Afer waiting an age all of those pods are now ripening thick and fast. I’ve just had a quick whip round and harvested this little lot. Roughly from left to right there are some Cayennes, Aji Lemon, littele Demon Reds, 1 x Moruga Scorpian, Chocolate Habanero, Orange Rocoto, F1 Medina and Super Chilli F1.
As you can see above some of the Chinense varieties and the super hots are starting to ripen. So far most of the fruits produced have been the annums and F1 varieties. That said i’ll soon have a glut of Chocolate Habaneros and Moruga Scorpians within the next few days. Elsewhere the Naga Jolokia are still showing no signs of turning…
By far the most productive plants this year has been this Aji Lemon that i’ve kept just inside the conservatory….
To date this plant has produced just over 60 ripe pods and it is showing no signs of slowing down. I’ll definitely be growing them again next year as the flavour from these pods is great. Interestingly i’ve got another plant of the same variety growing in the sunniest spot of the garden which has only produced 5 ripe pods – just goes to show what a difference growing chillies under glass makes when it comes to yields.
I had a bit of a disaster after getting back form holiday last night. While inspecting my plants and feeling rather pleased that all were in good health with lots of ripe pods to pick I noticed that the Dorset Naga plant had taken a bit of a battering in the wind.
The wind combined with the weight of the pods on it meant that it was leaning heavily to one side and looked like it needed staking. Unfortunately as i lifted the main stem ready to steak it snapped clean off at the base.
The only thing left to do was to salvage any unripe pods off the damaged plant and remember to stake my outdoor plants much earlier and better next year.
Fortunately though chilli pods can be used while still green or unripe so some of this haul will be eaten over the coming couple of weeks. Some will probably ripen through to red on a sunny windowsill and the rest will be frozen for use over the winter.
Inside the chilli house the plants are looking nice and healthy. On the left in a terracotta pot is an Orange Rocoto that is flowering but hasn’t set any pods yet. In the quadgrow from left to right is a Moruga Scorpian, Red Scotch Bonnet, Chocolate Habanero and Cayenne. All four plants have plenty of developed pods on them but but none have ripened yet.
The chilli house isn’t south facing so doesn’t get that much direct sun, just a few hours in the morning. Despite that i usually get plenty of ripe pods and using the self watering quadgrows really helps things speed along.
Above are some unripe chocolate habanero and red scotch bonnets. The bottom shot shows the Moruga Scorpian looking mean with it’s wrinkled skin. These chillies look so hot when they’re ripe. I can’t wait until they’re ready.
