Chilli peppers are wonderful plants and there are lots and lots of varieties, coming in all different shapes, sizes and degrees of heat. They can make great ornamental plants too!
However, people sometimes wonder why their chillies don’t do so well. Here are a few tips:
• Chilli seeds need a decent amount of heat to germinate – some varieties need more heat than others. Personally, I go for anything between 20-25C (68-77F) generally speaking but for some of the hotter chilli varieites they will germinate better at 25-30C (77-86F).
• If you have a heated propagator you can start seeds off as early as January but if you can’t guarantee the required temperature leave to March or April even.
• Pot on in stages. I find that chilli plants often become too big for their pots and start toppling over – bigger also means they don’t dry out quite so quickly.
• Don’t forget to feed them with tomato food (once a week) once they start to flower.
• Don’t over water. I tend to wait till the surface of the compost is dry before watering them.
• Although they are perennial plants, overwintering chilli plants can be a bit hit or miss so I find to best to sow fresh seeds each year.
