In February last year I sowed 10 chilli seeds from a pod that had been
stored for 5 years in a jar in full light on my south-facing kitchen
windowsill. I had bought the chillis from Sainsbury's and dried them,
I think they were from an African country; they still sell similar
ones, red or green, about 8cm long.

Of all the types of seed I sowed in trays last year (the rest were
commercial annuals, herbs, and veges), they were the only ones that
gave a 100% germination rate (some others got close, like cornflowers).
The resulting chillis, while only about 4cm long, were extremely potent.
The plants went outside in May, and the pods took until October to
turn red. I thinned them down to about 5 pods per plant in the summer.

I didn't do anything special when sowing them, just a tray of cheap
general purpose compost from Homebase in the windowsill, it was an
experiment which I found surprisingly successful.

Daniel
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