Tag Archives: bengle naga

#NaBloPoMo: Still there, still going strong

chilliesshakespeare

Ventured down to the plot today. It’s been damp and miserable all week, and with work I haven’t been able to get down to the plot. I wanted to double check the chillies, and was heartened to find that they are still there. All very bushy and green, I don’t have the heart to euthanise them. So much for entering the dorset naga challenge, I have not harvested one chilli from any of them. Seems cruel to let them continue, when there doesn’t seem to be any fruit forthcoming. They all look healthy, burgeoning with blooms. But still nothing. All very disappointing. Even now, we are half way through November. How long further will these things go? I doubt very much that I will get a chilli this Christmas! Not sure now, as to what chillies i will sow next year. Might go back to basic cayenne and see what happens.

At the centre of the plot is William Shakespeare 2000. A beautiful red rose, that when in full bloom, smells of lemons. That too is still going. In fact, I counted eleven blooming roses across the plot. Even the week before last,I had eleven roses that I harvested to fashion a bouquet from. I don’t recall roses being in bloom at this point in the year before. And there are quite a few bushes on the plot. I tinkered with the climbing roses, golden showers and i think the other one is called danse de Feu. These just needed tying in to the metal arch. Which reminded me to prune there roses on the plot. A task made somewhat easier, in having been deadheading blooms over the summer as I went along. The more established posh roses, such as christian dior, Lover’s meeting, silver jubilee, pascali, peace rose, harry wheatcroft, have grown upwards quite a bit. Less so with the width of these. The less established lost label roses are a mixed bag. Still quite small, a handful are quite tall, and still very leaf. No idea what they are, hence the name A lot pink ones, an odd orange one.Was looking at where I might squeeze in another couple of roses bushes. Given how we have Shakespeare all ready, Anne Boleyn might be one to window shop.

The autumn bliss raspberry will also need to be pruned. I’m not entirely sure what to do with those.

#NaBloPoMo: Chilled out Chillies

The interior of the poly tunnel looks a bit like Miss. Havisham’s boudoir at the moment. All of the chillies are still fleeced over. Good thing too as we had the first frost this week. Today was the first opportunity that I had to check that the chillies were all there, and yes they are. One or two leaves have gone a little black, but the rest remain green. May  have to feed them, but they are all still very green, leafy and there are lots of flower buds.

As they look so leafy, and full of buds, I don’t really want to euthanise them. I would just like to have one chilli!

#NaBloPoMO: Chilli check-in

chillies chilliflower

 

These are the chillies plants earlier this week. We have since had a frost, but these were all fleeced. This in the vain hope that they wouldn’t be hurt, but you never know. They might look a bit robust, but so far, they’ve been very leafy but not provided any fruit.

There are a number of chillies in the poly tunnel:

  • serrano
  • chocolate habanero
  • orange habanero
  • jamaican jerk
  • bengle and Dorset naga
  • hot thai
  • hot patio sizzle
  • tobasco

The tobasco is actually nearly five foot tall, and only just starting to send out tiny little white flowers. The others are still leafy. As you can see , I have been finding some of the white flowers and tickling them. it’s too cold to keep the poly open, and there are not many flying insects around to help pollinate.

I didn’t plan to over winter these plants, but I am now debating as to how long I can keep them. I do need to check, actually, if they are still alive. It may well be that Mother Nature has already given me an answer to that question. Would be disappointing if they have all ceased to exist. This year we have had the grand sum of three chillies.

Miserable year for chillies

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This has to be the least successful year for me regarding chillies. Not a single one has been borne to fruitition, even with the poly tunnel. I had more success last year with out one! The orange and chocolate habaneros, bengle and Dorset nagas, serrano, jamaican jerk are lovely and green. There are clutches of where flowers. But not even a smudge of fruit. They are warm, mostly with the mild temperatures we have been experiencing; watered too. But this year I have experienced a complete and abject failure.

Disappointment with chillies

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I have all of two chilli fruit. One jalepeno and one hot Thai. And that’s it. Nothing else had fruited, there is lots of foliage but nothing else. As the summer ends, and we enter the twilight of autumn; I am becoming disillusioned with the likelihood that anything is actually going to crop in there. Not really the success that I was hoping for in the poly tunnel.

Chatting about chillies

There is varying levels of progress with the chillies in the poly tunnel.

The dorset nagas are in my view, still quite diminutive. I had expected them to be a little bigger by now. Especially as they are now starting to form flower buds. The bengle naga is also starting to flower.

The tabasco plant has the most daintiest of little flowers. I am rather scared to touch them! Early jalapeno has a cluster of little flowers, suggesting that it is moderately happy as is the hot thai pepper plant sat next to it. The tallest of the plants are definitely the orange habaneros, there are four of the things it that corner. As is the serrano pepper plant. This plant looks nothing like a chilli plant, the leaves are almost velveteen. But the tell tale white flowers are there. All in all, good to see the progress, especially after the trauma of getting them all to germinate, and then keeping them alive for transplanting.

hot stuff in the hot house

The warm spell has somewhat spurred on the contents of the poly tunnel. With the one vent open, and a tray of water in the middle to help maintain the temperature; there are lots of little flower buds dotted around. A welcome sight, since many of the plants have suffered episodes of sun scorch. The poly tunnel gets extremely hot! The highest I have observed is 40 odd degrees when we have had very warm spells.

The Dorset nagas are the competition plants; the plants that we are willing on daily. The plants are still quite small, and I am wondering how to get some height onto them. They are sitting on clay soil, that may well be part of the problem. But they have heat, light, and regular feeding. It is a long way to October, granted, but these really need some. There is marked difference between the orange and chocolate habaneros. The orange habs, there are three of them, I think, there is luscious green foliage. The plants stand quite proudly, and for the moment, are flourishing. Stark contrast, to the waxy, bright green foliage of the chocolate habanero.

A vista of the polytunnel as a whole. There are sweet potatoes there and out of shot, there are some newly transplanted sweet peppers. These are two bell peppers, and a cone shaped one. The california wonder pepper has sadly died a death.

poly

Poly tunnel contents

A quick wander around the poly tunnel. My apologies for the weeds. We have the newly adopted black prince aubergines, settling in and flowering. At the back the happy for now habaneros are sat along the nagas. The dorset and bengle nagas are somewhat developmentally delayed having experienced some sun scorch and loosing their rather lush leaves. Nigel and the pretty purple are no more! I think the sweet pepper california wonder is going the same way. The crimson sweet watermelon is so far so good. I have attached to a cane, so that it can grow up, rather than out.