Growing my own chilies
Learn all about chilies, why they can be fiendishly hot and how easy it is to grow them for yourself. I've been growing various varieties for the last three years, and it's a fun hobby - one where you get to eat the results later on!
I've mainly grown cayenne peppers, scotch bonnets, habaneros and the milder serenades, all in pots and indoors.
I've mainly grown cayenne peppers, scotch bonnets, habaneros and the milder serenades, all in pots and indoors.
Contents at a Glance
Chili Seeds for 2010
Get some seeds for next Spring
Chili Starter Kits
And seeds for VERY hot chilies
Table of Contents
- Chili Seeds for 2010
- Chili Starter Kits
- Chillies & Me
- Hey! Where's the heat?
- Why so hot?
- Grow your own!
- Growing chilies from seed
- Getting started
- So you've got chili seeds. What next?
- Here are some things to get you started
- Potting on the baby chilies
- Chilies are all grown up
- Watch my chilies grow
- Watch my chilies grow
- Serenade chili peppers
- Scotch bonnet chili peppers
- Cooking with chilies
- Chili growing information
- When will they learn?
- Join the chili madness
- Chilli Links
- Links to other chili-growing addicts
- Do you grow your own chilies?
- Blog posts about chilies
Chillies & Me
Growing and eating chilies
I've loved spicy food all my adult life, and came across chilies regularly in Indian restaurants and curry houses. But it was much later on that I started to cook with them myself.
The first time I cooked using real chilies was a chili con carne, when I was still a student. Upto that point, I only used chili powder - and a vicious brew called Encona West Indian chili sauce. So you can imagine my disappointment when I discovered there was no 'kick' at all when I used the real thing!
The first time I cooked using real chilies was a chili con carne, when I was still a student. Upto that point, I only used chili powder - and a vicious brew called Encona West Indian chili sauce. So you can imagine my disappointment when I discovered there was no 'kick' at all when I used the real thing!
Hey! Where's the heat?
Are chilies hot or is it all a myth?
It's all in the seeds & white inner flesh
So, where the heck was the satisfying chili kick that I was after? Well, I followed the advice of a host of TV cookery programmes and cookbooks, and laboriously removed all the seeds, by cutting away the entire interior of the chilies, including the white fleshy membrane - and that's where all the heat is!
These days, I still remove the seeds most of the time, when cooking with chili, but deliberately leave some of the membrane attached. It depends how spicy I want my cooking to be also!
So, where the heck was the satisfying chili kick that I was after? Well, I followed the advice of a host of TV cookery programmes and cookbooks, and laboriously removed all the seeds, by cutting away the entire interior of the chilies, including the white fleshy membrane - and that's where all the heat is!
These days, I still remove the seeds most of the time, when cooking with chili, but deliberately leave some of the membrane attached. It depends how spicy I want my cooking to be also!
Why so hot?
Capsaicin and the Scoville Scale
Chilies are so tongue-sizzlingly hot because they contain a naturally-occurring chemical called capsaicin - pronounced 'cap-say-a-sin'. In fact, it is the white inner membranes and seed-containing parts that contain the highest concentrations of capsaicin.The seeds themselves - contrary to popular belief - do not contain any. In cookery, de-seeding takes away a lot of the heat simply because the membrane is also removed.
Once ingested, capsaicin binds pain receptors in the mouth. These receptors are normally responsible for sensing heat, and so a signal is sent to the brain that something hot has been eaten.
The brain responds by releasing endorphins, increasing heart-rate and by triggering perspiration.
Measurement of relative 'hotness' of chilies is in Scoville units (SHU) where bell peppers measure 0 and capsaicin itself measures 16 million.
Well Would You Believe It?
Birds are immune to the effects of capsaicin in chilies. They can enjoy the fruits, and help to disperse the seeds, which are unaffected by the birds' digestive systems.
Mammals' digestive systems destroy the ability of the seeds to germinate, and so the burning capsaicin appears to be an evolutionary defence employed by the chili!
Grow your own!
Growing chilies made simple
I always thought it would be impossible to grow chilies where I am in the UK. 'They need to be grown in very hot countries,' I thought. 'Or in a greenhouse, where everything is strictly controlled.'
Luckily, I found out about a few farms in England that specialize in growing chilies, so I decided to give it a go myself.
There's such a sense of satisfaction in growing your own food, whether it is vegetables in the garden, or herbs on your kitchen window ledge, or chilies in a sunny spot. I grow all mine indoors in pots. And it is extremely easy to do.
Luckily, I found out about a few farms in England that specialize in growing chilies, so I decided to give it a go myself.
There's such a sense of satisfaction in growing your own food, whether it is vegetables in the garden, or herbs on your kitchen window ledge, or chilies in a sunny spot. I grow all mine indoors in pots. And it is extremely easy to do.
Growing chilies from seed
Buying seeds and starting off your chili garden
These days you can buy starter kits that contain everything you'll need to get your chili-growing exploits started. These kits range from the quite 'hi-tec' to simpler starter packs.I've always simply bought a packet of seeds and some potting compost, and got started in small 3 inch pots, or peat pots.
Getting started
All the seeds and start-up kits you ever dreamed of
And if you're particularly naughty, you can get a plant that's already been grown for you! Keep a couple of the ripe chilies in a dry place, and then keep the seeds for next year.
So you've got chili seeds. What next?
How to sow and grow
I have grown chilies from seed using both peat pots and 24 cell seed growing trays. Both are equally good in my experience.
Okay, so how do you grow them? Very simple really. Fill your peat pot or tray cell to about three quarters full with potting compost - I use multi-purpose compost with John Innes. Put a seed onto the surface in the center of the pot and cover with 1/4 inch of sieved compost. Then water gently and leave in a warm shady spot. I find it best to use a propagator at this point. You can buy seed tray kits which have a transparent plastic lid, for use as a propagator. These are ideal.
After a couple of weeks - keep the soil moist - the seeds should have germinated and sprouted through the surface. At this point, you can move them to a warm sunny window ledge. Keep the fledgling plants watered, but take care not to overwater them.
Okay, so how do you grow them? Very simple really. Fill your peat pot or tray cell to about three quarters full with potting compost - I use multi-purpose compost with John Innes. Put a seed onto the surface in the center of the pot and cover with 1/4 inch of sieved compost. Then water gently and leave in a warm shady spot. I find it best to use a propagator at this point. You can buy seed tray kits which have a transparent plastic lid, for use as a propagator. These are ideal.
After a couple of weeks - keep the soil moist - the seeds should have germinated and sprouted through the surface. At this point, you can move them to a warm sunny window ledge. Keep the fledgling plants watered, but take care not to overwater them.
Here are some things to get you started
Trays and seeds
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Potting on the baby chilies
Moving to a bigger home
Once your baby chili plants have several pairs of leaves, it's time to pot them on - to transplant them into bigger pots.So fill the new pots (5 or 6 inch diameter) with compost and gently water to moisten the compost before planting. Gently remove the young plants from their small pots or cells - do not pull them by the stems, and keep some of the soil to protect the roots.
Dig a hole in the new compost and plant the young chilies pressing firmly around the stems. Then gently water again, and that's all there is to it!
Chilies are all grown up
And starting to grow flower buds
After a couple of months, the chili plants will have grown significantly, with the addition of more leaves.
Flower buds will start to grow between the main leaves. You should just be able to see the small buds on the picture, right in the centre of shot.
At this point, keep watering and keep warm. The flowers should soon be with us!
Watch my chilies grow
Month by month pictures of my growing chilies
Watch my chilies grow
Month by month
Well Would You Believe It?
It was recently discovered that tarantula venom, although chemically different from capsaicin, activates the same pain response pathway in mammals. This is the first time that such a shared pathway has been demonstrated in both plants and animals in defence against mammals.
Serenade chili peppers
Scotch bonnet chili peppers
Cooking with chilies
Some of my spicy recipe lenses
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Chilli con carne
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Here's a tasty, hot chili recipe with a twist. Based on the old classical favorite, chili con carne, but with added peas and green peppers, for more taste and color. It's delicious and good for your health!
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Easy Chicken Curry
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Here's a lovely spicy chicken curry recipe that's easy to prepare. Cookery in a single pot with no marinating for hours. A delicious, healthy curry that anyone can make, and you can use lamb if you prefer, or fish, or vegetables if you're a vegetaria...
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Simple Thai Green Curry
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This is a delicious yet simple green chicken curry recipe for people seriously pushed for time. Thai green curry can be made using readily available curry paste, and just involves chopping some chicken and vegetables into bite sized pieces. A wonderf...
Chili growing information
Join the chili madness
Chilies everywhere!
Fetching new data from eBay now... please stand byChilli Links
- South Devon Chilli Farm
- The South Devon Chilli Farm, which grows a variety of chilli species, and sells all sorts of chilli products from seeds, to chilli sauces to chilli chocolate! I've tried their chilli chocolate and it's delicious!
- Chillis Galore
- Another UK site, with info about all aspects of chillies, including advice on growing them.
- The Chilli King
- A comprehensive site about growing chillies, with chilli facts and recipes and tons of other interesting information.
- Chili Pepper Gardening
- Loads of information and tips on growing chili peppers.
- Growing Chilies in New England
- An older page about growing chilies - a personal account.
- Self-Sufficientish - Chili Peppers
- An excellent site, containing detailed info on all aspects of chili growing.
- NMSU: The Chile Pepper Institute
- A non-profit organization whose aim is to educate, research and archive all things capsicum-related.
- Firefoods - Unleash the Heat
- A British site with products and info about chilli sauces and other chilli gifts. There's also a related blog and chilli-head forum.
Links to other chili-growing addicts
- Red Hot Cheshire Chili Peppers Gardening
- Chilli blog on Blogspot, by 'chili-mad' blogger Hitthatswitch.
- Growing Peppers Blog
- All sorts of interesting info, including how to grow them, and health benefits of peppers.
Do you grow your own chilies?
Or do you just prefer to eat them?
submit
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Reply
- papawu papawu May 14, 2009 @ 1:32 pm
- Scotch bonnets or Habaneros are among my absolute favorites. Being Korean, chili peppers of all varieties play a huge part in my daily diet. However, it seems that the older I have gotten, the less I am able to handle the heat without paying for it later.lol. Fantasic pepper lens.
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- CherylK CherylK May 14, 2009 @ 12:58 pm
- I like a little "heat" in my food but not so hot that my mouth burns. I very much enjoyed this lens and I especially like your Well Would You Believe It modules. A little touch of trivia.
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- ArtSiren ArtSiren May 11, 2009 @ 5:16 am | in reply to dannystaple
- Thanks for featuring in your group! Chilies can sometimes take a few weeks to germinate, and heating from underneath can usually help them along - personally I don't do that. My varieties this year are jalapeno and peach habanero, so I'll post some pics of them in fruit later in the year!
For drying chilies, I normally spread the chilies out on some kitchen paper, on a sunny warm window ledge. Make sure the conditions are dry and well-ventilated though, or they will go rotten.
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- dannystaple dannystaple May 11, 2009 @ 1:38 am
- This is a beautiful lens - good information, and well styled. Thanks for adding it to the All About Growing Food Group. As it is such a great lens, I am adding it into a list I am building of featured herb and spice growing lenses on the groups HQ.
I am currently growing a Serrano Chilli plant - I got the seeds free at a Wahaca promotional event which I am pleased with. They took a bit longer than tomatoes to germinate - but have now come up. Would you have any advice on drying chillies?
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- ArtSiren ArtSiren Feb 7, 2009 @ 4:56 pm | in reply to spirituality
- Thanks Katinka - I do need to do more link-building, but last time I had a go, traffic dropped off a cliff.
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Blog posts about chilies
by ArtSiren
Hi! I'm ArtSiren from England. I'm interested in art in all its forms: art, writing, literature, music, martial and healing arts. In fact, I'm interes... (more)
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