"fourmations" wrote in message
...
Thanks Des

Where do you get seeds?

Hi Niall: we got a packet of generic chilli seeds from somewhere (cannot
remember; garden centre somewhere and the seeds were mixed) and grew 4 or 5
but they were mixed and only two were worth it; two of them gave loads of
bright red thin hot peppers. We still have one plant indoors and there are
still about 20 chillis on it (a bit dried out looking but still ok for
cooking). A couple gave big fat green ones which looked nice but were
utterly tasteless and one had big green fruits which turned sort of dark
brown and developed a weird sweet tang but no heat whatsoever. This year,
I want to buy some from a seed company (e.g. you can get Thompson and Morgan
seeds from Mr. Middleton in Mary Street (top of Henry St. in Dublin)) or
from them by mail order. What I do not know is which varieties to try
again. I was also going to just take some from supermarket ones as you
describe but am now not so sure after your warning. It depends on how they
are propogated and whether or not tey come true from seed.
Did you grow them in a greenhouse?

I just checked the varieties in the Thompson and MOrgan pages and do not
know which to recommend.
http://seeds.thompson-morgan.com/uk/quick-index/c (look under chilli
believe it or not :-)).

I would like 2 kinds: small and hot; big and mild. Maybe Inferno and
Heatwave? I do not know any varieties first hand.
As I said, the packet we used was "mixed" and that makes it a lottery.

We sowed them last year indoors around April and then grew them in the
greenhouse from May onwards.

Des



When would you sow?
I did ten plants indoors last year and got four chilis!
just took seed from tesco chilis (plants did well but not the fruits)
Is it worth going to specilaist mail order (uk)
thanks

niall



"Des Higgins" wrote in message
. ie...

"fourmations" wrote in message
...
hi all

can you grow the african or any other big mild ones for stuffing?
(in the irish climate)

Hi Niall: I have not tried growing them outdoors in de emerild oil.
They
do grow easily in a greenhouse here.

Desmondo



tia

niall


"Rusty Hinge 2" wrote in message
k...
The message
from Janet Galpin contains these words:

I grew Jalapenos this year and found them much later and much less
productive than another type I grew. (The other type were called Hot
and
Spicy and came free with Kitchen Garden magazine ISTR - a mixture I
think)
I don't know whether it's typical for the thinner kinds to be more
prolific than the fatter shaped chillis.


You need to start jalapinos early. I start mine inside in big pots and
put them out as soon as I can, bringing them in at night until late
spring. They crop pretty well, but not in the numbers of some of the
very small varieties.

--
Rusty
Direct reply to: horrid dot squeak snailything zetnet point co period
uk
Separator in search of a sig

Nick Maclaren wrote:
In article ,
Rusty Hinge 2 writes:
The message
from (Nick Maclaren) contains these words:

I like Thai Dragon, too. A good, clean flavour and a fair amount
of heat. I grew Lemon Drop this year, and it is not bad, either.
Jalapenos are mild chillis, intended for pickling etc. I don't
like Habaneros, which have a weak, not-nice taste.

Huh! I wouldn't describe my Jalapinos as 'mild'. They don't approach
Scotch bonnets in fiery fury though.

All right, relatively mild :-)

I do agree that they are a bit too hot to eat whole, raw,
unpickled in salads - I did so, to check, but prefer them
cut up. For some reason, the Jalapenos in California are
much milder, though they still have the distinctive taste.


I think they may be the ones I'm looking for, in the past, the chillis I've
bought and grown have fallen into two categories, too hot or too mild, the
ones that are too hot don't give the dish enough *chilli flavour* and can't
be added in bulk to do so, the mild ones have been slightly hotter than
capsicums and even a dozen in a curry don't give enough heat for my liking

"Phil L" wrote in message
. ..
Nick Maclaren wrote:
In article ,
Rusty Hinge 2 writes:
The message
from (Nick Maclaren) contains these words:

I like Thai Dragon, too. A good, clean flavour and a fair amount
of heat. I grew Lemon Drop this year, and it is not bad, either.
Jalapenos are mild chillis, intended for pickling etc. I don't
like Habaneros, which have a weak, not-nice taste.

Huh! I wouldn't describe my Jalapinos as 'mild'. They don't approach
Scotch bonnets in fiery fury though.

All right, relatively mild :-)

I do agree that they are a bit too hot to eat whole, raw,
unpickled in salads - I did so, to check, but prefer them
cut up. For some reason, the Jalapenos in California are
much milder, though they still have the distinctive taste.


I think they may be the ones I'm looking for, in the past, the chillis
I've bought and grown have fallen into two categories, too hot or too
mild, the ones that are too hot don't give the dish enough *chilli
flavour* and can't be added in bulk to do so, the mild ones have been
slightly hotter than capsicums and even a dozen in a curry don't give
enough heat for my liking

That is exactly what we noticed. In Tesco's you seem to be able to get 3
kinds very commonly.
1) Big fat green ones that are mild but have quite a bit of heat and a good
flavour. You can put 2 or 3 into a dish easily and get some heat and lots
of taste.
2) Red ones that are big but longer and thinner than 1 above and which are
medium hot (hotter than 1 above)
3) short thin red ones that are very hot.

When we tried growing them, we got big green ones that were tasteless and
had no heat at all or short red ones that were
very hot.

So, what varieties will you try this year then (can you summarise the
replies you got :-).
Rusty's jalapenos sound good.

Des

Des Higgins wrote:
"Phil L" wrote in message
. ..
Nick Maclaren wrote:
In article ,
Rusty Hinge 2 writes:
The message
from (Nick Maclaren) contains these words:

I like Thai Dragon, too. A good, clean flavour and a fair amount
of heat. I grew Lemon Drop this year, and it is not bad, either.
Jalapenos are mild chillis, intended for pickling etc. I don't
like Habaneros, which have a weak, not-nice taste.

Huh! I wouldn't describe my Jalapinos as 'mild'. They don't
approach Scotch bonnets in fiery fury though.

All right, relatively mild :-)

I do agree that they are a bit too hot to eat whole, raw,
unpickled in salads - I did so, to check, but prefer them
cut up. For some reason, the Jalapenos in California are
much milder, though they still have the distinctive taste.


I think they may be the ones I'm looking for, in the past, the
chillis I've bought and grown have fallen into two categories, too
hot or too mild, the ones that are too hot don't give the dish
enough *chilli flavour* and can't be added in bulk to do so, the
mild ones have been slightly hotter than capsicums and even a dozen
in a curry don't give enough heat for my liking

That is exactly what we noticed. In Tesco's you seem to be able to
get 3 kinds very commonly.
1) Big fat green ones that are mild but have quite a bit of heat and
a good flavour. You can put 2 or 3 into a dish easily and get some
heat and lots of taste.
2) Red ones that are big but longer and thinner than 1 above and
which are medium hot (hotter than 1 above)
3) short thin red ones that are very hot.

When we tried growing them, we got big green ones that were tasteless
and had no heat at all or short red ones that were
very hot.

So, what varieties will you try this year then (can you summarise the
replies you got :-).
Rusty's jalapenos sound good.

Des

Rusty's jalapenos are the clear winner, better still he's sending me some
seeds and even better - better still, they grow true from seed each year!!

I'd have purchased some from a catalogue, but you don't know what you're
going to get, pretty much like when you plant seeds from shop bought fruit,
last year I grew a dozen plants, all from the same pod, they all put on
massive growth of foiliage and fruit but none of them were even mildly warm,
my fault I suppose but I'd rather not risk something like that again (even
seeds from a reputable company are not always how they are decribed in the
brochure!).....I know they are a fairly easy plant to grow and I'm still a
novice, but I'd rather grow something which will be eaten and enjoyed, last
years crop turned out to be 'interesting' (in that I put half a dozen of
them along the front path in planters for a bit of colour!)

The message .com
from "La Puce" contains these words:

Rusty Hinge 2 wrote:
You need to start jalapinos early. I start mine inside in big pots and
put them out as soon as I can, bringing them in at night until late
spring. They crop pretty well, but not in the numbers of some of the
very small varieties.

I've started yours on Saturday )


Good. Received your packet on Saturday - I ment to send an emu but I've
been wrestling with this box and didn't quite get round to it.

So thank you - I shall have fun, and decorate the front garden with the
garlic - but I'll have to unforget whe I've stacks of different
Allium species there.

--
Rusty
Direct reply to: horrid dot squeak snailything zetnet point co period uk
Separator in search of a sig

Rusty,
when you say early, when doyou get yours sown?
Clifford
Doncaster, South Yorkshire

The message .com
from "cliff_the_gardener" contains
these words:

Rusty,
when you say early, when doyou get yours sown?

Last week.

--
Rusty
Direct reply to: horrid dot squeak snailything zetnet point co period uk
Separator in search of a sig

In article ,
Rusty Hinge 2 wrote:
The message .com
from "cliff_the_gardener" contains
these words:

Rusty,
when you say early, when doyou get yours sown?

Last week.

I don't sow them until March, because I don't have a heated greenhouse,
and I can take over only so much space in the conservatory!


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

The message
from (Nick Maclaren) contains these words:

In article ,
Rusty Hinge 2 wrote:
The message .com
from "cliff_the_gardener" contains
these words:

Rusty,
when you say early, when doyou get yours sown?

Last week.

I don't sow them until March, because I don't have a heated greenhouse,
and I can take over only so much space in the conservatory!


Living in a brick and clay-lump house, I have wide windowsills...

--
Rusty
Direct reply to: horrid dot squeak snailything zetnet point co period uk
Separator in search of a sig

Rusty Hinge 2 wrote:
The message
from (Nick Maclaren) contains these words:

In article ,
Rusty Hinge 2 wrote:
The message .com
from "cliff_the_gardener"
contains these words:

Rusty,
when you say early, when doyou get yours sown?

Last week.

I don't sow them until March, because I don't have a heated
greenhouse, and I can take over only so much space in the
conservatory!


Living in a brick and clay-lump house, I have wide windowsills...

That's where mine are now, I've sown about 25, I don't really need so many
but a few friends and family will take one or two, plus I'm expecting to
lose one or two to the whitefly round about April when they go into the
greenhouse, many thanks for the seeds Rusty, I've got enough here to start
my own chilli plantation!

BTW, can they be eaten green?...I know some chillis aren't hot until they
turn red..

In article ,
Phil L wrote:

That's where mine are now, I've sown about 25, I don't really need so many
but a few friends and family will take one or two, plus I'm expecting to
lose one or two to the whitefly round about April when they go into the
greenhouse, many thanks for the seeds Rusty, I've got enough here to start
my own chilli plantation!

Encarsia is your friend :-)

BTW, can they be eaten green?...I know some chillis aren't hot until they
turn red..

Yes, indeed.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

The message
from "Phil L" contains these words:

BTW, can they be eaten green?...I know some chillis aren't hot until they
turn red..


Yes. But you'll have to make up your own mind about how they compare - I
seldom eat them green - well, any chillis.

--
Rusty
Direct reply to: horrid dot squeak snailything zetnet point co period uk
Separator in search of a sig

Thanks Rusty,
Just wondered, imagined from what you said, being hot chillies they
would have started off early. Thought you might have been a Christmas
day sower!
Clifford

The message om
from "cliff_the_gardener" contains
these words:

Just wondered, imagined from what you said, being hot chillies they
would have started off early. Thought you might have been a Christmas
day sower!

Last year's went in at the beginning of February, and while I know last
year's weather wasn't exactly ideal, I wasn't picking ripe chillis until
September. That despite (four plants) being grown in a chopped-down 10
gallon plastic bucket in rich soil/compost and kept in their own
'greenhouse' of three window frames screwed together and a fourth as a
door, and the top covered with polythene.

Indeed, the previous year's survivor, pruned down, was producing fruit
long before the new ones. In a good year with plenty of light and warmth
you can expect (IME) the ones grown from seed to fruit first, and more
heavily.

The four in a bucket are looking a bit sad, moulting like demented
autumn in an east-facing window, but still with chillis coming on, and
the pruned one is in a west-facing window, looking a lot perkier, but
with rather small chillis. Most of its siblings were planted out two
years ago and 'got' by an early frost in the autumn, as were its three
potted mates, and the remaining one only survived from the waist down.

--
Rusty
Direct reply to: horrid dot squeak snailything zetnet point co period uk
Separator in search of a sig

Rusty Hinge 2 wrote:
Good. Received your packet on Saturday - I ment to send an emu but I've
been wrestling with this box and didn't quite get round to it.
So thank you - I shall have fun, and decorate the front garden with the
garlic - but I'll have to unforget whe I've stacks of different
Allium species there.

Marvelous stuff )

I went mad with allium this year. Last year they were so fantastic, the
christophii ones (which are still dried in a vase and still look pretty
nice), that I think I have the perfect spot for them. So I've got in
there now caeruleum ones, spearocephalon ones, the allium hair ...
quite alien looking, and the fantasticos carinatum pulchellum. And
before you ask, I've written them down in my diary - there's no way I
can remember them all.