A summer heatwave is ideal for chillies
Image source: Nic Wilson
It’s been a hot year in the greenhouse and the chillies have enjoyed every sweltering second. Sown in early January, they developed into sturdy seedlings by March and were ready to go out in the greenhouse by late May. I chose fewer varieties of chilli seeds this year in an effort to fit all my plants in the available space alongside the cucumbers, tomatoes, basil and cucamelons, and it worked – just!
Best chilli varieties to grow at home
A jar of pickled chillies to enjoy over the winter
Image source: Nic Wilson
I picked varieties based on their heat, flavour and uses – some for chillies and curries, some for our spicy homemade chilli jam and pickles, some for their ornamental value, and others for stuffing.
‘Prairie Fire’, described as an ‘ornamental edible’, and the stunning ‘Numex Twilight’ add interest to the kitchen windowsill or patio table with their upturned chillies ripening from green through cream, yellow, orange, red and purple. They produce hot fruit – great for curries and for extra-spicy jam.
‘Hot Lemon’ is an attractive variety with prolific yellow fruits and an aromatic citrus flavour. It suffuses my pickled chilli liqueur with a sweet tang, works well in Thai soups, and is delicious stuffed with cream cheese for those with an adventurous, heat-loving palate. Another prolific cropper this year is ‘Joe’s Long’. My plants have produced many long fruits which look like curled cayennes and are fabulous dried and hung in the kitchen ready for winter chillies, stews and broths.
Chillies to bake
Sweeter, mellow-flavoured chillies are ideal for stuffing and baking
Image source: Nic Wilson
Baked chillies stuffed with cream cheese is one of my favourite autumn suppers: for this I tend to use varieties with sweet, fruity flavours and less heat. The mellow ‘Hungarian Hot Wax’ and the mild but flavoursome ‘Trinidad Perfume’ are particular favourites, along with ‘Ubatuba’ and ‘Bolsa de Dulce’ (both Capsicum baccatum rather than the more common Capsicum annuum). Baccatum means ‘berrylike’ and ‘Bolsa de Dulce’ translates as ‘bag of sweetness’.
This variety certainly produces fragrant, large fruits rather like sweet peppers but more aromatic and productive, and we’ve had more chillies from these varieties this year than ever before.
Try a chilli tree
Chillies come in a variety of colours, shapes, heat levels and harvesting times
Image source: Nic Wilson
Tree chillies (Capsicum pubescens) are an another unusual type that require a long growing period and plenty of heat to mature. I grow ‘Albertos Locoto’ and use the extremely hot fruits for baking, frying or slicing into salads, as they work best fresh.
One advantage of tree chillies is that they tolerate lower temperatures which means they’re well suited to over-wintering and can continue fruiting for up to fifteen years. I’ve had tree chillies in the house fruiting on Christmas Day in previous years.
Extend the chilli growing season
The glossy dark ‘Hungarian Black’ chilli ripens to a scarlet red
Image source: Nic Wilson
It’s possible to kick start the fruiting season early by growing varieties like ‘Vampire’, and ‘Hungarian Black’. These dramatic chillies have deep purple flowers and relatively mild, Jalapeno-shaped fruits with an eye-catching purple-black shine. They both begin fruiting in July, so by growing these attractive plants alongside tree chillies, it’s possible to extend the fruiting season significantly.
We have a busy few weeks ahead: drying and pickling our chillies, and preserving them in jams to make the most of the bounty brought on by the hot weather. And, as the nights draw in, I’ll be sitting at the kitchen table with a plate of baked chillies, leafing through the seed catalogues, happily concocting my fiery chilli plans for next year…
Head over to our dedicated chillies and sweet peppers hub page for growing inspiration and more fantastic articles on these fiery fruits.
Nic Wilson is a writer, garden designer and Garden Media Guilds Awards nominee (Beth Chatto Environmental Award, 2019). She enjoys growing flowers and unusual fruit, vegetables and herbs, and loves to encourage nature into the garden. She blogs at www.dogwooddays.net, and Guardian Country Diarist based in North Hertfordshire.
She works for BBC Gardeners’ World Magazine and her writing has featured in anthologies, journals and magazines including The English Garden, The Garden (RHS Magazine), BBC Wildlife Magazine and the John Clare Society Journal.
Hi, the leaves are wilting…is that because it’s too cold?
Hello again – it’s probably a watering issue – check the compost and root ball for moisture levels. If it’s dry and the leaves are wilting then you need to water it sparingly. However, bear in mind that overwatering can also cause the leaves to wilt. So if the root ball is wet and the leaves are wilting then you have overwatered it!
My capsicum pubescens is still in flower I’ve brought it indoors and put it on the kitchen windowsill. Which is next to the door (draught) Will it survive without much heat?
Thanks,
Lucy
Hello Lucy – yes it is perfectly possible to overwinter perennial Capsicums – although there is a bit of a fine art to it! You want to keep it somewhere indoors where the temperature doesn’t fall below about 10C – so your kitchen windowsill should be plenty warm enough. Think of your plant as going into a dormant state – keep it on the cool and dry side – it will survive without heat providing you don’t give it too much water. Your Capsicum will just ‘sit’ over the winter, not putting on growth but just resting. So it won’t need much at all in the way of water and definitely no fertilser. If you water it too much when it isn’t in active growth the root ball will start to rot. The compost should remain dryish until spring when your plant will begin to wake up with increased temperatures and day light hours. As it kick starts into growth, you can then start to slowly give it a little more water and a little fertiliser. Good luck!
Ok, great, thankyou