Growing under a work surface in the utility is a three plant hydroponic system, these plants haven’t been in there long and already they are showing the first signs of pods. If you look closely enough you can see the first stages of chilli growth out of the flower.

I’m getting these ready for the Birmingham chilli fest later in the year. As for the rest of the plants they are now in the tunnel hardening up, none have died yet and I hope the frosts have passed.

Hope your growing season I going well.

Our second batch are now showing, I cheated a little by just sowing in them in soil, it just means loads of pricking out next month!
Remember you need to sow your hot variety’s now to ensure you get fruit later in the year.

After changing my sowing date for the 2012 season…… when I sowed Jan 1st….I have decided to revert back to sowing on Halloween, or All Hallows Eve, to give it the proper title. I have done this for about 6 years previously. Now, I’m not saying that sowing later than I usually do was the reason for what I believe was my poorest growing year so far….. that was down to many factors, including slugs & snails, early sun scorch from the freak heatwave early in the year, and then poor weather throughout the summer !

So with the 2012 season in it’s death throes as I write this…. I am pleased to announce, that 2013 has started !!! Yes folks, today I’ve sown my first batch of seeds…..Why so early ? you may ask, well as I’ve mentioned in previous articles, chilli growing can be an all year round hobby, with the use of heat & artificial lighting. Also, Cap.Chinense require a long growing season, and this gives me a good head start. It also gives me something to do through Winter !

all first round sowing’s are cap.Chinense:

Infinity,  Fatalii, Carolina Reaper,   TS Butch T, TS Morouga,  Nagabon,   Bhut Jolokia ,   Chocolate Bhut Jolokia,

Naga morich,   Naga Viper, Chocolate Scorpion, Orange Hab, Lemon Drop,   paper Lantern,       

Aji Chombo,    Pimenta De Neyde, (which is actually a C.Annum X C.Chinense)

7pot Barrackpore,   7pot Jonah,  7pot yellow,  7pot Brain, 7pot Primo

I have sown the seeds, around 150, in Multi Purpose Compost in small polystyrene tubs, and also Jiffy 7 pellets, and these have been placed in the heated propagator and on a heat-mat.

Out of these, I would hope to get around 80 – 100 plants after losses.

Last year, I sowed the majority in Rockwool cubes, and had quite a lot of failures in germination….. I have no idea why, but I’m taking no chances this time ! However….I will need a lot of the seedlings in Rockwool cubes, because they will be going into Hydro equipment, i.e   NFT Systems,Wilma and Quadgrows. So what I will do is, when the seedlings are ready to be pricked out, I will simply split a one inch Rockwool cube down one side…and place the seedling neatly into the split.

However, as the Jiffy 7 pellets are only 18mm in diameter, they fit nicely into the hole of a 3 inch Rockwool cube

.Once they have been pricked out, the seedlings will go into light-boxes, under blue LEDs for a while, and then Daylight CFLs.

Depending how this first batch get on…I might make a second sowing around New Year. This would give me chance to get the number of plants I want, should the first sowing be disappointing.

So fingers crossed…. I hope to have some seedlings in a few weeks. I’ll let you know !

iggy

If you haven’t been fortunate enough to save any True To Type seeds, i.e seeds that haven’t been open pollinated, then there is another way you can grow your favourite plants and know they are going to grow true,…. Providing of course, that the original seeds you used to grow the plant were true.

The way to do this, is by taking cuttings from the plant….. otherwise known as Cloning. Continue reading →

If you haven’t been fortunate enough to save any True To Type seeds, i.e seeds that haven’t been open pollinated, then there is another way you can grow your favourite plants and know they are going to grow true,…. Providing of course, that the original seeds you used to grow the plant were true.

The way to do this, is by taking cuttings from the plant….. otherwise known as Cloning.

First job, is to take your cuttings from the plant….I take quite a few, because they may fail.

Next take your cutting and remove any large leaves, buds and flowers…..we want the cutting to concentrate on growing roots, not producing anything else at this stage.
And make an oblique cut,above the shoulder about the middle of the cutting.

Now…when trying to grow new roots on a cutting, most advice tells us to use a rooting hormone, this gives the cutting a helping hand to grow new roots and avoid bacteria from entering the cut stem.
I use honey…. Seriously ! Honey is a natural antiseptic and a potent hygroscopic(water absorbing) material with medical uses going back many thousands of years. These two factors mainly the antibiotic properties though are the reason honey works as a rooting agent. Some also say that the natural sugar in the honey helps give the cutting a burst of energy.If you don’t feel comfortable using honey, then by all means use a commercial rooting hormone.

You can now place the cutting into the growing medium of your choice. The most popular are soil or Rockwool cubes, I have had success with both. It’s wise to make a hole in your chosen medium, large enough to take the cutting, without wiping off the honey/rooting hormone….and insert the cutting, clearly marking the plant name.

The cutting now needs to be placed in a humid atmosphere…as there are no roots yet, it will absorb moisture through the few remaining leaves, DO NOT let the medium dry out, keep it moist. You can cover the top of the pot with a clear plastic bag and elastic band…or place in a propogator with a clear lid. hopefully, within a couple of weeks your cutting will have produced new roots, and you should see signs of growth.
You can also place cuttings straight into a glass of water, and they sometimes grow new roots this way, however…this method has not been as successful for me. A little tip, place an aspirin in the water instead of using a rooting hormone.

Whichever method you use, have fun doing it…and if they all fail,it hasn’t cost you anything but your time, and keep trying. If you get a few plants from your cuttings…give yourself a pat on the back, and well done !
iggy