It has always struck me as deliciously odd that a plant capable of producing such fiery-tasting fruits should be known by the name of "chilli". We humans have been eating these spicy peppers (Capsicum sp) in some form or other for 10,000 years, although they probably only arrived in Europe in the very late 15th century, hitching a ride in the luggage of Spain's royal physician, Diego Alvarez Chanca, as he returned from Christopher Columbus' second voyage to the West Indies.
Traditionally, they’ve been used to add peppery heat to curries and casseroles. But as more and more varieties have become available (a result of the chilli plant’s promiscuous habits and willingness to cross-pollinate), cooks are beginning to appreciate their subtly different flavours and textures and to use them in other, often unusual ways.
While you can buy young plants in spring, it’s always much better (and a lot more fun) to grow your chillies from seed, if only for the far greater range of varieties available. February is the very best time to do this, as chilli seed is famously slow to germinate, requiring anywhere from two to six weeks depending on the variety.
Start by sowing the seed into a multi-cell seed tray filled with a good-quality seed compost. Plant one seed to each cell, making sure to cover the seed with just a thin layer of compost before gently watering. As befits a plant that originates from Central and South America, chilli seed also requires a fair amount of heat for successful germination (25-30 degrees) so immediately after sowing, place the tray in a hot press or an electric propagator.
Once the seedlings have pushed their tender green leaves up through the compost, quickly move them somewhere bright and slightly cooler (17-21 degrees), but out of both direct sunlight and drafts. Make sure to keep the compost damp but not wet, and avoid wetting the seedlings themselves when watering.
Spindly, ‘stretched’ growth is a sign that your chilli seedlings aren’t getting enough light, which can be a problem at this time of year.
If this happens, try placing a white sheet of rigid card behind the pots, a photographer’s trick which helps bounce available daylight back from nearby windows.
Once the seedlings have developed their first set of true leaves, pot them on into larger 7cm pots filled with a good quality compost, and feed every 10-14 days with a good quality liquid tomato feed (I like the organic ‘Osmo’ range).
About a month later, pot them on again, this time into 12-15cm pots. Once they’ve reached about 25-30cm tall, make yourself pinch out the growing tips to encourage a bushy, productive plant.
Remember that chilli plants loathe both low temperatures and low light levels, so unless your garden is a sheltered, sunny one, don’t attempt to grow them on outside.
But they’ll happily grow indoors in a container for you, perhaps in a sunny conservatory or near a sunny window, where you’ll also get to appreciate their highly decorative, colourful fruits, which should be ready to harvest from July onwards.
Just remember to aid pollination by dabbing the flowers with a cotton bud or fine paintbrush. Alternatively, come late May, the plants can be moved into a glasshouse or polytunnel. To get the very best out of your plants, continue to give them a fortnightly liquid feed, keep them regularly watered and watch out for aphids and diseases such as grey mould.
Come autumn, plants can be brought indoors and successfully overwintered by cutting the stems back to about 10cm above soil level and watering them only enough to prevent the compost from becoming bone-dry.
The following spring, these should burst back into life again, resulting in a larger, more productive and earlier-fruiting plant, although it’s best to discard those more than five to six years old.
Which variety? Chilli varieties are rated according to their hotness as measured on the Scoville scale, while ripeness and colour also affects heat (red is hottest, and the riper, the hotter).
For a fierily hot chilli, organic seed supplier Madeline McKeever of Brown Envelope Seeds in west Cork recommends 'Bolivian Hairy', a variety she says will put hairs on your chest and that she uses to make "a really good fermented chilli sauce".
For something milder, she suggests the Slovakian variety ‘Goat Horn’ or the early ‘Czech Black’, which is perfect for pickling (brownenvelopeseeds.com).
For seed of other unusual chillies, try specialist seed supplier nickys-nursery.co.uk and southdevonchillifarm.co.uk.
Other recommended varieties include 'Basket of Fire' (good for hanging baskets) 'Hole Mole' (high yielding with great flavour) , 'Cherry Bomb" (versatile and easy to grow), 'Santa Fe Grande' (early cropping, very productive).
This week in the garden. . .
For those with a sheltered, sunny garden, the flowering, evergreen climber Clematis cirrhosa 'Freckles' is a wonderful plant for winter interest, with a profusion of small, speckled scented flowers that usually appear from December-February. Give it full sun, a fertile well drained, neutral soil and some form of support, and it should reach a height and spread 3-4m x 1.5m. Available from most good garden centres.
If you didn't sow sweet pea seed last autumn, there's still time to do so over the next few weeks.
Pre-sprout the seed by soaking it overnight and then spread it on sheets of damp kitchen paper until it shows the very first signs of germinating (you’ll see the root radicle beginning to appear).
Once it’s sprouted, quickly sow into root trainers or deep pots filled with a good quality compost, water, and then place containers in an unheated glasshouse, polytunnel, or cold frame.
Remember to take proper precautions against mice, which love to steal the seeds!
Prune established blackcurrant plants by using a sharp secateurs /loppers/ pruning saw to remove roughly one-third of the stems (choose the thickest, oldest stems), along with any weak, spindly or damaged growth.
