Stephen writes
I haven't been here for a while, the last time was ask about lavender
plants. The advice on taking cuttings was spot on, and the single
cutting I took and just stuck into another pot is still doing fine.

Anyway, my topic this time is about Jalapeno plants.

The office had a charity coffee morning where they were selling cakes,
buns and coffee, and some enterprising sole decided to sell some
plants in pots. That was about four months ago I guess. Anyway I have
kept the pot on my desk since then. My desk gets morning sun from
sunrise until about 9 or 10 am, and then artificial light from then
until 9pm. So I now have a pot with three very green looking plants
about 8 inches tall. On two occasions one or other of these plants has
grown a white flower, which has lasted about a week, and then fallen
off. My question is should these flowers have resulted in a pepper
growing, or are the plants too young at the moment?

The soil is kept moist, and I have a Miracle-Grow plant food tablet
pushed into the pot.

Is there anything else I should be doing to see something interesting
like a pepper grow on these plants?

You could try hand pollination - stroke one of the flowers, preferably
with a paintbrush but you can use your finger, then stroke the next
flower and so on.

They'd do better in the windowsill if you have one, where they'd get
natural light.

It's a bit late in the season, so the plant needs all the help it can
get. I would take it home if it were mine, and put it in the brightest
windowsill I had.

Started earlier in the year they are easy and fun to grow on a
windowsill, so if you don't get anywhere this year, try to get hold of a
plant or some seeds next year. You can also get some very attractive
small fruited varieties which start green, then ripen through purple and
yellow to red, so you can have 4 colours on the plant at once. They're
attractive in their own right, but by the time the peppers are red, they
are satisfyingly hot.
--
Kay