Overwintering Chillies – Update 2

Back in mid October I prepared my chilli plants for overwintering.  I chose 9 plants in total; 2 varieties of habanero, 1 birds eye, 1 apache, 1 Bulgarian Carrot and 1 Super Chilli F1. They were all chopped back so that only about 5 inches of the stem remained and they were moved inside onto a south facing window sill in the living room.

Because I didn’t plant any seeds  until March this year, some of the plants had only just started to fruit so taking them through the winter seemed like an ideal way to get the most out of the plants by letting them fruit into a second year.

In my  last update in mid November the plants had burst back into life. Well i can report that they have continued to do so. In fact so much so that some of the plants are flowering again! It will be interesting to see if any of them produce any fruit. The main reason they have come back to life i am sure is because of the constant warm temperatures they now get on their sunny living room window sill.

At this stage i am unsure whether to leave them be or to cut them back again to try and help them conserve energy and go dormant for a month or two. What I am going to do is leave about half the plants as they are and re trim the remainder back to about 5 inches above the stem.

I’ll report back on the progress in another month or so. I’d be interested to hear about your success (or not) stories about over wintering chillies.

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Top 10 Chilli Christmas Present Ideas

With Christmas fast approaching the annual scratching of heads and wondering what presents to buy your family and friends begins. We’ve tried to help this year by selecting our top 10 presents for the chilli addicts in your life. If you are stuck for ideas this year you’re sure to find some hot inspiration below!

1. Chilli Growing Kit

These little chilli growing kits make great stocking fillers. Whether you are buying for a seasoned chilli growing professional or a complete newbie these kits are a great fun and easy way to grow edible chilli peppers with minimal fuss or mess. Great for kids and adults alike!

Inside is everything you need to grow your own chillies next year (not just one but 5 varieties!). Inside you get 5 varieties of seeds, pots, compost, labels and and information booklet full of advice and tips to help you grow them.

Once you get one be sure to check out our chilli growing guides to make sure you look after your chilli plants as well as possible.

2. Chilli King T-ShirtChilli King Tshirt

Do you have a Chilli King in your family? Or maybe someone that thinks they are?! If you do then one of our famous chilli king T shirts would make the perfect stocking filler.

We stock various sizes (S,M,L,XL) and ship the same day. Click here to buy one now.

3. Chilli Lights for the Xmas Tree

If you want to spice up your Christmas then these chilli pepper fairy lights are a great way to add some heat to the festivities in your house.

Whether you use them at Christmas to help light up the Christmas tree or throughout the year to decorate your home and provide some ambient lighting these fairy lights make a great subtly addition to any home. Ours never fail to grab the attention of guests when they see out christmas tree!

Each set measure over 2m in length (perfect for the xmas tree) and contains 20 individual chilli pepper lights.

Note: For indoor use only!

4. Chilli Pepper Jigsaw

This is the ideal christmas present to help you keep the family chilli head entertained for a few hours. This 300 piece chilli jigsaw (measuring 48cm x 30cm) is not the easiest to complete, it kept us going at Chilliking HQ for far longer than we anticipated!

You’ve probably seen baked bean jigsaws before, well this is the chilli version. It’s best to try and complete this jigsaw sitting down because after a while looking at all of the pieces you can get a bit dizzy!

Note: This will keep your kids and chillihead quiet for hours on Christmas Day!

5. Dwarf Chilli Pepper Plant

Not only do these little chilli pepper plants look great but they produce fully edible Apache chillies. The plants come in a stylish metal pail making them ideal house plants. Forget about buying your loved one roses, she’ll much prefer one of these cute little chilli plants!

Contrary to what many people believe chilli plants (especially compact varieties such as apache) make ideal house plants. So long as you have a warm windowsill these little plants should make it through until next summer no problem!

6. Chilli Pepper Apron

These great chilli aprons are made from 100% cotton and are ideal for the budding chilli chef. Complete with a front pocket and adjustable neck tie this chilli apron will help protect your clothes from that bubbling hot pot of chili con carne!

These aprons are fully machine washable and make a great addition to any chilli heads wardrobe so why not buy one for the chilli head in your life!

Note: Next time you get told off for making a mess when sorting out your chilli harvest you can simpley point and smile at the apron!

7. Chilli Pepper Magnetic Fridge Pen

This is a great stocking filler for any spice addict in your life. This magnetic fridge pen is ideal to keep on the fridge and use to make vital shopping lists.

Once you’ve got one of these you’ll never forget to buy that bottle of tabasco from the supermarket again!

In fact we were so impressed we bought a few of these: our best use so far has to be in the car where it sticks nicely to the inside of the door panel!!

8. Chilli Pepper Storage Jar

Designed by Stefano Giovannoni these spice storage jars are a superb way to correctly store your harvested chillies.

Thanks to the translucent design and cute little chilli pepper sitting on top you’ll never forget which jar in the cupboard has your chillies in it again.

We liked these jars so much we bought a few of them and use them not just for our dried chillies in the kitchen but also to store our chilli seeds in! They are ideal for this as they keep the moisture and extreme temperatures away from the delicate seeds.

9. Chilli Pepper Mill

We wrote about the popularity of these chilli flake grinders on the blog back in September.

These mills are made by the renowned manufacturer Cole & Mason who offer a lifetime guarantee on all of their products.

This particular type differs from your regular salt and pepper mill as it sits upside down on your table.

Made from high quality crystal clear acrylic with a red soft touch band and with an easily adjustable ceramic spring loaded mechanism this makes a stylish yet practical addition to any table.

Note: Definitely looks a bit smarter than an old bottle of tabasco sitting on the dinner party table!

10. Chilli Drier / DehydratorPepper Mill

Last but by no means least our these great Food Deydrators. If you are serious about preserving your chillies then why not treat yourself to one of these contraptions.

Drying chillies can be a tricky process risking either mould and rotting fruit if done in natural air or burning them to a crisp if using the oven. Drying chillies with one of these dehydrators could not be simpler. Simple load up the trays, switch it on and come back in a few hours.

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Overwintering Chillies – Update 1

November 9, 2009

Well it has been almost a month since i brought my chilli plants inside to overwinter them. As you can see from the photographs below they have burst back into life since i chopped them back in the middles of October.
There are two main reasons the plants have sprung back to life:

Heat: The plants have [...]

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Preparing To Over Winter Chillies

October 11, 2009

Now that it looks like winter is fast approaching, i thought it was about time i started preparing some of my plants for the winter. As mentioned in our over wintering chillies article most chillies are not annuals as most people think. By taking your chilli plants you can get a massive head start on [...]

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How To Make Chilli Powder

October 8, 2009

We’ve had a couple of emails lately from people asking how to make chilli powder so we thought we’d put together a bit of a guide. Below is a summary of the main chilli powder ingredients used and instructions telling you how to make your own powder.
Making Chilli Powder
First of all you need to wash [...]

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How To Ripen Chillies

October 6, 2009

A question we are getting asked all of the time at this time of year is how to speed up the ripening process that occurs naturally in your chillies.
In nature the two things that help your chilli peppers ripen are a constant warm temperature and long sunny days (lot of light). As summer fades away [...]

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The Best Bread Recipe Ever

September 29, 2009

Ok, so first up apologies this recipe has no chillies in (yet!). I’ve been trying to find the time to experiment making chillie bread from this recipe but have simply been too busy over the last couple of weeks. I’ve been itching to post this bread recipe as it is incredibly easy, there is no [...]

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Chili Grinder – Spice Up Your Dining Table

September 16, 2009

A couple of years ago my sister gave us a chilli grinder. I’m not sure where she got it but it was essentially a clear pepper mill that was filled with dried chilli flakes. We simply leave it on the dining table alongside the salt and pepper as we tend to spice most of our [...]

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When are my chilli peppers ripe?

August 18, 2009

One of the questions we are constantly asked is how do you know when your peppers are ripe and ready to be picked? Well in this post we’ll try and give you a few pointers to help you pick your chillies at the right time so you can maximize both the flavor and yield of [...]

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Aphids on Chilli Pepper Plants – How I Solved The Problem

June 30, 2009

About a week ago i noticed that one of my plants (an orange habanero) was infested with aphids.
Aphids (sometimes called green plant lice) are small (usually, though  they can vary in size quite a bit) green insects that feed on plants mainly in temperate regions. They quickly multiply and can be very destructive, usually feeding [...]

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