Chilli Growing Kit - user's guide.

2009 Growing Season. Our new Chilli Growing Kit has been selling very well on our online shop, so I thought I'd start a blog series on how to grow chillies with the kit.

Using the kit. The kit is shipped with seeds for three of our favourite chilli plants - and 60 seeds in all - check our web pages for more details on the varieties you have and what they can be used for. The best time to sow most chillies in the UK is in March and April - maybe late February if you have access to a heated greenhouse. Once you find time to make a start, follow the instruction with the kit to get the seedlings started. Using the Jiffy7 pellets supplied, the seedlings do not need pricking-out - once the seedlings are a few inches high, just pot them on. We recommend a 6" pot with a good soil-based compost - half-fill the pot, pop the seedling and Jiffy plug on the soil and fill-in around it.

Rehydrate the compost plugs. Unpack the propagator tray and place ten of the Jiffy7 pellets in the base. Be sure to place them the right way up - they have small dimple in the side that should be facing up.

Add 400ml of warm water and watch the magic happen! After about ten minutes, the Jiffy plugs will have absorbed all the water. What you have now is ten growing cells all ready to take the seeds. I recommend placing two seeds in each cell and then picking out the weaker if both germinate.

Place the seeds into the recess in the top of the Jiffy7 plug - just push them in to a depth of about 5mm. Once in, just push a little compost over to cover them. Remember to use the plant labels included to remind you later which variety you sowed. Place the lid on the propagator and place the whole thing somewhere warm - 25c is about perfect. On the farm, we use heating cables and warming mats to keep a steady warmth in the compost and this does speed-up germination time. You should expect to see germination start after about seven days, but don't worry if they take longer - just keep the compost warm and moist, and they will pop up. Be sure to take the lid off the propagator on hot days to prevent the seedlings over heating. If you have access to a greenhouse or conservatory, seedlings will grow better with the increased light.

You can buy more Jiffy7 plugs and propagators from our web page if you'd like to get more than 10 seedlings going at once.

After about two or three weeks, you should have healthy chilli seedlings that are ready for potting-on. I recommend a pot about 1lt (6" pot). The goal is to re-pot the Jiffy7 plug so that the new soil level is just above the top of the Jiffy7 plug. I like to leave 2cm watering space from the edge of the pot to the soil level - chillies prefer to be watered well and then left to dry. Now that you have potted-on the first bacth, the propagator is ready to be used again. I recommend a John Innes No. 2 compost for potting-on these plug-based seedlings.

After five to six weeks you will have a well establish chilli plant that is starting to develop flower buds. The kit also includes 100ml of 'Chilli Focus' plant food to help development and cropping.

Please let me know how you get on with the kit - hopefully we can help with any problems.