Lighting and Chilli Plants
So what does the Sun do? I am not going to into Photosynthesis etc there are plenty of websites about this and easily found in the net
This is about how to get the best out of your plants by maximising the light available
Growing seedlings through natural means in this country can be difficult
Thought has to be given to where you live and in particular the direction of the sun passing over your house
I am fortunate that I live in house that is facing East to West, so in the morning my back garden is full of sunlight, and in the afternoon it is my front, this though is still not ideal as there is a limited number of hours of direct sunlight which reduces the energy the plant has to use to grow
A friend has the opposite North and South facing and as a result he finds it very difficult to grow chilli plants as there is even more limited number of direct sunlight hours to the point where the plant only grows a foot or so and produces only a few pods
So you need to understand your environment to know how to get the best from your plants
What causes Chilli Plants to Flower?
Understanding where these plants come from helps us to understand how they work
Plants that originated in the UK and Northern Hemisphere generally work on the principle of the number of daylight and night time hours which triggers the plants genes on and off to make the plant grow new vegetation or start flowering, or as with trees when to stop giving the leaves nutrients so they die off for the winter
As Chilli Plants originate mostly in an area around the equator (not fully accurate but as a rule) the number of daylight and night time hours not have enough variation to cause this
Therefore Chillies firstly grow flowers naturally through their cycle of growth, this is also induced by the humidity and temperature of its environment
When growing indoors the temperature and humidity can be off - sometime it has a greater heat variation and a lower than normal humidity levels
Chilli plants have evolved around environments that offer great stability, Caribbean and Africa and India - where they have consistent 3 - 6 months of solid weather
The more stable the environment you can achieve the better the results will be
Why do my Chilli Plants lose Flowers?
Growing Indoors or in an environment that has two factors out of whack causes chilli flower drop off
The temperature between night and day around the world (except the extreme areas) generally stays around a variation of 10c
The humidity again where you find growing plants starts at 100% falling to 50% at the hottest part fo the day rising again as the night returns
So when the plant is being grown in an environment that has greater temperature variation and a lower humidity which is common indoors or poor ventilated greenhouses etc the plant cannot handle it and switches back to growing foliage
And the flower drops off which is always annoying!
However, this doesnt prevent you from having a great crop from indoor growing, you will lose a few but I have had plants on the windowsills produce a satisfying number of pods to satisfy the chilli kick we all crave for
Potting up will also cause the plant to loose flowers - as the plant grows it produces flowers, but when you repot to a bigger pot, the plant reverts to growing roots and then foliage and you will find the new flowers will be killed off and die - most chilli plants you see have pods growing half way up the plant rather than start
It is very annoying but little can be done to stop this as it is in response to your growing environment which is not always possible to change
When you get it right the plant will produce its first flower on the first split Y and produce pods straight away
What to do with your Seedling Plants?
Bringing all this back to the growing stage we are at, your seeds have germinated and they are growing their first true leaves or you have just received your seedling plants from us
We all have limitations on controlling the environment we want to grow in, especially the restrictions of our houses; we can try to alter as best we can
This page has been written so you understand your environment and how it plays its part on the chilli plants so you can try to maximise the resources available to you