Chilli plants make great gifts for the cook or grow your own enthusiast. The more compact varieties will thrive in a cool conservatory, sheltered patio, or even a sunny window sill and the more you crop them the more they produce.
The chili pepper (also chile pepper or chilli pepper, from Nahuatl chilli) is the fruit of plants from the genus Capsicum, members of the nightshade family, Solanaceae.
They need to be protected from frost and will do best in a sunny spot out of any cold winds or draughts
A South or East facing windowsill or sheltered patio is ideal Chilli plants should be kept in a small pot
They really don t like being over potted and will suffer from placing in to large a pot too quickly
Most of our chilli plants shouldn t need repotting in their first year, however if you are struggling to keep up with the watering or if your plants is 3 or more times the size of it s pot then you can re-pot
Just choose a pot that is only 2 or 3 cm bigger in diameter and use a good general purpose compost with some drainage
Chilli plants love sunshine, they originate in South America after all, the more sunlight your plant can get on fruit, the hotter the fruit will become
Chilli plants are greedy feeders and will benefit from feeding in the growing season
A tomato feed, baby bio or any other high nitrogen feed will keep the leaves nice and green and keep your plant fruiting longer
Apply in line with the manufacturers instructions every couple of weeks from July through to September
Ornamental Chilli Care
Sunlight
Chilli plants like sunshine, the more sunlight the fruits receive the hotter they will grow
Watering
Keep your chilli plants well watered and mulched. But don’t over water.
The soil should be free draining. Chillies don’t grow in swamps.
Soil
Chillies grow well in a well drained, fertile soil. If planting in pots be sure to use a good organic compost that will retain moisture.
Temperature
Chilli seeds need 20°C to germinate, and it should be 30°C or more for the fruit to ripen. Night temperatures should not drop below 15°C.
Fertilizer
If your soil is poor, you ll have to fertilize your chillies. When fertilizing chillies keep in mind that, like their relatives and indeed most fruiting plants, chillies like potassium. Too much nitrogen will make them grow lots of soft leaves and no fruit.
Harvest Season
Regular harvesting will encourage your plant to re-flower and produce new chillies so you can always pick and store a glut of fruits.
If you do have a bit of a glut of chillies in mid summer, they can be made into a simple paste by blending with salt and oil in a food processor or alternatively fill a bottle of good quality olive oil with whole red chillies and in six months you will have your very own chilli oil.
You can also freeze chillies in an air tight container or bag but once defrosted they will be soft and need to be used straight away so it is a good idea to freeze them in ac portions.
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