This entry is about chili (or hot peppers), one of the crops I have always been so excited about planting; and not that I am such a big fan of sharp food, but I think I like the idea of an ordinary perennial, that is fairly commonly kept as an ornamental house plant, producing as an offspring a spicy, and therefore, I guess, interesting, fruit.
And so, I am excited about the seedlings and this entry. In the post, I am embedding the by now habitual factsheet following the same template of the previously posted ones. Like aubergines, chili is well suited as a container or house plant, especially in our climate. With an optimum growth temperature ranging between 24 and 32 deg C, now is practically an ideal time to easily start the seeds succefully in Cairo. So if you are interested in growing your own, check this entry.
As I am sure I have often enough now mentioned, I am very excited about growing chili. This is a plant you are as likely to find listed in ornamental house plant guides, as you are in vegetable garden references (under the name Capsicum). This is because it is a perennial (when favorable growing conditions are met - read on to find out what these are) that is easy to care for, and which, also due to the beauty of its foliage, is therefore popularly grown as an ornamental plant. As with any crops that require warmth and sunlight, growing them under the generous Egyptian weather conditions should prove not too demanding.
The chili seeds were planted and germinated under the same conditions described in my earlier post about cantaloupe. The seedlings emerged eleven days after planting under those conditions.
Additionally, I had kept a number of seeds between damp cloth in a sealed bag on the fridge top. Two weeks later those had sprouted and I carefully (carefully!) transplanted them into a some potting mixture. So far, these tiny seedlings seem to have survived the transplant shock alright.
As I mentioned in the emergence announcement and entry about aubergines, both it and chili are members of the same family, the Solanaceae family. As such, both seeds and seedlings bear striking resemblences (same way as with the cantaloupe and zucchini, both members of the Cucurbitaceae family, and the seedlings of which are quite similar in many key aspects, although to a lesser extent than the similarity between the chili and aubergine seedlings, but I digress).
So, like the aubergine seedlings, also these are smaller and their cotyledon are spear-shaped. I sowed chili seeds after two methods: equally spaced seeds per 7 cm pot, and in a flatbed (the embedded factsheet recommends three, but I planted four) - using a plastic produce container with drainage holes - at an equal distance of 4 cm between each seed (check out this post for a basic introduction about starting seeds). Other parameters and conditions to observe are summarized in the factsheet below:
Unfortunately, and as is common with a number of the local seed packets I get, and in contradiction to good gardening and farming practices, it does not give the plant variety on the package. In the embedded factsheet, I assumed it was annuum as it is the most commonly cultivated variety; however, I will be watching the plant properties closely as it grows in order to perhaps be able to confirm its variety.
As a plant, chili are most susceptible to greenfly, a pest I have successfully been able to control using a homemade soap insecticide as described in this post. Other than that they are generally cited as easy to keep plants. So I guess with this and the very favorable weather conditions here, the prospects of me finally growing my own chili plant seem very good.
As I am sure I have often enough now mentioned, I am very excited about growing chili. This is a plant you are as likely to find listed in ornamental house plant guides, as you are in vegetable garden references (under the name Capsicum). This is because it is a perennial (when favorable growing conditions are met - read on to find out what these are) that is easy to care for, and which, also due to the beauty of its foliage, is therefore popularly grown as an ornamental plant. As with any crops that require warmth and sunlight, growing them under the generous Egyptian weather conditions should prove not too demanding.
The chili seeds were planted and germinated under the same conditions described in my earlier post about cantaloupe. The seedlings emerged eleven days after planting under those conditions.
Additionally, I had kept a number of seeds between damp cloth in a sealed bag on the fridge top. Two weeks later those had sprouted and I carefully (carefully!) transplanted them into a some potting mixture. So far, these tiny seedlings seem to have survived the transplant shock alright.
As I mentioned in the emergence announcement and entry about aubergines, both it and chili are members of the same family, the Solanaceae family. As such, both seeds and seedlings bear striking resemblences (same way as with the cantaloupe and zucchini, both members of the Cucurbitaceae family, and the seedlings of which are quite similar in many key aspects, although to a lesser extent than the similarity between the chili and aubergine seedlings, but I digress).
So, like the aubergine seedlings, also these are smaller and their cotyledon are spear-shaped. I sowed chili seeds after two methods: equally spaced seeds per 7 cm pot, and in a flatbed (the embedded factsheet recommends three, but I planted four) - using a plastic produce container with drainage holes - at an equal distance of 4 cm between each seed (check out this post for a basic introduction about starting seeds). Other parameters and conditions to observe are summarized in the factsheet below:
Unfortunately, and as is common with a number of the local seed packets I get, and in contradiction to good gardening and farming practices, it does not give the plant variety on the package. In the embedded factsheet, I assumed it was annuum as it is the most commonly cultivated variety; however, I will be watching the plant properties closely as it grows in order to perhaps be able to confirm its variety.
As a plant, chili are most susceptible to greenfly, a pest I have successfully been able to control using a homemade soap insecticide as described in this post. Other than that they are generally cited as easy to keep plants. So I guess with this and the very favorable weather conditions here, the prospects of me finally growing my own chili plant seem very good.
updates on chili seedling growth and progress will follow
