Chili

Bring your chilli indoors before the first frost. It is perennial but not hardy, and it is damaged below about 13 °C. Cut it back hard, keep it bright and frost-free at around 10 to 15 °C, water only sparingly and do not feed; in spring after the Ice Saints, repot it and put it back outside.

Sowing (main method): Sow Capsicum chinense much earlier than other chilli species, ideally in early to mid-January, mid-February at the latest. The species germinates and grows more slowly than Capsicum annuum and needs this head start because of its long growing time (habaneros and the like often ripen only after 95 to 120 days). Use a mini greenhouse or a covered propagation tray and keep a constant soil temperature of 25 to 28 °C; a heat mat under the tray helps. Press the seeds only lightly into moist seed compost, cover them with a thin layer of about 0.5 cm and keep the humidity high. Capsicum chinense germinates more slowly than other species, usually 2 to 4 weeks, and longer under less than ideal conditions; if nothing has come up after 6 weeks, the attempt probably failed. Once the seedlings have their first true leaves, prick them out into individual pots and keep them a little cooler (around 20 °C). Put them in the brightest spot in the house or add plant lamps, since January/February is too dark for strong seedlings.

Cuttings (secondary method, worthwhile for favourite varieties): Capsicum chinense is perennial and overwinters well. In early summer, or at the latest in late summer (August/September, before it turns wet and cold), cut shoot tips 8 to 12 cm long directly below a leaf node. Remove the lower leaves and keep 2 to 3 at the top. Put the cuttings in moist seed compost or in a glass of water, cover them with a bag or a glass to hold in the moisture, and keep them warm (about 20 to 25 °C) and bright. Roots form after a few weeks. Alternatively, overwinter the mother plant indoors at no less than 10 °C and take cuttings in late winter or early spring for the new season; that way you start with an already established plant and harvest earlier than from sowing alone.