Harvest tally 2026: 1.9 kilograms from eleven plants
Every pod weighed on the kitchen scales from the first jalapeño in July to the last habanero this week. Totals by type, the plants that did nothing, and what the greenhouse did better.
Moving out to the greenhouse: hardening off and the 9-degree night
Fourteen plants went from the windowsill to the greenhouse over ten days. One cold night at 9 degrees set three of them back a fortnight, and the shading went up a week too late.
Germination on the boiler cupboard shelf: 26 degrees and a damp paper towel
Seeds of six types started on the 18th of January in zipped bags on the warmest shelf in the house. Days to first root for each, and why the habaneros took three times as long as the jalapeños.
Ripening the stragglers indoors: whole plants, cut stems and one banana
Forty-odd green pods left on four plants in mid-September, with nights dropping to 8 degrees. What ripened on the table by the window, what ripened on a hook, and what went soft instead.
Leggy seedlings and the lamp I should have bought in January
Seedlings on a north-west windowsill in February stretched to twice their proper height. A small grow lamp at 20 centimetres for 14 hours a day stopped it, but the early ones never caught up.
First year: five plants, one windowsill and far too much water
The first season of chillies from seed, grown entirely on a kitchen windowsill. Overwatering, flower drop in the heat, an aphid colony and, eventually, nine ripe jalapeños.