Does anyone grow their own peppers and chili's?

I have heard its quite easy and was thinking of giving it a go.

I know you can do it straight from seed but to skip the boring germination stage I have been looking on Ebay and you can get young plants for a few £.

So, is it as easy as people say? Anyone got any tips to share?

i grew one on the kitchen window sill and it was really easy. but it came to a sticky end when a drunken friend ate it. let me warn you they seem to be hotter than the ones you get in the supermarket. drunken friend had to eat a large pot of yogurt to cool down.

hehe

That's one reason I want to grow them as I like my chili's hot.

Was going to keep them on the window sill then put them in bigger pots when they get bigger. Think I might give it a try.

Pretty easy to grow, need to have a high temperature. Last year I had a chilli plant in the garden but it never got hot enough for the chillies to ripen beyond green.

I planted one in sept from a supermarket chilli and its grown about a foot tall! Its reallty pretty and has white flowers on all the time but it is not growing chilli's. Is this because its from a supermarket chilli?

i bought some proper chilli seed and have about 6 seedlings growing so hopefully i will get chillis from them instead.

My dad grows his chillies in the greenhouse - gets absolutely masses, too many to eat fresh, so he dries them in bunches, like in western films.

No, it's because the flowers aren't being pollinated.

I'm guessing you have it indoors which means there's no wind/insects to pollinate it.

Just get a small, soft paintbrush and touch it on all the leaves - this will pollinate them and chillies should start to form when the flowers die.

Good tip, I wouldn/t have thought of that and will most likely be keeping them on my window sill so will have to remember that.

Easy - but to grow from seed you have to start pretty early. Chillies really do reflect actual heat - I grow mine in the greenhouse and use the paintbrush technique - I also grow them on the roof cos it gets really hot up there!

Good luck!

aha! it is indoors on a window ledge, but the door is open a lot. what if i put it outside? i will do the paintbrush bit as well.

thanks

Yes, outside with natural air movement should do the trick - even giving the plant a shake may be enough.

*squeak* im getting excited! how long do you think it will take to start bearing fruit?

Fruits should start to form when the flowers die, not really a set time for that probably a couple of weeks. It's still a bit cool for chillies to form so indoors is probably the best place for it if there's plenty of light.

I just noticed my previous post said touch a paintbrush on the leaves, that would be a silly thing to do. You touch the paintbrush on the inside of the flower (the stamen).

the flowers are constantly dieing and regrowing
anyway, took it outside, shook it, painted it with a brush and spoke kind words

*waits with baited breath*

This is a well timed thread actually. I have 3 chilli plants i've grown from seed and they are only a month or two old now. No flowers yet, but i'lll have to remember this pollination thing.

So you mention a brush, can you not just use your finger or does it damage it?

they grow quite fast too

You may be able to do it with a finger, just a gentle shake of the plant may also be enough. You don't have to use a paint brush, a cotton bud would do the same.

The 'pollination thing' is rather important, without it there would never be fruit of any type!

I have just been speaking to my sister and she said she has heard that a cotton bud will work too.

*edit* Just seen Dan mentioned the same thing, sorry!

Am really looking forward to getitng mine growing now.

I think we should all post some pictures of our progress.

how do i do that?

i'm currently growing chillis and two different kinds of pepper, it says on the packet they should be sown feb-april so I think you're a bit late now
mine are going from strength to strength though

upload them to somewhere like photobucket or image shack then post the link on here. I'll post mine when there is something to see.

They'll be alright being sown late, especially if they are being kept inside.

I personally wouldn't buy plants from ebay. I bought some once and most of them died. They are also more expensive than buying a pack of seeds. I think you'd be better off going to the garden centre if you want plants - at least you can see what you're buying. Another thing about garden centres is the plants in the bargin bin - usually all those plants need is a bit of food and water. You should also be able to find packs of chilli seeds. If you want some more exotic chilli seeds then try some of the garden supplies websites.
Here's a few that sell chilli's
http://www.realseeds.co.uk/
http://www.alanromans.com/ (only have one variety of chilli under vegetable, pepper but only 50p for the pack)
http://www.seedsofitaly.com/
http://www.plantsofdistinction.co.uk...og/az_veg.html

Thanks for those, just bought some from the top one.

I have bought some from Ebay, but the 3 little plants were £4 including delivery so not a big loss if nothing comes from them.

And I wanted to go to a garden centre, but I don't know any nearby and I don't drive so am a bit limited to where I go.