Chillies

I've been pulling up spent corn-marigolds (I'm not bothering to wait until the seed is set; there is so much in the soil that I didn't actually sow any seed at all this year, and they still came up. And I still have some saved from last year, plus another packet of 'cornfield mix' that I was given by a conservation charity this summer but had nowhere to sow) and potting on the various chillies. The back up chillies in particular were in a tray far too shallow for them.

After a month (and being thinned down to 'only' four plants) they are now vigorous plants that have, as predicted, overtopped the Demon Red seedlings -- but of course they are miles behind in terms of development of where they ought to be. I see that on 17th July last year I was already wondering whether the flowers had started to set; these ones are nowhere near flowering at all.

The three Demon Red seedlings are now finally starting to look like proper plants (albeit very small ones, which I'm sure is as intended) with multiple sets of leaves and side-shoots, which puts them visibly ahead of the others in terms of maturity, but they are still far short of being ready to flower. And from memory of successful windowsill chillies I do think they ought to be more than their current four inches high before they start fruiting!

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