Chilli peppers!!

[Triffid]

Mmmm! That's something to show the Hubby (He's the better cook) Thank Youi, Tim Abbott!

I suspect the wearing of gloves helps avoid those rather annoying incidences of getting chilli bits in places where they can cause pain... Like if you scratched your nose or rubbed your eye... Seen it happen, where you forget to wash your hands... Had it happen to myself!... Never again, too painful!

So how's the chilli bonsai plants going help?
Have some Cayenne seeds that I'm about to pot up. Wish me luck! (Old seeds so I may need it )

[Call_Me_Bob]

Good luck The chili plants I picked weren't as big as I excPected. So they will have to grow out more. But this fall or next spring they should be bug enough

do you know if it's ok to prune and style in thefall?

[Triffid]

Still not sure with chilles, unfortunately.

I would guess gentle pruning wont hurt them though. If my old plants were anything to go by, they can grow like weeds so pruning as long as they are growing shouldn't hurt too much.

I like to remind myself that in the wild plants will have all sorts of things having a go at them. I think as humans we tend to think of plants as fragile things, and though this can be true in certain cases a lot of the Hybrid Plants are sturdier for the breeding. Just my

As long as the plant didn't cost you too much or is endangered, I say experiment! You should be able to tell just by looking when you plant is doing badly or not.

[Call_Me_Bob]

They cost me fifty cents. And I got five, so Im no afraid to experiment lol .

My peppers are outside now. And it looks as if something took some of the seed pods It look like it was picked nit nibbled. And everyone here swears it wasn't them

[stefpix]

I just started a month or 2 ago to grow peppers. What is growing fastest is this orange Thai Hot that is more bushy with multiple thin stems, but a ton of flowers. Also the red cherry pepper is growing and bearing lots of fruit while it is still small. more erect and a single stem. Some Scotch bonnets on the roof started fruiting but Habaneros/Scotch Bonnets [C. chinense] seem to be slower growing.
What looks reallty nice as foliage and what may be great as a bonsai is the Pequin aka wild mexican pepper. small dense foliage and compact. I think to make bonsais you need to wait till the end of the summer, let them grow as much as possible first.

I make my own hot sauce and i tried some variants and tastes really good.

Take a few Habaneros/Scotch Bonnets. remove the seeds if they are already really hot. blend them with one small tomatillo, one clove of garlic, a very small piece of mango, a dash of fresh orange juice. pinch of salt, a bit of vinegar. sometimes add a piece of tomato . very hot and very good. I make some variations.

I heat it up in a pan really quickly to make it boil and sterilize a few seconds.

I tried this
Review: El Yucateco Salsa Kutbil-ik de Chile Habanero Hot Sauce | Hot Sauce Blog

and it is really a great sauce. it tastes like a fresh habanero and has a slight smoky flavor that i wonder where it comes from.
I can buy it for just $1.69. but well now i am making my own sauces.

I tried the milder more common El Yucateco red but it does not taste nearly as good. It contains tomato but it tastes not as fresh and tastes more generic than the Kibit-ik. it is good, just teh Kubit-ik version is so much better and has no coloring either.

[stefpix]

I think they can take full sun. Makes grow them faster. I put some on the roof, some on the fire escape and a couple under a fluorescents.
A habanero on the roof probably got shocked by the extremely hot days and it has been windy [and on the roof 5 flights up it is a lot windier] and lost all the leaves but new leaves are starting.

I think now it is a little late in the season to start but it depends.
The orange Thai Hot really grew fast, super fast.
I think those with smaller fruits bear sooner.
Anyway I will keep and overwinter my fave plants.

[Triffid]

Thanks Stefano!
Nice to hear you having fun with chillies. Just don't do what my hubby did and eat a hot one from the plant! He paid for that one

And full sun will make them grow, but also lean if you don't rotate them.

Originally Posted by stefpix

I think to make bonsais you need to wait till the end of the summer, let them grow as much as possible first.

True sort of, letting the plants grow first is always a good idea. I have two potential Bonsai in the back (Not Chillies) and both have had different growing times. Almost 8 years for the seedling Oak that appeared in my garden (Next Year ) and less than 4 for the butterfly bush. Depending on the Chillie about a year should do, but that said I will be (as said previously ) experimenting.

I know that Cayenne can get to flower from seed within 6 months, mainly because that was how long it took last time. May take longer because of how late in the year it is not though.

From what we've been reading on Bonsai there is (like a lot of things in life) debate over what's the best way to do things. And like with most Plant related stuff I would guess it depends mostly on what you have to work with...Things are never simple

Will be transferring seedling(s) after they have grown enough and also growing direct in the Bonsai pot (just to see what happens)

But succeed or fail, I let you know the results. And you have full permission to point and laugh should things go hideously wrong for me.

[stefpix]

I am also growing a habanero in a small 2 " pot. after all I got all these seeds from peppers I bought for cooking so i have extras.

Regarding bonsai i want to try a Carissa macrocarpa.
I went to the Bkln Botanic Garden and they rotated their bonsai collection. Now they have all tehse tropical plants I love.
Carissa, Guava [I love the bark of this one], Ficus deltoidea, Ficus benjamina etc.

I am growing some Ficus bengalhensis and Ficus religiosa from seeds I got for $2 on ebay by way from India. They sent me so many and i have quite a few. was thinking of taking a few young seedlungs and fuse their stems together at an early stage.

What I am also trying is I took a small Ficus benjamina planted ina 3 inch pot and put the top half of a soda bottle on top that fits perfectly and just water by spraying. Humidity inside must be really high. The Ficus is growing smaller leaves, the branches are curving and is developing aerial roots from the upper branches down to the base/soil.

[Call_Me_Bob]

lol i wont point and laugh!! i already killed many a bonsai! but as walter pall says " a bonsai is a living peice of art. it is never finished. until its dead"

so i guess that im an expert! having 'finished' lots of bonsai lol

i think i killed a hibiscus i did the other day maybe too exptreme. but we shal see

[stefpix]

Met some senior Bonsai growers that they complained they started too late in life. They wish they started when young so at least they could live long enough to see the results of their growing... Probably even if you start at age 50 you will not be able to see much of your work completed...