Mollox Posted July 10, 2005 Report Share Posted July 10, 2005 Dear TSN, I need your help. For the last month or so I have been nurturing a lovely Chili plant (part of an annual chili plant competition between friends) and despite the fact that my plant is a real big boy reaching for the stars and has massive leaves and a very thick stalk, I just can't stop it from drooping. I'm worried its going to topple over - its roots just don't seem to gain any purchase. Its currently propped up (rather unsuccessfully) with a chopstick. What do i do? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruiser647 Posted July 10, 2005 Report Share Posted July 10, 2005 Tomatoes and cucumber plants are like this, as they cannot support themselves when the fruit starts to get heavy. Not sure what you can do apart from support it. However, it should mean it is concentrating on fruit production rather than stalk production. You will get loads of fruit! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chav Posted July 10, 2005 Report Share Posted July 10, 2005 Put it in a pot and water it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mollox Posted July 10, 2005 Author Report Share Posted July 10, 2005 Errr...its not actually doing anything fruit-wise. Its just getting taller and trying to fall over - There's not even one baby chili to be seen! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruiser647 Posted July 10, 2005 Report Share Posted July 10, 2005 Oh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesB Posted July 10, 2005 Report Share Posted July 10, 2005 Take back the sunflower and buy a chilli plant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ari Posted July 10, 2005 Report Share Posted July 10, 2005 Chilli plant!? Interesting euphemism! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NeilB Posted July 10, 2005 Report Share Posted July 10, 2005 Best thing to do is to losely tie it to the chop stick, and release the string as the stem grows. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mollox Posted July 10, 2005 Author Report Share Posted July 10, 2005 [ QUOTE ] Chilli plant!? Interesting euphemism! [/ QUOTE ] It'd be funny when you get to the bit with the chopstick and string! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FiftyPence Posted July 10, 2005 Report Share Posted July 10, 2005 Chilli Plants – Care instructions These plants are incredibly easy to look after. There are only really two things that you need to remember in order to keep them alive. Water them regularly. Keep them in a well-lit place. I’ve found that Chilli plants are pretty robust and can take a little abuse, but if you look after them well, they’ll grow even better and in return they’ll reward you with more and better chillies. Watering Water the soil two or three times a week until the soil is damp, not wet. If the weather is hot and dry, then you may well need to water them every day. If you’re going away for the weekend, then it’s ok to give them a good drenching, they don’t seem to mind over watering from time to time. You can stand the pot in a bowl of water if you need to go away for longer periods of time. Over watering on a regular basis can cause the roots to rot (which is bad). The pot that you have will have drainage holes in it, so make sure you stand it in a saucer or something when watering, or it’ll go everywhere. Feeding This really isn’t essential, but if you give them a pinch or two of any good plant food once a week you’ll get MUCH better results. If you find that the leaves are looking brown or ‘burned’ at the tips, that’s a sign that the plant could do with some food. Re-Potting Your chilli plant will grow to about 18 inches to 2 feet within about 2 months. As it grows it will need a bigger pot so that the roots can extend – if the roots can extend, the plant can grow (the reverse of the Bonsai principle!). You’ll only need to re-pot the plant once, and this can be done any time from now until the plant is about 6-8 inches tall. I used to use ice-cream tubs to grow my chilli plants in, but something deeper would be better. If you pop down to any garden centre, Homebase, (Woolworths?) and pick up a 6 inch pot (or larger if you like) that should do. I find that putting a hand-full of broken polystyrene at the bottom of the pot helps drainage. This is essential if your new pot does not have drainage holes in it; water pools at the bottom of the pot and rots the roots. So, here’s how you do it. Have the following to hand: Chilli plant 6” pot newspaper on table (could get messy!), Couple of handfuls of broken polystyrene. Water (with plant food if you like) Compost. Any multi-purpose compost will do, or soil if you like, but compost will be sterile and less messy! Put the polystyrene in the bottom of the pot, enough to cover the bottom to an inch or two. Cover this with a little compost, so that the remaining pot depth is a little more than the depth of your old pot. (See diagram) Tap the chilli plant out of the pot (be brave). DON’T hold the plant by the stem, if you damage the stem near the base you can kill the plant. If the roots are all coiled around in the bottom of the root ball, then just tease them apart if you’re feeling brave. (Roots can be a but stupid sometimes and carry on spiralling around and not realising that they have space to grow). Place the plant in the pot and fill the surrounding area up with compost such that the root ball is just covered (a little higher is good). Firm the compost down gently and top up with compost if needed. Now, make sure that you water the plant good and well (remembering that the bottom of the pot will leak!). It’s a good time to feed the plant to minimise any shock effects (but don’t worry). Growing Chillies (The whole POINT really) Easy, just sit back and relax. Keep the plant by a sunny window and watch the little white flowers appear. After a week or two, the flowers will wilt and die – a lovely chilli will grow from this. The chillies will take a couple of weeks to grow and can be left on the plant for as long as you like (they’re even good when they start to shrivel a little). Eventually, they will go red, but they can still be eaten when green. If your plant has a lot of fruit on the go, then it’s probably a good idea to feed it. You can pick off flowers to help transfer more energy to the growing chillies if you like. If you find you have a huge glut of chillies, then they can be frozen and used later. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
randellp Posted July 11, 2005 Report Share Posted July 11, 2005 A good idea is to pinch out the growing shoots at the top to make the plant "bush" and stop it getting too tall, this means it won't and fall over and you shouldn't need to stake it. If it's wilting, drooping, and falling over, it sounds like it's not in a big enough pot and the roots are not able to support the plant and are struggling to absorb enough water. As the article above says, don't overwater in a pot with no drainage as the roots may root - causing similar problems. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Posted July 11, 2005 Report Share Posted July 11, 2005 Hi, The main one is to make sure that it is in a deep pot with at least a 7-8" diameter at the top. Let the top inch or so of the soil dry out before you water it, you can add a fertiliser (NPK) based like growmore to help it generally. Once you start to get flowers on the plant you should start to feed it on a weekly basis with Tomorite. Jon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewNiceMrMe Posted July 11, 2005 Report Share Posted July 11, 2005 [ QUOTE ] (part of an annual chili plant competition between friends) [/ QUOTE ] I thought I was the old boring one? Jesus, get out more often! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomk Posted July 13, 2005 Report Share Posted July 13, 2005 crush up some viagra and put it in the plant food ??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FiftyPence Posted July 13, 2005 Report Share Posted July 13, 2005 is 'chilli plant' a metaphor for 'meat and two veg'? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Calm Chris Posted July 15, 2005 Report Share Posted July 15, 2005 Nothing wrong with growing chilli plants M3me! Here's mine, taken this morning. There's x 2 plants in the pot, some flowers have become little chilli buds, but there's still loads of flowers. Mollox if yours is knackered, you can borrow mine in Sept when it will be full of the little devils! Last year we had about 120 fruits and simply pulled them and cooked as and when needed. The 60 or so left at the end of Sept when the plant starts to turn were picked strung up on cotton by the stalks and left hanging in the window to dry out. Once dried and chopped (roughly) we put them in a peper mill and used that to flavour anything that wanted 'heat'. In this weather the plant will stay outside 24/7 and has a weekly feed of tomato feed! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bazza_g Posted July 15, 2005 Report Share Posted July 15, 2005 [ QUOTE ] For the last month or so I have been nurturing a lovely Chili plant [/ QUOTE ] are you using hydroponics to grow your so called chili plant Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mollox Posted July 16, 2005 Author Report Share Posted July 16, 2005 Jesus Christ Chri5! Mines recovered quite well - stability no longer seems to be an issue but mine is now officially 2 foot (or a very manly 24 inches ) tall but not all that leafy if you know what I mean. You've obviously mastered the art of girth... The main stalk has just started to branch out at the top to form a canopy so hopefully it will thicken up. I've been wanting to pull some of the leaves out of the top to help it but its this area that has the only flowers at the moment Its just been repotted and I've just got some tomato food too. I got TOMATORITE (whatever that is) and have diluted that with water. Are you meant to use that to water them with or add it to the water? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
a4tdi130 Posted July 16, 2005 Report Share Posted July 16, 2005 I'll match your chilli plant and raise you some cucumbers and tomatoes! (My wife's handy work, and the view to my right taken 2 minutes ago...) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Calm Chris Posted July 16, 2005 Report Share Posted July 16, 2005 Most feed must be diluted with water, just a tea spoon or so for a 1/2 pint fill. Mine is about 8 week old, came from Homebase (not seed) as 2 x 4" plants. Without the pot its about 15" high. Has been grown is some potting soil found in the shed. I have some really good tomato's, I grow mine outside not in the conservatory xc90. The chilli plants- This time of year try and keep them in the sun and well watered, but not water logged. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mollox Posted July 16, 2005 Author Report Share Posted July 16, 2005 Oh this stuff needs to be really diluted - 20ml to 4.5 litres or 5ml to a litre in my case so in effect its coloured water. Which prompts me to wonder - do I water with this all the time? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
a4tdi130 Posted July 17, 2005 Report Share Posted July 17, 2005 [ QUOTE ] I have some really good tomato's, I grow mine outside not in the conservatory xc90. [/ QUOTE ] I hope nobody that knows me reads this thread We move the tomatoes outside during the day and bring them in for the evening, sometimes, just depends how we feel. They are coming along quite nicely though! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FiftyPence Posted July 23, 2005 Report Share Posted July 23, 2005 Thatd be so cool to have a chilli plant all homegrown instead of having to buy them. Well done to the TSN horticulture society The only plants i ever tried growing was a venus fly trap and one of those sensitive ones which close their leaves when they are touched. They came in a little kit with a tiny pot and a half-dozen seeds of each type so i planted them but they didnt do so well. Come to think of it, that was a good few years ago now, maybe ill get back into the growing of things. i had a NASA egg shaped glass thing which has some little creatures inside and the whole thing is self sustaining as long as it is left in sunlight for a bit each day, unfortunately the creatures inside have all since died so its just an expensive ornament now Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mollox Posted July 24, 2005 Author Report Share Posted July 24, 2005 34 inches! About 15 or so small buds too.... Although just this last day, one sections of leaves at the top has started to curl and go limp. I hope its not been struck down with some sort of disease Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mollox Posted August 22, 2005 Author Report Share Posted August 22, 2005 Thought I'd post an update.... Can't find the tape measure but it got madly out of hand. Already had to take it off the window sill a couple of weeks back as it had hit the top of the window. It got moved to the counter but tonight was on the verge of hitting the ceiling Same problem persists: it seems to bud lots but then the buds just die before turning into flowers. Its been like that for well over a month with no sign of flowers.... ....SO.... a bit of drastic action tonight. I've read that pinching them out makes them grow further down but the situation was critical so I've just had the scissors out and given it a "hair cut". Plant is now 1/2 th size and fits in the kitchen much better I'm hoping this isn't going to kill it but I'm a bit concerned now Only time will tell I suppose Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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