Thursday, October 6, 2011

Celebrating Chilli 2nd Birthday

I can't understand these chilli plants of ours which have live through 2 winters and surprisingly still standing tall. This is what these chilli plants look like early winter this year. Its home is under our porch shade. As you can see the clay soil condition is terrible and need some improvement. Moreover, this area is totally unkept and neglected by us. We don't even feed this plants that much, rarely received liquid fertiliser. We tried growing many different type of plants (extra seedlings) here but none grow that much.
This is how one of the chilli plant look at the moment. I just realised that it has grown new baby leaves to replace the ones that died in winter on the branches. Sometimes it does received some sun but only for a few hours (<2hours?).
Not just new leaves but flowers too. 
These twins are also celebrating their 2nd Birthday. They received full sun. This is how it looks like last April (mid-autumn). These plants starts to fruit late because it was too hot for them to have blooms. Each year to protect these twins, next to them I usually plant cool season vegetable that will grow taller than them .
Planting these plants closely will help to shelter our chilli plants from chill winds and keep them warm like a blanket at night. So this is how the area looks like last August (end-winter). I did a mistake, one of the twins are safely tucked behind these big brassica plants but the other twin was exposed in front. The exposed twin at the moment looks like it is trying its might to revive.
I observed that our chilli plants fruit more in its second year. This is because I think on its first year, we have to wait for the plants to mature (starting from seeds) and when it starts to fruit its already close to autumn. However, treating them as perennials it will start to fruit soon after the weather is warm enough for them. Chilli for thoughts.

28 comments:

Robin said...

It will be interesting to see how many years these plants live.

Cat-from-Sydney said...

MKG dear,
We used to have some very prolific chili padi that we planted from scratch. You see, Mama was upset that chili padi was sold at least $25/kg in Sydney so we bought a handful of very ripe ones, split them open and waited if it will grow. It did. We put them in tomyam, masak lemak, even made pickles as they were fruiting so profusely. They were in pots, at the balcony. purrr...meow!

cikmanggis said...

pokok cili ni umurnya agak panjang:)sama dengan yang ada kat kebun Cm ni.Bila daun gugur akan tumbuh daun baru.

Y said...

All my chilli plants don't last the longest one was actually more than one year, my dwarf jalapeno but like all the others its life force got sucked dried by those pesky aphids. There are so difficult to get rid off..

Jo said...

It looks like the plants are thriving on a little neglect. I wonder how long they'll live for.

tina said...

They are some happy plants. I like the tapestry of the lettuce and broccoli.

Skeeter said...

How lucky to have them return. Will be interesting to see if they make it a third year. They sure do look happy now...

Sue Garrett said...

Is the plant with burgundy leaves mustard? It looks really happy!

Mark Willis said...

I always grow Chillis as annuals, because our Winters are so cold, but I know that in warmer parts of the world they do grow as perennials.

Sue Catmint said...

I really like plants like those chilis - being a lazy gardener I like plants that virtually look after themselves in return for love and appreciation. Definitely chili for thoughts (lol)

ejaMaria said...

pokok cili ni jangan ada semut dgn bena putih tu je... lama la dia hidup...

lena said...

normally do you have to sun dry those chilli seeds before you plant them?

rainfield61 said...

I guess they blew candles at night celebrating their birthday.

chopinandmysaucepan said...

I love chillies and should really consider one of these. Last winter, I saw some birds eye chillies being sold in Coles for $90 a kilo!

JGH said...

Every year around this time, I'm tempted to try to bring in some peppers and keep them in a pot all winter. I know they don't like to freeze, but maybe they're more resilient than I thought!

littlekarstar said...

Wow! Fantastic! Our chilli plant is alive but so frost bitten I don't think it'll revive. You've done so well with yours!

Liz said...

My chilli plants all seem to have got through winter as well. My understanding is that chillis are all perenials but some varieties are longer lived than others. I noticed today that one of my plants was setting the first of its new season fruit which was very exciting.

Malar said...

The chilli plant must be very tough one!

shaz said...

Those are really tough cookies, I mean chillies :) Lucky, dapat makan sambal banyak-banyak.

kitchen flavours said...

So jealous to see your chili and all your sayur! :)

Bangchik and Kakdah said...

you keep CHILI plants over a year... that's productive!

Lrong Lim said...

Envy your chillies surviving over the winters... wish I could experience the same...

cooking varieties (wan) said...

Hi skg, your greens still aplenty, surprised chili can grow over there. In my place the chili needs hot sun, else will not bear fruits.
If there’s too much rain, the flowers and buds will drop.

Kelli said...

I like your 'chilli for thoughts'. Suppose your climate is perfect for the chilli plants to keep going. Your salad leaves look so pretty, that purple is gorgeous. Kelli

CathJ said...

growing soooo welll.... best oh... :)

Malay-Kadazan girl said...

Robin~Hopefully it can keep on producing till the warm season is over.

Cat-from-Sydney~We have not the need to buy any chillies since we had them growing and producing for us. Chilli is so cool they are not very demanding aren't they.

Cikmanggis~Ada pokok cili ni tak perlu lagi nak beli kat pasar ya. Ever ready nak petik ;).

Cina~Aphids usually No.1 enemy for chilli. The biggest success I have at eliminating aphids on my chilli plant is to have ladybirds stay happily on the chilli plant. Ladybirds will keep your chilli plant free from aphids.

Jo~Hopefully this year weather will be chilli favourite and they will be able to live much longer.

Tina~Had fun mixing both of the plant in the same patch.

Skeeter~I was surprise that those chilli bounce back much faster this year despite their age.

Sue~Yes it is purple giant mustard. But when it is that big, I think it will be too bitter to eat it.

Mark~We lucky to escape frost that we can treat chilli as perennials.

Catmint~It is much easier to maintain a garden when the plant look after themselves.

EjaMaria~Tapi ladybird boleh tolong hilangkan musuh tu.

Lena~ Sometime I don't sun dry them. Just throw seeds into the soil. When you make cili blendar after you boil cili kering. The seeds you can throw it into the soil and it will give you seedlings too. The cili plants in the picture were grown like that.

Rainfield61~Hope they have a blast.

Chopinandmysaucepan~Chili grow easily and well suited in pots too. Wow $90 perkilo that so expensive.

JGH~Maybe in a warm and sheltered place it can survive.

Malay-Kadazan girl said...

Mrs Bok~We do have some that did not survive. But I think the main reason is the location where we grow them.

Liz~Your chilli is doing really well! I had a look on them.

Malar~Yup a tough one!

Shaz~Oh lama tak buat sambal belacan...hehehe...

Joyce~I am missing okra when I look at yours. I only have a bag of frozen okra supply.

Bangchik and Kakdah~I guess it will be lonely without chilli here.

Lrong~Some survive some not.

Wan~To make sure that we always have veggies to harvest is to sow some veggie seeds alternate week and succession sowing.

Kelli~The mustard does add a bit of colour on that patch ;).

CathJ~ Chillies reviving.

Wendy said...

Great chilis but you have some gorgeous greens! I don't see one nibble.