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12 Tips on Growing Hot Chilli Peppers in a Cold Climate

Tecwyn Twmffat

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Tecwyn Twmffat
Goat Industries

Follow

303

Bio: I live on an island in the Irish sea

called Ynys Mon which was once inhabited
by the Romans, the Vikings and is still
inhabited by Druids. Me, I'm just a bloke
who likes inventing things and doing
the...read more

If anybody reading this has actually tasted my cooking, you will know how
important chillies are to my daily routine. Most of the meals I have cooked
without chillies are fairly disgusting, with the possible exception of cheese on
toast, although this too is normally served with a generous quantity of chilli
powder. It is therefore essential to me personally to have a reliable source of
chillies, especially after the impending apocalypse and the only way to ensure
the uninterrupted continuity of supply is to learn how to grow them myself.
It's now the beginning of April and the chilli planting season has started. Now
is the time to act, so I bought myself some seeds and equipment and wrote
myself a comprehensive set of instructions.
The main key to growing hot chillies in cold climates is apparently temperature
and humidity. Chillies hate the cold! And I must always remember the 1st law
of chilli growing: 'The hotter the chilli, the more temperature dependant it
is and the longer it will take for the seeds to germinate and the plant to
grow to harvest time'.
After some very extensive scientific research, here are my complete results:
Use the 1st law of chilli growing to decide which variety of plant
you want to grow. Have a look at step 3 for possible varieties and their
'heat' value.
The seeds can be sown in a good quality compost in multi cell
trays and germinated in a warm place. Sometimes, especially with the
hotter varieties, germination can take up to 6 weeks and so investing in a
temperature controlled propagator unit might be a good idea. The ideal
temperature is between 27 and 32 degrees C and it is important that this
temperature does not fluctuate too much. The total possible temperature
range is from 21 to 38 degrees C although germination may be more
erratic.
The plants need good drainage and hate to be stood in water, so

More by Tecwyn Twmffat

Tags: Grow hot chillies chillis hot

cold climate temperature humidity
chilli peppers

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make sure your compost is of the free draining type, if possible. Sand can
be mixed in if the compost is too hydrophilic.
Propagators - These vary in sophistication from the basic 8 watt
system to the fully controlled 50w delux versions. I myself chose a 20 unit
with no temperature control as it was cheap. I used a programmable timer
to regulate the temperature and covered it with some insulation to keep the
heat in. The instructions with the unit do say not to do this, but I don't see
why not? The timer was programmed to come on for 40 minutes and then
go off for 20 minutes as this kept the soil at a constant 28 degrees C quite
nicely. Other options include using a digital water bed heater or a heated
floor in your bathroom.
Use a thermometer to check the temperature stays within the
correct range.
Seeds can be planted in January through to the end of March and
the fruit will take between 80 and 180 days to ripen, depending on the seed
variety. Soak the seeds over night in diluted feed solution or for 2 hours in
potassium nitrate solution to reduce germination times by up to 50%, and
then plant the seeds 5 mm deep.
Water thoroughly whenever the top of the compost is beginning to
look dry, being very careful not to over water. Use a pressurised spray
bottle to water the chilli plants as this is much more gentle than your garden
hosepipe. Be generous and infrequent rather than frequent and
ungenerous.
Check the seed trays every few days or so for dryness and signs of
germination. Once the seedlings have emerged they will need to have light
so move them onto a window sill or somewhere warm and light. A
glasshouse may be too cold at night time to begin with, so in the house
may be better.
As the plants grow, they will need potting on so as not to overcrowd
the roots. They can also be fed with liquid food suitable for tomatoes. The
maximum temperature should be 36 degrees C and the plants do enjoy
high humidity. The minimum temperature is 16 degrees C so think carefully
where the plants should be kept. In cold climates it's generally going to be a
glasshouse or conservatory and it may even need to be heated/insulated
during the night time.
For the fruit to form, the flowers will need to be pollinated either
naturally by insects or by hand using an artist's paint brush and the flowers
may fall off prematurely if the plants get too cold
The flowers will eventually fall off naturally and the fruit will then
grow and can be harvested when they are filled out and become firm crisp
and glossy. Pick one fruit to begin with and test it for heat and flavour.
Remember, some of the varieties are EXTREMELY HOT!
The harvested fruit can be stored very effectively in the freezer and
most of the plants themselves can be treated as perennials, with some
pruning needed in the Winter season.

by Boba Jett

How to start chilli

seeds
by eterovic

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Remove these ads by Signing Up

Step 1: Equipment

Electric propagator: (52cm 50w Stewart Premium Propagator with Variable

Temperature Control. Product ID - 2599005)
Or use one of these: Digital water bed heater
Seed trays
Compost
Water sprayer - Use this to water the seed trays and small chilli plants.
Thermo/hydrometer - It's important to keep the temperature and humidity
stable for good germination.
Seeds
Mains programmable timer
Bottle of chilli or tomato feed liquid
Chilli seed germination powder (Potassium Nitrate)
Disclosure: I have a 'material link' to Ebay.com so you buying the products
above will earn me cash.

Step 2: Seeds in Order of Heat

1st law of chilli growing: 'The hotter the chilli, the more temperature
dependant it is and the longer it will take for the seeds to germinate and
the plant to grow to harvest time'.The 'heat' of the fruit is measured in SHU
or 'Scoville Heat Units'.

Carolina Reaper (Very hard to

grow)

1,600,000
SHU

180 days to
grow

Bhut Jolokia (Hard to grow)

1,000,000
SHU

160 days to
grow

Hot Chocolate Habanero

600,000 SHU

140 days to
grow

Orange Habanero

350,000 SHU

100 days to
grow

Paper Lantern Habanero

350,000 SHU 90 days to grow

Red Scotch Bonnet Capsicum C.

200,000 SHU 90 days to grow

Long Slim Cayenne

80,000 SHU

80 days to grow

Ring of Fire (Easy to grow)

80,000 SHU

80 days to grow

Step 3: Final
Please enjoy your hot chilli plants and if you do grow the hottest varieties, be
careful, as they are incredibly strong.
If you've got any good tips that I've missed out, please leave them in the
comments section and I'll transport them over to the relevant section. Thank
you.

We have a be nice comment policy.

Please be positive and constructive.

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munchykin

Make Comment

1 hour ago

Reply

I successfully grow peppers and tomatoes from seed every year.

Invest in a nice digital waterbed heater to keep the seeds nice and
toasty as they sprout. The heater is heavy duty, easy to adjust for
temperature and fits nicely on a 4 ft. x 18 inch wire shelving unit.

Tecwyn Twmffat (author)

munchykin

59 minutes ago

Reply

This is a truly excellent idea! I would never have thought of that

one! I have updated this 'ible accordingly. Thank you sooooo
much.

rhkramer

2 hours ago

Nice!
Just an alternate suggestion: instead of buying a mains programmable
timer, you could buy a temperature controller which directly controls
temperature for only a few dollars more (and then some additional
parts, some work, and some learning).
This one is available for $11.79 US (to the US) with free shipping:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Digital-Temperature-Contro...
You can also search on ebay for other suppliers or slight variations-here's a potential search string:
Digital Temperature Control Controller Thermostat 110V -58 ~194
I bought one of these several years ago to use for a variety of purpose,
including things like controlling fermentation temperature in a wooden
smoker that I converted for fermentation (sauerkraut, most recently).
Ahh, now I remember, the original purpose I bought this for was to
experiment with sous vide cooking, and I'll bet that if you look for
instructables on sous vide cooking, you'll find one or more that use a
device like this.
This particular controller can work on any input voltage between 90
and 250 VAC and can control up to a 10 amp load at (nominal) 220
VAC so that should work in the UK where I understand the mains
voltage is 220 VAC. It can be set to control to any temperature
between -20 and 70 degrees Celsius. (There are variations that can
handle higher temperatures--I think I saw one that can handle up to
500 some degrees (Fahrenheit). (Hmm, with that device and a good
external relay, I could make a controller for an oven possibly with +/- 1
degree temperature accuracy, and experiment with sous vide oven

Reply

roasting.)
It is a thermostatic type controller (by which I mean it turns the load on
below a certain temperature and off above a certain temperature, with
an adjustable deadband). (There are devices like this made for
heating, cooling, or either--this handles either, and for a cooling
application that might use a compressor, there is a setting (time delay)
to minimize the cycling of the compressor to minimize wear.)
For the control engineers out there, it is not a PID controller--those are
available on ebay for more $ (I haven't looked in a while, don't know
what current prices might be, I have a vague recollection that maybe
you can find one for around $30.
Oh, wait, I just found one for just over $20 with free shipping:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Universal-Digital-PID-...
You might think of a PID controller as a smarter temperature controller
that can anticipate changes in temperature and start compensating
(controlling) for them before the temperature is out of the desired
control range--it is surely overkill for this application, but when I have a
spare $20...
Note: I haven't yet looked carefully at the specifications on this
controller to confirm that it is suitable for the application, and it may
need some other external parts for a complete device (I'm thinking it
may need a relay). Oh, looking just a little bit closer, it seems this
device does not come with the temperature sensor, that would have to
be bought separately. Also, there are several options, and I'm not
100% sure what options are on the device offered on ebay (e.g., is it
the SSR relay output?--I think so, but I'd write to the seller before
assuming anything).
Either one of these devices is not ready to use--you need to put the
device in an enclosure (I used a small plastic electrical outlet box) and
then wire it up to a plug and receptacle to plug into the mains and plug
the load (e.g., the heater) into the controller. I took an extension cord
and cut it leaving a lot of wire on the plug end and a little (one foot?)
wire on the receptacle end. So, if you buy new but thrifty stuff, you can
probably get by for $10 over the cost of the controller.
But you have to know enough about electricity to make a safe
installation (or get some help).
Oh, either controller has a probe that you'd put into the soil or into the
propagation chamber to sense the temperature in order to control it.
PS: I improvise a propagator using an old electric heating pad, egg
cartons, and a clear plastic supermarket clamshell.

zambuno

yesterday

Reply

In scandinavia you normally have a heated floor in bathroom, i

managed to germinate several chilli seeds having the normal
germination tray. seeds dont need sunlight until some green pops :).
Heated floor and bathroom humidity keeps it humid and at 25-26
degrees.

Tecwyn Twmffat (author)

zambuno

That sounds like a very good tip, thank you!

23 hours ago

Reply

Raitis

3 days ago

Reply

Thanks! This is right in time as mine have just sprouted. Took 1,5-3
weeks.
Although I must say that they grown in lower temperatures as well,
even my sprouting was done in the range of 18C to 23C or so.
You also didn't mention anything about different varieties growing
close together and losing their specific properties due to some kind of
trickery. Any tips?

Tecwyn Twmffat (author)

Raitis

3 days ago

Reply

Yes - what you are referring to as far as the trickery goes is

seed saving, which is an entirely different subject. To effectively
save seed the plants have to be isolated from other varieties so
that pollinating insects don't mix them all up. If you want to save
seed, then choose one variety that you really like and stick with
it until forever.

Raitis Tecwyn Twmffat

2 days ago

Reply

Oh crap, I've ruined them already I think. This is the 2nd gen
here which were not saved for cross-polination for sure.
Whatever grows - grows. :D

Tecwyn Twmffat (author)

Raitis

2 days ago

Reply

Never mind - there's still time to buy some decent seeds.

Raitis Tecwyn Twmffat

2 days ago

Reply

Maybe next year, I don't mind some mystery peppers anyway

fred3655

3 days ago

Reply

It says you may plant seeds in January, but in many areas you'd have
to chisel through a layer of ice to make that happen. I am guessing
these instructions are only good for your area.

Tecwyn Twmffat (author)

fred3655

3 days ago

Actually we do have plenty of ice here in January. The seeds

get planted in the propagator, they take, say 2 weeks to
germinate, then stay in the propagator for another 2 weeks
before being potted on. You'd then keep them indoors in a
conservatory or glasshouse. I would not put them outside

Reply

where I live as they would get battered by the cold winds and
not produce any fruit. Minimum temperature for chillies is 16
degrees C.

ukasz

3 days ago

Reply

I am growing some ceyann peppers, thir are just shoots but i left for
easter now i am away for a week, their in a tray of water, hope i can
rescue them when i return

Tecwyn Twmffat (author)

ukasz

3 days ago

Reply

Yes I hope so. Fingers crossed. Mine have not germinated yet.
Maybe tomorrow? I'm going to have a go at the Bhut Jolokia,
for a bit of a challenge.

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