Growing Chillies In Pots: Everything You Need To Know When You’re Starting Out

Growing Chillies In Pots

Are you thinking about growing chillies in pots? Yay!
Growing Chillies In Pots

This is an exciting time. What’s not to love about the humble chilli?

Even better, you’re going to get all the satisfaction, mindfulness and self-sufficient gains of growing your own produce.

The only catch is the growing part, but don’t worry, we’ve totally got you covered with these best beginner tips for growing chillies in pots:

 

First Things First…Why Grow Your Own Chillies In Pots?

Growing any produce takes a little bit of work, so before we give you some great beginner tips for growing chillies, checkout some of the benefits of growing your own little chilli cuties yourself:

Chillies Pack A Healthy Punch

Studies show that chillis contain something called capsaicin, which is thought to decrease inflammation levels and reduce your risk of heart disease. It could even boost your chances of losing weight.

Chillies Work With All Kinds Of Food & Drink

As well as the health benefits of chillies, they also taste delicious, adding a spicy, warming flavour profile to chilli’s, stews, pasta dishes, soups and more.

We particularly love adding warming chilli to a creamy dark hot chocolate when it’s particularly cold. Once you have grown and dried some of your chillies, this spiced hot chocolate recipe is sure to put your tasty produce to good use come winter.

The Environment Benefits From Your Chilli Growing

When you grow your own chillies you actually help the planet. You skip pesticides, shipping and plastic use involved in getting store-bought produce consumer-ready.

Pot Grown Chillies Take Up No Space At All

When you grow chillies in pots and chilli soil you only use up a small amount of space, and can even grow them in your kitchen! So whether you live in a flat, a cottage, cabin or just a dorm room, you can grow your own spicy chilli produce with the space you have.

Gardening Is Great For You

Gardening is proven to be great for your physical and mental health in many different ways, which you can read about in this scientific paper. You don’t have to grow a full veggie garden to get these benefits either. By growing just one chilli plant in a pot you are nurturing both the plant, and your own health.


Beginner Tips For Growing Chillies In Pots

Now you’re super excited for growing chillies in pots, the below tips will help you get the best possible chance of growing healthy, bushy plants that make you plenty of delicious, spicy produce:

Start Early

By sowing your seeds nice and early from the end of winter and as late as the middle of spring, you can enjoy getting chillies sooner, and for longer.

Don’t Grow From Seed If You Lack Time & A Hot Spot

When you start growing chillies in pots, growing chilli from seed is a great idea if you have a nice, sunny, hot growing space that gets maximum sunlight in your home/ greenhouse or polytunnel. If you live in a very hot climate, you can also grow chillies outside.

If you do not have a bright, hot space for growing your chillies from seed, they could end up stunted or weak as seedlings. Rather than struggle with weak chilli plants, skip this part of the growing process and purchase some young, strong chilli plants from a local grower or garden centre in spring.

Give Your Plants All Of The Nutrition

One of the best ways to create strong, fantastic chilli plants when growing chillies in pots is to use the right chilli soil for growing. You’re looking for nice loose soil that supports the plant without compacting or clumping, especially after watering.

At the beginning of the growing process you actually want to use nutrient-poor soil because those nutrients can hinder the growing process. Once you have an active plant, you can then use a more nutrient-rich soil with the following components to support your plants:

  • 75% tomato soil
  • 10% vermiculite
  • 10% perlite
  • 5% sand or fine gravel

You can also purchase chilli soil yourself ready made if that is easier for you when you prepare for growing chillies in pots.

You can then fertilise your plants with a chilli plant fertiliser or diluted fish, seaweed or diluted Epsom salts (once they are established) throughout the growing process.

Always follow the instructions of the fertiliser manufacturer for the best results.

Top & FIM (Fudge I Missed) Your Chilli Plants

When your plants get to around 8 to 10  leaves in size it is time to get your pinch on. By pinching the tips of any new shoot tips that come through you encourage extra branches, which makes a bushy plant that produces lots of yummy chillies.

Experts recommend cutting across (the FIM method) and also cutting the top off the plants. You can checkout how to do both of these methods to your plants in this handy video.

Work With Your Local Climate

Some people grow chillies indoors, some people grow them indoors then move them outdoors, some people have polytunnels and some people can grow chillies outdoors from scratch.

The best way for you to start growing chillies in pots depends on your local climate, and perhaps the outdoor space you have.

Where your chillies will do best in their pots depends on your local climate and by speaking to local growers and gardening clubs, you can best tailor a growing plan for your chillies that works best.

Don’t Be Put Off By Pests & Disease

As a beginner grower it is so easy to feel defeated by all the diseases and pests that seem so desperate to destroy your plans for growing chillies in pots.

Although it can be really difficult to continually find a new pest or problem with your plants, the great news is that there are all kinds of methods, products and practices to combat the attacks.

As a general rule, checking your plants daily (ideally with a loupe or a magnifying glass) will help you catch any problems nice and early, before they overwhelm the plant.

“To nurture a garden is to feed not just the body, but the soul.” – Alfred Austin

Growing your own chilli plants has so many benefits, it has to be worth a try!

Using our tips above, you can get the very best out of your chilli plant growing endeavours, growing chillies in pots that are strong, healthy and delicious this year, and hopefully for many more growing seasons to come.


Easy to Grow Trinidad Scorpion Pepper

Trinidad Scorpion Pepper

Trinidad Scorpion PepperWhen it comes to the world’s hottest pepper that can give you goose bumps and turn you red, nothing can beat Trinidad Scorpion pepper (also called the Trinidad Moruga scorpion pepper). This exceptionally hot chili pepper is especially grown in Australia and is a Capsicum Chinese cultivar.

The Trinidad scorpion pepper is one of the hottest peppers in the world. As is evident from the name, this species is indigenous to Trinidad and Tobago, hence sometimes referred to as the Trinidad Moruga Scorpion pepper.

Being one of the world’s hottest peppers, it finds its use in a number of chili sauce companies. The pointed ends of the pepper apparently resemble a scorpion’s stinger and hence the name scorpion.

This chili is so hot on the pepper scale that you might have to wear protective gear while using this in your food. Without wearing gloves, you might have to endure pumping heat for a couple of days. Also, if you eat this spicy pepper, you can feel your mouth going numb.

Trinidad Scorpion Pepper Uses

  • Trinidad Scorpion contains capsaicin that is of immense use for people suffering from skin disease like psoriasis to inflammation and itching.
  • This ingredient also helps in suppressing appetite, according to some research.
  • Capsaicin also helps in preventing the growth of prostate cancer cells.
  • This is also used to cure arthritis pain as well as neuropathic pain.
  • This red hot chili can also be beneficial for curing and treating ear infections. According to a study, this also helps in treating heartburn.

How to Grow Trinidad Scorpion Pepper

Trinidad Scorpion Pepper

If you are ready to grow some of the reasonably spiciest and hottest peppers in your backyard, then you should definitely go for Trinidad Scorpion pepper. Also, you can easily grow this pepper in your garden and take up this exciting project.

The process is not at all complicated and mainly involves planting, watering and harvesting. All the more, growing Trinidad Scorpion chili is an easy and inexpensive project.

  1. So, as an initial step, you need to fill up a tray with Trinidad Scorpion seeds. Plant the hot chili pepper seeds carefully at a depth of ¼ inch in the tray. You have to plant them almost 10 weeks prior to the last expected cold frost. Following this, water the pepper seeds properly with hot or lukewarm water right after planting the seeds.
  2. Your next step would be to place this tray somewhere with a temperature of 85 degrees F or 30 degrees C and with sound air circulation. The tray should be uncovered. At this chili sprouting stage, temperature becomes more important than light. Hence, place the tray in a dark area. Maintain moisture around the young plants and seeds. The chili pepper soil should not be soggy or wet.
  3. After the Trinidad scorpion seeds have sprouted, move the seedlings to somewhere where they can get access to 10 hours of sunlight. Here, maintain a temperature of 70 degrees F or 22 degrees C.
  4. Now, plant the chili seedlings in your backyard 2 weeks following the last cold weather. By now, the plants must have grown to 12 inches high. The planting bed should get complete sunlight and the temperature should be between 60 to 95 degrees F or 15-35 C. If there are hotter areas in garden, put the growing chili peppers in shade. Maintain a space of 2 feet between the pepper plants in the planting bed.
  5. Now it’s time to fertilize the chili peppers sprinkle granular fertiliser (5-10-10) alongside the rows of chilli plants after they have blossomed. Fertiliser will provide the essential nutrition for the pepper plants to grow fully.
  6. To water your chili plants do so in the early evening or in morning, water your pepper plants well with sprinkler or watering can to simulate rainfall. Maintain dampness in the soil without getting them soggy.
  7. The final stage is to harvest your chili peppers which can occur approximately 40-100 days following the planting of the chili seeds. By now, the young peppers will grow green, yellow and then red. So, now they are ready to be picked.

For best results, provide rainwater or non-chlorinated water to your chili pepper plants. However, care needs to be taken while planting the hot pepper seeds. It’s highly necessary to wear latex gloves and wash hands with soap after planting them.

How To Grow Chillies From Seeds The Eco-Friendly Way

how to grow chillies from seeds

Do you want to know how to grow chillies from seeds whilst also keeping the planet in mind?
how to grow chillies from seeds

That’s great news! You’ve come to the right place, because we have all the tips on growing these spicy, yummy veggies whilst keeping things as green as possible:

 

Why Grow Chillies From Seeds?

When you learn how to grow chillies from seed you are creating your very own produce, which has a ton of benefits that go far beyond creating many a yummy dish with the fruits of your labour.

For you, learning how to grow chillies from seed is beneficial for your health in multiple ways.

As well as the physical demand of growing any plant giving you a healthy boost, the mental health benefits are quite far-reaching.

Gardening is thought to reduce stress, boost confidence, and it can even help people who are recovering from illness and accidents.

Let’s not also forget that chillies themselves are super-nutritious and contain many vitamins and minerals, including capsanthin, which some studies have suggested could be powerful enough to help fight cancer!

When it comes to the planet, learning how to grow chillies from seeds is actually pretty great before you even adjust how you grow them to be more eco-friendly.

There might be a third of our global population cutting down on meat to help the environment, but it is important to stay mindful that vegetables and fruits can be impactful too, when it comes to the planet.

For every chilli you buy at the store there is an environmental cost for the water, plastic, pesticide, land cultivation and human labour used to grow it, not to mention the air miles it took to get it to your local store.

By understanding how to grow chillies from seeds rather than buying chillies from the store, you reduce the environmental impact of your chilli consumption hugely.

Lastly, there are some practical benefits to getting to grips with how to grow chillies from seeds. Those who live in flats, small homes or apartments can grow chillies from seed in a small space.

As long as you have a bright, warm, sunny spot, you’re good to go. By starting to learn how to grow chillies from seed, you can also create many chilli plants cheaply, giving you a few to sell or give away in the local community.

 

How To Grow Chillies From Seeds

Once you have the basics of how to grow chillies from seed down, you can make the right adjustments to keep it as eco-friendly as possible. Here is an easy overview of how to grow your chillies from seeds:

  • Step One – Choose The Chilli

To learn how to grow chilli from seeds, you have to have some chilli seeds, but which type will you grow?

You can grow chillies from seeds creating plants that come in many different colours, shapes, sizes and heat levels on the Scoville Scale. The most fun thing to do is choose a mixture of types you like to eat, and types that look fun to grow.

This video has some really great tips on chilli types and the growing conditions they need.

  • Step Two – Prepare Your Trays

You will want to plant your seeds in seed trays indoors with some seeding soil. Leave enough room for watering, and place the trays in a warm, bright spot indoors.

  • Step Three – Sow Your Seeds

When chilli planting season has started (usually January or February) sprinkle your seeds on top of the soil and cover with a thin layer of soil before watering gently to moisten the soil.

  • Step Four – Propagate the seeds if you can or want to, or cover the trays in plastic wrap until they germinate.
  • Step Five – When the seeds have germinated remove any plastic covering.
  • Step Six – Continue to keep the compost moist without soaking it.

As you can see, it doesn’t take a lot to grow chillies from seeds successfully.

If you want some tips on the next stage of growing after chilli planting season has begun, this video has some handy tips on what to do with your newly germinated seedlings to create strong, healthy chilli plants.

Growing Chillies From Seed The Eco-Friendly Way

77% of people want to know how to live more sustainably, which is pretty awesome. If all of us do a little bit, the world will be a lot better off. Today, your eco-friendly efforts are focused on how to grow chillies from seeds.

There are some easy adjustments you can make to reduce your environmental impact, and grow your chillies from seeds as ethically and greenly as possible, here’s how:

Buy Organic Seeds

If you buy your chilli seeds, buy them organic. This means they were grown without harsh pesticides or other chemicals. They are also bred well to create strong, healthy plants that boost the ecosystem.

If you are going to take seeds from chilli peppers when you learn how to grow chillies from seeds, buy organic chilli peppers to harvest the seeds from.

Avoid Peat Compost

Compost, unless it has a peat-free label, contains up to 100% peat. Peat is not an eco-friendly ingredient because the bogs that it comes from contain all kinds of plants and animals unique to that environment.

Harvesting the peat for compost destroys that environment. Luckily, there is a lot of peat-free compost around to use instead when you start to grow chillies from seeds.

Reuse Your Plant Pots

Usually plant pots are made from plastic, especially seed trays and other smaller pots used for growing. Reusing those pots year on year and giving them away/ selling them when you’re done (or recycling them if possible) is much better for the environment than throwing them away, like 91% of all plastic that our society consumes.

You could also reduce more of your single use plastic like water bottles and yogurt pots by cutting them to size and using them as plant pots, rather than throwing them away.

To help you when you grow chillies from seeds, this handy video shows you how to make a completely self enclosed propagation pot using a water bottle.

Catch Rainwater

Rather than using tap water to water your chilli plants, you can save water by catching rain water in a water butt, bucket or tub. Not only will doing this save water, but it will probably boost your plants health as it is more pure than tap water.

Think Carefully About Pest Control

When you grow chillies from seed, they become vulnerable to pests and disease as soon as they germinate. There are lots of different sprays and products you can use to deal with those problems but many of them could be harmful to the environment.

Whilst they may be labelled as safe to use on plants grown for food, certain chemical pesticides and products contaminate the air, ground and water either immediately or eventually.

Some organic, natural pest products have also been called into question, so they can’t always be relied on. Neem oil, for example, is commonly used to kill pests on plants.

It is, however, considered by many studies as toxic to all insects, including bees and other pollinators, which is bad news for the environment.

The best thing to do to grow your chillies from seeds in a way that is eco-friendly is to do your best to avoid any pests and diseases by:

  • Keep soil moist, but not wet
  • Remove dead leaves and detritus from the plant and soil
  • Always disinfect plant pots and tools between uses
  • Rinse your plants down regularly to remove any pests by water pressure

If you have an issue with pests, you might want to look into biological pest control. Alternatively, do your research on sprays and options you have and use the least harmful product available to you.

 

Are You Ready For Chilli Planting Season?

Now you know how to grow chilli plants in a way that helps you and the planet, it’s time to use our tips and prepare for chilli planting season!

Soon enough you’ll master how to grow chillies from seeds for crop upon crop of tasty, spicy chillies this season.


Growing Pepper – Habanero Chili

Habanero Chilis

The Habanero chili is one of the worlds hottest peppers!!! The chili’s name  derived from the name of the Cuban city of La Habana, which is known as Havana in English. Although it is not the place of origin, it was frequently traded there. Mexico is the largest consumer of this spicy ingredient but its flavor and aroma have become increasingly popular all over the world.

The Habanero chili most likely originated in the Yucatán Peninsula of Mexico and even to this day the crop is most widely cultivated there. In fact about 1,500 tons of Habaneros are harvested each year in Mexico. Panama, Costa Rice and several states in the USA also grow and produce the chilly. It is often mistakenly referred to as the hottest pepper in the world and once upon a time it was until the mighty Bhut Jolokia came along! Habanero chili peppers are rated 200,000–350,000 on the Scoville scale.

 

A ripe habanero is 2–6 centimetres (0.8–2.4 in) long, 3-5cm (1 to 2 inches) in diameter and they are lantern-shaped, round or oblong. Habanero’s are green until maturity when they then turn to colours such as orange, red, white, brown, and pink.

Habaneros are similar to most other chilies and thrive in hot weather. Morning sun is ideal with slightly moist soil. In tropical regions the Habanero is one growing chilli that can produce all year round. Colder climates the plant will die off in the winter.

The Habanero’s heat, its fruity citrus-like flavor, and its floral aroma have made it a popular ingredient in hot sauces and spicy foods. In some cases, particularly in Mexico, Habaneros are placed in tequila bottles for a period ranging from several days, to several weeks, to make a spiced version of the drink.

Check out our great range of chili seeds!!

Growing Peppers – Tabasco Pepper

Tabasco Chillies

One of the world’s most recognised chillies is the Tabasco. It’s no doubt that Tabasco is most famous for the sauces that these chillies are made into. This is possible because Tabasco peppers are not dry, the inside of the fruit is wet. Tabasco chilis rate between 30,000 and 50,000 on the scoville scale.

The Tabasco plant is quite distinctive as its very bushy and unlike most chilis the Tabasco fruits grow up rather then hanging down from the stems.

The Tabasco peppers grow to about 4cm and change colour from light yellow and green to orange then eventually ripen at a bright red colour.

Characteristics of the Tabasco bush
Plant height – 4-5 feet
Stem color – Green
Leaf color – Green
Leaf size – medium
Fruit color – light yellow and green to orange and bright red at maturity
Fruit shape – long and conical
Fruit length – 4cm
Fruit width at shoulder .5 cm
Fruit surface smooth

Tabasco Planting tips

Tabasco chillis like most other chillies grow best in warmer weather. People in colder climates should plant the seeds indoors in a warm spot during the winter month. The seeds will germinate and start to grow. When the winter is over the plants can be moved outside ready for the spring and summer months.

When potting Tabasco plants make sure that there is good water drainage. They also like sandy soil conditions so don’t be afraid to add in some sand.

Regular watering is required and if ensure the Tabasco plant has good sunlight and daily watering you should see fruits appear in about 120 days.

Once you have some Tabasco chillies try to make some Tabasco sauce. A simple recipe is provided.

[ad]

Homemade Tabasco Sauce

Ingredients:
1 pound fresh red Tabasco peppers, chopped
2 cups distilled white vinegar
2 teaspoons salt
1 clove garlic (optional)
Directions:
Combine the chiles, garlic and the vinegar in a saucepan and heat. Stir in the salt and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat, cool, and place in a blender. Puree until smooth and place in a glass jar. Allow to steep for 2 weeks in the refrigerator. Remove, strain the sauce, and adjust the consistency by adding more vinegar if necessary.

Check out our great range of chili seeds!!

Grow Chilli – Peter Peppers

growing-chillies-peter-peppers

You have to see this to believe it. Peter Peppers are a conversational piece to say the least!!!!
The peter pepper chilli pods look like “a man’s private parts”. Hence why they are known as the Penis Pepper and Chili Willy.



This chilli is quite rare and comes from the southern states of Louisiana and Texas.

Peter Peppers are listed as a medium heat on the scoville scale ranking. Peter peppers are 5,000 to 30,000 Scoville Units which is hotter than Tabasco and even more hotter than the Jalapeno.

[ad]

Characteristics of the Peter Pepper Plant
Plant height up to 3 feet
Stem color Green
Leaf color Green
Fruit color at maturity green and red
Fruit shape conical
Fruit length 2-4inches
Fruit width at shoulder 1inch
Fruit surface shaped

Peter peppers seeds can be purchased and grown within 6-7 months. Germination tips, soil tips and all other growing chillies from seed guides are available from growing chillies. As with all chillies they need regular watering and plenty of sun for optimal results.

Willy Peppers Chili Pepper

Peter Peppers are a defiant must for the chilli growing enthusiast. They would make great presents for a fellow gardening enthusiast also. Purchase some peter pepper seeds today and let us know how your plant went.

Check out our great range of chili seeds!!


Hotter Than Hot: Everything You Need To Know About Growing Carolina Reaper

growing Carolina Reaper

Over the last few years the Carolina Reaper chilli has found fame as its scorching 1,569,300 score on the Scoville scale found heat seekers from allgrowing Carolina Reaper over the world wanting to see if it’s heat is really as hot as it’s famed to be.

There was that famous Carolina Reaper nacho challenge, but there are also multiple videos of people trying the chillis themselves, if you’re in the mood for seeing some suffering!

Since it found fame, the amount of people growing Carolina Reaper has soared, as gardeners old and new look to grow the world’s hottest chilli at home.

If you’re thinking of growing Carolina Reaper, there’s a lot to know to make sure your Carolina Reaper plant grows successfully.

To help you, we’ve created an easy guide to growing Carolina Reaper well, so you can enjoy your very own scorching hot chilli peppers at home:

 

Why Grow Carolina Reaper Chilli Pepper?

Growing Carolina Reaper plants is a great idea if you want to create a plant that is a bit of a legend. If you truly want the hottest of fruits, it is the plant to choose.

If you’re still not sure, here are some benefits to growing Carolina Reaper plants:

Gardening Is Good For You

Many studies tell us that gardening is incredibly good for us. Physically it gets you stretching and moving. Mentally it can decrease stress and anxiety, give you hope and help you with mindfulness. Growing Carolina Reaper plants is just as beneficial as nurturing a whole veggie patch too, because it’s still gardening.

Chilli Peppers Are Good For You

Chilli pepper, like those grown on the Carolina Reaper plant, is known to be really good for you, offering benefits such as; reducing headache pain, helping reduce non-allergic rhinitis symptoms, boosting your metabolism and even soothing arthritis, to name a few.

If You Want To Grow The Hottest Chilli Pepper, This Is The One

The reason that we know Carolina Reaper plant pepper is the hottest is because it is measured with the Scoville Scale. The Scoville Scale was named after Wilbur L. Scoville who made the test whilst trying to find a chilli to use in a warming topical skin cream.

The scale actually focuses on how much Capsaicin is in a chilli pepper, which is the part of the pepper that causes the sweating, burning and general discomfort.

As Carolina Reaper reaches on average 1.5 million on the Scoville Scale, it is currently the hottest pepper currently grown and requires latex or plastic gloves to handle it safely.

There Are Multiple Recipes To Enjoy With Carolina Reaper

You can use Carolina Reaper plant pepper as it is in recipes, but it is generally best used in preserves and sauces. We particularly love this 25 year old hot sauce recipe and this Carolina Reaper plant chilli recipe. You can also experiment integrating it into meals and sides you usually make.

You’ll Probably Do Well Selling Them

The Carolina Reaper plant pepper is still famed for being the hottest pepper, which means many people still want to try it. So if you do intend to sell your produce locally, or even do produce swaps, your Carolina Reaper chillies will probably do really well. Everybody wants to try the famously hot chilli!

 

Top Tips For Growing Carolina Reaper Peppers Well

If you do feel ready to start growing Carolina Reaper peppers, here are some useful tips to help you grow a healthy Carolina Reaper plant:

Start Indoors First

You should grow your Carolina Reaper plant indoors in potting soil for the first six weeks (in a poly tunnel, greenhouse or at home) before you put it in its permanent growing position.

Don’t worry if the seeds haven’t germinated right away as it can take up to a month or more with the Carolina Reaper plant.

To speed up germination, some people swear by freezing the seeds a few days before planting, which mimics the winter to spring temperature change and can spur the seeds to start growing. Another great tip is to soak the seeds in tepid brewed black tea for half an hour before planting, as it softens the seeds up and again makes it more likely for the germination process to happen.

Keep Your Seeds Safe

Carolina Reaper plant seeds can sometimes cost a lot of money, and you may well want to keep some aside until you have your own fruits to take seeds from. To keep unplanted seeds safe, keep them in a dry, dark place that doesn’t see any huge temperature changes.

Ensure Good Drainage

All plants do well with good drainage, but it is especially important when growing a Carolina Reaper plant. A clear drainage hole, lots of horticultural grit and regularly emptied trays are important to prevent root rot and disease.

Pick A Sunny Spot

Whether indoors or outdoors a Carolina Reaper plant requires full sun for 10-12 hours a day and temperatures 20 degrees Celsius or higher in the day and no lower than 10 degrees Celsius at night. Most people grow chillies indoors so that they get the warmth and sun that is needed.

Fertilise With Consideration

So many gardeners disagree over when and how much to fertilise a Carolina Reaper plant. The fact is that they don’t need to be fertilised more than twice. Once when the seedlings are planted in their final space, and once when the fruits begin to appear.

However, many gardeners swear by using special types of fertiliser at different times and they get good results.

For that reason, when you start growing Carolina Reaper plants it is best to do your own research on fertilisation so that you can decide the best approach for your particular plants.

As long as you fertilise sparingly and with consideration, you’re at a much lower risk of burning your plants through fertilising too much.

Prune With Fruit Abundance In Mind

There are certain pruning methods that tend to produce better yields of peppers when growing Carolina Reaper plants, or other hot chilli peppers.

This video takes you through the process of pruning your Carolina Reaper plant step by step to get the best possible fruit yield.

 

Are You Ready To Start Growing Carolina Reaper Peppers?

If you now feel ready to start growing Carolina Reaper in your home, follow our tips above and have fun! If your first attempt at growing Carolina Reaper fails, you can always try again.

Soon enough, you’ll have plenty of scorching hot Carolina Reaper fruits to enjoy in your recipes keeping things truly spicy in your home kitchen!

5 Red Chilli Plant Recipes To Spice Up Your Kitchen

Red Chilli Plant

Are you growing a lush red chilli plant?

If you are, you have no doubt been delighted with the process of growing your own spicy, hot fruits.Red Chilli Plant

Even more exciting is the next step – using your yummy home grown produce!

There’s a world of tastiness ahead with meals, drinks and snacks featuring your very own super hot pepper as the star of the show.

To inspire you to use your red chilli plant produce in your home cooking, here are 5 delicious recipes that make the most of your red chilli plant fruits:

1.   Chilli Pepper & Tomato Pasta

This recipe creates a delicious spicy sauce that you can batch cook and freeze for use at a later date. It’s perfect for pasta, but can also be used with rice, as a base for stews and even watered down with stock and enjoyed as soup.

Serves 2

Ingredients:

  • Two tins of plum or chopped tomatoes
  • Crushed garlic cloves (to taste)
  • One large finely chopped onion
  • One vegetable stock cube
  • One super hot pepper from your red chilli plant (finely chopped)
  • Pinch of salt and pepper
  • A TBSP of cooking oil & olive oil for drizzling
  • Two servings of your pasta of choice

Method:

  • Heat your cooking oil in a frying pan on a medium heat before adding your super hot pepper, onion and garlic.
  • At the same time, boil your pasta as per the packet instructions, drain and cover when cooked.
  • In your frying pan cook the ingredients until the onions are translucent. If the garlic begins to catch, add a little bit of water to the pan.
  • Once the garlic, onions and super hot pepper have cooked down add the tinned tomatoes and crumble the stock cube in. Allow to cook down for at least ten minutes on a low to medium heat so the mixture is bubbling.
  • After around 10-15 minutes the mixture should be thick and saucy. You can always add some water to thin it down. You can now season the sauce to taste with salt and pepper.
  • Add the drained pasta to the frying pan and mix the pasta and sauce together.
  • Serve up on a plate or bowl with a few splashes of olive oil.
  • To jazz the dish up you can also sprinkle dried chilli flakes, cheese and fresh basil when serving.


2.   Chilli Chocolate Avocado Mousse

This recipe is a fantastic option if you need a vegan, gluten free dessert for your family, or guests to enjoy. It’s also very easy to make, so it impresses without exhausting your cooking skills or free time.

Serves 4

Ingredients:

  • Two medium avocados that are ripe (find out how to check the ripeness of avocados here) with the flesh scooped out
  • ½ cup of dark vegan cocoa powder
  • 3-4 TBSP soya milk or dairy free milk
  • ½ TSP vanilla extract
  • A pinch of salt
  • ¼ cup vegan suitable liquid sweetener such as agave
  • 1 super hot chilli chopped into thin slivers or slices if the pepper is thick. If it is thin and/ or small in size you can dry it whole.

Method:

  • Preheat the oven to around 180 degrees
  • Place the chilli from your red chilli plant on a non-stick oven sheet or tray and allow to dry in the oven for at least four hours. It makes sense to do this with a batch of multiple peppers to save energy. If you haven’t done this before, here’s a video to show you how to dry your red chilli plant
  • Place one of your dried chillies chopped into small pieces into the blender along with all the other ingredients and blend in full until you can no longer see any green from the avocado.
  • Place into ramekins or small bowls in the fridge and allow to set for a few hours (ideally overnight).
  • Serve with one of your dried chillies on top (for display) and a few vegan chocolate chips or a square of dark vegan chocolate on top.

3.   Spicy Sauerkraut

Sauerkraut is incredibly delicious, but Healthline tells us it is also incredibly nutritious too, so it’s a great recipe choice when it comes to making the most of your red chilli plant fruits.

Ingredients:

  • One medium white or savoy cabbage roughly shredded
  • 2 TBSP good-quality salt (IE not table salt)
  • 1 large white onion roughly chopped and shredded
  • 1 grated carrot
  • 1 large super hot pepper from your red chilli plant finely chopped
  • 1 TBSP mustard seeds

You will also need a sterile jar with a lid to put the sauerkraut in.

Method:

  • In a bowl mix together the cabbage, carrot, chilli pepper, salt, onion and mustard seeds.
  • Massage the mixture until the veggies soften and water is released into the bottom of the bowl.
  • Put the veggies into your sterilised jar, squishing it down until all veggies are underneath the juices that have been released.
  • Leave at least an inch of space at the top of the jar for expansion.
  • Seal the jar with a lid and leave in a room/ cupboard without any extreme temperatures or direct sunlight.
  • After a few weeks the fermentation process will be well underway and you can eat the sauerkraut. You will want to pop it in the fridge at this point, and eat it up within 4-6 months if you ensure it stays bacteria free (sealing the lid after use and using clean utensils to serve it).

4.   Chilli Martini

For a little grown up fun, this chilli martini is a spicy, yummy twist on the traditional martini cocktail.

Serves 1

Ingredients:

  • 1 super hot chilli from your red chilli plant striped of seeds
  • 1 TBSP of sugar and water mix (in equal parts)
  • 1 generous shot of vodka
  • 2 shots of pineapple juice
  • Half a cup of ice

Method:

  • If you have a cocktail shaker, shake the chilli and sugar/ water mix together. If you don’t, mix them well together in a jar or glass.
  • Add the vodka and pineapple juice to the chilli and sugar/ water mix.
  • Mix everything together either stirring or shaking well for around half a minute.
  • Strain or sieve the mixture into a nice glass, adding sugar to the wet rim of the glass if desired.
  • Garnish with one of your chillis split and placed on the side of the glass.

5.   Sun Dried Tomato Chilli Ketchup

This recipe is a great option if you want to stretch the use of your red chilli plant produce and enjoy their flavour time and time again.

Ingredients:

  • 1 TBSP of any flavourless oil
  • 1 super hot chilli from your red chilli plant, chopped
  • 4 TBSP tomato purée
  • 2 TBSP paprika
  • ⅓ cup red wine vinegar
  • ¼ cup brown sugar
  • 1 TSP good quality salt
  • 1 TSP black pepper
  • 2 cups of ripe tomatoes
  • Chopped garlic cloves (amount to taste)
  • ½ TSP hot chilli powder
  • A few sun dried tomatoes

Method:

  • Heat the oil in a saucepan or deep frying pan on a medium heat.
  • Cook the onion, garlic and chilli until the onion is translucent, then add the tomatoes, tomato purée, chilli powder, paprika, salt, pepper and cook until thick (about 15 minutes).
  • Blend the tomato mixture with the sun dried tomatoes, vinegar and sugar and cook for 15 more minutes.
  • Allow to cool, covered.
  • Decant into a sterilised jar with a lid and place in the fridge.
  • Use the ketchup within around 4 weeks.

What Will You Cook With Your Super Hot Chillies?

Hopefully our above recipes have you feeling incredibly inspired to make all kinds of yummy meals and drinks with your spicy fruits. Before long, you’ll wonder how you even ate before you grew your own red chilli plants!

Bon Appétit!


Growing Chillies – Bhut Jolokia Worlds Hottest Pepper – Part 2

Bhut Jolokia Plant
Bhut Jolokia Sprouts
Bhut Jolokia Sprouts

After a long week wait and constant watering the Bhut Jolokia Seeds a single sprout emerged. I was a bit upset to see just 1. After reading my notes on the plant I then decided to leave the sprout and seeds as is and watered waiting for more sprouts to hopefully emerge. I’m glad I did because as the days past I noticed more and more green shoots popping out of the soil. Our Bhut Jolokia plants life has begun.

In fact these leaf looking things are called cotyledons which is part of the seed and serve as food sources until true leaves form. While the plant has no true leaves its not ready to move. I waited another week before i started to notice true leaves growing.

While the chili plant is growing its true leaves the cotyledons are no longer needed, therefor it will die and drop off. This is when the plant begins to photosynthesis (the process that converts carbon dioxide into organic nutarians, using the energy from sunlight) so the sprout container must be moved into a sunny area.

Once the sprouts are healthy with 4 leaves its time for the next big step. We must transplant the young chili trees into their adolescent pots. Choose a pot that is 3-5 inches tall. This will be the plants home for the next couple of months and will allow the growing chili plant to establish a solid root system and grow.

Transplanting a chili plant is delicate work as they are quite fragile especially at this young age. Ensure you minimize the root disturbance when you are separating the sprouts and if there is too much of a tangle it is best to choose the strongest looking ones and chop the other sprout. Do not transplant during the hottest part of the day, pick a cool time such as late afternoon.

Once the chili plants are setup in their new pot and had a few days to settle down fertilization is essential. Use a balanced fertilizer preferably one high in nitrogen and potassium, to encourage good roots and healthy growth.

Going forward the plant should be slowly introduced to full sunlit conditions. The Bhut Jolokia plant will need lots of sunlight and a daily watering. The next step we will need to take is move the plant to a bigger pot but this wont be for 2-3 months.

Follow my steps for transplanting your seedlings.Bhut Jolokia Sprouts

1. Ensure you have setup some new pots for the young plants, they should be about 3-5inches tall to accommodate a few months of growing. It needs to be filled with a good potting mix with plenty of drainage.
2. Loosen the soil that is currently holding the chili plants, do so by squeezing the containers sides. Once loose enough you should be able to carefully tip out the young chilli sprouts.
3. Thin the sprouts if you can but be gentle, if you cant separate the chili sprouts your better off cutting the less healthy looking ones then damaging the roots of all.
4. Only handle the leaves of the chillie plant, the stem is very fragile and if injured will end the plants life, leaves will always grow back.
5. Make a hole in the soil of the new pots with your finger big enough for the sprouts to be placed in. Carefully move the chili sprouts into the new pot and lightly pack the soil in so the plant is held firmly and in a upright position.
6. Water the plant well and and put in a calm but sunny place.
7. A week later fertinilise with a high in nitrogen and potassium product.

Bhut Jolokia Plant

How to Grow Chillies – Bhut Jolokia Worlds Hottest Pepper – Part 1

Bhut Jolokia

This guide will follow the exact steps I took to grow the Bhut Jolokia. From obtaining the chili seeds to harvesting the first fruit. It should take 4-6 months for the process to be complete and we encourage you to join along with your favorite hot chili.

Thanks to Auki Henry co-founder of HighRPM and the maker of How to make a cosmopolitan for his kind donation of the Bhut Jolokia chili. A nice big fat chili was given to me to remove the seeds and start the growing chili process.

The first step was to cut the chili in half to get the Bhut Jolokia seeds. Great care was taken not to get the chili oils or seeds on my hands. Handling was done from the stem only and a sharp knife was used to remove the bhut jolokia seeds. This was a simple process which involved cutting the chili in half then cutting out the seeds.

WARNING: the Bhut Jonokia / Naga Jonokia is the world’s hottest pepper. The Scoville Scale rating is 1million Scoville Units. Extreme care must be taken to prevent contact with the eyes and other sensitive areas. Handing the chili or the seeds should be avoided and if you need to do so wear disposable gloves.

Bhut JolokiaOnce the seeds were extracted from the chili we had to soak them in water for 20min. This will make the seed softer and water the inner seed to start the growing process.

Once the seeds were nice and wet they were ready to plant. We simply used a plastic cup filled with normal potting soil to germinate the seeds. We placed the seeds in the cup and covered them with no more then 5-10mm of soil. We watered the seeds well and ensured all the soil was moist. Keeping the soil moist in the next week or so is vital. The seeds need water to grow and the seeds must stay soft so that the sprout can break out and start to grow.Bhut Jolokia

for the germination process we recommend placing the chili seeds in the most warm and humid location as possible, but not in direct sunlight.

We hope to have half a dozen sprouts penetrate the soil in the next 7-10 days. Please return to the site to see the next installment.

Happy chili growing readers.