Question
QUESTION: hi don
i am growong jalepeno, cayenne chillies and peppers from seeds. I keep them in the green house as we are not having a very good summer in England. What i need to know is will i have to grow more plants once the harvest has finished or will the plants produce more chillies and peppers next year
regards
chris

ANSWER: Chris:

Vegatble plants tend to run their course over a short period of time.

Growing peppers in a green house is not so easy as they are subject to bugs and fungus.

My advice would be to continue to let them produce until the degeneration and slow down of fruit becomes evident. Then pull the plants and burn them. It is difficult to say how long they will continue to produce.

You are better off starting with new seeds in the spring time. This also reduces the chances of your green house being infected.

I live in Northern Thailand and have tall growing small red Thai peppers that are never watered or fertilized and they continue to grow like weeds year after year. This is because the soil and climate are ideal for this type of pepper. However, jalapenos are a different story as they will start to degenerate badly after about 4 months.

Hope that this is some help. If you do continue to let them grow please keep me informed of the results.

Best wishes.

Don Battles

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: hi don
thank you for your help, the plants are just starting to show signs of fruit, i will let you know how successful i am,hope to get a bumper harvest (beginners luck, fingers crossed)
kind regards
Chris

Answer
Chris:

Pleased to hear that there is beginning to be some results.

Besides growing jalapenos in Northern Thailand I have started a project of growing them in mass in Kunming China, Yunnan Province. The soil there seems to be perfect and the height is 1800 meters above sea level. I started the trial project with the government agriculture department and should start having fruit within the next 60 days. Try to keep your soil at a Ph of around 6.

Growing peppers of all types is enjoyable. You can sell or share with your friends. The world of peppers is really big and there are good opportunities.

Best wishes for good growing.

Don