50+ SEEDS Bird’s Eye Chili Pepper SILING LABUYO NON GMO #74 For Sale

If you are buying the plants from seed you will want to start germinating them around January-February indoors. Soak them in water for a few hours before potting to give them the best chance of germinating.

To pot them up you will need to use nutrient poor potting soil that you keep moist, but not sodden.

You should put one seed per starter pot with a little soil on top and then keep the pots by a bright and sunny window. They will take about two weeks to germinate but might come faster, especially if you keep them at around 25 degrees Celsius and keep them away from drafts.

During this time, it is better to use a spray bottle with water to keep the plants moist, rather than pouring water on them, which can dislodge the vulnerable seedlings.

Once the plants have around 4-8 leaves on them they can be placed in a bigger pot. If you are potting them up inside, keep one plant per pot of around 7.5 CM and then plant them on into bigger pots as the plant grows. If you are growing them outside they need to be around 30-40CM apart and 2-3 feet between rows which gives them space to grow and plenty of ventilation. This should only be done when the last frost has finished.

If you are moving them from outside to inside it is important to harden them off by gently exposing them to the new temperatures and light of their new spot. This will avoid transplant shock.

When ready, the birds eye chilli plants should be planted in loam based compost with a little vermiculite and perlite so that they have great ventilation.

The soil should be really loose and include at least some fertiliser in the way of worm castings or well-rotted manure.

These kinds of plants tend to do well in sunny spots of the garden, however, areas prone to heat waves can produce wilting chilli plants. If you know you are prone to this kind of weather it is worth planting your bird’s eye chilli in a partially shaded spot right from the beginning.

The plants should be soaked after transplanting to help them ‘settle in’. After that they should be watered around every other day or third day depending on the weather, keeping the soil moist but never sodden.

As a general rule the soil should never dry out completely, something you can keep an eye on by popping your finger into the soil regularly. If the plant is dry after about an inch, it needs watering.

To fertilise your bird’s eye pepper plants you can use tomato fertiliser, but some people like to use fish emulsion or sometimes seaweed.

The trick is not to over fertilize the bird’s eye pepper, as this can burn the roots and kill the plant really quickly.