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Chilli Growing Media
The Planning Stage
With over 5000 varieties available, and approximately 500 very common types that are grown, choosing your Chilli Plants for the year has lots of choice
Most seed suppliers will quote a length of time of the pods maturing from date of germination
This is very much an average and depending on your growing environment will affect this time, generally the better the environment the quicker the growth
Basically the sooner you can start your plants the better, the lack of sun in January is only secondary to heat levels, if the seedling plants you are growing experience a minus temperature they will likely die on you, so starting germination as early as possible - a great tip you will need a warm place for them to start life
Choosing the right Chilli Plant for you
What do you want from your chilli plant, there are some tremendous ornamental types, and even though the pods don’t have a flavour about them they can still contain heat so making a powder is ideal (see section on what to do with your chillies)
Most ornamentals are small plants no taller than 3ft and in most cases between a foot or two, so can be grown on the windowsill in small pots no problem
However, if you are looking for an abundance of pods from the likes of Jalapeno's and other very common Mexican types along with Birdseye’s, Scotch Bonnets etc then you will want to pot up as much as possible as quickly as possible so in the case of the Jalapeno's its growing season can be as long as possible providing many many pods for you to eat, while the hotter types have as long as they like in the summer maturing their pods, so you get the maximum flavour and heat from your chillies
Where will you be growing the Chilli Plants?
Will you be growing indoors, or in a greenhouse or outside?
Again this will affect the type of plants you want to grow and how they grow (please see further sections for these tips)
Whereas you can grow a 5 foot plant on a windowsill and I have in the past, it will grow a great crop but will need pruning and trimming, and bend the branches around itself to make it fit, constantly fighting each week to try to control it (See Aji Lemon in the Photo gallery)
So thinking ahead at this stage will help you decide what your environment for growing is capable of
Growing Media
Soil or Hydroponics?
With the ever increasing number of hydroponic shops about choosing the right growing media is expanding every year
If you are planning on growing in soil then you can germinate your seed in any media, however if you are growing hydroponics then it is advisable to choose the right media such as rock wool cubes from the start
Choosing the right compost really does assist with getting a better harvest, one that has a great reputation for water retention and packed with nutrients is ideal, for me I find that Levingtons John Innes Compost gets the best results
If growing in Hydroponics please see this guides on the web as I am still understanding them myself, for me I grow on the windowsill, outside, and with a hydroponic room - if there is space then I want to grow in it!