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Growing from seed
Seeds are best started at the beginning of Spring or around August ready to be transplanted in Oct - Dec (Australia). If started with a germination kit and heatmat, you can get a headstart by sowing in June/July.
First you need to choose a medium to plant your seed in. You can plant the chilli seeds in soil, jiffy pots or rock wool cubes. When you plant the seed, you only need to cover it with a thin layer. Generally I say 1 – 1.5 times the size of the seed is how deep you should plant it. So with chillies 5mm will be enough. If you are using rock wool or jiffy pots you will need to pre soak them in water. Then just pull off a small amount of that medium and place it on top of the hole which you just sowed the seed into. Try and place them in a warm area as chillies need above 20 degrees Celsius to germinate but prefer temperatures around 23 – 30 degrees Celsius. Night time temperatures can't fall to under 15 degrees Celsius. The super hot chillies require constant temperatures of 28 - 30 degrees Celsius for optimum germination success. You can put your pots on top of an old fridge, aquarium or dehydrator where it is warm, or you can use a mini seed germination kit with a heat mat to keep them at the right temperature (highly recommended).
Germination
Most seeds should sprout by 2 weeks but some of the chinense varieties can take up to 8 weeks. Please be patient and don't throw them out too soon. You will also need to feed them with liquid nutrients that you can get from us (Chilli Focus) or a hydroponic shop if it is not in soil. Once seeds have sprouted it is important to not keep them too wet or allow them to dry out. If they are too wet they can rot and break off at the stem (dampening off). Misting them will do until they are bigger. Chilli seeds do not need light to germinate but once they do they will need light to grow. If they are started indoors you can use fluoros or if outside don't use direct sunlight or else they will burn.
Once they have their first few sets of true leaves you will need to pot them up from the rockwool/ jiffy pots. You can grow them hydroponically or put them into soil. If you started your seeds off in a small pot, once they have roots just showing at the bottom they are ready to pot on again.
Pests
You also need to be aware of insects. Slaters love to chew the stems, so if you can’t surround your pot with something or keep it away from slaters you may need to put down a deterrent such as slater dust. When you are growing chilli plants you also need to check them for aphids. They love to hang around fresh new growth and flowers as well as on the underside of the leaves. If you find any you can spray them with a natural pyrethrum, Confidor or with a garlic and chilli spray. Check after a few days and if they are still there repeat the process. Other biological and safer ways are available, check out these guys for some natural predators to solve your unwanted pest problems.
Sun & Fertiliser
Chilli plants like full sun – part shade. If you are getting temperatures around 36 degrees and higher and your plants are in the full sun for more than six hours or receiving the afternoon sun it is recommended to put up some shade cloth to prevent burning on the fruit and leaves. Ornamental chilli plants like to be kept in areas which receive a large amount of light for optimum colours and also like to have a liquid feed (fertiliser such as Chilli Focus, Miracle Grow or a seaweed solution) every 1 – 2 weeks. Chillies don’t necessarily need watering every day (depending on if they are in pots or the ground and what the weather is like). You can leave it till when you see the leaves just starting to wilt. When plants are fruiting the warmer the environment and the less water they receive the hotter the chilli pods will be. Also pods at the bottom of the plant can be hotter than pods near the top of the chilli plants. Just remember that too much stress can make your plants drop their flowers.
Growing seed the following year
If you intend on saving your own seed for planting the following year please be aware that if you do not isolate your plants or have them about 2km's apart from each other, that it is very likely that they could cross and not produce the same fruit the following year. For consistent results and same characteristics in your plants each year, you can buy isolated seeds from us at Wildfire Chilli.
Happy Growing!
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