Weeding the Web

The perils of growing peppers

It was somewhere in the middle of June when I began to wonder about my peppers. After the massive success of my tea-fertilised plants last year, there was no way I wasn't going to grow them like that again, so I eagerly snapped up two plants from the annual sale by the local horticultural society. I was rather proud of myself. You can't hang around at the sale - the tables are pretty much cleared in half an hour - so I'd got there at a goodly sprint and felled only two old ladies in my path. 

 

Chilli - hiding in plain sight

But this year the peppers were different, not so tall, rather branched and extraordinarily fruitful. In fact so fruitful, that if every pepper grew to full size I would surely have a phenomenon on my hands. Unless, of course...?

The labels clearly say Bell Boy, but of course they're not. Quite what possessed me to cut one in half and pop it straight into my mouth, I'm not sure, but when the squeals had subsided from the kitchen (stoically ignored by Husband who was watching the news), I announced that our need for dried chillies was now amply met for several years to come. But what exactly had we got?

A visit to the Horticultural society hut last weekend brought a rather sheepish look all round. The plants are obtained from a grower and the mix-up had occurred before the secretary had even seen them. No pepper plants had ever left the grower.

Apache chilli - popular for pots

I have Apache, a compact patio chilli that matures early and is rather attractive. It's certainly easy to grow, having thrived outside in a sheltered, south-facing position, with nothing but the dregs of the teapot for sustenance. Its heat rating isn't consistently reported but seems to come in around 70-80,000 on the Scoville scale, somewhere short of a habanero (quite hot enough for me. Even Husband has agreed they're hot).

In investigating Apache, I've also discovered what you possibly already know - that a chilli tastes hottest when it's full-sized and still green. Chilli expert Joanna Plumb in an article in The Guardian, said, "When it goes red, it is as hot, but it goes sweeter, like the difference between a green and a red sweet pepper."

Meanwhile, the society secretary had taken five plants for herself. "Can I persuade you to take some?" she asked, passing me a boxful.

 

Tea leaves - are they really a plant food for peppers?

Every year I grow a couple of sweet pepper plants at the front of the house - they're south-facing, protected by the porch and receive radiated heat from the house behind them.

Normally I feed the peppers with tomato feed. This year they've had tea. Every day, after the daily pot, I topped up the dregs with cold water and delivered the contents, tea leaves and all, with each plant receiving half a teapotful.

And they've loved it. Tight-skinned, shiny peppers, no disease. A plus point was the increasing depth of tea-leaf mulch (which confused one passer-by, who wondered if they were receiving breakfast cereal), which creates a fast-draining surface that seems to discourage slugs and snails.

Is this an anomaly? It's certainly an experiment that seems to be a standard part of American school's science fairs.

Gardening Which? disagrees. In October 2010, in an article on old wives' tales, they warned that tea might be harmful, as it contains aluminium, fluorine and manganese which in high concentrations can slow plant growth. They felt that the nitrogen in tea probably wouldn't be very available to plants and said that regular watering and an occasional liquid feed would be better for the plants' health.

I'm sure that regular watering has played quite a part in the success this year. My peppers received a regular drench at the same time each day. It was easy to remember to do it, as we have a pot of tea at the same time each afternoon.

However, it's worth noting that dried tea leaves contain phosphorus and potassium, and tea also makes soil slightly acidic. Peppers like a bit of acidity.

Bell Boy red peppers started ripening towards the end of September on a south-facing porch

All I can say, as you can see from the picture above, is that it appears to have worked beautifully. I've saved on liquid feed and not had to sieve the tea leaves out of the pot to add to the compost.

I'll definitely do it again. If you've tried fertilising with tea, I'd love you to comment below on how you got on.

Rocoto: a venerable pepper

Speaking of overwintering peppers and chillies, here’s a pepper type that should be better known: the Rocoto.

Joe Carrasco’s, in California, is still thriving after twelve years. It withstands temperatures down to around freezing and hard pruning is recommended (see before and after pictures on site). “This nice old rocoto produces a substantial harvest,” Joe told me in August, “and this year looks like will be one of the largest yet.” Pop over to his website for more information on seed saving, preserving and recipes.

It’s rare in this country, but Real Seeds have limited stock of Rocoto, also known as Tree Chile or Alberto’s Locoto, and describe it as possessing a warm, rather than burning heat, lots of flavour. If you’re wondering if you are up to the challenge of keeping it alive, they reckon that, if you can overwinter fuchsias or geraniums, you’ll have no problems. Early ordering is recommended.

Growing peppers over winter

If overwintering this year’s pepper plants doesn’t appeal, you might instead like to consider Emma Cooper’s approach.

When she last posted on the subject, Emma had sprouted pepper seedlings earlier in October. Given that the difference between a good gardener and a not-so-good is about a fortnight, why not give it a go now? Although it's rather late, if you have good light and a heated propagator, you should get something started.  Regard it as an experiment and let us know how it goes!

Emma transplanted them, repotted as needed, and gathered her first fruit the following June. Given that mine have only finally ripened in the last month, that seems darn early to me!

Incidentally, I managed to buy a pepper plant last spring. If anyone has the remotest idea what it was that I bought (see picture), do let me know.

Overwintering peppers and chillies

If you grew peppers this year, chances are that you’ve still got a tired-looking plant hanging around with the odd fruit still clinging to it. You could chuck it on the compost, but how about the alternative?

The Chile Man, with a database of 3729 peppers and chillies, is chock full of information, including how to overwinter your peppers. It could be worth it, as peppers, it seems, nearly always produce more fruit in their second year.