Chillies 2019

Hooray!

After my last post, I have moved the Trinidad Moruga out of the propagator and onto the window sill, where hopefully, they will get enough light to become less 'leggy'.

So far, after about ten days, they haven't grown much, but they are not dead, which for me ... is a miracle!

(maybe it doesn't help that the kitchen is an extension and so not well heated?)

Last Saturday (16 Feb), I took note of what someone had said about not doing 'exotic' chilis and popped to my local B&Q. I picked up one sachet of 'ordinary' cayennes and one sachet of habanero. This time, instead of into small pots, I used one of the 'troughs' that come with the propagator. I filled it with 'multipurpose' compost (has anyone ever seen 'seeding compost' or whatever it's called at B&Q? I look every time and it seems to be something they just don't stock.. or maybe it's under the counter and you need to ask for it whilst wearing a mac and trilby ..?), and then arranged the seeds on top. I then sprinkled some compost on top, and placed the whole into the sink. I gave it a reasonable dose of water - not too much, I hope, but then difficult for me to gauge. After letting the whole drain, I put it back into the propagator and left it.

Over this past weekend, I was starting to get a bit down in the dumps, as there was nothing. This morning, however, my wife came running into the bedroom after getting up earlier than me, and exclaimed, 'you have eleven of your habanero seeds that have sprouted!'

Sure enough, they've made an appearance. They're still very much bent double and not yet standing up. But I am greatly encouraged.

None of the other 'exotic' ones in the propagator (fatali chocolate, carolina reaper or dragon's breath) have made an appearance.

 

Blah blah .. just noticed that I actually told you all about that when I did the B&Q trip. Well, they're sprouting. At least, the habaneros. :-)

 

The little B's . Hope they are caught and disciplined . It would a big blow to any business , hope he survives.

 

And the update is that all of my cayenne, and all of my habanero seeds have sprouted! I know that some of you may not see this photo, but I hope most of you can...

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My plan this weekend is to 'pinch out' the ones that are around 2'' or higher, and put them into their own pots, on the window sill. If this isn't the right way, please do not hesitate to smack my knuckles now.

Just to the left of that 'tray' are the other pots inside the propagator, with my 'exotic' seeds in them. No activity whatsoever from there.

These are my Trinidad Moruga seeds - the only ones from the 'exotic' branch to see the light of day so far.

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(with apologies for the dirty window behind !)

As you can see, my attempt to remove the seed casing from that one, failed. But the others seem fine. They're not really growing any, but since that room isn't very warm, I'm not panicking yet. When I'm sure the last frosts have come and gone, and they're a bit bigger, I shall move them out to my tiny little 'greenhouse' outside.

At this point, any tips any of you can give, will be very gratefully received.

 

Oh, one other thing: those small pots on the window sill. Is it possible that the reason they're not growing is that they need to be moved to bigger pots now?

 

John the pots are big enough . Just let the seedlings grow and develop roots and leaves. Plenty light and warmth. They should be ready to pot up into full size pots in late March or early April.
Try posting pics on here , just copy your photo to your desktop . Then just drag and drop it into your new post

 

Thank you, Harry. Much appreciated. And what about the current crop of seedlings? These ones? Do you think that they're big enough to 'pinch' out, and put into small pots? I'm terrified that they'll become 'leggy' with not enough light. They're next to the window, but the draining board and the sink are technically closer to the window, so I worry that with the cover on the propagator, they're not getting enough light.

I am nonetheless more confident for my chilis than at any point since .. I dunno, since 2015, and I thank you all for that. :-)

 

Thank you. Now here is what my propagator looks like from the window end of the kitchen.... it's about two feet from the window. That window faces east, so gets some sunshine but not a lot of it.




What would you do to stop the seedlings inside there, from getting too 'leggy'? I have been told in other messages that the reason some of my seedlings have gone that way, is a lack of light. So do I take the lid off of the propagator? Do I leave the lid in place for the other seeds (the 'exotic' ones in the round pots) and just remove the tray containing the 'successful' seedlings, and move it to right in front of the window? Said seedlings of course only have one or two leaves, so are they still too weak to remove from the propagator (I don't mean as in pots as you've said no need for that, but do they come out of the propagator now?)?

Basically, what I'm asking you to do is to transport yourself magically into our kitchen, to look at what we have over there and say, 'Right. This is what I'm going to do...'