Friday 7 June 2013

Baby Peppers

I've got five pepper plants this year. I'm growing Corno di Torro Rosso which are long peppers, its name translates as Horn Of The Bull. I sowed five seeds in to a heated propagator back on the third of February and all five seeds germinated in little over a week. I wanted to sow them early to give them a good long growing season, it looks to have paid off as I've already got some fruit just starting to grow, and the plants are a mass of flowers. I could be in for a good year.

It's not such a good start for my beans this year. Very few germinated in the modules I sowed them in to, yet now that we're in to June, I don't want to repeat this process, so I've planted out the few plants which have grown and filled the gaps by sowing direct. They should germinate well this way at this time of year, though I think I will sow some extras as knowing my luck, the slugs will get them as soon as they emerge. I've got two wigwams, one for Cobra French beans and the other for St George runner beans. My dwarf French beans didn't germinate at all so I'll be sowing all those direct.

It looks set to be a good weekend, though I doubt I'll get anything done at the plot tomorrow as Hubby and Son have a cricket match. I'm hoping to get my sweetcorn planted out on Sunday, the plants look lovely and healthy so I'm keeping my fingers firmly crossed that this is the year that I manage to get a decent harvest. I haven't managed to grow any respectable cobs since having the allotment so I'm going to try my very best this year. I hope there's plenty of good weather around the country over the next couple of days so that everyone can get some gardening done.

30 comments:

  1. I have got some Sweet Peppers on the go too. It's the first time I have tried them (usually I just grow chillis), so it will be interesting to compare notes with you. I plan to make mine into paprika if I get a big enough crop.

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    1. That's an interesting project, I look forward to hearing more about it. My peppers usually take quite a while to ripen so I'm hoping for lots of sunshing this year to help with that.

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  2. I am growing sweet peppers too, but not big enough for any fruit yet. Well done on yours xxx

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    1. I'm sure this lovely weather will bring your plants on, I seem to be able to see mine growing by the day. Long may it last.

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  3. You certainly did get a head start on these Jo. I was given a couple of sweet pepper plants as I didn't sow any this year. They're only a couple of centimetres tall still so I think I'll be very lucky to get any fruits from them!

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    1. It was a case of sowing the seeds when I thought they stood a chance of growing without getting too leggy. I was itching for the off in January really but I managed to hold off. You never know, your peppers may have a growth spurt, especially if this weather continues.

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  4. Fingers crossed for your sweet peppers. It'll be interesting to see how you get on since I think I started mine too late :(

    Have a great weekend!

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    1. Thank you for visiting and leaving a comment. I've made the mistake of sowing pepper seeds too late in the past so did my best to ensure it didn't happen this year. Still no guarantees that I'll get ripe fruit though.

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  5. AnonymousJune 07, 2013

    I don't grow peppers but as you know I do grow runner beans. This year, like you, St.George which I've not tried before. I've also sowed direct some dwarf French beans so it'll be interesting to see how we do. Flighty xx

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    1. I always usually start my beans off in modules, so I hope the direct sown ones do ok this year as it's a bit late to resow in to modules now. Let's hope we both get great bean crops.

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  6. i've had exactly the same experience with beans. A few days ago (less than a week) I put another lot of Cobra, Lady Di (runners) and Nomad (dwarf) into pots in the greenhouse and already some of the runners have germinated. What a difference a bit of warmth makes. Like you I've had problems sowing them in situ in the past. If it's not slugs it's mice. :(

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    1. I think it's been far too cold for many things to germinate this year. I think we'd have all been much better off waiting until a couple of weeks ago when it warmed up. I hope our harvests don't suffer because of it.

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  7. I planted out my runner bean seeds directly into the soil today and DH planted some in pots. The small corn plants are already in. I reckon we're about a month behind.
    Love from Mum
    xx

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    1. I think the flowers are about a month behind this year too, so I'm sure our crops will sort themselves out. Good luck with your beans.

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  8. Mice can be a problem with direct sown beans too so planting some spares is a good plan.

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    1. I'll make sure I pop some spares in this weekend. I don't sow many things direct, so don't really know how they'll fare, but I reckon the slugs will be my biggest problem, they're the bane of my life.

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  9. Wow, your peppers are doing well. Mine are only about 12cm, even though I planted them on 16th Feb. I'm growing Biscayne, which have done okay for me before. They're also long type peppers and I grow them on a south-facing windowsill. I'm trying some chillis as well, Anaheim and Hungarian Hot Wax Yellow, but they are even smaller. I was thinking of sowing on 1st January next year. I always struggle with bean germination too; I put in loads extra to get just enough. Hope you have a wonderful weekend.

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    1. My peppers are in the greenhouse. I'm hoping that when I eventually get everything sorted out in there, there'll be enough room left to leave them in there, I don't think they fare anywhere near as well when they're grown outside. The problem I've found with sowing any earlier is that they end up growing leggy because of the low light levels. I think I've found just the right time this year, they've done very well so far.

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  10. Dear Husband, Mr P., has been very busy in the allotment this last week. The veggies are really coming on well and I must do a specific post sometime next week. He's rather vague about some of the interesting names of them, but definitely know Corno di Torro Rosso! Hope you have a relaxing time today as I'm guessing you're going to the cricket match too.

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    1. I look forward to reading your post about the allotment. I think there's been lots of activity on plots just recently with the good weather. I don't often go to cricket matches, but I think I'll pop down at some point today. Hubby is playing at home and Son is playing away, though they usually play together.

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  11. Oh my! A baby pepper already???? wonderful!

    Only one of my peppers germinated, along with one melon and cucumber, which was odd. The plants are strong but no flowers yet. yOU LOOK SET FOR A BUMPER CROP!XXXX

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    1. I was over the moon when I saw it, sowing early seems to have paid off. It's been a bad year for seeds germinating so you've done well to get the pepper, melon and cucumber up at all, I've had to resow many things. Any crop at all will be very welcome.

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  12. Hi I'm a new follower to you blog. Well done on the baby peppers, my plants still aren't very big at the moment.
    Julie :o)

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    1. Thank you for visiting and leaving a comment. I started my peppers of early this year and it looks to have paid off. We just need a little more sunshine now to bring everything on.

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  13. Oh your peppers are doing well Jo. Mine were sown a couple of weeks later but I have still to see a flower. Your hopes for a good couple of days weather were granted. Hope that you got your sweetcorn in today :)

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    1. I'm surprised by how many flowers are on the plants, I'll have a very healthy harvest if they all turn in to fruit. I didn't manage to get the sweet corn in yesterday but I'll hopefully manage it this week sometime.

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  14. I can't believe the success of your peppers, duly noted for next year as mine are such tiny plants!!

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    1. I'm not counting my chickens, they haven't reached maturity quite yet, but they're on the way.

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  15. Your peppers are doing really well. I'll wait to get a proper greenhouse I think before I try them. My chillis are doing Ok and starting to fruit now though. My first sowing of the dwarf french beans didn't come up either. But think I've got some now. Its great that we have had some sunny and warm weather to keep busy.

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    1. Peppers definitely do better in a greenhouse, I've just managed to squeeze my five plants in, alongside the tomatoes. It looks like the weather may be on the change, it's a bit drizzly this morning, though I haven't seen the forecast so I hope it's not set to stay.

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