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As all of the chilli plants are still in a bit of a delicate state, what with still being infants and all, I try to keep a close eye on them.  Every 2 or 3 days I give each one a bit of a check up, making sure there are no little greeblies on them.  Over the last couple of weeks I’ve fond a couple and squished them, but nothing major.

But on Friday after checking all of the chillis I thought I  may as wel check the little coriander plants as well….

AAAARRRGGGGGHHHHHHH!!!!! What’s the next biggest thing after “gazzillion”? That’s how many aphidy things were on both them.  There was almost no plant material visible, it was all pretty much little green bugs!  Sitting right by the chillis! So straight into an airtight sandwich bag with them, pots and all…

I’m not sure if it’s a case of good “companion planting”, but luckily the chillis still seem clear, as do the other corriander that has just popped up from seeds I planted about a week ago.

I’ll be watching closely though!

This week the parsley plant has taken a bit of a beating.  We used a fair few of it’s leaves for 3 nights in a row, but luckily it looks like it’s coping with that.

I have to say that when we were chopping  it up there was a yummy parsley smell in the kitchen that we’ve just not had with the bought bags.. Now if the coriander would just get a bit of a wriggle on, we’ll be able to see if that does the same.

Apologies for the photo.  This was taken when we first used some, but it has needed some serious tweaking due to some sunlight issues at the time…

This morning I’d decided to give up on the sweet peas I’d planted the other week.  Mainly because I’d kind of decided that the pot that I’d planted them in would perhaps be better used for more herbs or something else that we could eat, rather than something merely colourful.

And just when I’d told my sister this on Skype I went out and checked the pot. And guess what. The first sweet pea plant had decided to poke its head up overnight!

Hey, ho. I guess colour it is then. I guess the edibles will have to go in some of the other pots that we’ve got stacked up.

Oh, and we seem to be able to grow parsely pretty well!  Hopefully the plant that’s now doubled in size since we planted it (it’s bigger in real life than it looks in the photo, honest!) will see us though the year…  Let’s just hope the coriander catches up soon!

The worry levels have still been slowly rising this week as the remaining two empty rows in the planting tray have remained stubbornly empty of any little green things.

Until today.  A solitary Fresno plant has poked its head up.  Just need a couple of its mates to do the same for safety…

We’ll see if the Pimentos de Padron follow suit soon. They should do, if only out of embarrassment that they’re so late to the party.  After a slow start there are now 5 Prairie Fires up now too.

And on another related note, we went on a big expedition to a garden centre somewhere almost out of town and managed to grab a couple of tiny coriander plants and some little capsicum plants too.  Hopefully we can get that all settled and growing too.

I’m starting to have no idea of where anything else is going to fit!

We had to go to the garden centre to stock up on a bit of dirt for when the chillis get a bit bigger and need new homes, but while we were there I also took the chance to grab a couple of other pots so I could plant some of the sweet pea seeds that we’ve been given.

And a parsley plant. It’s really annoying to keep buying herbs at the supermarket all time at what seems like inflated prices for 40 grams. And it feels  even more annoying when we have to keep throwing them out as we didn’t use them that week/fortnight. So we’ll see if having a plant here helps (assuming it survives!)

I would have also got some coriander and maybe mint, but all the garden centre had in its herb section was about 50 sage plants and 2 of parsley. Maybe everyone else has had the same idea lately…

I’ve been a bit worried for the last few days.  While 4 out of 7 chilli types had popped up a few days ago (as you’ll no doubt be aware if you’ve visited any time in the last few days…) but the other 3 have remained stubbornly under the level of the soil.

I’ve kept trying to be optimistic about them, but as the days go by the thoughts of “have they not been warm enough?”, “is the soil too wet for them?”, “is the soil too dry for them?” get ever stronger.

But today one of the Prairie Fire’s looks like it’s finally coming up!  That means I can now reset the worry clock, and give the others a bit longer before I panic…

So, that’s now:

• 5 Anaheims
• 7 Ring of Fires
• 6 Cherry Bombs
• Half a Prairie Fire
• 6 Jalapeños

And still lingering hope for the Pimentos de Padron and Fresnos…

Keep your fingers crossed for me!

Sunday’s count:

• 2 Anahiems
• 3 Ring of Fires
• 3 Cherry Bombs
• 6 Jalapenos

Still no sign of the Prairie Fires, Fresnos or Pimentos de Padron yet though….

… 3, sorry make that 4, Jalapeño plants poking their heads up to say hello!

Hold the press! Late breaking news!: A second Cherry Bomb has just broken the surface…

I made the mandatory daily inspection this morning, and lo and behold, there was the first sign of life!

It appears to be one of the Cherry Bombs, if I’m reading my scribbled planting notes up the right way! I really should make another (slightly neater) copy of the notes in case I get some water or something on the first one, or just tidy it away and forget where I’ve put it…

Anyway, one up after about 8 days at least shows it’s not too cold for germination to commence in the lounge, and that they didn’t dry out too much while we were away over the weekend (more on that a bit later).  Hopefully many more will come join the party soon. I’m sure you’ll hear how it goes. Regularly.

Normal blog service resuming!

After starting so late last year I was determined that this year I’d make sure the chilli plants get the best possible start, so we actually manage to get some decent chillis to eat this time (and there’s time to try again if these ones don’t hatch).

So in they go.  I’m trying something a bit different this year, with some seeds in pots, and some in the tray. We’ll see if it makes any difference to speed of germination or ease of transplanting a bit later…

This year’s varieties are:

• Fresno
• Anaheim
• Jalapeño
• Prairie Fire
• Ring of Fire
• Cherry Bomb
• Pimentos de Padron

I have no idea where they’re all going to go when/if  they sprout, but a couple of people have already put in orders for plants….