Morning all, the sun has temporarily taken temporary respite here at the moment which is a great opportunity to give an update on the chillies.
Chilli Staging
Potting up one chilli per pot has really made a difference to the size of these plants. So much so I’ve had a to reduce the amount of plants in the staging from eight down to five. This is because all but the more compact varieties – Baskets of Fire and Ring of Fires are touching either the roof of the staging or the rack above them, even though I’ve take every other rack out these plants are growing up and up!
The other plants taken out are now in the normal walk-in grow house and seem to be doing okay, although they won’t get quite as much heat or sunshine in the grow house.
Plant problems
I’ve managed to avoid the greenfly/aphid invasion at the moment which I am pleased about however that hasn’t stopped the plants from having a couple of other rather odd things happen to them.
Having housed a couple of the 7-pots up high in the staging, and of course with temperatures hitting well into the 40c’s last week, the leaves on the plants have not only started to curl but turn brown from the heat of the sun. So they have now been moved.
Strangely the leaf curl appear to have affected nearly all the bigger plants, like the 7-pots, and the Aji Amba. This could be greenfly but I can’t see any signs of them at all. Or it could be a watering/heat problem where the plants can’t regulate their growth properly if the temperatures go from soaring hot to rather cooler nights. Or, it could be an over water/underwater fertilization problem…the list is endless!
I’ve had the leaf curl problem before and it doesn’t seem to have a lasting effect but I will keep checking the plants every day to make sure there are no pests or diseases.
So far the plants are only needing to be watered (well) once a week and fed at the same time as the posts and compost hold the moisture well (perhaps too well?). Apart from that I’m pretty much leaving them to it for now.
I’ve noticed a lot of flower drop (not bud drop as the flowers have opened). I presume this must be because they are not being pollinated well in the staging so I shall need to rectify this by using a cotton ear bud and just gently touching all the insides of the flowers to help them along a bit. I would presume the excess heat has also played it’s part in the drop of flowers too in the last week.
Next Steps
The Loco F1 is fruiting really well. I’m not sure if I should take some of the pods off to encourage more fruiting but they are so pretty it would seem a shame to but it would be great to test their heat so perhaps I will do just to see.
The baskets of fire is also showing many pods now, although they are taking a while to turn red so I won’t be doing anything with them yet.
Just a general check on the leaf curl I think until I get to the bottom of this issue and hopefully by the next update I’ll be taking pictures of the 7-Pot pods 🙂
If anyone can advise on the problem of the leaf curl I’d be very grateful.
The Forget-me-Not Cultivation Blog 
Hi Sophie,
A few years ago, a gardener of several decades standing, recommended that I gently but firmly tap the stick or top of the main stem on my flowering chillis, first thing in the morning, to release the pollen. This works a treat for my chillis and saves having to use the paintbrush pollination method I usually use on the squash flowers 🙂
Some of my plants have leaf curl and I think it has to be the extreme heat they’ve been exposed to recently but this hasn’t stopped them flowering and growing the chillis themselves.
Glad you’ve recovered from your trip to the beach 🙂
Great idea about the chillies – I shall have to give that a go. I’ve noticed a couple of my tomato plants have also got the leaf curl so it can’t be anything too serious – weather sounds to be the likely culprit.
I hope they rebound from the heat. I should grow my own when I get a place that will allow a garden.