• Interesting and satisfying to grow
• Many culinary uses
• Easily dried and stored
• Saved seed can be grown the following year

Chillies were unknown in Europe until Diego Alvarez Chanca, the physician appointed to the fleet and friend to Christopher Columbus documented their use in the West Indies on the second voyage to the Americas.

Plant Care

• Height: 60 100cm
• Type: Tender
• Aspect: Sun
• Soil: Any/alkaline
• Flower colour: White
• Flowering period: July – September

There are many different varieties of chillies but they all have one thing in common they grow in the warmer countries of the world and love heat, which can make it difficult to grow in the UK. Unless you have a heated conservatory or a big sunny windowsill it is better to just grow chillies as a tender summer annual. It shouldnt be put outside until the weather has really warmed up and needs to be in a south facing sheltered site or greenhouse. Chillies grow really well in pots and regular feeding will reward you with plenty of fruit. Seed can be saved form dried chillies and sown the following year. Any green chillies left on the plants at the end of the season can be picked and placed on a sunny windowsill where they will ripen.

Usage

The hot and pungent flavour of chilli is famous worldwide for creating heat in dishes, sauces, oils and vinegars. They can be used fresh or dried a process that is easy to do by spreading the fruit out on newspaper in a warm area but out of direct sunlight, once dry they should be stored in an airtight container either whole or in fragments after whizzing in a food processor.
Chilies are highly nutritious and contain minerals, vitamins A, C, K and B6 and have also been used remedy used as a traditional medicine for thousands of years for stimulating circulation and the infused oil can provide some pain relief for aching swollen joints, sciatica and gout.