Over the last few years of growing chillies by far the most common pest my plants have faced have been aphids. Over the last few years I’ve posted about how to treat an aphid infestation so this year i thought it was about time i was a bit more proactive and attempted to take preventative measure rather than  reactive ones!

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Having done a bit of research I’ve put together a little plan to help avoid having issues with aphids this year.

1. Keep growing area open

In the past I’ve grown most of my plants indoors either in the house or in a conservatory. I found that once i got an aphid infestation in such an environment it was very hard to get rid of. The main reason being that the aphids natural predators (bugs such as lady birds and hover flies) don’t have access to the plants when inside.

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Obviously if the weather allows I’ll aim to keep as many plants as possible outside in the fresh air. That said as our Great British summer offers us spells of high winds and or colder temperatures I’ll inevitably have to move a portion of the plants indoors.

To combat the indoor infestations I’ll try and leave as many of the windows open in the chilli house in order to allow the predates equal access to the plants as the aphids. Luckily the conservatory I grow most of my plants in has many windows that can open fully.

2. Plant some marigolds

French marigolds are well known for their ability to help control aphids. Firstly they attract natural predators such as hover flies which will help avoid any infestations setting in. Secondly they are said to give off a chemical that acts as a natural repellent for the aphids.

These brightly colored flowers are usually readily available as plugs or small plants in most garden centers however to keep costs down and get as many marigolds as possible I’ve decided to grow my own from seed this year.

image by brangal

Marigolds are fairly straight forward to grow – just sow the seeds in fine moist compost and keep them at about 18 degrees until they germinate. Once they reach 5-10 cm tall prick them out and pot into individual pots, window boxes or borders. As will most plants it is well worth taking a couple of weeks to harden the plants off before moving them outside or into a cold greenhouse.

3. Lady Bird Nests

Another easy method to attract ladybirds (which love to feast on aphids) is to put up some ladybird nest boxes in the garden. The way i see it the more lady birds i can attract, the less chance of my having any issues with aphids.

The proof of the pudding was last summer when i spent about 20 minutes watching the ladybird above demolish an infestation of  aphids on one of my plants.

4. Sacrificial Planting

Another method I’m considering is using some sacrificial planting. This involves planting some plants nearby that aphids love, the idea being they’ll head there as opposed to onto my chillies. This seems a bit counter intuitive as there is always the risk they’ll head over to my chilli plants as they breed and infest the sacrificial plants.

I’ve left it a little late this year but I’ve finally got round to setting up my grow lights. The term grow lights can intimidate some chilli growers but hopefully in this post I’ll be able to explain that lighting setups need not be complicated or expensive while being of massive benefit to the hot pepper grower.

Since my first batch of seedlings germinated I’ve had them in my light box which is rigged up with 2 x 16 watts fluorescent tubes. Now that the plants have been re-potted i thought it right that i get them under my more powerful Compact Florescent Light CFL.

The light I use is  125 Watt CFL Purple Nuturlite. It delivers light at the both ends of the spectrum.

Previously only blue and Red CFLs were available. Blue bulbs are great for encouraging early foliage growth in young seedlings while red bulbs were used for encouraging flowering. Now purple bulbs (like the ones I use) cover both ends of the spectrum so seem like the obvious choice.

It’s worth noting that in order to set and ripen fruit plant require light from the other end of the spectrum so if you’re planning to grow your chillies fully indoors you should really look at investing in a HID system. I use lights to just get a head start on the season. Once the plant get near flowering I  like to get them under the suns natural rays to take care of fruiting!

125 Watt Nurturlite

Grow light set ups need not be particularly expensive. I’ve had mine a few years now so I had a quick look on the internet to see what the going rates are these days. Here is a quick run down of the cost of comparable kit i use:

• 1 x CFL 125 Watt bulb (£23 from Amazon)
• 1 x Reflector (£40 from Amazon including a ballast!)
• 1 x Ballast (£11 from Amazon)

Of course you can save money by just buying the bulb and ballast. You could simply hang the bulb vertically above the plants though the efficiency will be less as light will be wasted by not having the light parallel to the plants.

Another solution is to build your own reflector out of stiff card or ply board covered in aluminum foil which will be grate at reflecting the light back onto the plants.

The ‘Build’

I had wanted to put a bit more love into this set up but a couple of things have stopped me. Firstly I’ve been so busy recently and really just need to get the plants under the lights as soon as possible in order to get my plants as developed as possible before the summer arrives. Secondly I’m not sure where the permanent position will be for the grow lights in the house. Both of these factors mean that for this year I’ve settled for a temporary solution.

After looking around i decided the easiest and most convenient place for the grow lights (for now) is under a table in the chilli house (a stand alone conservatory). Firstly it’s out of the house so I’ll no longer be cluttering up the kitchen with trays of seedlings plus I’ll quickly be able to move the plants to the table top each morning so they can benefit from natural sunlight during the day, before moving them back under the lights at night.

These lighting set ups are pretty simple really. First the ballast attaches to the reflector and is the part that you screw the bulb into. This is attached to the reflector which naturally bounces as much light as possible down onto the plants. In this case I simply attached the reflector to the under side of the table with the help of some garden wire.

Reflector with ballast attached

The reflector i bought came with two reel hangers that easily allow me to adjust the hieght of the light. This is great as I can quickly raiise the bulb hieght as the plants grow allowing me to maintain the optimum bulb to plant distance (about 10cm in my opinion).

I found some old squares of roof insulation quilt in the shed that i’ve simply placed behind and at the sides of the setup. This will have two benefits; firstly it will help insulate the plants and keep them warm at night and secondly the reflective surface will help reflect even more of the light back onto the plants.

Over next winter i intend to build a more solid light box incorporating a small fan for ventilation, insulation and a fully reflective lining. Fans not only help keep the temperatures down (useful if your grow room/box is fully sealed unlike mine) but also help the plants to grow healthy strong stems.

The fact that i am now using a more powerful light, combined with the fact that the setup is in a standalone conservatory (and not part of the house) means i’ll need to pay more attention to the temperature the plants are in. I’ll aim to keep the night time temperature above 12 degrees by using a regular greenhouse heater. Any lower than this and the plants can go into shock and cease growing for a few weeks.

When the sun is out it can get very hot in the conservatory during the day. In addition the fact that it is not attached to the house (and central heating system) means it can also quickly gets cold at night, even with the heater. To help minimize any risks I keep a basic min/max thermometer in with the plants and check the temperatures at least twice a day. Also keeping an eye on the weather forecast is essential so i can pre-empt any extreme changes in the temperature.

Over the next 4 weeks or so I should see a massive burst of growth from the chilli plants. This should mean that by mid may when the weather is consistently hotter and the days longer I’ll no longer require the grow lights and will have fully matured plants ready to fruit just as the weather is perfect.