Re: [CH] Intro/new subscriber: V8 #482
Cameron Begg (begg.4@osu.edu)
Thu, 17 Jan 2002 13:49:11 -0500
Hi C-H's,
Shaun wrote:
> I'm a fellow addict from Northern 'UK', which, by the way, is a
>wet and miserable little place in the Northern hemisphere, hence the name
>'UK', just like it sounds.......
Northern UK is Scotland which is anything but miserable.
>I s'pose my first question would have to be..........errmmmm........how
>darned easy/hard can it be to grow _good_ chillies in a place such as 'UK'?
>Uhuh! Well, whatabout without a hot-house? In numbers?
It is relatively easy in Scotland because of the extremely long
periods of Summer daylight. I did it there in a lean-to greenhouse
against the South facing wall of our house. (Double entendre noted!)
This has the advantage of storing the sun's heat through the night. I
started the peppers (also tomatoes) in January indoors and grew them
in pots stood in a poly trough for feeding and watering. I don't know
where you are but let's take the beautiful City of Edinburgh as an
example. It's average low temperature for the coldest month, which is
February, is 0C/32F - a temperature which is survivable by any chile
pepper. ("Chile" is the N. American spelling.) The average high in
July is 19C/66F and would be a LOT higher in a greenhouse. Many
chiles can handle a lot of heat, but if you are growing tomatoes too,
ventilation to somewhere about 29C/85F would be a good high temp.
Bear in mind that these are AVERAGE lows and highs. To use your
greenhouse year round you would require supplemental heat and light.
If you are somewhere really miserable, like the N. of England, you
might consider growing the highly desirable rocotos (Capsicum
pubescens.) These seem to do best in shaded places, grow well in pots
for transporting in and outdoors, do not like super hot temperatures
and taste very good. I can send you some seeds if you like, or Dave
Anderson will sell you some:
http://www.tough-love.com/
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Regards, Cameron.