Gardening Magazine

The Chilli That Came in from the Cold

By Mwillis
My poor old chillis are not enjoying the weather. Although we have had three or four quite nice sunny days this past week, it has still been cold, especially at night time. Because of this I have brought indoors some of my chilli plants - unfortunately there is not room for all of them. I chose the ones most likely to produce a viable crop.
The windowsills of our Guest Room, bathroom and my upstairs "study" are now adorned with chilli plants. It's just like Springtime all over again! (Not).
The Chilli that came in from the cold
You'll notice I have been very careful not to damage the paintwork of the windowsills. Each pot stands in a plastic saucer, and these in turn stand on some pieces of old rubber-backed carpet tile.
This chilli plant is the "Ring of Fire". It is laden with fruit, but almost all of them are still completely green. Only one or two f the very little ones show any sign of ripening. I hope that the additional warmth will persuade them to get a move on!
The Chilli that came in from the cold
This is that unidentified Turkish one. It has some very large fruits, and one or two of them are just beginning to turn brown, which will eventually be replaced by red.
The Chilli that came in from the cold
This is the "Caribbean Antillais". It has masses of fruits, although they are individually very small. Still, several of them are evidently nearly ripe. Getting a decent photo of the interior of the plant wasn't easy, I can tell you.
The Chilli that came in from the cold
Well, I can safely say now that I will get a chilli crop of some sort, even if the chillis are green. Actually we do use green chillis in our cooking sometimes, so this wouldn't be such a bad result.
Meanwhile, out in the cold.... These are some of the unlucky plants that didn't make the cut:
This is "Cayenne". Its fruits are mostly nearly ripe, so I reckoned it could probably manage a few more days outdoors, making way for some of its more deserving siblings.
The Chilli that came in from the cold
This is "Indian Chilli Bullet". Nearly there...
The Chilli that came in from the cold
Even one or two of the "Brazilian Starfish" ones are showing a bit of color. As with most varieties, it seems to me the smallest fruits that ripen first.
The Chilli that came in from the cold
It's just a shame that none of them were starfish-shaped. They have come out looking more like the traditional Scotch Bonnet shape.

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