Hi group
My chillies are doing ok greenery but the flower appear - rarely and
then drop off. What should I be doing many thanks
Rick

Rich wrote in
:

Hi group
My chillies are doing ok greenery but the flower appear - rarely and
then drop off. What should I be doing many thanks
Rick


Pick them up

"Rich" wrote
My chillies are doing ok greenery but the flower appear - rarely and
then drop off. What should I be doing many thanks

I presume these are in a greenhouse or similar? If so it's liable to be lack
of pollination, the insects can't get to the flowers, ours are out on the
allotment and we get about 100% flower/fruit.

--
Regards
Bob Hobden
W.of London. UK

As an experiment, this year I have my chillies in three locations: one is in pots lined up against a south-facing wall, getting direct sun from about 10am, others in pots lined up against a west-facing wall getting sun from about midday, but slighly longer in the evening, the third the ground in a location only getting about 3 hours direct sun a day, and more dappled light at other times. The ones in pots against the wall are covered in fruit, though the ones on the west-facing wall were a bit slower. The ones in the ground have hardly any. (I don't have a greenhouse.)

So there you are, keep em warm and give em a lot of direct sunlight, and they do fine out of doors. If you are doing that already, then don't know. Though some varieties are a bit shy and only do well if kept very warm and bright. If you are growing them in a greenhouse, well don't know about that either.

For how long have the flowers been dropping off? If for only a couple of weeks, then just be patient. Meanwhile, try not to let them dry out to the extent that their leaves droop, and water them with tomato fertiliser rather than general purpose high nitrate fertiliser.

Do the flowers open before they drop off? Then it may be lack of pollination. I'm not sure whether they need to be cross-pollinated - I never do anything with mine - but you could try making sure that insects have access to the plants, and it might be worth misting with water every day or couple of days.