How to grow Chillies

Chillies germinate easily from seed. You can buy from an enormous range of seeds or save seeds from chilli at the end of the season, as illustrated left. Just scrape out the seeds, dry them and keep dry and cool over winter. 

 To grow Chillies from seed, put one/two seeds into a single pot just below the surface. Sow Chillies shallow and sprinkle with minimal compost or vermiculite. Chillies can take some time to germinate, which if conditions are damp can encourage fungus. If this becomes a problem, cover the Chilli seeds with vermiculite, as opposed to compost.

The pot needs to be misted, and either covered with glass or put into a propagator. Leave to germinate, which should take up to 21 days. To germinate Chillies need a constant temperature of between 20-25 degrees which means germinating somewhere with a steady temperature.

It is important to know that Chillies need a long growing season. If you are growing them from seed, you will need to germinate early, and even earlier in the North of England (because of the shorter growing season,) from late January/early February onwards, provided you have somewhere warm to keep the plants.  However, sowing Chilli seeds early in the year, in less than ideal conditions, increases the risk of the seedling being leggy. You can repot and replant the leggy seedling deep to overcome this. Chillies are like tomatoes in this respect. The stem part which you bury will grow roots and make for a tougher plant.

Video: The Sunday Gardener What To Do About Leggy  (Chilli) Seedlings

Chillies dislike root disturbance and they are best sown into modules and transferred into a pot with all the root ball and a little soil disturbance .If you are growing on a windowsill, rotate the pot daily to ensure even growth and avoid spindly seedlings.

 During the early stages of the growing season, it is often necessary to repot into a larger pot. You can tell when a Chilli is plant is too large for the pot as it looks top heavy (image top right). Another indicator is that when you look underneath at the bottom of the pot, tipping it carefully upside down, you can see the roots fighting to get out and straying out of the pot. Pot on carefully keeping the root ball intact.  

Chillies like to be kept warm. Because we have to sow early in the year for a long growing season.

This can often mean germinating and growing on windowsills indoors to try to get the  best light. But, windowsills can be chilly spots, especially at night.

One way to cosset your seedling is to make a homemade propagator. It is easy enough to start the germination process using a ploy bag and elastic band but once the seedling grows it needs more space.

This is a pint pot glass slipped over the top of the seedling to keep it warmer and to add moisture. Ideal until the seedling gets sturdier and temperatures warm up.

 

Chillies freeze really well. You can freeze them whole and defrost by rinsing a chilli under the hot tap. Sometimes they can be a bit mushy. This can be avoided by chopping the chillies and then freezing. You will then have a Gardener's Lazy Chilli as per the image on the left. Just take out what you need as and when. 

You can also dry them and then crumble into flakes and store in a herb jar for use over the winter. Wash and dry them, slice in half and lay on baking tray. Place in oven on low setting around 80-100C checking regularly.  The low setting is essential to stop the chillies charring.  It will take several hours. In theory, you can dry them outside, but it rarely gets warm enough to properly dry them. You could also dehydrate them in an air fryer.