiment all came from the same packets. The water part was also easy. That was simply rainwater from my rain butt brought to lukewarm in the microwave. Similarly, the soaking period was also easy. I simply decided on the normal standard of an overnight period of between twelve and eighteen hours.

However, the difficulty came in trying to determine the dilutions I would use to make the comparisons more less on an equal footing. For example, were the solutions going to be strong or weak? To me, this will make a difference. Surely you would want to place the seeds on equal standing in terms of concentration of scarification agent. If you were, say, going to use a strong seaweed extract mix, you should also use a strong concentration of saltpetre etc. Surely a stronger concentration of one agent shouldn’t be compared with a weaker one of another. See where I am coming from? To figure out what to do, I decided to do some research. I definitely needed to get some clarity on this issue

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Time to wake up

The days are starting to get longer in the United Kingdom in the runup to spring. Before long, Chilli plants started earlier in the year will begin growing with increased vigour as they respond to more sunshine. It’s almost as if they get a pep in their step. It’s fantastic to see. However, spring is not only for the new kids on the block. Don’t forget that spring is also an important event for overwintered plants. Now is the time of the year to start moving them from the dark into the sunshine again to break their overwinter dormancy.

Where they have been kept dormant out of direct sunlight for winter, now that spring is on its way, these plants will want a piece of the action

To help your Chilli plants break overwinter dormancy, place them on a shaded sun-facing windowsill. You don’t have to expose them to the full glare of the sun right now. They will need time to adjust to breaking their dormancy. However, it won’t be long before you notice new shoots developing from previously bare stems. Don’t worry if it doesn’t happen quickly (say in a week or two). Relax, it will happen at some point after that all the same

That’s, of course, if the plant is still alive. Sometimes it is not that easy to say that with conviction. While t is easy to believe that a plant is still living when it still has pliable stems with some green in them; when the plant looks dried out, that’s more difficult

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Taking my eye off the ball

In a recent post, I mentioned that I had started seeds for various Capsicum annuum varieties to prove that I could get a harvest from them in one season. I started two batches of seeds (with a rough interval of about a week between each batch) at the beginning of March. The varieties I planted are Hungarian waxes, Bulgarian carrots, Cayenne Long slims, Jalapeno Earlies and Cubanelles. When I planted them, I didn’t realise I was about to make a critical seed starting mistake.

I started these seeds using Hydrogen Peroxide and Camomile tea as scarification agents. I used these mediums, as I liked the idea that both have anti fungal properties. So, in addition to simply starting the seeds, I was also providing the seeds with a means to fight off any pathogens lurking in the background. I thought  had covered all the bases

Not so at all. Even though I thought I was on top of my game, I can’t say this is the best seed starting I have ever done. In fact, it is probably the worst results I have ever had. Out of a total of twenty seeds, I have only had germination of about eight.  That’s less than a fifty percent success rate. Normally, I achieve a germination rate of at least ninety percent. However, in this case, I dropped balls badly. Not intentionally so, but dropped balls they were nevertheless

The main reason for the abysmal germination rate is that I managed to allow one tray of seeds to dry out completely. That’s a big no- no when it comes to starting seeds.  To start seeds successfully, it is essential to keep their seed starting mix moist. It’s not that you want the seeds to be swimming in water. That’s also definitely not going to work either.  You need to achieve a delicate balance between the two extremes.  The mix should feel only slightly moist to the touch. Nothing more

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Star performers

Based on my experience this Chilli growing season, I believe I have found some of the best Chillies to grow in the UK. I say this because as at this point in the season, I have some seedlings that are doing exceptionally well. Even though they were planted at roughly the same time as the other varieties, they are just streets ahead.

These Chillies – my Cherry Chilli and a Rocoto – are so far ahead of the others; they are already in one-litre pots. My other top performers – another Cherry Chilli, three other Rocotos and three Madame Jeanettes , are still in two and three-inch pots. I expect to pot these seedlings on in the not-too-distant future.

My mega star performers, the Cherry Chilli and the tallest Rocoto, have already been potted on twice. Firstly, they were potted on into three-inch containers, after reaching two inches in height. Once they were three inches tall, they were transplanted into one-litre pots. They will now remain in these pots until they get hardened off. After that, they will be replotted into their final containers, where they will spend the rest of the season

Once seedlings are potted into one-litre pots, I start feeding them with a fertiliser higher in nitrogen. Before being potted- on into these larger containers, they would have been fed with Chilli Focus at a dilution of 2.5ml per litre of water. This is all the fertiliser they would have needed, as up to then, they would have absorbed nutrition from the potting soil in their containers.

However, now that these plants are in one-litre pots, it is essential that they get more fertilisation. So I feed them with a liquid fertiliser with an NPK of 7: 1.3: 4.2. It is a fertiliser with a high nitrogen content. I specifically use it to develop these plants’ foliage and general health until they get hardened off. After that, fertilisation will be changed again to achieve other objectives, like improved flower setting  and fruiting.

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Planning the season

One of the most important considerations when growing Chillies is how much time you have to grow them. By that, I don’t mean how much time you have to care for your Chillies, but rather, the amount of time that is left in the Chilli growing season once seeds have been started.  After germination, the plants will need to mature, set fruit, and for the pods to ripen before harvest. With a short growing season (particularly in countries like the United Kingdom), this can be challenging

After all, you can spend as much time as you like looking after your Chillies, but if they have been planted too late, that is another issue. It can create complications.

Nothing is more disheartening in growing Chillies than spending months caring for plants and then not being able to make a harvest. Last year, that happened to me. I left it too late to start my seeds, and before I knew it, I was facing a ripening problem. My plants had produced plenty of chillies, only I hadn’t allowed enough time for the fruit to ripen. The season was drawing to a close  and I had a lot of unripe fruit on my hands. If I had been more careful with the varieties I planted, I wouldn’t have needed to face this problem. Planting faster growing varieties would have meant they would have matured more quickly, set fruit earlier, and I would have had ample time for them to ripen and  make a harvest.

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An update on Fungus gnats

In a previous post, I mentioned that I would experiment with hydrogen peroxide to kill off fungus gnats. I have since tried using it, and must say I am “reasonably “impressed”.   When I say reasonably impressed, I must qualify that. It definitely works, but maybe just not as well I would have hoped for. No matter how many times I apply it, the gnats might disappear for a while, and then before you know they are back again.

Now believe me, fungus gnats are not my friend by any sense of the imagination. I absolutely detest them. Not only are they bothersome pests, but if they are not brought in check, they can also create massive problems in the health of seedlings. So, there is no leeway here.  I will not be happy until I have done all I can to get rid of them.

So again, it was back to the drawing board. I began doing some research to try and figure out why I wasn’t being as successful as I hoped I would be. There had to be answers out there somewhere. Surely!

I didn’t take long to find out that while I had most bases covered, there were a few things I missed. One glaring omission was the dosage of the H202 I had been using. I understood that the 3% hydrogen had to be mixed in the ratio of one-part H202 to four parts water.  This was right, but not for the purpose I had used it. It turned out that the one to four ratio should be used for foliar spraying, rather than for a soil drench. I had been using the one to four dilutions for soil drenches.  For a soil drench, the ratio should be far stronger. It should be mixed at one-part H202, two parts water. This solution then gets poured on top of the potting soil and is allowed to drain through it

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Comparing fertilisers

I recently began an experiment with fertilisation.  I originally wanted to compare the performance of seaweed extract against  Chilli Focus and tomato feed. My aim was to conduct side by side tests with three sets of African devil seedlings, each consisting of three plants in separate trays.  Each tray was to have received only of each type of fertilizer until it came to the time for the seedlings to be hardened off.   I would then make a judgment on which fertilizer had done best

I thought I had all the bases covered. One set of seedlings, which I considered mycontrol group, was to get Chilli Focus diluted at 2.5 ml per litre of water. The second set was set to be fed at a dosage of 2ml per litre of water.

The only decision I needed to make was how much the seaweed extract needed to be diluted by.

Normally I would have used the NPK of a fertiliser to do this, but I was unable to find out what the NPK for seaweed extra is. The NPK was not on the packaging, nor on the supplier’s website.

What I did find on the website was a recommendation that the extract should be applied at two percent per litre of water for Chillies, vegetables, herbs, tomatoes, potatoes. It recommended feeding these plants at this application rate every ten to fourteen days.

However, that’s all it said. It doesn’t mention whether this dosage applies to young plants, mature plants, or anything else.  I believed it was important to have this information to make the comparison. I had the NPK’s of the Chilli Focus and tomato feed. The only outstanding piece of information was the NPK of seaweed extract

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A common problem

Preventing damping off is one of the biggest challenges most Chilli growers face. Damping off is a disease that manifests itself by seedlings toppling over in their trays.  Seedlings collapse because their roots and stems are infected by fungi and pathogens like rhizoctonia, fusarium, phytophthora and pythium. These fungi and pathogens cause the roots and base of the stems of seedlings to rot, which in turn leads to the death of the plant.

Once seedlings have damping off disease (which most likely was caused by pythium,) it will be too late. Unfortunately, they will die. What’s more – alarmingly so – once pythium makes its appearance, it can rapidly kill off many seedlings in quick succession. This is particularly so if the seedlings share the same source of water.

Luckily, damping off disease can be prevented. Various techniques can be used to reduce the likelihood of it developing. There are also various treatments that can be utilized to kill off the fungi and pathogens.  These treatments include Hydrogen Peroxide, seaweed extract and bio fungicides. The aim of these is to create a risk-free growing environment, where damping disease has little chance of success.

Biofungicides, in particular, are an exciting area to consider in combating dampening off disease. They are safe to use and effective.  However, there is a cost involved in using these products. If this is a factor in your Chilli growing, the following need to be considered first.

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