Gardening Magazine

Late July Chilli Update

By Mwillis
Everyone knows that I love growing chillis!  Here's an update on how things are going this year.
The "Nosferatu" plants kept from last year are delivering ripe fruit now:
Late July Chilli update
The difference in color between the immature and the ripe fruit is really very dramatic, and the ripening process happens very suddenly with this variety. Often a chilli can be partially ripe for a couple of weeks, but these ones seem to go from black to red in not much more than a day.
These are Turkish Sweet Peppers, the first fruits of which are now turning color.
Late July Chilli update
Last year this variety produced a large number of peppers per plant (I had two), but this year, what with cold spells in the Spring and hail storms etc the number of fruits is much less.
The surface of the first couple of fruits is scarred in a way very reminiscent of the Jalapeno. I'm not sure if this is a good thing or not.
Late July Chilli update
These are "Ohnivec". I'm tempted to try eating one of the fruits to see what they are like, but I want to see them turn color first. They will eventually be red.
Late July Chilli update
This is "Piment d'Espelette" - a chilli that thinks it is a pepper,
Late July Chilli update
Or a pepper that thinks it is a chilli maybe?
Late July Chilli update
These next ones are "Ring of Fire". The fruits on one of my two plants are short and stubby, and those on the other are longer and more wedge-shaped.

Late July Chilli update

"Ring of Fire No.1"


Late July Chilli update

"Ring of Fire No.2"

"Turkey Small Red" doesn't so far have any fruits set, possibly as a result of the setback caused by the contaminated compost - whose effects you can clearly see here in the distorted crinkly leaves:
Late July Chilli update

There are plenty of flowers on the plant, so it may yet go on to produce a crop - albeit a late one.
This is "Red Jalapeno", whose fruits are mostly uncharacteristically round.
Late July Chilli update

The small plant I nicknamed "Redfields Small Red" (possibly "Demon Red") is setting lots of tiny upward-pointing fruits now.
Late July Chilli update

"Explosive Embers" is a similarly compact plant. It has loads of flowers, but no fruits yet. I have been unable to reproduce the color of the flowers correctly. You will just have to take it from me that they are a lot less blue and a lot more purple than they appear in my photo to be.
Late July Chilli update

"Bird's Eye" has made a remarkable recovery from the verge of extinction. It was looking so bad that it came VERY close to being dumped.
Late July Chilli update

Making allowances for that (and ignoring a few brown spots on the leaves), it doesn't look too bad now, and it even has a few flower buds:
Late July Chilli update

Not illustrated here is "Aji Limon". At present there is little of interest to show you. Sowing it was a last-minute decision, after the non-germination of a couple of other types. I'm hoping it will be able to produce some fruit before Autumn comes along. Last year it kept on fruiting up till the first frosts.
Anyway, there you go, that's how my chillis are doing. How are yours?

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