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The
Gardeners' World Chilli Pepper Trial
2006
The results of our participation in the trial
Trial variety: 'Numex Twilight' - Capiscum Annuum, piquin or
ornamental
Seed company: Thompson & Morgan
Cost: £1.99 per packet
Number of seeds: 10 seeds per packet
Description: Attractive, upright setting fruits ripening from purple to yellow
to orange and finally red. Although edible and full of flavour, they also make
an eye-catching ornamental pot plant indoors or in containers on the patio.
Batch 452 741288/5
21.2.06
Sown into seed compost in a heated propagator
8 of the 10 seeds germinated, and within 7 to 10 days as claimed
7.3.06
Transplanted
into 3 inch pots and placed in a standard propagator on a window sill; the lid
was taken off once the plants reached it.
20.5.06
Transplanted
into 8 inch pots with equal parts peat-free compost, well
rotted horse muck, and loam; plus shingle for drainage.
6 plants placed in the cold frame at work.
2 plants placed in a sunny aspect on our patio, at home in Brighton.
21.8.06
I started to give them a weekly feed of seaweed extract and tomato feed as soon as the fruits set.
The profusion of deep purple glossy fruits, when they first start to colour
up, make these really attractive plants.
Two of the plants in the cold frame developed a form of leaf curl, I put this
down to them being hit by aphids (white fly & green fly) and carefully killed
the pests by hand. Once recovered the plants developed a darker green leaf than
the others – presumably a response of their immune system to the attack.The
attack set them back and they were still flowering in October, consequently
setting fewer fruits. They suffered another aphid attack in mid-October (they
were isolated this time), presumably as a result of either being weaker plants
to start with, or else having their immune system weakened by the initial attack.
None of the other plants in our trial were effected by pests.
The plants in the cold frame were bound to set and colour up earlier than those
outside, but the hot summer made it more difficult to regulate watering (as
I’m not at work at weekends) so they did suffer from occasional wilt and
a degree of legginess.
Brighton patio plants in early September
The
plants outside grew more slowly, but developed into much more sturdy and compact
plants, which were overall of a more attractive form. Even if you don't like
eating chillies, grown outside the Numex Twilight makes a great ornamental container
plant for the patio, especially as the fruits ripen at different stages so you
get a range of purple, yellow, orange and red fruits all on the same plant.
2.10.06
Count up of fruits to date
Brighton patio plants
Quick count of fruits on the Brighton plants = 60 on one and 100 on the other.
They will continue to ripen, but it is difficult to judge the final yield of
fully ripened red fruits – I would guess at 50% so around 100 from the
two plants (in mid-October I transfered them to the cold frame at work to extend
their ripening period). As they continued to mature the fruits on the plants
grown outside became slightly chubbier and more oval in shape than those grown
in the cold frame.
Work cold frame plants
The two plants that had the white fly attack produced around 50 and 30 fruits
respectively and still had a lot of flowers yet to set (to the left of the picture
below - note the darker green foliage).
With the second aphid attack they probably won't yield more than about 50 fruits
in total.
The two that were in the centre of the cold frame (under the open lid), and
got most water as they were supplemented by rainfall at weekends, produced about
200 and 60 fruits respectively. They were also the strongest of the young plants
when I potted them on.
(Basil plants in the foreground)
Close up of the centre plants and their profusion of ripening fruits.
The
two which suffered most from lack of water (to the left of the picture) produced
fewer fruits – 60 and 50 respectively – but of a greater size.
A larger fruit shown on the left.
Average fruit size was 2.5cm, but the biggest was about 5cm.
Overall I’d suggest growing them outside for aesthetics, but for more rapid ripening then a cold frame or greenhouse is recommended. I’d be interested to hear if the overall form of the plant was better when grown in a greenhouse, on a bench perhaps, with regular tending and watering. A conservatory could be ideal.
If I were to take a guess at the eventual ripened yields, I'd say around 100 total for the two patio plants and about 300 for the six grown in the cold frame, but it could be more if they continue to ripen in the cold frame. I have managed to keep chillies going well into November in the cold frame in the past.
16.10.06
The first ripe fruits were harvested.
Between all of the plants (both in the cold frame and outside on the patio) the first crop was 250 fruits: shown above.
I now reckon that if the plants can be kept going into December, then the final yield could be as much as 500 fruits overall (including the plants grown outside and transferred to the cold frame).
19.10.06
Two charming people from the Gardeners' World team (Louise Danks and cameraman) came along to the surgery to do some filming of the chillies. We only had about 15 minutes to film, as the weather was closing in, but thanks to their encouragement and professionalism we managed to get three takes and some cut-aways done before the heavens opened with a spectacular thunderstorm. I don't know if it'll make it onto the programme on 10th November, but they made me feel thoroughly at ease and I really enjoyed the experience – how exciting!
10.11.06
The results of the Gardeners' World chilli trial are broadcast on BBC2 at 8.30pm and they used some of the footage from the back garden at the surgery from 19.10.06 - Wow! It was a real buzz to see it on the telly and to be part of the programme, thanks folks.
13.11.06
Picked another 200 ripe fruits from the plants, which are now all in the cold frame, so that makes a total of 450 to date.
5.2.07
The last 190 ripe fruits were picked from the plants in the cold frame.
THE FINAL TOTAL OF RIPE FRUITS FROM THE EIGHT PLANTS = 640
I’d certainly grow them again.
Cooking with the chillies
We’ve used some of the ripe fruits in a tasty vegetable chilli, a balti,
a thai recipe, and finely chopped in a guacamole, as well as adding a zing to
other meals.
In the past, when we've harvested chillies in large numbers we halve them, remove
the seeds and then put them into a large glass jar of olive oil in the fridge
for ten days. At the end of that time we decant it to give us a jar of chilli
oil for cooking with. The chillies themselves will then be gently pan-fried
for around 20 minutes, zizzed down with a hand-held processor and then placed
in a glass screw-top jar as a chilli paste. From experience both the oil and
the paste can happily last over a year in the fridge, for continued use in the
kitchen.
Chopped finely and added in moderation to food they are an good strength for a beginner to try out. Start with half a chilli, finely chopped, put a small amount in at a time, taste it, and then add more if you think it needs it. Wash your hands carefully after handling the fruits and try not to rub your eyes.
You can find more information about cooking with chillies on a BBC food page by clicking here
Some more good recipes by clicking here from the Cornish Chilli Company
Heat and potency
Numex Twilight are piquin-type chillies so I think they'd come in around 50,000 on the Scoville scale of potency and are certainly effective.
On Friday 20th October '06 on Gardeners' World's Monty Don visited Andrew Jukes, an analytical chemist at Warwick University, who'd been sent the fruits of the Berryfields hot chilli trial to find out which was the hottest. He used a new test called High Performance Liquid Chromatography to get a really accurate reading for each variety. It provided some fascinating new information, such as the fruits of an individual plant varying in strength – up to ten-fold differences – let alone between different types. The Fiesta chillies which the Gardeners' World team grew outside were considerably hotter then those inside and this came down to the amount of water they were given, such that those outside weren't watered as much and came out hotter. (Subsequent to the programme I tried a careful taste test of my own on the Numex Twilight fruits from the plants in the cold frame which suffered from a lack of water and they were indeed discernably hotter)
The results of the tests were amazing. The Scotch Bonnet came in at 265,000 Scoville Units, the Orange Habanero was 488,000, but the absolute winner was the Dorset Naga at 1,598,000! That is totally mind-boggling, before seeing that I thought that the hottest was around 800,000 (another Naga from India).
Check out this site for "The Chemistry of Chilli Peppers"
You can buy Numex Twilight seeds here
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