Chilli Growing Diary

Back in 2009, we decided to grow seven varieties in three of our Vivigrow Planters.

We kept track of our chilli plants at every step along the way to show you just how quickly chillies grow in our Vivigrow!

If you're interested in growing your own chillies, make sure you read through this diary so you know what to expect! You can also check out our Chilli Growing Guide for even more hints and tips!

11th March 2009

Fresh from the Vitopod Heated Propagator, we picked out the healthiest looking chilli plants and planted them into our Vivigrow Planter.

In Vivigrow 1 we planted: Friars Hat, Portugal and Georgia Flame chillies.

In Vivigrow 2 we planted Nepali Orange, Pusa Jwalia and Pasilla Bajio.

In Vivigrow 3 we planted 2x Joes Long chillies

The Joes Long Chillies are our favourites and they are so productive that we decided not to plant anything else in this planter.

31st March 2009 (week 3)

The chillies have really taken off! The Joes Long plants that were planted last month are looking particularly great, we couldn’t be happier with the progress!

Competitive gardeners love our Vivigrow planter because of the fast growth and much bigger crops it produces.

Vivigrow 1 – Week 3
Chilli	Height	Weekly Growth	Flowers	Fruit
Friars Hat		34cm	0	0
Portugal		18cm	0	0
Georgia Flame		19cm	0	0

         

Vivigrow 2 – Week 3
Chilli	Height	Weekly Growth	Flowers	Fruit
Pasilla Bajio		17cm	0	0
Pusa Jwalia		12cm	0	0
Nepali Orange		15cm	0	0

         

Vivigrow 3 – Week 3
Chilli	Height	Weekly Growth	Flowers	Fruit
Front Joes Long		19cm	0	0
Rear Joes Long		20cm	0	0

 

6^th April 2009 (week 4)

All of the chillies in our planters are looking good.

The first flowers are beginning to show so it shouldn’t be too much longer before we start seeing a few chillies emerging.

Vivigrow 1 – Week 4
Chilli	Height	Weekly Growth	Flowers	Fruit
Friars Hat		11cm	0	0
Portugal		13cm	4	0
Georgia Flame		12cm	4	0

 

Vivigrow 2 – Week 4
Chilli	Height	Weekly Growth	Flowers	Fruit
Pasilla Bajio		7cm	1	0
Pusa Jwalia		6cm	0	0
Nepali Orange		8cm	0	0

 

Vivigrow 3 – Week 4
Chilli	Height	Weekly Growth	Flowers	Fruit
Front Joes Long		13cm	0	0
Rear Joes Long		14cm	0	0

 

15th April 2009 (week 5)

This is so cool! Our first fruit is already beginning to form!

Both the Portugal and the Pasilla Bajio are forming their first fruit after just 5 weeks in the Vivigrow!

Vivigrow 1 – Week 5
Chilli	Height	Weekly Growth	Flowers	Fruit
Friars Hat		16cm	0	0
Portugal		10cm	5	1
Georgia Flame		15cm	4	0

 

Vivigrow 2 – Week 5
Chilli	Height	Weekly Growth	Flowers	Fruit
Pasilla Bajio		8cm	2	1
Pusa Jwalia		8cm	0	0
Nepali Orange		10cm	0	0

 

Vivigrow 3 – Week 5
Chilli	Height	Weekly Growth	Flowers	Fruit
Front Joes Long		17cm	0	0
Rear Joes Long		16cm	0	0

 

22 April 2009 (week 6)

With growth well under way we are looking forward to tasting the first fruits of our labour!

A few more chillies have now started to emerge and the plants are still looking incredibly healthy!

Vivigrow 1 – Week 6
Chilli	Height	Weekly Growth	Flowers	Fruit
Friars Hat		11cm	0	0
Portugal		9cm	9	2
Georgia Flame		9cm	6	0

 

Vivigrow 2 – Week 6
Chilli	Height	Weekly Growth	Flowers	Fruit
Pasilla Bajio		6cm	3	1
Pusa Jwalia		11cm	0	0
Nepali Orange		11cm	2	0

 

Vivigrow 3 – Week 6
Chilli	Height	Weekly Growth	Flowers	Fruit
Front Joes Long		10cm	2	0
Rear Joes Long		12cm	9	0

 

28th April 2009 (week 7)

The chillies are now beginning to form on the Joes Long plants: we’re really looking forward to these!

Both the Portugal and the Pasilla Bajio also have more fruit, all growing really well.

Vivigrow 1 – Week 7
Chilli	Height	Weekly Growth	Flowers	Fruit
Friars Hat		23cm	0	0
Portugal		17cm	15	8
Georgia Flame		19cm	13	4

 

Vivigrow 2 – Week 7
Chilli	Height	Weekly Growth	Flowers	Fruit
Pasilla Bajio		20cm	9	2
Pusa Jwalia		13cm	0	0
Nepali Orange		9cm	17	0

 

Vivigrow 3 – Week 7
Chilli	Height	Weekly Growth	Flowers	Fruit
Front Joes Long		13cm	8	0
Rear Joes Long		14cm	12	2

 

20th May 2009 (week 10)

There are plenty of fruit abound; we just need to wait for them to ripen!

The Pusa Jwalia is yet to fruit, but there are plenty of flowers so it shouldn’t be long now!

There are too many flowers to count on our chilli plants now, so we’ve now started monitoring the number of ripe fruit instead.

Vivigrow 1 – Week 10
Chilli	Height	Weekly Growth	Fruit	Ripe Fruit
Friars Hat	175cm	5cm	0	0
Portugal	123cm	14cm	17	0
Georgia Flame	145cm	30cm	14	0

 

Vivigrow 2 – Week 10
Chilli	Height	Weekly Growth	Fruit	Ripe Fruit
Pasilla Bajio	115cm	11cm	4	0
Pusa Jwalia	117cm	24cm	0 (10 flowers)	0
Nepali Orange	117cm	20cm	3	0

 

Vivigrow 3 – Week 10
Chilli	Height	Weekly Growth	Fruit	Ripe Fruit
Front Joes Long	136cm	2cm	9	0
Rear Joes Long	148cm	11cm	17	0

 

27th May 2009 (week 11)

The Pasilla Bajio fruit are now ripening to a beautiful greenish black.

We changed the nutrient solution in the tanks this week to refresh the nutrient balance.

Vivigrow 1 – Week 11
Chilli	Height	Weekly Growth	Fruit	Ripe Fruit
Friars Hat	215cm	40cm	0	0
Portugal	135cm	12cm	20	0
Georgia Flame	150cm	5cm	20	0

 

Vivigrow 2 – Week 11
Chilli	Height	Weekly Growth	Fruit	Ripe Fruit
Pasilla Bajio	134cm	19cm	13	0
Pusa Jwalia	120cm	3cm	18	0
Nepali Orange	128cm	11cm	3	0

 

Vivigrow 3 – Week 11
Chilli	Height	Weekly Growth	Fruit	Ripe Fruit
Front Joes Long	147cm	11cm	20	0
Rear Joes Long	163cm	15cm	20	0

 

5th June 2009 (week 12)

A huge increase in fruit production this week; Nepali orange has gone from 3 fruit last week to over 30 this week!

Absolutely incredible growth thanks to the Vivigrow.

Vivigrow 1 – Week 12
Chilli	Height	Weekly Growth	Fruit	Ripe Fruit
Friars Hat	235cm	20cm	0 (3 flowers)	0
Portugal	160cm	25cm	20	0
Georgia Flame	165cm	20cm	20	0

 

Vivigrow 2 – Week 12
Chilli	Height	Weekly Growth	Fruit	Ripe Fruit
Pasilla Bajio	136cm	2cm	29	0
Pusa Jwalia	140cm	20cm	0 (20 flowers)	0
Nepali Orange	150cm	22cm	30	0

 

Vivigrow 3 – Week 12
Chilli	Height	Weekly Growth	Fruit	Ripe Fruit
Front Joes Long	160cm	13cm	30	0
Rear Joes Long	183cm	20cm	30	0

 

10th June 2009 (week 13)

After several weeks of phenomenal growth, the Friars Hat chilli is now fruiting.

Pusa Jwalia is eagerly fruiting slender, cayenne type fruit: we knew it would be happening soon but it’s exceeded our expectations!

Vivigrow 1 – Week 13
Chilli	Height	Weekly Growth	Fruit	Ripe Fruit
Friars Hat	244cm	9cm	10	0
Portugal	179cm	19cm	40	0
Georgia Flame	174cm	9cm	40	0

 

Vivigrow 2 – Week 13
Chilli	Height	Weekly Growth	Fruit	Ripe Fruit
Pasilla Bajio	152cm	16cm	40	0
Pusa Jwalia	142cm	2cm	20	0
Nepali Orange	153cm	3cm	40	0

 

Vivigrow 3 – Week 13
Chilli	Height	Weekly Growth	Fruit	Ripe Fruit
Front Joes Long	167cm	7cm	40	0
Rear Joes Long	193cm	10cm	40	0

 

17th June 2009 (week 14)

The Friars Hat is romping away and is a staggering 268cm tall!

The Nepali Orange is now bearing lots of small, hot chillies. In total we’ve now spotted around 300 chillies over all of our Vivigrows!

Vivigrow 1 – Week 14
Chilli	Height	Weekly Growth	Fruit	Ripe Fruit
Friars Hat	268cm	24cm	20	0
Portugal	181cm	2cm	40	0
Georgia Flame	182cm	8cm	40	0

 

Vivigrow 2 – Week 14
Chilli	Height	Weekly Growth	Fruit	Ripe Fruit
Pasilla Bajio	167cm	15cm	40	0
Pusa Jwalia	159cm	17cm	20	0
Nepali Orange	154cm	1cm	40	0

 

Vivigrow 3 – Week 14
Chilli	Height	Weekly Growth	Fruit	Ripe Fruit
Front Joes Long	176cm	9cm	40	0
Rear Joes Long	200cm	7cm	40	0

 

24th June 2009 (week 15)

The Friars Hat is still growing strong and now producing lots of interesting fruit.

These chillies are great fun to grow; they look absolutely stunning and fruit late into the year, so we’re expecting an incredible chilli harvest!

Vivigrow 1 – Week 15
Chilli	Height	Weekly Growth	Fruit	Ripe Fruit
Friars Hat	280cm	12cm	40	0
Portugal	197cm	16cm	50	0
Georgia Flame	191cm	9cm	50	0

 

Vivigrow 2 – Week 15
Chilli	Height	Weekly Growth	Fruit	Ripe Fruit
Pasilla Bajio	169cm	2cm	50	0
Pusa Jwalia	164cm	5cm	60	0
Nepali Orange	180cm	26cm	80	0

 

Vivigrow 3 – Week 15
Chilli	Height	Weekly Growth	Fruit	Ripe Fruit
Front Joes Long	184cm	8cm	50	0
Rear Joes Long	202cm	2cm	50	0

 

1st July 2009 (week 16)

This week we had to trim the Friars Hat because it had reached the roof of our greenhouse!

To prepare them for an upcoming show, we also trimmed the plants in Vivigrow 2.

Growth has now slowed a little but the fruit production just continues to rise!

Vivigrow 1 – Week 16
Chilli	Height	Weekly Growth	Fruit	Ripe Fruit
Friars Hat	260cm	13cm	60	0
Portugal	200cm	3cm	50	0
Georgia Flame	203cm	12cm	50	0

 

Vivigrow 2 – Week 16
Chilli	Height	Weekly Growth	Fruit	Ripe Fruit
Pasilla Bajio	172cm	6cm	50	0
Pusa Jwalia	166cm	2cm	60	0
Nepali Orange	182cm	10cm	80	0

 

Vivigrow 3 – Week 16
Chilli	Height	Weekly Growth	Fruit	Ripe Fruit
Front Joes Long	189cm	5cm	50	0
Rear Joes Long	204cm	2cm	50	0

 

8th July 2009 (week 17)

Since they were trimmed last week, the chillies have put on more side growth, and become even bushier.

We have now begun harvesting the ripe chillies.

We’ve picked over 40 green Padron chillies, which have now made their way over to the Duk Restaurant in Preston. There are plenty more to come!

Vivigrow 1 – Week 17
Chilli	Height	Weekly Growth	Fruit	Ripe Fruit
Friars Hat	272cm	12cm	60	0
Portugal	207cm	7cm	50	16
Georgia Flame	206cm	3cm	50	12

 

Vivigrow 2 – Week 17
Chilli	Height	Weekly Growth	Fruit	Ripe Fruit
Pasilla Bajio	185cm	13cm	50	44
Pusa Jwalia	181cm	15cm	60	0
Nepali Orange	177cm	3cm	80	36

 

Vivigrow 3 – Week 17
Chilli	Height	Weekly Growth	Fruit	Ripe Fruit
Front Joes Long	197cm	8cm	50	16
Rear Joes Long	205cm	1cm	50	15

 

15th July 2009 (week 18)

With plenty of fruit beginning to ripen, our Gardening Angels been eager to try out some of the new varieties we are growing this year!

As we’ve started to monitor how many chillies we’ve picked, we will now be including this in our updates:

Vivigrow 1 – Week 18
Chilli	Height	Fruit	Ripe Fruit	Fruit Picked
Friars Hat	282cm	60	0	0
Portugal	216cm	50	17	3
Georgia Flame	214cm	50	14	2

 

Vivigrow 2 – Week 18
Chilli	Height	Fruit	Ripe Fruit	Fruit Picked
Pasilla Bajio	186cm	50	44	3
Pusa Jwalia	182cm	60	0	0
Nepali Orange	179cm	80	42	2

 

Vivigrow 3 – Week 18
Chilli	Height	Fruit	Ripe Fruit	Fruit Picked
Front Joes Long	200cm	50	16	1
Rear Joes Long	207cm	50	14	2

 

22nd July 2009 (week 19)

The Pusa Jwalia fruit are ripening to a lovely rich, orange colour. They are thin fleshed and ideal for drying, so a season’s worth should keep you going throughout the winter months: and given how many there are, they’ll probably keep your friends in stock too!

Combined, the Joes Long plants have produced over 70 chilies, 44 of which are ripe, 5 fruit picked.

The Joes Long plants have grown so well it’s become difficult to tell them apart, so we will now be tracking our overall Joes Long performance

Vivigrow 1 – Week 19
Chilli	Height	Fruit	Ripe Fruit	Fruit Picked
Friars Hat	285cm	60	0	0
Portugal	220cm	60	30	3
Georgia Flame	220cm	50	18	3

 

Vivigrow 2 – Week 19
Chilli	Height	Fruit	Ripe Fruit	Fruit Picked
Pasilla Bajio	200cm	60	50	3
Pusa Jwalia	190cm	60	5	0
Nepali Orange	182cm	80	50	3

 

Vivigrow 3 – Week 19
Chilli	Height	Fruit	Ripe Fruit	Fruit Picked
Joes Long (x2)	211cm	70	44	5

 

5th August 2009 (week 21)

It has been all go this week as we prepared for the West Dean Chilli Fiesta near Chichester. 

We’ve picked plenty of chillies from our Vivigrows for people to try, including the Friars Hat, Portugal and Georgia Flame.

Vivigrow 1 – Week 21
Chilli	Height	Fruit	Ripe Fruit	Fruit Picked
Friars Hat	293cm	60	12	7
Portugal	226cm	60	30	25
Georgia Flame	225cm	50	25	18

 

Vivigrow 2 – Week 21
Chilli	Height	Fruit	Ripe Fruit	Fruit Picked
Pasilla Bajio	203cm	70	60	3
Pusa Jwalia	192cm	60	20	0
Nepali Orange	184cm	80	50	3

 

Vivigrow 3 – Week 21
Chilli	Height	Fruit	Ripe Fruit	Fruit Picked
Joes Long (x2)	220cm	70	44	22

 

12th August 2009 (week 22)

The West Dean Chilli festival was a huge success but the chillies in Vivigrow 2 took a bit of a battering on the long journey: we told it to wear a seatbelt!

With that in mind, a schedule of care is what is needed and before too long the chilli plants will be on top form once more!

Vivigrow 1 – Week 22
Chilli	Height	Fruit	Ripe Fruit	Fruit Picked
Friars Hat	302cm	70	20	10
Portugal	232cm	40	12	26
Georgia Flame	233cm	50	9	20

 

Vivigrow 2 – Week 22
Chilli	Height	Fruit	Ripe Fruit	Fruit Picked
Pasilla Bajio	209cm	60	40	10
Pusa Jwalia	192cm	60	30	12
Nepali Orange	184cm	80	50	20

 

Vivigrow 3 – Week 22
Chilli	Height	Fruit	Ripe Fruit	Fruit Picked
Joes Long (x2)	223cm	70	35	24

 

19th August 2009 (week 23)

The majority of branches on the Friars Hat are now touching the ceiling.

Another week will be just long enough for the fruit to ripen and it will have to be pruned back!

Vivigrow 1 – Week 23
Chilli	Height	Fruit	Ripe Fruit	Fruit Picked
Friars Hat	310cm	60	30	10
Portugal	232cm	30	20	30
Georgia Flame	233cm	50	9	20

 

Vivigrow 2 – Week 23
Chilli	Height	Fruit	Ripe Fruit	Fruit Picked
Pasilla Bajio	209cm	60	20	15
Pusa Jwalia	192cm	60	40	18
Nepali Orange	184cm	100	100	20

 

Vivigrow 3 – Week 23
Chilli	Height	Fruit	Ripe Fruit	Fruit Picked
Joes Long (x2)	223cm	70	35	30

 

26th August 2009 (week 24)

The Friars Hat and Nepali Orange have been trimmed and are looking fabulous.

All the chilli plants are looking healthy and work now begins to prepare them for the Mawdesley Family Funday in two weeks’ time. We’ve lost count of how many chillies there are on each plant, so we’re now only able to count the ripe ones!

As the light levels begin to wane as we head towards autumn, growth will halt and the plants will concentrate all their efforts on ripening fruit.

Vivigrow 1 – Week 24
Chilli	Height	Ripe Fruit	Fruit Picked
Friars Hat	315cm	30	20
Portugal	236cm	20	35
Georgia Flame	236cm	15	23

 

Vivigrow 2 – Week 24
Chilli	Height	Ripe Fruit	Fruit Picked
Pasilla Bajio	209cm	20	16
Pusa Jwalia	192cm	40	20
Nepali Orange	170cm	100	30

 

Vivigrow 3 – Week 24
Chilli	Height	Ripe Fruit	Fruit Picked
Joes Long (x2)	225cm	35	35

 

2nd September 2009 (week 25)

The chillies in our Vivigrow Planter are looking fantastic, as are the chillies in our other planters! We also have some Rocota Orange and Rocota Red growing in our Quadgrow Planter.

The Rocota Red has been producing ripe fruit for weeks now but this week welcomed our first ripe Rocota Orange: a cause for excitement! Don't let the gentle curves and soft colour fool you, these chillies pack a punch.

Vivigrow 1 – Week 25
Chilli	Height	Ripe Fruit	Fruit Picked
Friars Hat	315cm	30	28
Portugal	236cm	20	40
Georgia Flame	236cm	15	25

 

Vivigrow 2 – Week 25
Chilli	Height	Ripe Fruit	Fruit Picked
Pasilla Bajio	209cm	20	18
Pusa Jwalia	192cm	40	26
Nepali Orange	170cm	100	40

 

Vivigrow 3 – Week 25
Chilli	Height	Ripe Fruit	Fruit Picked
Joes Long (x2)	225cm	35	35

 

9th September 2009 (week 26)

This week we are looking forward to the Mawdesley Funday on Sunday.

We are attending in support of the local allotments group. We have harvested plenty of chillies to give away at the event along with a few of our top recipes!

There are so many ripe chillies now that we will only be tracking the ones that we harvest:

Vivigrow 1 – Week 26
Chilli	Height	Fruit Picked
Friars Hat	315cm	108
Portugal	238cm	56
Georgia Flame	236cm	30

 

Vivigrow 2 – Week 26
Chilli	Height	Fruit Picked
Pasilla Bajio	209cm	28
Pusa Jwalia	192cm	110
Nepali Orange	170cm	200

 

Vivigrow 3 – Week 26
Chilli	Height	Fruit Picked
Joes Long (x2)	225cm	60

 

30th September 2009 (week 29)

There are still loads and loads of chillies that need to be picked. Everyone who has visited the greenhouse has been very impressed with just how many chillies we have growing, their vibrant colours certainly brighten up the place!

Vivigrow 1 – Week 29
Chilli	Height	Fruit Picked
Friars Hat	320cm	120
Portugal	240cm	60
Georgia Flame	240cm	35

 

Vivigrow 2 – Week 29
Chilli	Height	Fruit Picked
Pasilla Bajio	209cm	30
Pusa Jwalia	192cm	120
Nepali Orange	170cm	230

 

Vivigrow 3 – Week 29
Chilli	Height	Fruit Picked
Joes Long (x2)	225cm	70

 

7th October 2009 (week 30)

We hosted the Mawdesley allotments and smallholding community group’s monthly meeting this week. Everyone who stopped by was given a goodie bag of chillies and sweet peppers to take home!

Vivigrow 1 – Week 30
Chilli	Height	Fruit Picked
Friars Hat	330cm	130
Portugal	245cm	65
Georgia Flame	245cm	35

 

Vivigrow 2 – Week 30
Chilli	Height	Fruit Picked
Pasilla Bajio	210cm	32
Pusa Jwalia	195cm	130
Nepali Orange	175cm	240

 

Vivigrow 3 – Week 30
Chilli	Height	Fruit Picked
Joes Long (x2)	230cm	75

 

14th October 2009 (week 31)

This week we harvested the chillies from the Bih Jolokia we have been growing in a Tropical Planter in our polytunnel.

The plant grew to over 1 metre in height and yielded a fantastic 1.4kg of fruit!

Vivigrow 1 – Week 31
Chilli	Height	Fruit Picked
Friars Hat	330cm	135
Portugal	245cm	65
Georgia Flame	245cm	35

 

Vivigrow 2 – Week 31
Chilli	Height	Fruit Picked
Pasilla Bajio	210cm	34
Pusa Jwalia	195cm	135
Nepali Orange	175cm	245

 

Vivigrow 3 – Week 31
Chilli	Height	Fruit Picked
Joes Long (x2)	230cm	78

 

17th November 2009 (week 36)

It was a sad week this week as we took down Vivigrow 1 and recorded our final harvests.

The Friars Hat really didn't disappoint with a final harvest of almost 4000g! The average Friars Hat weighs 18g, so there should be over 200 chillies!

Vivigrow 1 – Week 36
Chilli	Height	Fruit Picked
Friars Hat	330cm	3900g
Portugal	245cm	794g
Georgia Flame	245cm	380g

 

Vivigrow 2 – Week 36
Chilli	Height	Fruit Picked
Pasilla Bajio	210cm	>60
Pusa Jwalia	195cm	>150
Nepali Orange	175cm	>250

 

Vivigrow 3 – Week 36
Chilli	Height	Fruit Picked
Joes Long (x2)	230cm	>90

 

We were very pleased with our growing progress throughout the year. The Friars Hat was easily our most successful chilli with over 4kg of fruit over the year! The Georgia Flame was the least successful, however we think that might have been due to the Friars Hat gobbling up all the nutrients!

This is the end of our 2009 Chilli Growing Diary. Our remaining chillies continue to fruit right into winter, so have remained up for the time being. If you’d like to hear more about our growing season or have any questions about our Vivigrow Planter, please feel free to get in touch with our Gardening Angels on 0845 602 3774 or drop us an email at info@greenhousesensation.co.uk. We’re always happy to help!