Hi,

got several tubs out on the patio - one chilli, one green pepper, two cherry
tomatoes (all plants bought in) and one more tub with a couple of broken of
bits from the tomatoes which are now going well in their own right.

I have never grown chillis and green peppers outside before (at least not
for the last 15-20 years) and I was wondering how I tell when they are ready
for picking.

Do I wait until they start to ripen (i.e turn yellow/orange/red depending on
what they turn out to be) or can I judge by size?

I assume they won't grow to be as large as the ones in the supermarket, and
the pepper plant is only 20" tall at present with the largest pepper about
3" long.

And while I am on a ramble, how do they get all the 'cherry tomatoes on a
vine' to ripen at once in the supermarket? My trusses are fully ripe at one
end and still small and green at the other, which seems reasonable as the
flowers develope over quite a long period.

Lovely evening now the wind has dropped.

Cheers
Dave R

--

The message
from "David W.E. Roberts" contains these words:

got several tubs out on the patio - one chilli, one green pepper, two cherry
tomatoes (all plants bought in) and one more tub with a couple of broken of
bits from the tomatoes which are now going well in their own right.

I have never grown chillis and green peppers outside before (at least not
for the last 15-20 years) and I was wondering how I tell when they are ready
for picking.

Peppers don't do very well outside, and really need to be cultivated
under glass. Don't expect even medium-sized ones unless you can cobble
together some cloches to cover them.

Chillis may do better - I have about a dozen (j)chhhhhalapinos growing
(very slowly) in my front garden, but the ones in pots inside are doing
much better.

Do I wait until they start to ripen (i.e turn yellow/orange/red depending on
what they turn out to be) or can I judge by size?

Judge by shape and colour.

I assume they won't grow to be as large as the ones in the supermarket, and
the pepper plant is only 20" tall at present with the largest pepper about
3" long.

You have some sort of magic working for you.

And while I am on a ramble, how do they get all the 'cherry tomatoes on a
vine' to ripen at once in the supermarket? My trusses are fully ripe at one
end and still small and green at the other, which seems reasonable as the
flowers develope over quite a long period.

Some varieties ripen in a lump, so to speak. You can hurry them on a bit
by putting them in a polythene bag with a ripe banana. Do remove the
banana before it oozes.

Lovely evening now the wind has dropped.

Damn thrips are making an aerial soup round here.

--
Rusty http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/tqt.htm
horrid·squeak snailything zetnet·co·uk excange d.p. with p to reply.

The message
from "David W.E. Roberts" contains these words:

got several tubs out on the patio - one chilli, one green pepper, two cherry
tomatoes (all plants bought in) and one more tub with a couple of broken of
bits from the tomatoes which are now going well in their own right.

I have never grown chillis and green peppers outside before (at least not
for the last 15-20 years) and I was wondering how I tell when they are ready
for picking.

Peppers don't do very well outside, and really need to be cultivated
under glass. Don't expect even medium-sized ones unless you can cobble
together some cloches to cover them.

Chillis may do better - I have about a dozen (j)chhhhhalapinos growing
(very slowly) in my front garden, but the ones in pots inside are doing
much better.

Do I wait until they start to ripen (i.e turn yellow/orange/red depending on
what they turn out to be) or can I judge by size?

Judge by shape and colour.

I assume they won't grow to be as large as the ones in the supermarket, and
the pepper plant is only 20" tall at present with the largest pepper about
3" long.

You have some sort of magic working for you.

And while I am on a ramble, how do they get all the 'cherry tomatoes on a
vine' to ripen at once in the supermarket? My trusses are fully ripe at one
end and still small and green at the other, which seems reasonable as the
flowers develope over quite a long period.

Some varieties ripen in a lump, so to speak. You can hurry them on a bit
by putting them in a polythene bag with a ripe banana. Do remove the
banana before it oozes.

Lovely evening now the wind has dropped.

Damn thrips are making an aerial soup round here.

--
Rusty http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/tqt.htm
horrid·squeak snailything zetnet·co·uk excange d.p. with p to reply.

"Rusty Hinge" wrote in message
...
The message
from "David W.E. Roberts" contains these words:

got several tubs out on the patio - one chilli, one green pepper, two
cherry
tomatoes (all plants bought in) and one more tub with a couple of broken
of
bits from the tomatoes which are now going well in their own right.

I have never grown chillis and green peppers outside before (at least
not
for the last 15-20 years) and I was wondering how I tell when they are
ready
for picking.

Peppers don't do very well outside, and really need to be cultivated
under glass. Don't expect even medium-sized ones unless you can cobble
together some cloches to cover them.

Chillis may do better - I have about a dozen (j)chhhhhalapinos growing
(very slowly) in my front garden, but the ones in pots inside are doing
much better.

Do I wait until they start to ripen (i.e turn yellow/orange/red
depending on
what they turn out to be) or can I judge by size?

Judge by shape and colour.

I assume they won't grow to be as large as the ones in the supermarket,
and
the pepper plant is only 20" tall at present with the largest pepper
about
3" long.

You have some sort of magic working for you.
snip
My pots are on concrete hard standing behind the house.
They are bounded by a West facing fence, South facing house/garage, North
facing shed side and so are in a sunny but sheltered position where the
concrete and the house wall retain the heat of the sun, and the sheltered
position hopefully keeps the humidity up a bit.
First time I've tried this specific location and the tomatoes, chillies and
peppers seem to like it.
Mind you, East coast of Suffolk is close to Mediterranean most of the time
:-)

The message
from "David W.E. Roberts" contains these words:

Mind you, East coast of Suffolk is close to Mediterranean most of the time
:-)

Hmmm. I didn't realise the Mediterranean had edged up into the Arctic
Circle. Um..... Hang on.... what other coast does Suffolk have? Has
Suffolk moved south, perhaps?

--
Rusty http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/tqt.htm
horrid·squeak snailything zetnet·co·uk excange d.p. with p to reply.

"Rusty Hinge" wrote in message
...
The message
from "David W.E. Roberts" contains these words:

Mind you, East coast of Suffolk is close to Mediterranean most of the
time
:-)

Hmmm. I didn't realise the Mediterranean had edged up into the Arctic
Circle. Um..... Hang on.... what other coast does Suffolk have? Has
Suffolk moved south, perhaps?

--
Rusty http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/tqt.htm
horrid·squeak snailything zetnet·co·uk excange d.p. with p to
reply.

Special litle micro-climate; all the heavy rain and cloud has to cross the
UK to get to us so we have lots of sunny days and relatively low rainfall.
The sea close by keeps us warm in winter and cool in summer.
We only get extremes of weather when the wind blows off the continent,
giving us cold air in the winter and hot air in the summer.
Only one day of snow last winter, and the grass grows all the year round.
Palm trees grow outside (well, Yuccas anyway) and geraniums overwinter
outside in pots.
So not bad for the U.K.
And as you mention it, I think someone has moved the Arctic Circle in the
last ten years - it certainly seems a lot warmer. :-)

Cheers
Dave R

"Rusty Hinge" wrote in message
...
The message
from "David W.E. Roberts" contains these words:

Mind you, East coast of Suffolk is close to Mediterranean most of the
time
:-)

Hmmm. I didn't realise the Mediterranean had edged up into the Arctic
Circle. Um..... Hang on.... what other coast does Suffolk have? Has
Suffolk moved south, perhaps?

--
Rusty http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/tqt.htm
horrid·squeak snailything zetnet·co·uk excange d.p. with p to
reply.

Special litle micro-climate; all the heavy rain and cloud has to cross the
UK to get to us so we have lots of sunny days and relatively low rainfall.
The sea close by keeps us warm in winter and cool in summer.
We only get extremes of weather when the wind blows off the continent,
giving us cold air in the winter and hot air in the summer.
Only one day of snow last winter, and the grass grows all the year round.
Palm trees grow outside (well, Yuccas anyway) and geraniums overwinter
outside in pots.
So not bad for the U.K.
And as you mention it, I think someone has moved the Arctic Circle in the
last ten years - it certainly seems a lot warmer. :-)

Cheers
Dave R

David W.E. Roberts


You have some sort of magic working for you.
snip

My pots are on concrete hard standing behind the house.
They are bounded by a West facing fence, South facing house/garage, North
facing shed side and so are in a sunny but sheltered position where the
concrete and the house wall retain the heat of the sun, and the sheltered
position hopefully keeps the humidity up a bit.

Sorry, lost the attributions in the above, but just wanted to add that my 9"
high pepper plant (bought as a 3" high plant from a garden centre, and just
labelled 'patio pepper') now has 5 x 3" + fruits on it (and several more
smaller ones), and doesn't look likely to stop anytime soon! It's on a north
facing windowsill (outside), in a 9" pot, and all I do is feed it tomato
food once a week. Guess there's magic in Ireland, too - either that, or
there are some strong plants for sale out there, this year! My chilli plants
are also doing well - 5 - 6" long chillies developing on two cuttings I got
from a friend, some smaller fruits appearing on my 'patio chilli' (from the
same garden centre as above, but living indoors on the windowsill), but the
jalapeno plant is very slow to flower - there are buds there, but they're
not open yet. T&M 'Firecracker' (another chilli) seedlings have started
accelerating their growth in the past couple of weeks, and are almost
respectable plants now...must re-pot 'em!

The world must be becoming a bit weird - my pumpkin seedlings are thriving,
and the summer squash seeds germinated, too, and are almost visibly growing
( a bit like my indoor banana, which is now 3 1/2" inches tall - and it only
emerged fom the soil last Tuesday!). This is not normal on the north west
coast of Ireland, I'm sure! In fact, everything in the garden has gone nuts
this year - and I'm looking forward to a bumper crop of blackberries, if I
can judge by the number of blossoms. Is the same true elsewhere? We have a
large evergreen something (it's like a Leylandii thingie, but I'm sure it
would be bigger by now if it were the genuine article) in the middle of the
lawn we've just had dug up, and it's increased in size by about a half this
year, as opposed to slow growth in the past 3 years ( at a guess it's now 8
foot tall - four years ago someone cut the heart out of it - before we
bought the house, and it was a sorry looking specimen - now seems to have
recovered) - plus the off-shoots in the hedge have really come on strong
(funny thing is, they're a dark shade of green, not light like the main
tree) - what used to look like a dead hedge is now thriving!

Don't think for a moment that I'm complaining - I'm loving these instant
green fingers I seem to have - it just seems a bit odd, is all! And the
blinkin' purple sprouting broccoli is now sprouting, too (it does what it
says on the tin, obviously!) - I wasn't expecting it to until the winter!
It's not been a hot summer here - nothing like you've had in the UK (I know,
my Dad lives in Brighton) - but it's been better than last year - ie, we've
had a few days of sun, and rain in clumps, rather than perpetual drizzle.
Also increased humidity. Could this account for the change in growth rate
that I'm seeing?

Jo (who can't write a short post to save her life, and yes, Shannie, I owe
you loads of e-mail - sorry, will reply to it all tomorrow!)



---
Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
Version: 6.0.500 / Virus Database: 298 - Release Date: 10/07/03

David W.E. Roberts


You have some sort of magic working for you.
snip

My pots are on concrete hard standing behind the house.
They are bounded by a West facing fence, South facing house/garage, North
facing shed side and so are in a sunny but sheltered position where the
concrete and the house wall retain the heat of the sun, and the sheltered
position hopefully keeps the humidity up a bit.

Sorry, lost the attributions in the above, but just wanted to add that my 9"
high pepper plant (bought as a 3" high plant from a garden centre, and just
labelled 'patio pepper') now has 5 x 3" + fruits on it (and several more
smaller ones), and doesn't look likely to stop anytime soon! It's on a north
facing windowsill (outside), in a 9" pot, and all I do is feed it tomato
food once a week. Guess there's magic in Ireland, too - either that, or
there are some strong plants for sale out there, this year! My chilli plants
are also doing well - 5 - 6" long chillies developing on two cuttings I got
from a friend, some smaller fruits appearing on my 'patio chilli' (from the
same garden centre as above, but living indoors on the windowsill), but the
jalapeno plant is very slow to flower - there are buds there, but they're
not open yet. T&M 'Firecracker' (another chilli) seedlings have started
accelerating their growth in the past couple of weeks, and are almost
respectable plants now...must re-pot 'em!

The world must be becoming a bit weird - my pumpkin seedlings are thriving,
and the summer squash seeds germinated, too, and are almost visibly growing
( a bit like my indoor banana, which is now 3 1/2" inches tall - and it only
emerged fom the soil last Tuesday!). This is not normal on the north west
coast of Ireland, I'm sure! In fact, everything in the garden has gone nuts
this year - and I'm looking forward to a bumper crop of blackberries, if I
can judge by the number of blossoms. Is the same true elsewhere? We have a
large evergreen something (it's like a Leylandii thingie, but I'm sure it
would be bigger by now if it were the genuine article) in the middle of the
lawn we've just had dug up, and it's increased in size by about a half this
year, as opposed to slow growth in the past 3 years ( at a guess it's now 8
foot tall - four years ago someone cut the heart out of it - before we
bought the house, and it was a sorry looking specimen - now seems to have
recovered) - plus the off-shoots in the hedge have really come on strong
(funny thing is, they're a dark shade of green, not light like the main
tree) - what used to look like a dead hedge is now thriving!

Don't think for a moment that I'm complaining - I'm loving these instant
green fingers I seem to have - it just seems a bit odd, is all! And the
blinkin' purple sprouting broccoli is now sprouting, too (it does what it
says on the tin, obviously!) - I wasn't expecting it to until the winter!
It's not been a hot summer here - nothing like you've had in the UK (I know,
my Dad lives in Brighton) - but it's been better than last year - ie, we've
had a few days of sun, and rain in clumps, rather than perpetual drizzle.
Also increased humidity. Could this account for the change in growth rate
that I'm seeing?

Jo (who can't write a short post to save her life, and yes, Shannie, I owe
you loads of e-mail - sorry, will reply to it all tomorrow!)



---
Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
Version: 6.0.500 / Virus Database: 298 - Release Date: 10/07/03

David W.E. Roberts


You have some sort of magic working for you.
snip

My pots are on concrete hard standing behind the house.
They are bounded by a West facing fence, South facing house/garage, North
facing shed side and so are in a sunny but sheltered position where the
concrete and the house wall retain the heat of the sun, and the sheltered
position hopefully keeps the humidity up a bit.

Sorry, lost the attributions in the above, but just wanted to add that my 9"
high pepper plant (bought as a 3" high plant from a garden centre, and just
labelled 'patio pepper') now has 5 x 3" + fruits on it (and several more
smaller ones), and doesn't look likely to stop anytime soon! It's on a north
facing windowsill (outside), in a 9" pot, and all I do is feed it tomato
food once a week. Guess there's magic in Ireland, too - either that, or
there are some strong plants for sale out there, this year! My chilli plants
are also doing well - 5 - 6" long chillies developing on two cuttings I got
from a friend, some smaller fruits appearing on my 'patio chilli' (from the
same garden centre as above, but living indoors on the windowsill), but the
jalapeno plant is very slow to flower - there are buds there, but they're
not open yet. T&M 'Firecracker' (another chilli) seedlings have started
accelerating their growth in the past couple of weeks, and are almost
respectable plants now...must re-pot 'em!

The world must be becoming a bit weird - my pumpkin seedlings are thriving,
and the summer squash seeds germinated, too, and are almost visibly growing
( a bit like my indoor banana, which is now 3 1/2" inches tall - and it only
emerged fom the soil last Tuesday!). This is not normal on the north west
coast of Ireland, I'm sure! In fact, everything in the garden has gone nuts
this year - and I'm looking forward to a bumper crop of blackberries, if I
can judge by the number of blossoms. Is the same true elsewhere? We have a
large evergreen something (it's like a Leylandii thingie, but I'm sure it
would be bigger by now if it were the genuine article) in the middle of the
lawn we've just had dug up, and it's increased in size by about a half this
year, as opposed to slow growth in the past 3 years ( at a guess it's now 8
foot tall - four years ago someone cut the heart out of it - before we
bought the house, and it was a sorry looking specimen - now seems to have
recovered) - plus the off-shoots in the hedge have really come on strong
(funny thing is, they're a dark shade of green, not light like the main
tree) - what used to look like a dead hedge is now thriving!

Don't think for a moment that I'm complaining - I'm loving these instant
green fingers I seem to have - it just seems a bit odd, is all! And the
blinkin' purple sprouting broccoli is now sprouting, too (it does what it
says on the tin, obviously!) - I wasn't expecting it to until the winter!
It's not been a hot summer here - nothing like you've had in the UK (I know,
my Dad lives in Brighton) - but it's been better than last year - ie, we've
had a few days of sun, and rain in clumps, rather than perpetual drizzle.
Also increased humidity. Could this account for the change in growth rate
that I'm seeing?

Jo (who can't write a short post to save her life, and yes, Shannie, I owe
you loads of e-mail - sorry, will reply to it all tomorrow!)



---
Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
Version: 6.0.500 / Virus Database: 298 - Release Date: 10/07/03

Xref: kermit uk.rec.gardening:155160

Hmm on a similar note, re. the subject, this year for some reason all my
peppers are growing vertically upwards from the plant, rather than dangling
downwards as in every other year. This chillies are fine, and the large
peppers are okay, it's just the sweet peppers !!! seems very odd to me.
Duncan

"David W.E. Roberts" wrote in message
...
Hi,

got several tubs out on the patio - one chilli, one green pepper, two
cherry
tomatoes (all plants bought in) and one more tub with a couple of broken
of
bits from the tomatoes which are now going well in their own right.

I have never grown chillis and green peppers outside before (at least not
for the last 15-20 years) and I was wondering how I tell when they are
ready
for picking.

Do I wait until they start to ripen (i.e turn yellow/orange/red depending
on
what they turn out to be) or can I judge by size?

I assume they won't grow to be as large as the ones in the supermarket,
and
the pepper plant is only 20" tall at present with the largest pepper about
3" long.

And while I am on a ramble, how do they get all the 'cherry tomatoes on a
vine' to ripen at once in the supermarket? My trusses are fully ripe at
one
end and still small and green at the other, which seems reasonable as the
flowers develope over quite a long period.

Lovely evening now the wind has dropped.

Cheers
Dave R

--

Xref: kermit uk.rec.gardening:155169

The message
from "David W.E. Roberts" contains these words:

Hmmm. I didn't realise the Mediterranean had edged up into the Arctic
Circle. Um..... Hang on.... what other coast does Suffolk have? Has
Suffolk moved south, perhaps?

Special litle micro-climate; all the heavy rain and cloud has to cross the
UK to get to us so we have lots of sunny days and relatively low rainfall.
The sea close by keeps us warm in winter and cool in summer.

Hmmmm.

We only get extremes of weather when the wind blows off the continent,
giving us cold air in the winter and hot air in the summer.

And as I remember it there is nothing nothing higher than the East
Anglian Heights between that region and the Urals.... ....and east winds
tend to be commoner in the winter....

Only one day of snow last winter, and the grass grows all the year round.
Palm trees grow outside (well, Yuccas anyway) and geraniums overwinter
outside in pots.

So they should - or do you mean pelargoniums? And yuccas survive
more-or-less anywhere. (I've got about a dozen date palms sprouting -
since it can get very cold in the desert at night, I guess they ought to
be hardy?)

So not bad for the U.K.

They have real palms at Poolewe, and corals live in the Minches.

And as you mention it, I think someone has moved the Arctic Circle in the
last ten years - it certainly seems a lot warmer. :-)

This probably explains why i have a windowsill full of lemon trees,
granadillo vines, date palms and tamarinds - not to mention
(j)chhhhhhhhhalapino chillis.

--
Rusty http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/tqt.htm
horrid·squeak snailything zetnet·co·uk excange d.p. with p to reply.

"Druss" wrote in message
...
Hmm on a similar note, re. the subject, this year for some reason all my
peppers are growing vertically upwards from the plant, rather than
dangling
downwards as in every other year. This chillies are fine, and the large
peppers are okay, it's just the sweet peppers !!! seems very odd to me.
Duncan
Duncan,
been mixing up the plant food and the Viagra again?
There are so many adverts (SPAM) on the Internet it is an understandable
mistake.
Cheers
Dave R

"David W.E. Roberts" wrote in message
...

"Druss" wrote in message
...
Hmm on a similar note, re. the subject, this year for some reason all my
peppers are growing vertically upwards from the plant, rather than
dangling
downwards as in every other year. This chillies are fine, and the large
peppers are okay, it's just the sweet peppers !!! seems very odd to me.
Duncan
Duncan,
been mixing up the plant food and the Viagra again?
There are so many adverts (SPAM) on the Internet it is an understandable
mistake.
Cheers
Dave R


He he might make for some very odd effects when eating the chillies !
Duncan