How to grow chillies, and why yours are not fruiting
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The complaint I hear most about chillies
It is almost never that the plant died. It is that the plant looks magnificent, dark green, waist high, and there is nothing on it worth picking. That is a specific problem with a short list of causes, and every one of them is something you are doing rather than something the plant is doing to you.
1. You are watering it like a lettuce
Chillies come from somewhere dry and they are tougher than people treat them. Constantly damp soil gives you root rot and a sulking plant, and the fix is to let the top of the soil dry out between waterings and then give it a proper deep soak rather than a splash every evening. In a pot, lift it. A pot that still feels heavy does not need water yet, and that is a far better test than looking at the surface.
2. Too much nitrogen
This is the big one, and it is the direct cause of the leafy plant with nothing on it. Nitrogen builds foliage. Once a chilli is established and starting to flower it wants potassium, which is what pushes flowers into fruit, and a general purpose lawn or leaf feed at that point will give you the best looking unproductive plant in the street. Switch to something with potassium in it once the flowers appear, and feed lightly and often rather than heavily and occasionally.
3. The sun is wrong in one direction or the other
Chillies want about 6 hours of sun. Less than that and they stretch and flower poorly. The other failure is our afternoon sun in the height of summer, which will scald leaves and drop flowers on a plant in a black pot against a west facing wall. Morning sun with some relief in the late afternoon is the sweet spot here, and in a pot that is easy, because you can just move it.
4. The flowers are not getting pollinated
Flowers that open and then drop off without setting fruit are a pollination problem. Chillies are mostly self fertile and they need movement to do it, which the wind and the bees usually provide. Under cover, on a still verandah, or in a garden with not much flowering in it, that movement is missing. Tap the stem or give the plant a gentle shake every couple of days while it is flowering, or go over the open flowers with a small dry paintbrush. Nobody tells you this and it is the difference between a plant that flowers and a plant that fruits.
5. You are picking at the wrong point
Most varieties go green, then colour up, and the heat and the flavour both build as they colour. Picking everything green gets you a milder chilli and a plant that keeps producing. Letting them all colour gets you the better chilli and a plant that slows down, because a ripe fruit signals that the job is done. So take some green and let some run, which gets you both.
None of it is difficult, it is just unfamiliar
Every one of those 5 is a small change rather than a skill, and the hand pollination in particular is the sort of thing nobody mentions until you ask somebody. If your plant is doing one of these, come in with a photo and we will work out which, because it is much faster to look at than to describe.
Shop related products
- D.T. Brown Chilli Pepper Hot Seed. A 50 seed pack, which is several seasons for most households.
- Brunnings Potash Power 2.5kg. Potassium, for the plant that is all leaves and no chillies.
- Seasol Seaweed Concentrate 1L. For a plant that has had a hard week of heat.
- Brunnings Premium Potting Mix 36L. For growing them in a pot, which is the easiest way to control the afternoon sun.
- Multicrop EcoPest Oil Insect Spray. A horticultural oil, for the aphids that find the growing tips.
Did you know we also stock garden stakes, Maxi Lok plant ties, watering cans and a garden seat kneeler in store. They are not on the website, so give us a ring on (08) 8536 4333 to check what is on the shelf.
The seed rack, the potting mixes, the feeds and the sprays are all in the garden centre, and the online range is in garden products.
Read next
- When to pick vegetables, crop by crop
- How to grow cucumbers, and why they turn bitter
- How to keep a garden alive through a heatwave
I have a paintbrush in the shed that has never touched paint, and I am not embarrassed about it.
Cheers,
Candeece
