Chili Plant Madness

My boyfriend, Zac and I started to grow Chili plants last year, neither of us had ever grown these before, but as I started to prepare my other seeds, Zac decided he wanted to grow something also, so off we went to the local garden centre and as soon he spotted the Chili section, he decided that was his thing.

This year, we have grown Serrano Chilies from seeds, which a local Mexican restaurant were giving away and I also ordered the Chili Plant Collection from Thompson and Morgan which contained two plants, of each of the three fiery varieties Tabasco, Inferno and Thai Dragon.

                                                                       Photo: Laura Lunt  Date: July 2011

The Serrano seeds were planted in the propagator in late February, along with other seeds and were moved into larger pots once they germinated and reached 5cm to 6cm tall. As with the other plants they were hardened off, outside for around two weeks. Once the warmer summer days started they were planted out into larger pots and planters.

                                                                               Photo: Laura Lunt   Date: July 2011

The Chili Plant Collection arrived as small plants in late May; these were planted into a large trough with starter compost and are currently sitting on a south-east facing windowsill. Now in Mid June, the first flowers are beginning to appear and I'm looking forward to our first batch of Chili's for my famous Chili Jam recipe and our favorite Chinese / Thai dishes.