Probably the 'Hottest' You Tube video ever posted

What happens when you mix one of the worlds hottest chilli sauces with a mad chilli loving Australian 'who can eat anything'?

Click here to watch the hilareous results!!

Naga Snake Bite 'Pure Venom' - The Reviews are in!!

Well its now nearly two weeks since we launched our new and stupidly hot Naga Snake Bite 'Pure Venom' Chilli sauce and the rave reviews are starting to roll in thick and fast. Here are a couple of my favorites:

theHot Pepper.com - The No 1 US Pepper forum
'The naga flavor, of course, is huge, and the burn is crazy. After about a minute my throat is just in flames, but strangely my mouth is ok. Exhaling hurts my throat, and I’ve got just a thin sheen of sweat on the sides of my nose by my eyes. This is the point where glasses get foggy' :lol: :lol: :lol:'

http://www.thehotpepper.com/showthread.php?t=6877

thehotzoneonline.com - One of the US Top Hot Sauce sites!
'Its a creeping heat and it actually made my gums hurt. Yes folks, that is a first for me, and I’v''e had a lot of extract sauces....... it’s a staggeringly good sauce!'

http://www.thehotzoneonline.com/2008/07/31/passow-gets-yet-another-naga-snakebite/

This is why I love making super hot sauces. I definately have an evil streak in me!! Ypu can find more information and reviews of these devilishly hot but tasty sauces here:

Two New Naga Snake Bite Chilli Sauces Available!

For those of you that enjoyed our Original Recipe (Naga Snakebite Extreme) and our even hotter 'Private Reserve' chilli sauces we bring you some good news, the ultimate Naga Morich based chilli sauces are now available here.

NAGA SNAKEBITE 'PURE VENOM'
- 6.4m SHU Collectors Edition

Whats it like?:

If your looking for a sauce to give to your mates 'who can eat anything', get the pints in an look no further......

The label says 'it like drinking cobra venom' but our victims and insurance company would say thats an understatement!! Imagine peeling all the skin off your lips, then drinking a cup of scaulding hot oil before enduring the longest burrrrrrrrn of your life. With each 5oz bottle crammed full of the hottest peppers on the planet and a 6.4m SHU extract for good measure, not even their tears will cool them down!! .

Health Warning

This sauce is nearly 2000 times hotter than Tabasco sauce (or 200 times hotter than a typical Vindaloo curry) and is made with a complex blend of the worlds hottest peppers and extracts. This product is not like a normal chilli sauce. it should be treated as an 'extreme' food additive and used as such. Furthermore, you the prospective purchaser hereby release www.thechileman.org from all liability whatsover with respect to damage or claims of injury resulting from the misuse or over consumption of this product. You must keep this product out of reach of children and animals and should avoid it if you have respiratory problems or prior knowledge of a heart condition.

How Exclusive is it?:

Unfortunately due to fumes from making it, the rarety of fresh Naga Morich Peppers and a last minute transportation disaster, there are only 30 bottles available. Each bottle is fully pasterised with a use by date of 20th June 2009.

Forget about Blair, Daves Insanity Sauce and Mad Dog. This rare sauce will be an absolute legend!!


A NEW NAGA SNAKEBITE 'PRIVATE RESERVE IS ALSO AVAILABLE HERE'

Whats it like?:

Our new and improved 'Private Reserve' recipe is even hotter than the original and has been thinned out so thats it got a much smoother consistancy and is easier to pour whilst maintaining its unique taste.
At over 1m SHU its 'milder' than Pre Venom but still extremely hot as our reviewers will testify:

300 times hotter than a Jalapeno chilli'
The Daily Star (UK National Newspaper)

'This Sauce produces a euphoric bliss...the heat just kept pounding me'
The Hot Zone Online (No 1 Sauce review site on the Net)

ArHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!
ITV News Reporter (after sampling Snakebite live on UK National Televison)

'The flavour is fantastic with these little bottles of pain delivering 54 minutes of burning'
The Hot Sauce Blog (Top US Sauce review site)

'It felt like Chewing white hot coals'
The Northern Echo Newspaper

'This Stuff is Awesome'
EBAY Buyer

BE AFFRAID, BE VERY AFFRAID!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Best Chilli Pepper Information Site on the Internet

Regular visitors to www.thechileman.org site will already be aware of a FREE chile information site we have been developing. In our unbiased opinion, its the best on the Internet

However if you have'nt come across thechileman.org before and what some information on all things chile peppers, check out our 12 Steps to Pepper Heaven!!

1. From surfing this forum you will see there are literally hundreds of varieties you can grow. Not sure what to grow? Check out our quick guides to the chile pepper species and the many weird and wonderful pods available:

http://www.thechileman.org/guide_podtypes.php
http://www.thechileman.org/guide_species.php

2. Still can't decide? Search the Chileman Pepper Database. We have detailed information and pictures on nearly 4000 varieties (in 10 languages)!!

http://www.thechileman.org/guide_podtypes.php
http://www.thechileman.org/search.php

3. Weve put together a beginners guide to help new growers on there way:

http://www.thechileman.org/guide_beginner.php

4. For a more detailed guide on how best to germinate those seeds check out this guide:

http://www.thechileman.org/guide_starting.php

5. To keep you rplants nice and healthy you need to feed them. Here is a guide on the many natural fertilisers available

http://www.thechileman.org/guide_fertilizer.php

6. At some point your little darlings are likely to be attacked by the many nasty Pests & Diseases out there. Heres the chillemans 'first aid kit'

http://www.thechileman.org/guide_disease.php
http://www.thechileman.org/guide_slugs.php

7. At the end of the season you may want to save seeds fron haversted pods for future years. We tell you how here:

http://www.thechileman.org/guide_seedsaving.php

8. 'Overwintering' your plants is a great way to kick start Year 2 and many Chinenses produce much higher yields in there second and third years. You can find hits and tips here:

http://www.thechileman.org/guide_overwinter.php

9. Bored with growing your plants in soil? Why not try Hydroponics (growing them in solution)?

http://www.thechileman.org/hydro.php

10. Create your own growing list to keep track of your crop & see what others across the world are growing this year:

http://www.thechileman.org/create_list.php

11. A don't forgot our FREE growing competiton. There are many prizes and a champions trophy to be won:

http://www.thechileman.org/jalapeno_invitation.php

12. There are many many more guides available to help you get the most out of this growing season.

http://www.thechileman.org/guide_home.php

Remember thechileman.org is your site built for your enjoyment. We are hobbists just like you, we both have day jobs!!! We hope you like the site and think this project is worthwhile.

All the best

Mark (on behalf of)
www.thechileman.org

Some of my favorite Chilli varieties this year

Here is a few photos of some of my favorites varieites from this year .

September Update

Its been quite a while since I lasted posted. For starters, Ive been busy organising my wedding and making Naga snakebite! In addition the weather has been so poor this summer that most of my plants, particularly the Chinese varities including my 7 pod, Trinidad Scorpions and Fatalli's have barely set fruit! Even the chinense plants I over wintered from last year have struggled in the wet misable weather.Thankfully Ive had a bit more joy with the many annums ive been growing this year particularly my Jalapenos and a number of ornamental varirties: Black Pearl, Spectral, Brazilian Rainbow, Vietnamese and Black Scorpion tongue.

Anyway heres some photos taken in the chilehouse this morning. It normally looks like this in June! Im just praying we have an indian summer.

London Fiery Foods Festival (28th/29th July)

Now here's a date for your Chilli diarys - the weekend of 28th/29th July sees one of the largest gatherings of Spicy Food retailers taking place at The Fiery Foods Festival, West India Quay, London.


Around 90 company's will be bringing together their hot and spicy products from all over the globe - there are chilli sauces, curries, salsas from the Caribbean, India and Thailand as well as raw chiles in every variety, chutneys, nuts, chocolates and even Chilli beer. It promises to be a very hot event indeed!!

It is rumoured that our legendary Naga Snakebite Private Reserve sauce, the worlds hottest 'Natural' chilli sauce made with the worlds hottest chile - the Naga Morich, may also be making an appearence :-)

Naga Morich / Trinidad Scorpion Cross?

How about these for some vicious looking Naga Morich peppers:

However unlike normal Nagas, these have a 'Scorpion tail'.


The only other time I have seen this is on the equally deadly Trinidad Scorpion pepper. Could this be a new super hot hybridised version of Naga Morich perhaps?

14th April - The Worst Day of my Chile Life!

I seriously over stepped the line yesterday. It’s my birthday soon and I love cooking, particularly with some of the hot pepper varieties so I thought I would buy myself a new food processor. I had around 100 Naga Morich peppers left over from the initial batch of Naga Snakebite sauces and thought I would test out the blender by making a concentrated Naga Morich paste.

The weather was absolutely beautiful, so I took a chopping board a knife, a couple of bowls and a bag of harvested Nagas outside and proceeded to destalk them prior to blending whist sat at our garden table. Stupidly, I wore a pair of thin plastic gloves which offered no protection at all and it wasn’t long before my hands actually felt wet from the juices in the peppers / the water I used to wash the pods. About 10 pods in and the thin skin between my fingers started to burn but I carried on regardless. I’ve cut up hundreds of Nagas and other seriously hot peppers in my time so I knew the capsaicin was going to burn. There’s always something 'macho' about taking on the pain of a pepper burn, particularly amongst the hot sauce loving Americans - after all that’s why I decided to make the snakebite in the first place to satisfy even the craziest Chile head who just have to taste the hottest sauces. On the various chilli forums, stories of Capsaicin burns are nearly always told in a comical fashion, particularly the stories of 'Hunan hand' an affliction which only effects men when capsaicin comes into contact with something very sensitive when you haven’t watched your hands thoroughly after handling peppers.

After about 40 pods my whole hands were burning so I took off the flimsy gloves (which were complete pointless anyway), went to the kitchen and gave my hands a quick rinse under the cold water tap before preceding back into the garden to complete the job gloveless.
By the time I had destalked all 100 pods my hands were seriously burning to the point were my eyes were starting to water.

I battled on the complete my main objective - make a Naga Morich concentrate using my new food processor adding just a little Cider Vinegar (to bring the Acidity/PH below 4.5 to prevent botulism) and a spoon full of sugar and 10% sea salt to aid fermentation and preservation. The fumes from this concoction were unbelievable and it was quite a struggle pouring the blended mixture into a glass sealed ramekin jar. However it wasn’t the fumes that got me, by this point the pain in my hands had reached such a crescendo that they were physical shaking.

I ran to the refrigerator, grabbed the milk, pored it into a bowl before plunged my hands in. I literally stood there staring into the garden for a good 10 minutes waiting for the pain to subside. Why did I use milk? Capsaicin is complex oil and is not soluble in water. The best way to get rid of the burn is to use a fatty substance, which absorbs the oil. This is why its not a good idea to gulp down water after eating hot food as all that does is swill the oil around your mouth making the problem 10 times worse.

Whilst in the milk my hands felt fine, as soon as I pulled them out it felt like I was holding my hands over a naked flame. As I said I have suffered from Naga burns previously and knew what to expect. The pain is searing but it normally dies down after 10 minutes or so. This time was different. Thirty minutes later and I’m still stood there with my hands in my third bowl of milk staring out of the kitchen window to relieve the boredom. The pain is getting worse, not better and I’m really starting to worry at this point. I’m shivering (even though its a warm day) and there’s nobody else in the house to help me out. I try rubbing my hands in Lard (another fat) and also a bleach solution. Neither makes the situation any better.

I move into the front room, taking a towel and a kitchen bowl full of ice cold water with me (I’ve run out of milk etc by this point) and it’s the only thing I have to ease the pain. I then spend the next two hours watching the football on Sky Sports whilst sitting on the settee with my hands submerged in the bowl of water rising occasionally from this living hell to change the water.

Nearly 3 hours in and I know there is something wrong. I’m having a reaction to the capsiacin unlike anything I’ve ever experienced before, even from Nagas. Whilst my hands are in the water, they feel fine. As soon as I expose them to the open air, it feels like all the skin has been pealed off my hands exposing the raw nerves underneath and then holding them under the grill. I just about manage to dial the missus on the mobile phone (who is round her sisters) and proceed to tell her the story. Unsurprised, she bursts out laughing but hereing the concern in my voice she realises just how much pain I am in. It almost 5pm by this time and I call my best mate to cancel our planned drinking session tonight. I can hardly walk ten yards without desperately needing to plunge my hands into the water once again - never mind trying to hold a pint. The missus returns and sees just how bad things are. She doesn’t drive and I cannot drive myself to the hospital.

She is a pharmacist and refers to her textbooks for medical advise on capsaicin toxicity. Here is an extract:

'Capsaicin, found in various hot peppers has adverse effects on the peripheral nervous system. One dose of capsaicin is sufficient to destroy all substance P (an important nerve chemical related to endorphins) and causes about 50% loss from part of the spinal cord. Furthermore, the blood vessels of the heart are particularly sensitive to toxic factors in capsaicin. Even low doses lead to low core body temperatures (hypothermia)' the last line in particular really has me shitting myself as I’m feeling very cold. One solution the book recommends is alcohol rub gel. Luckily she has some, as you need to have sterile hands when working in a hospital. I dry my hands try it - its doesn’t help. In desperation I snap a large piece off my Aloe Vera plant that is growing on the kitchen windowsill and use the gel from that. Its doesn’t work either. Its now 4 hours since this episode began and she want to take me to the hospital. I’m worried about me health but refuse saying I'll be alright and if Im no better I will 'go tomorrow' as (1) I have a really phobia of hospitals, (2) I don't want to make myself look like a complete tit and (3) I don't know if I can take sat in a taxi for 10 minutes without a bowl of water nearby.


I spend the rest of the evening with my hands in the water, preying the pain will subside (it doesn’t) and decide to sleep on the settee as my bowl of water is near by. Its almost 3am before I somehow fall asleep with my hands still in the water. I fully expect a trip to casualty in the morning, in fact I wondering why the hell I didn’t go earlier so I didn’t have to go through this pain.

Miraculously, I wake around 7am this morning and the burning has subsided. My hands are still tender but no longer on fire. Despite being the so-called 'chileman' at least to my friends, I WILL NEVER EVER DISRESPECT NAGA MORICH (AND OTHER HOT PEPPERS) AGAIN!!

9th April - Naga 'Snakebite' Extreme Sauce to Launch Shortly!

The Naga Morich 'snake or serpent chilli' is one of the world's most sought after and fearsome chilli peppers. A recent sample of this rare Bangladeshi chilli was tested* using High-performance liquid chromatography and registered a mind blowing 1,598,227 Scoville Heat Units (SHU), that's 300 times hotter than a Jalapeno pepper!


In 2005/06 www.thechileman.org increased the availability of this pepper to the chilli community, using our Bangladeshi contacts to distribute authentic seeds to anyone brave enough to grow these firebombs.

Over the last 12 months we have harvested our peppers, donned the chemical suits and completed extensive and near fatal trials to perfect our Naga Snake Bite sauce recipe, a recipe which we believe maximises the unique smell & fruity tones of these deadly but delicious peppers.

So if you fantasise about drinking molten lava, enjoy ramming red hot pokers up your nose or simply just want to sample the unique fruity undertones of these unique peppers, then this sauce is definitely for you.





Naga Snakebite Private Reserve

To celebrate the launch of www.thechileman.org's first sauce, we have completed a very small run of Special Naga Snake Bite 'Private Reserve' with each bottle containing at least 10 of these Bangladeshi bad boys rather than the 4 or 5 we would normally use. Each bottle will be signed & number by thechileman.

For further information on this mind blowing sauce and how to get your hands on a bottle click here.

* 2006 test undertaken by Warwick University UK for TV show Gardeners World.

29th March - Operation Mousetrap Begins

Well after enduring hoards of slime slugs, scorching sun rays and plagues of mice, the fight back has begun!! After a trip to the local DIY store, I have returned with more bags of seed compost, seed trays, protective netting and some mice poison. I regard myself as an animal lover and have, in the past turned a blind eye to the odd slimy trail or mouse dropping beside the dog’s bag of biscuits (stored outside). But after seeing a whole seasons worth of seedlings wiped out in one night, I have reluctantly begun Operation Mouse Trap.

After surveying the bewildering range of mouse annihilating products in store, I opted for two poison filled plastic bait boxes rather than the conventional decapitating mouse traps. The bait boxes contain a slimly looking green mixture which the instructions promise will unleash a quick and relatively painless death to any of my hungry furry friends. I hope death is quick as the last thing I want to do is to finish off a half dead mouse writhing around in agony – even if it was the critter that ate my 7 pod plant.

Just before bed last night, I placed the two bait boxes in the outhouse well out of reach of our inquisitive dog. I awoke this morning to find that the first night of operation mouse trap went surprising well, maybe too well. Three rather cute looking, but distinctly dead mice were lying on the floor of the outhouse, which I quickly scooped up using one of the dogs ‘poo bags’ before introducing them to their new home – the bin. However, I don’t know whether I’m now more worried than relieved. I was expecting to find one, maybe two dead mice over the first few days of operation mouse trap, but three in the first few hours!! I hope I’m not introducing too many more mice to the bin over the next few days. A few stray mice I can live with but not an infestation.

Death Count Update:
Day 1: Five!!
Day 2: Five
Day 3: Two
Day 4: One
Day 5: One
Day 6: Zero (problem sorted?)

27th March - Looks like my seasons over before its begun

Its looks like my chilli growing season has ended almost before it has begun. Just when I thought it couldnt get any worse, Ive just been down to chilehouse to find my last tray of 25 varieties of Chinense, Pubescens and wild chiles species (the only survivors of this weekends mouse attack) have been cremated by todays strong sun. When I planted up a load more seeds on Sunday to replace the ones felled by the mice, I mistakenly mixed up the propagator of seedlings with another one and left it in the direct sun light rather than the shade. The result - 70 or so cremated seedlings and only two very sick looking survivors - a Jamacian Red Hot (which is even hotter now!) and a sole Trinidad Scorpion. The biggest blow is my pride and joy - my sole 7 pod seedling. Thats been baked to obilivion and back.

In all my years of chilli growing Ive never experienced such a devastating series of set backs. It looks like I going to be concentrating on developing the chileman site and a series of sauces rather than growing chillis this year. Im so gutted Im just lost for words. Im off to drown my sorrows in a nice bottle of red wine.

24th March - Disaster Strikes - my army is chopped / eaten down!!

I've woken today to a scene of total decimation and heartbreak. It was only yesterday that I posted details of how my little army of chile seedlings were roaring along. Today is a different matter as the 'curse of the black pearl' as Im now calling it has stuck again (I been jinxed ever since I took possession of that black pearl plant - thanks Tony!). The culprits are not the 'Darlington Slugs' but an even worse menace - mice! They have some how got into the outhouse, chewed clean through one of my plastic propagators before eating alive all my little seedlings. I'm absolutely gutted.


On a brighter note most of the seedlings lost are annuums which germinate pretty quickly so its only set me back a fortnight or so. I'm pretty sure have got replacement seeds and time is still on my side so all is not lost. My other tray of seedlings containing the slower to germinate species (Chinense/Pubescens) and the rarer wild varieties has escaped relatively untouched . This tray contains all my Trinidad Scorpions and the highly prized 7 Pod seedlings so it could have been so much worse.

Well, I'm going to have to get myself of to the garden centre, buy some more seed compost and some mousetraps. I hate these little bastards so much, I think I'll leave out a plate of my Naga Snakebite sauce for them to try. That should ensure a nice painful slow death!

23rd March - My little Army's on the move

Well its two weeks since i planted the first batch on this years seeds, one tray of mainly Annuums (Purple Prince, Masquarade, Fish etc) and another tray of Chinense, Pubescens and some wild species. As expected nearly all of the annum varieties germinated within the first 7 days and after two weeks I have had nearly 100% germination. Indeed all 20 annuum varieties planted have germinated.

The chinense species inparticular require slightly higher germination temperatures and normally take a little longer to germinate. Pubescens seeds with their distintive black colour have slightly thicker seed walls and these also tend to require a little more time . However the old 'electric blanket trick' has once again worked its magic and 26 or the 32 or so varieties planted have at least 1 out of 3 seeds poking through. These include 10 out of 16 Trinidad Scorpions and one out of two 7 pod seeds. I'll be taking extra precautions to make sure the slugs don't nibble these little gems.

A full list of the 50 or so varieties I have selected to grow this year (so far) can be found here.

The only ones Im waiting on are chinense species Aji Chombo (0 out of 3), Potka Booni Morich (0 out or 6), Ivorian Pimente and Super Pube (PI 595622), a pubescens, although my 'Hyper Pube' and 'Ultra Pube' have germinated fine. Three wild species Capsicum Eximium, CGN19198 (Capsicum Sp) and Capscum Lanceolatum have yet to rear their heads also. Not only are seeds of the wild species very difficult to get hold off, in my experience they tend to be very difficult to germinate. In previous years some have taken up to 6 weeks to germinate. I like a challenge!

The Curse of the Black Pearl

Well this years chilli growing season is barely underway and already the 'Darlington Slugs' have already claimed their first victim. One my friends, Tony Ford (of Naga seeds fame) sent me a luscious, glossy black leaved little plant back in December and it had been growing nicely on my kitchen windowsill. The plant - a Black Pearl is one of the most beautiful chile varieties I have come across and this is what it should look like.





With the weather getting a little warmer, I thought I would transfer my plant to the chile house. Two days later this is the result- absolute carnage. Not only have these slimey little bastards devoured every single leave, they have even chewed half the stem. A 8 inches plant devoured to a paulty 2in stub in one night. Ive got the salt and scissors at the ready and the season first slug hunt is imminent!!

10th March - First Chilli seeds hit the compost

Its Saturday the 10th of March. After a cold, dark and depressing winter the mornings are starting to get a little lighter (and the nights a little longer), the weather getting warmer and the daffodills are starting to open in my garden. The crisp early morning sun is beating down and the birds are singing my favourite Lilac tree. If you listen really carefully, you can even here the sound of chilli seeds been dropped into seed trays - yes its that time of year again, chile growing season. Wipeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!

Ive been a little slower of the mark that Julian, but patience is a virtue in the chilli growing game. Most people in the UK start plant seeds in late January/early Feburary and there is nothing wrong with that, particulary if you are using artifcal lighting or growing some of the slower germinating varieties like Habaneros and Naga Morich. Most people (like Julian) just can't wait.

However when natural light levels still pretty low and the risk of a sharp frost still present up until May or so (bad news for young tender plants), up here in Darlington I usually leave it a few more weeks. Anyway with milder autuums becoming more of the norm, even up here in the North of England, the chilli growing season extends right through to October/November so theres plenty of time to get those seeds in the soil if you havent done do already. In previous years, ive planted some of the shorter season varieties like Cayenne and Jalapeno as late as June and still had pods ready in time for my homemade chilli con carnes.

New Chilli Grower?
If youve never grown chillis before don't despair. Despite their 'exotic' appearence, chilli peppers are actually from the same horticultural family as the humble tomato & potato and are an absolute doddle to grow. Luckily unlike the boring potato, they are thousands of highly ornamental and tasty varieties to grow. They come in all sorts of shapes and sizes and they come in every colour imaginable, except bright blue! They grow quite happily in plant pots or window containers so you don't need an allotment. You don't even need a garden or a greenhouse or even soil! (see hydroponics). All chilli plants require is a warm spot, well drained soil, the occasional light sprinkling of fertiliser and a little loving care.

I grow most of my plants in containers as well as in the chilehouse (my cedar greenhouse), the out house, garden borders and anywhere else the missus will let me squezze a few in.
Before I waffle on anymore, if you fancy growing something different this year why not get yourself down to the garden centre, buy a bag of seed compost, a couple of cheap plant pots, some plant labels and some chilli seeds. Thompson & Morgans stock and excellent range of starter chilli peppers. If your really stuck for seeds, or need further advice www.thechileman.org will be more than happy to help you. If your new to growing chillis and are interested in finding out, more about how to grow them, click on these links for a beginners guide and a more detailed starting seeds & germinatiion guide.

This year Im trying my best to restrain myself (to keep in the missus good books) and have limited myself to 50 or so varieties. You can find my provisional growing list here.

Chilli growing is such an addictive hobby and Ive made many new friends on the various forums dedicated to chilli growing. Even if you plant only one or two varieties this year for a bit of fun, you'll get loads of advice and support on these forums and I'll guarantee you 'll want to grow many more varieties next year.

Good luck

Over wintering your Chilli plants

Contrary to popular belief Chile pepper plants are perennials and can grow for many years if over wintered successfully. Unfortunately over wintering your precious plants can prove to be a very fickle & frustrating affair.

However you can improve your chances of success by:

- Growing specific varieties that are more cold tolerant
- Artifically improving the climate in which they grow
- Correctly harvesting plants prior to over wintering
- Keeping pests and diseases at bay
- Controlling water regimes


Ive had many over wintering successes & failures over the years and if you want to read a more comprehensive guide on how best to overwinter your chilli plants click here

Two sauces to die for

Ive tasted some fantastic hot chilli based pickles, oils and sauces in my time but recently I stumbled across a new range of products sold by a Brighton Food Company - Chillipepperpete.

Im not normally one for writing sauce reviews but after purchasing a number of his sauces, I just had to tell you more about two of them inparticular.

The first ones called 'Nagabih Tarkari' which claims to be 'the worlds hottest curry sauce'. Ive eaten more Naga Morich & Bih Jolokia chillis (the worlds hottest chillis) than you can shake a stick at and this is the first Bih Jolokia based sauce I have come across, which is what initially caught my attention.

The 'active ingredient' is the Bih Jolokia chilli from Assam India with a infusion of tomotoes, carrots, courgettes, peas, pumpkin and even cabbage thrown in for good measure. With this blend of vegetables I must say I was a bit sceptical but boy was I wrong. This is one of best sauces Ive ever taste - it an absolute dream and even gives Katos Island Sauce a run for its money. Despite being spicy, rather than blow your head off, the intense flavour just overwhelms your taste buds. I particularly like the seet pumpkin undertones (mental note: I must use Pumpkins in my next batch of homemade sauce). Add a couple of tablespoons of this sauce to any bland ready meal supermarket curry and even they can be transformed into something special.

The second one is called 'Dragons Blood' another Bih Jolokia based sauce which almost glows in the bottle. More runny then Naga Tarkari, you just need to look at its ruby red colour and you know this is a serious bad boy. My only complaint with this one is that its just too hot! I dabbed just a pea sized dollop on my finger and I though my tongue was going to explode. I spent the the next half an hour swilling milk around my mouth whilst tending to my streaming nose. I think the tame picture of the dragon needs to be replaced with a toxic chemical symbol. A bottle of this size should last even the most sadasitic chilli head an age. If you like eating raw Naga Morich or Bih Jolokia pods for a laugh, this sauce is a must!

You can find more details of Chillipepperpete's products here:
http://www.chillipepperpete.com/index.php


PS I will not be held responsible for any damage you do to yourself!

12 Steps to Pepper Heaven!!

Most of the regulars visitors to this blog will already be aware of a free chile information site we have been developing. However if you have'nt come across the chileman before and fancy growing something a little different from boring old Potatoes & Tomatoes this year, why not have a look at our 12 steps to Pepper Growing Heaven:

1. Not sure what to grow? Check out our quick guides to the chile pepper species and the many wierd and wonderful pods available:

2. Still can't decide? Search the Chileman Pepper Database. We have information and pictures
on nearly 4000 varieties (in 10 languages)!!

3. A Beginners Guide to growing chiles:

4. How to get started start & germinate those seeds:

5. Growing them on, feeding & fertilising:

6. Fighting Pests & Diseases:

7. How to harvesting & save seeds for future years:

8. Fancy a place in the Guiness Book of World Records? Why not enter our fun growing
competition- the Big Jim Challenge:

9. Create your own growing list & see what others across the world are growing this year:

10. Learn about the Hottest Chiles on Earth!

11.......and what makes them so hot

12. Bored with growing your plants in soil? Why not try Hydroponics?

and much much more.

Remember this is your site built for your enjoyment. Hope you like it and think this project is worthwhile.

The Hottest Peppers on the Planet (and thats official!!!)

The Naga Morich, or 'Dorset Naga', Bhut Jolokia & Bih Jolokia have all recently been tested at more than 1 million Scoville Heat Units . These are the hottest peppers on the planet!

To put this into context, thats more than 50 hotter than your standard Jalapeno pepper or 4 times hotter than the previous world record holder the Red Savina Habanero (which incidently is still used to make tear gas) .

If you like your super hot curries, have an interest in rare pepper varieties or simply have a death wish, find out more information of these peppers and how you can get the seeds here

The 2006 Chilli Growing Champion

A big congratulations to Luigi Mauriello, the winner of the inaugural www.thechileman.org chilli growing competition. Italian Luigi's 31cm long Whippets Tail pepper just pipped Canadian Derek Bureau to title be a meagre 2mm!!


Luigi takes home the trophy as well as the 'Mild to Wild' and 'Hottest in the World' seed collections. As a reward for Dereks valiant effort and fantastic sportsmanship shown throughout the competition, he wins a limited edition www.chileman.org teeshirt and some 'chileman original' Naga Morich seeds - the worlds hottest pepper.

Registrations are already being processed for the www.thechileman.org 2007 competiton - The Big Jim Challenge. Click here for further details.

The 2007 Chile Growing Competition!!

Following on from the huge success of 'The Whippets Tail Challenge', Im delighted to announce our new fun chile growing competition for 2007, the Big Jim Challenge - Guinness World Record attempt!

The Numex 'Big Jim' is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the producer of the largest Chile pods ever grown. The current world record is a gigantic 13.5 inches!!.

Do you have a secret soil mixture which you think could propel you into the Guinness Book of Records? Do you enjoy the banter of a friendly competition? Would you like to represent your Country & take on the Brits, Finlanders, Canadians & Italians etc ?

If so, why don't you enter our free competition and who knows you may be the winner of the 2007 Chileman Trophy or one of our fantastic runners up prizes.

Even if you don't win, you'll have good fun growing these big beauties which are also excellent for making Chile Ristas as well as delicious Chile Rellenos.

Check out www.thechileman.org for further information

Naga Morich - It appears they really are the worlds hottest pepper!

The Naga Morich Pepper has become synomous with thechileman site after we questioned whether the Red Savina Habanero really was the worlds hottest pepper as claimed in the Guinness Book of World Records.

We have grown both varieties for a number of years and although your taste buds can tell you one thing (they say - 'I want to die' when you eat even the smallest slither of a Naga Morich), without any scientific analysis is impossible to provide firm evidence to convince the many sceptics.

As we did't have the scientifc background, nor the sophisticated equipment to test whether the Naga Morich really is as hot as our taste buds were telling us, earlier in the year we decided to send some of our seeds to two of the world renowned pepper experts - Dr Paul Bosland of the New Mexico State Universities Chile Pepper Institute and Dave Dewitt, the self claimed pope of peppers.


Well they have investigated & tested several sources of Naga seeds and their conclusions have finally been released.

In summary, it appears our tastebuds really weren't lying with the Naga's they tested registering a mind blowing 1,001,304 SHU, 4 times hotter than the Red Savinas they also tested. Now thats scary!!!! Check out the full reports on the links below:

http://www.fiery-foods.com/dave/profile_jolokia.asp

http://www.fiery-foods.com/dave/sagajolokia.asp

By the way, we have no intention of filing 'our Nagas' under the Plant Variety Protection (PVP) Act in an attempt to prevent chileheads around the world from legally obtaining original seeds. Indeed, we are keen to support good quality seeds companys would can distribute seeds to enthusiasts so that they can grow them out themselves. Check out our Naga Morich page for details or where we recommend you buy your Naga Morich, Bhut seeds & Bih Jolokia seeds

Happy Halloween

Most Chileheads know that the Naga Morich is a scary pepper. But how about these fearsome creations recently posted by Sixsprings and Woody on the Chillis Galore Forum. Excellent work guys!!

theChileman Collection 2006

All chile peppers are long, thin, red and blisteringly hot right? Well you could not be further from the truth. Chile peppers are one of the most diverse fruit species you can grow with pods coming in all sorts of colours, shapes and sizes. With so much choice and thousand of different varieties to grow, no wonder chile growing is so addictive!!!!!

Heres a picture of my 'collection' for this year.



For more examples of the many weird and wonderful pods you can grow, check out our pod variation page or the 3500+ images in the chileman database

September - Seed Saving

Chile plants are fantastic!! Not only do these glorious plants produce a fabulous range of chile peppers, which come in all sorts of shapes & sizes, if harvested correctly, the seeds can provide you with 'free' plants from your favourite varieties for years to come.


5 quick steps to successful seed saving:

1. Always Wear Gloves - when handling chilli pods to avoid 'Jalapeno eye' or even worse Hunan hand!

2. Select only healthy and fully ripened pods - Avoid saving seeds from diseased plants, diseased pods, or pods which have softened with rot or are moldy. Some diseases/viruses can be passed down to the next generation of plants in the seed.

3. Isolate your plants to avoid cross pollination - Chile plants are promiscuous and cross pollinate readily with other varieties, particularly those of the same specie. You will need to isolate your plants if you want to guarantee seed which is 'true to type' (ie if the seeds are to produce new plants the same as their parent)

4. Dry your seeds throughly - The proper drying of seeds is essential if you want your seeds to last and ensure future plants are healthy. Excess moisture retained in the seed encourages life and the seeds will either slowly lose nutrients and vigour until they die, or simply rot.

5. Store your seeds correctly and label them - seeds stored correctly can maintain their vitality for many years.

For a more detailed guide to saving chile seeds check out the chileman guide here

A Big Thank You to Eureka Foods

Thank you to the guys at Eureka foods for letting us have a sneak preview of your fantastic hot sauces - the Asias Finest in particular is absolutely gorgeous. I must also thank my friend 'Sixsprings' from the chillis galore forum for sending me a jar of his home made chilli 'piccadilly' chuntney - a simply delicious addition to liven up even the dullest ham sandwich.


Thechileman is always keen to 'test his tastebuds' on some of the finer chile products on the market. If you would like to feature your products in our hot sauces guide or are willing to divulge your secret recipie for inclusion in our recipes section (which is coming soon), contact us at thechileman@hotmail.co.uk

Hail Stones In August!!!

Well Ive seen it all now. After the hottest July (in UK) for over 200 years; August, at least here in the North east of England has been an absolute disaster. Ive never seen so much rain in a single month and its supposed to be the height of summer!!! About half a hour ago I was sitting in the garden enjoying a rare bit of August sun when all of a sudden all hell broke loose - Hail stones so large I though the windows were going to go through.

Fortunately, I moved virtually all my plants indoors and into the Chilehouse yesterday to give them a bit of protection as some plants were showing signs of waterlogging. Chile plants hate standing in water logged soil. Waterlogged soil also promotes root & water borne diseases such as Phytophthora Blight and Root rot which is why soil should be free draining. Yellowing leaves, wilting, leaf curl & excess leaf drop are amongst the most obvious symptoms of excess water.

Well would you believe it. In the 2 minutes its taken me to update this blog, the clouds have cleared and the suns beating down again outside. Thats the British weather for you!

Naga Morich & Whippets Tail Update

Two of the varieties which have attracted lots of attention this year are the fearsomely hot Naga Morich and possible the worlds longest pepper, the Whippets Tail.

I have grown Naga Morich for a number years and its always been my 'weapon of choice' for feeding to my mates who reckon they can handle anything. However it wasent until April this year when the variety was brought to most peoples attention after Michael Michaud, a UK agronomist had his Nagas tested by an American laboratory who found them to be almost twice as hot as the current Guinness Book of Records holder - the Red Savina Habanero.

In the world of Chile growing, there are always arguments on what is the world hottest but after growing many of the hottest varieties such as the aforementioned Red Savina, Chocolate Habanero, Fatalii and Goat Pepper, believe me, at a reported 970,000 SHU, if you eat a Naga Morich pod whole you will wish you were dead. You can find further information as well as a recipie for thechilemans Naga 'Snake Bite' hot sauce here.

Unfortunately, I didnt get round to sowing my seeds (from last years crop) until late March and aside from a sunny July, the rest of this seasons weather has been terrible. This variety is also slow growing which doesnt help matters although having said that, around half a dozen of my larger plants are flowering and some even have immature pods on them. The missus is going to love the fumes in the kitchen (not) when I finally get round to cooking with these bad boys!!!!

Whippets Tail (also known as Joes long) is a Cayenne type pepper and is the subject of this years Chileman growing competition - 'The Whippets Tail Challenge'. For a bit of fun, back in April we challenged our pod pals from around the world to see who could grow the longest pod. My best pod so far measures 23cm, a mere tiddler compared to Derek Bureau's (aka Potawie) 28cm monster - and his still growing!! Check out the current leaderboard here.

The banter the competiton has generated on the Chillis Galore forum in particular has been one of the highlights of this growing season with the thread generating 150 posts (and almost 11,500 viewings) the last time I bothered to look. Who said chile growing isn't fun?

Be sure to watch this space for further announcements on next years contest.

August - It's Hot Sauce / Salsa time!!

Chiles are grown to be eaten and what better way to enjoy the fruits of your labour than to make up a batch of salsa, chutney or hot sauce for the summer barbeque. Ive had great fun experimenting with different peppers and ingredients over the years in a quest to develop the ultimate recipe. However, whatever your making there are a few hard and fast rules you must follow to avoid getting food poisoning/botulism.

1. Make sure your working in a clean environment
2. Sterilized all jars or bottles before use. You can do this by boiling them in a pan of hot water (with the jar lids off!) for a few minutes
3. For sauces in particular, you should use plenty of vinegar (acetic acid) and fruit juices (citric acids) in your recipes to kill off any bacteria and prevent your sauce from spoiling. Most sauces should keep for a few months in a refrigerator.
4. Take great care when handling hot chile pods, preferably wera gloves. If you touch somewhere sensitive ‘Jalapeno eye’ could be the least of your worries!!

Although there are literally 1000’s of recipes, here are a few simple ones to get you going:

A Hot Sauce Recipe (makes about 3 medium sized bottles)
- 1 onion (diced)
- 2 large carrots (diced)
- 2 Tomatoes (roughly chopped)
- 3 cloves or garlic (minced)
- 1 lime (or Orange/Mango/Grapefruit) - juiced
- 1 tablespoon of Virgin Olive Oil
- 1/2 cup of distilled vinegar (or white/cider vinegar not malt vinegar)
- A pinch of Cumin
- A large pinch of Salt
- Chopped Chiles to taste*

* The pungency of your Chiles will determine how hot your sauce is (check out the chileman database first). For a really hot sauce use Habenero’s, Scottch Bonnets or even Naga Morich -if your feeling really brave

Directions

1. Sauté the onions and garlic in the oil until soft and lightly browned. Add the carrots and tomatoes with a small amount of water. Bring to the boil, reduce the heat and simmer until the carrots are soft.

1. Add the tomatoes, lime juice, vinegar, salt and the finely chopped Chiles. Let the mixture simmer for 5 minutes to combined the flavours.
2. Blender the mixture to a smooth puree and leave it to stand for a few more minutes to cool. Strain the puree into sterile jars, seal and refrigerate.

A Salsa Recipe (makes about 3 cups)
- 4 Tomatoes (roughly chopped)
- 1 Onion (roughly diced)
- 1/2 cup Celery, chopped
- 1 large green (or red/yellow) mild pepper (capsicum)
- 1/4 cup of Olive oil
- 2 tablespoons of Red wine vinegar (or white/cider vinegar not malt vinegar)
- 1 teaspoon of Mustard seeds
-1 teaspoon of Coriander seeds (crushed)
and One large bag of Nachos !!

The key to proper preparation is to never use a food processor or blender. Salsa should be chunky and you should chop all ingredients by hand. There is no need to cook this mixture simply cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour before serving.

Do you know any fantastic recipes/manufacture a gorgeous hot sauce?
More recipes will be posted in the chileman recipe section in the coming weeks. If you have a fantastic recipe that you would like included please contact us here: thechileman@hotmail.co.uk

Weve also just set up our Chilemans Guide to Hot Sauces. If you are a hot sauce manufacturer and think we (and our thousands of regular monthly visitors) should know about your products, please contact us.

Enjoy

August - Some of my favourite pods & flowers so far.......

Well I don't know about you but this Chile Growing season is flying by. Over the last few weeks, Ive been so busy at work doing my 'proper job' (Im a stockbroker), the chile hobbie has taken a bit of a back seat. Fortunately, here in the UK we have just had our sunniest July for over 200 hundred years (apparently) and aside from a light feed of fish blood & bone fertiliser, a daily water and the odd bit of potting on, Ive more of less left my plants to get on with it.

Heres some more pictures of my favorite pods and flowers so far from this years crop..........

Govenment / Research Peppers – What the hell are these?

Whilst surfing chile forums you may have seen pictures of exotic sounding varieties with secret code numbers rather than common names.

PI 281353, PI 315008, PI 315028, GRIF 9165 and CAP 501 are amongst the many varieties I’m growing this year and your probably wondering what the hell are these!

Believe it or not there are several government institutions and seed banks around the world committed to collecting, documenting and preserving chile seed stocks. Although there is little danger of the humble habenero going extinct, many chile varieties are so rare they are in danger of being lost forever and these institutions play an invaluable role in ensuring diversity is maintained. Each institution use their own mnemonics and numbering systems rather than common names to help them reference varieties. Many are so rare that they don’t have a common name. Amongst chile enthusiasts, they are often referred to as ‘Research or Government peppers’.

The United States Department of Agriculture’s Plant Introduction (PI) system is probably the best known. The USDA hunts out and receives seed from all over the world and stores one of the worlds most extensive Chile seed collections them at its facility in Georgia. Observation data (which includes everything from the seed source to the size and shape of the parent plant and pods) is recorded upon arrival to the facility and a Plant Introduction number (PI ######) is then assigned. There are over 2000 PI varieties documented (some of which also have common names) and you can find them all listed in the chileman database.

For further information on other research organisations and classification systems in Holland (where the letters CGN prefixes varieties), Germany (CAP), Brazil (BGH), and Taiwan (CO) check out the chilemans guide to Seed Banks & Research Institutions.

July - First Pods Forming

After a cool and wet start to the year, the weather has certainitly got its act together in June/July with the temperature in the chilehouse regularly topping 100 oF. My plants always seem to storm ahead in July and this year has been to exception with well over half of the varieties Im growing this year either flush with flowers or already forming pods. Heres a few examples of the pods:

The Magical 'Manzano' and the Pubescens species

My Manzano plant is probably the favourite of the 70 odd varieties I’m growing out this year. I purchased a small plant from the 2005 Chilli Fiesta and successfully over wintered the plant in the back bedroom. After a slow start to the growing season, it has been storming ahead in recent weeks and after producing nearly 100 stunning purple flowers in early June, small apple like pods have started to appear. They look fab!!!

Manzano meaning 'apple', originates from Mexico and is part of the species capsicum pubescens. Like its Peruvian & Bolivian cousins the Rocoto and Locoto, the plants can be fussy growers. Seeds can be slow to germinate and plants prefer dapple shade and a temperature range of between 60- 75oF rather than hot humid conditions. Mature plants have a better resistance to lower temperatures (not hard frosts) than the other four domesticated chile species (the others being annuum, chinese, frutescens and baccatum) hence why they tend to over winter well. Pubescens is also the only domesticated Capsicum species with no wild form; however, two wild species ‘Cardenasii’ and ‘Eximium’ are closely related.

Pubescens are grown most widely today in the Andes from Chile to Colombia, mostly in small family plots. Plants tend to be large growing up to 8ft in perfect conditions (although 3ft is more normal) and have large hairy, oval shaped leaves and stunning flowers which stand erect on the plant. Flowers tend to have purple corollas and purple/white anthers and are amongst the most beautiful of all the chile species. Check out the chileman database for some stunning examples.

As well as their hairy leaves, another distinguishing feature of the Pubescens species is their unusual black seeds which are very hard (like apple pips) and should be removed before eating. In terms of seed production, pubescens do not cross pollinate readily with any of the four other domesticed chile species and therefore in theory all seeds produced by a Pubescens variety in a mixed garden will be 'true' and viable.

Fruits are generally apple or an elongated pear (peron) shaped are at their most tasty when eaten fresh and should be left on the plant until needed. They come in three broad types – Amarillo (orange), rojo (red) or canario (yellow) - an indication of their maturity colour. Immature fruits are green.

One of the joys of these plants is that the fruits produce a unique and complex blend of capasaicinoids (pungency compounds), causing some people to believe they are hotter than habaneros. In parts of the Americas they are referred to as ‘el mas picante de los picantes’ - the hottest of the hot. I can’t wait to find out!!

July - Chile Flowers & Blossom Drop

Chile plants are fantastic. Not only do they produce a delicious range of peppers ranging from the smoky flavoured Poblano to the mouth blistering Naga Morich, as an added bonus and before setting fruit they produce some absolutely stunning flowers. I've even grown some plants this year (mainly from the Pubescens species) just to photograph the flowers. Sad or what!!

After sowing seeds in March, my chile plants usually start flowering in June/July. A flowering plant normally means that tasty pods are only a few months away. One area which can cause alarm to new chile growers is 'blossom or flower drop'. Chile plants produce many flowers prior to fruiting and it is common for some of them (even up to 60/70%) to fall off. If virtually all your flowers fall off without setting fruit, it will be due to one of more of the following problems :

1. Day time temperatures are too high (consistently above 95 oF)
2. Night time temperatures are too low (consistently below 60 oF)
3. Too much nitrogen fertilizer has been applied (check NPK ratio
of fertiliser)
4. Overwatering
5. Natural light levels are too low (reduces fertility).
6. Humidity is too low (also reduces fertility)
7. Air circulation is poor (good air circulation contributes to pollination).
8. There is a lack of pollinating insects.

Maintaining a temperature range of between 60-95 oF, applying a fertiliser low in nitrogen [N] but high in phosphorus [P] or potassium [K]), introducing insects or tapping plants to aid self pollination should help reduce the problem.

July - Sunscald

After many months of what has seemed like continuous rain, overcast days and the dreaded slugs, my little babies now face another problem – too much sun!!

Several of my young plants in the chilehouse have suffered horrendous damage caused by the intense mid day sun. Curling and yellowing leaves are the most visible signs of sunscald and the more shade loving varieties like Rocoto and some of the wild species have been particularly badly affected.

To prevent any more of my plants getting cooked alive, I put up some net shading on the south side of the chile house. This has also helped reduce the daytime temperature from 40oC (even with the vents open) to a more chile friendly 30-35oC. It should also help cut down the amount of time I seem to spend these days watering the plants, particularly the ones in smaller containers and terracota plant pots which dry out quickly.

I’m hoping that the most badly affected victims will still survive, as the stems look OK. Cremated leaves can be replaced, scorched stems usually mean impending death.

July - Wild Chile Species

One of the things I have been really looking forward to this year is the challenge of growing wild (and very rare) chile species. Most people are familiar with the five domestic species – Annuum, Baccatum, Chinense, Frutescens and Pubescens, however there are at least twenty odd wild species all of which originate from the jungles of South America

I have been very fortunate to obtain viable seed from several 'pod pals' around the world and despite their reputation for being difficult to germinate and grow on, I have managed to nurse several of the wild species along. The Capsicum Galapogense were the most difficult with the seeds taking almost 10 weeks to germinate.

Some common traits of wild species include their stunning flowers, very small (and hot) berry like pods and delicate foliage. Check out the chileman guide to chile species and the chileman database (using the species drop down) for more details. I can't wait to photograph the flowers and put the pods into my tummy!!

June - Potting On Seedlings and Young Plants

The mechanics of transplanting seedlings and ‘potting on’ young chile plants is always a hot topic on chile forums and a source of concern to new growers in particular. Although one false move can lead to disaster, the process is relatively simple and if you follow a couple of general rules you won’t go far wrong.

All plants or more specifically their roots need sufficient room to grow strong and healthy. However transplanting seedlings too soon can cause transplant shock and ultimately bring death to your little darlings. Too late and growth can become stunted resulting in miniaturised or weak plants and ultimately less chile pods.

When to pot on seedlings:
Chile seedlings produce sets of leaves in pairs. The first set of leaves are called the seed leaves, the next set are the first true set of leaves. Once your seedlings have developed several sets of true leaves you will need to prick them out and transplant them into a larger pot to give them more room to grow.

I tend to ‘pot on’ seedlings when they have at least two sets of true leaves, any earlier and the root systems tend to be too fragile and seedlings can quickly die from root disturbance / transplant shock. When transplanting seedlings (and potting on plants) do so in the evening or on a cloudy day. This reduces the chance of the plant getting scalded by the sun and gives roots the chance to settle into their new environment rather than battling to suck up nutrients and water to maintain the plant during periods of intense heat.

How?
Carefully prick out your seedlings (using a dibber or an old plastic plant label) and try to retain as much of the soil around the roots as possible to minimise root disturbance. If you aren't disturbing the soil around the roots they have no reason to even know they have been replanted and therefore unlike to suffer from transplant shock!

Always lift seedlings by their leaves, not their stems. Damaged leaves can be replaced; a damaged stem is normally terminal.

Fill the new pot completely with your soil mix (2 parts compost, 1 part vermiculite and 1 part perlite is a good mix) and then make a hole in the middle of the soil that's slightly bigger than the original root ball. Try not to compact the soil too much as this can inhibit root development. Chiles are from the same family as Tomatoes (the Solanaceae or Nightshade family) and like their genetic cousins they will make new roots, (although not to the same extent) along buried stems. So rather than disposing of leggy/spindly seedlings, try transplanting them deeper so that their stems are covered by the soil up to the base of the bottom cluster of leaves.

Lightly cover with soil and gently water them in. Don’t panic if seedlings wilt or leave curl up at this stage. This is quite common and providing the soil is not soaked and the roots damaged, they will recover in a few hours.

Do not be tempted to pot on seedlings and young plants into too big a pot too soon - another common source of premature chile death! I normally progress slowly through 4 pot sizes starting with small 9cm pots before moving up through 13cm, 20cm and finally onto 28cm (or 10 litre) pots for the larger varieties like Aji and Habanero. Wait until the root system begins to show through the bottom of the pot before moving them into larger pots. Plants ripe for potting on often dry out quickly and show signs of wilting.

In general, the larger the final pot, the larger the final plant although local growing conditions, the soil medium and the variety transplanted will also influence the final plant size. When potting plants into their final pots, mix in a small amount of fish, blood and bone fertiliser in to the soil mix to encourage root development and vegetative growth.

Black Plastic or Terracotta Plant Pots?

Chile peppers love heat and growth (through warming of the soil) is greatly encouraged by using black plastic plant pots. Although they don’t look as nice as an aged terracotta pot, they are a hell of a lot cheaper to buy and also maintain soil moisture better during the long summer months. If you decide to use terracotta pots, covering the soil surface with a handful of gravel will help retain soil moisture. Sharp, angular gravel with a handful of crushed eggshells thrown in is also an excellent slug deterrent!




One final word - heardening off
Whether your planning to grow your seedlings in pots or in the ground, you will need to get them ready for the outside world. Seedlings and plants raised indoors will need to be acclimatised to the outside conditions. You can do this by moving young plants outside for a few hours each day (after the danger of frost had passed) gradually increasing their time outside. Take care not to place young plants in direct sunlight or in areas exposed to strong breezes. Young leaves and stems need time to develop and are particularly vulnerable to sun scald and wind damage.

June - and there off!!!

Its amazing what a bit of sun can do. After a long, very wet and depressing May, the slugs have retreated and the sun has arrived. After spending a few months putting down roots, nearly all of my two hundred of so plants have been galloping ahead and the first of the pods have appeared. Here are a couple of quick shots.

May - Slugs & Snails... Arrrrh!!!!!!!!!

I woke up this morning to find the wind howling and it pouring with rain (again) and ventured down to the chile house only to be confronted by a scene of utter carnage. Despite my little darlings been locked up safely in the chile house, sheltered from the elements and away from the dangers of next doors prowling cats, an even more devious and savage enemy had infiltrated my defences – the dreaded slugs and snails.

I really hate these little bastards and the local ‘Darlington snails & slugs’ seem to be a particularly cunning, vicious and heartless breed. Despite have hundreds of tender and tasty varieties like Cayenne, Explosive Ember and Bolivian Rainbow to munch on (and I don’t mind loosing a few of them), they always single out the rarer varieties and the ones I’m most looking forward to growing & eating. The battle scene is a sorry tale of woe and amongst those felled with the expertise of a lumberjack are three Naga Morich plants, two Aji Omnicolor plants, two out of three Thai oranges and my only Capsicum Flexuosum.

I’m absolutely gutted and this is war!! If you’re having the same problems and want more information on how best to tackle these little sods (and other nasty critters), check out the Chilemans guide to pests & diseases.

May - Rain, rain and more rain

May has also been a poor months for my over wintered and more established plants. Virtually everyday has seen some form of rain whether it is light drizzle or heavy showers. Indeed the local news reported today that the North East of England has seen its second wettest May in the last 50 years – great!!. The lower than average daily temperatures and dull overcast conditions have also done little to stimulate growth and I reckon my plants are at least 4 weeks ‘behind’ previous years. Im not too worried though because I know they will put on a growth spurt when (if) the weather improves. The damp conditions however have encouraged a more serious threat to my little darlings - Slugs and snails.


Even my seedlings & young plants perched high on shelving 5ft above the ground have not been safe. In fact the harder the plants are to reach, the worse the attacks are - Darlington slugs definately like a challenge!!

May - Root Development

May has been a ‘period of consolidation’ for my little chile seedlings. Although nothing appears to be happening on the surface with many of my seedlings developing slowly, I know that most of the action is taking place where the eye cannot see. The size and vigour of your plants will be determined by the health of the root system. Good root development in young plants can be encouraged by using a weak fertiliser solution rich in phosphorus, the ‘P’ of the NPK ratings on the back of fertiliser packets. Although not essential, a weekly light watering with a 10-20-10 solution or a light sprinkling of ammonium sulphate solution will help young plants get off to a good start. However a word of caution, only consider fertilising young plants that have at least half a dozen sets of good sized leaves and don’t use the same watering can that your filled with weed killer last year! Don’t over fertilise plants otherwise you will end up with glorious bushy plants that will not set fruit. Seedlings don’t need fertilising, as there are more than enough nutrients in the seed compost. Applying fertiliser at this critical growth stage is more like to scorch young tender roots rather than stimulate them.

April - Is Over wintering worth the hassle?

I think so, particularly if you live in a country like the UK where the growing season is relatively short. Not only can you continue to pick some fresh Chile pods from your plants during the depressing winter months, slow growing plants such as the Habaneros will get a significant head start for the following year. In my experience many of the Chinense species when successfully over wintered seem to explode in to life in year two and often produce much more, bigger and hotter pods.

Here in the UK where we have relatively long, cold & dark winters extending from late October and sometimes into April, over wintered plants need to be trimmed back in the Autumn and kept either in a heated greenhouse or brought indoors to give them the best chances of survival. As well as the plunging temperatures, I find that poor light levels can be a real problem. Some plants tend to shed most (if not all) of their leaves and your once bushy healthy specimens seem to turn into sticks almost overnight! Those plants that retain most of their leaves often get infested with greenfly and whitefly, which seem to come out of nowhere adding further to over wintering woes. To tackle the problem of leaf drop, some Chile growers use artificial lighting with great success. This is an area of research that will be high on my list of priorities later in the year after just witnessing the decimation in the Chile house!!

On the bright side, at least if over wintering is unsuccessful, it frees up some space to grow fresh plants and try new varieties the following year. When you see the seedlings emerge the pain is soon forgotten.

With a number of my seedlings now having several sets of true leaves, it will soon be time for potting on. I'll be reporting on this endeavour shortly. I've also been sent some more seeds from a couple of my very kind Chile friends. Although it's nearly May, I can't resist planting up one more trays of seedlings.

April - Over wintering Disappointment

It's a good job the Naga success has cheered me up. April always seems to be a 'tidying up the garden sort of month' and one of the worst jobs is throwing away last years Chile plants that failed to make in through the winter. This is always a job I hate. They may look like sticks but you always hope that when the spring sun returns, new leaves will suddenly spring up on last year's prized plants as they magically return from the dead. This year most of my sticks have remained sticks. A quick incision of the stem reveals little signs of life with once green stems not brown and wooden.

Despite the name of the most common Chile species annuum (meaning annual), Chile plants are in fact perennials and can grow happily for several years before they eventually lose their vigour if protected over the cold winter months. However 'over wintering' as its known can be a very fickle & challenging affair particularly in Northern climates where over the long winter months temperatures regularly fall below zero and light levels decrease.

Some Chile species definitely over winter better than others. In my experience, many of the pubescens species (like Rocoto/Manzano) whose natural habitat is the cool mountain regions of the Peruvian Andes over winter well. Tepin, an annuum, also seems to have some tolerance to cooler (not freezing) temperatures. On the other hand I've again had very little success over wintering many of the ornamental annuum varieties like Purple Prince and Prairie Fire. Members of the sub tropical Chinese species are also very fickle and need much more care with success often hit and miss. Last year I successfully over wintered Chocolate Habanero, Jamaican Red Hot and Fatalii. This year they died despite been kept in the same place indoors. However a Habanero Red Savina, Habanero White Bullet and Yellow Jellybean plant also kept in the same room have all made it through the this winter unscathed. It's a strange and frustrating hobby Chile growing!!

April - Naga Morich Success!

I love this variety and am lucky enough to have saved viable seed for this very rare and scintillatingly hot pepper. In recent weeks the variety (which was virtually unheard of last year outside of the Chillis Galore forum) has achieved almost mythical status after two Chile growers in Dorset submitted there version of the Naga Morich - the Dorset Naga to heat testing laboratories in American and was found to be almost 60% hotter than the current Guinness Book of Records holder - the Habanero Red Savina.

There is a problem however. Not only are seeds almost impossible to come by (the Dorset growers won't part with them for obvious reasons) they are very tricky to germinate. Last year I achieved germination percentages of less than 30 per cent (and even those took six to seven weeks! This year my saved seed has proved a little more successful. 40 seeds were planted on the 12th March in a heated propagator, although it wasn't until the 17th April when I moved them to the Chile house that signs of life emerged when 9 seedlings suddenly appeared. More are starting to germinate on a regular basis and the running total stands at 24 even if they are still very small. I'm so proud!!

April - Germination Progress

April has been a relatively quite month in the Chile garden. After planting most seeds indoors in early March, aside from regularly checking the soil to make sure it hasn't dried out, I've more of less just let the seeds (and seedlings) get on with it. After all I have the rest of the garden to tidy up, a herb rockery to replant and some vegetables patches to dig over.

Germination went more as less as I expected with most of the five domesticated species (particularly the annuums) germinating in just over a week. Some of the more challenging chinense & wild species which normally require slightly higher soil temperatures and long germination times have taken a little longer although after 4 weeks I have at least 2 or 3 seedlings out of 6 seeds I planted for most varieties.

The extremely rare Capsicum Galapagonense and Capsicum Flexuosum, which I knew would be a challenge, have proved to be just that. Both are proving elusive so far. In hindsight I should have pre soaked the seeds overnight to soften the outer casing in an attempt to speed up germination. I'll give them a few more weeks yet though before I admit defeat. The equally (if not more) tricky Naga Morich have taken me by surprise though - but more on that later.

When seeds germinate, light becomes critical. As soon as the majority of my seeds germinated, I moved them off the electric blanket and onto nearby windowsills or into the Chile house. You will see just how light dependent seedlings are when you return from work and find all your little darlings on the kitchen windowsill frantically leaning towards the light outside. If you find your seedlings leaning too much or becoming tall and spindly, you know they are not getting enough light and you should move them to a brighter location. Don't worry if your seedlings are already tall and spindly. They can be rescued later by replanting up to the top set of leaves.

One of the drawbacks of mass planting seeds in large seed trays and germinating them in warm places where natural light levels are low (like an airing cupboard), is that it is always a fine balancing act on deciding when to move a half germinated tray into the light. You may have a few days leeway but it you leave it too long the seedlings that have germinated will soon become pale and very leggy - not a good start! If you do mass plant, plant up varieties of the same species (i.e. a tray of Annuums and a tray of Chinense), which have similar germination times. If you are lucky you may fine rough germination times on the back of the seed packet.

The temperatures outside here in Darlington, in the North East of England are still a little cold although the sun on occasions has proved quite intense during the day. The max/min thermometer in the Chile house has seen daytime temperatures ranging from as cold as -3oC to as high as 45oC within a 24-hour period.

In days of bright sun, I have opened the greenhouse vents a little to prevent the temperature climbing too high. I've tried to keep the temperature range between 65 - 90of - perfect for Chile growing. I also remove the plastic propagator covers during the day, as good airflow around seedlings is important for healthy growth. Remember that seedlings are delicate little things. Do not place them in strong drafts or in direct sunlight. You want to grow your seedlings gently not cook them!

March - Germinating Seeds

Well today is the 19th March and I'm finally off and running!! I must admit Im a little slow off the mark this year. You should aim to start your seeds around 6 weeks before the last frost in your area. If you haven't started your seeds by now don't worry. In 2004, I didn't start some seeds until June and still had lots of tasty chiles before the year was out.

To germinate, Chile seeds need a number of things. A bottom heat source, moisture and a light/air rich soil are perhaps the most important. Click here for further information.



To achieve these aims, this year I have again used my faithful 'chileman soil mix' which comprises of 3 parts seed compost, 1 part sandy loam soil, 1 part Perlite and 1 part Vermiculite. I also added warm water to heat up the mix and provide some moisture.

I must also confess to being a bit lazy this year and have succumb to the temptation of trying some 'ready made' peat free pockets from the local garden centre. I've never used these before and all you have to do is add water! These should be an interesting 'experiment', well that's my excuse!!


A couple of cheap propagators and an old electric blanket complete the set up.

thechilemans class of 2006

This winter after swamping the house and my fiancés art studio with over wintered plants, I promised her I would go easy this year and have decided to limited myself to only 50 or so new varieties (so far!). A full list of what I hope to grow (assuming they germinate) can be found here.

My 'themes' for this year are:

Wild species - unlike the common varieties which are fairly easy to grow, many of the rare wild species are supposed to be hard to germinate. I like a challenge!!

Tasty peppers - after all chiles are grown to be eaten. I've got plenty of new recipes I want to try this year particularly blisteringly hot ones to feed to my mates who 'can handle anything'

Unusual Pods & Beautiful flowers - as well as being great to eat, some chile varieties are simply stunning and make great gifts and house plants.

Preparation and Cleaning - Today I've had my marigolds on and have been doing one of the more depressing jobs - cleaning!!. I've scrubbed the planting bench, bleached old seed trays and cleaned the Chilehouse with Jeyes fluid to kill off any nasty diseases and pathogens which might be lurking there. There's nothing more depressing than seeing your little seedlings being wiped out by fungal diseases or hibernating slugs.

Jan/Feb - Selecting your seeds

Probably the hardest part of growing chiles is deciding which varieties to grow. There are literally thousands of varieties to choose from and trying to narrow down the list to only a few varieties to grow is an absolute nightmare. I want to grow them all - if only I had 1000 acres of prime land! For inspiration, you may want to have a look through the chileman database. The drop down lists will help you to narrow down your search.

When purchasing seeds, make sure you use a recommended seed supplier. Buying seeds from 'Bob' off Ebay might seem like a good idea at the time but it will prove costly if your cheap seeds don't germinate or even worse, you waste time growing something completely different to what you though you were buying.

Check out the chile forums and the pod pals sections for further information on who to buy from.

The chilemans growing dairy for 2006

After a long, dark, cold and depressing winter, my favourite time of the year is finally here again the chile growing season!! This season, I've decided to keep a diary in the hope of inspiring others to grow these fantastic plants and also provide some high level guidance to new and inexperienced growers. More detailed information on growing chile peppers can be found in the guides section.

I grow most of my plants in containers and plant pots in the chilehouse. When the weather gets a bit warmer, I'll also be planting some in the vegetable garden, in window boxes and anywhere else my fiancé lets me get away with.

Chiles are from the same family as the potato, tomato and eggplant and most varieties are an absolute doddle to grow (even in freezing North East of England!).

You don't need a greenhouse or even a garden to grow chiles. All your plants require is a warm spot, well drained soil, the occasional light sprinkling of fertiliser and a little loving care. Here are some of the chile plants I grew last year: