Jarhead55 wrote:Gotta say, lots of respect to you harvesters.
Only thing Ive ever grown is a beard.
Maybe me and the missus should check it out.
Even if you have only a sunny windowsill I personally would recommend starting with chillies. Something like a cayenne pepper. They are reliable, fruit prolifically and are really, really easy. Even if you don't like chillies (like me!) I still recommend them because they are so easy and it's just so rewarding seeing something grow and come to fruition and you can alway give them away. As a bonus, you can save the seeds from your ripe chillies and grow more the next year.
Beginning of March get some seed (Poundland, Amazon, Ebay, a neighbour). Get an old plastic takeaway dish, make a couple of holes in the bottom, almost fill it with compost (the stuff from Poundland will do), moisten with a little water*. Put a seed every square inch. Sprinkle over a little more compost so the seeds are just covered. Put in a warm (not hot) place with the lid on (about 21-25C - I sit them on top of my computer which is on 24/7, I know other people sit them on their Sky/Cable box which is always warm to the touch....just be careful when you water!). Take the lid off for 20 minutes every day until you see seedlings appearing - anything from 7-14 days, then keep the lid off and put the dish in the window. Keep moist but not wet. Once the seedlings have their second set of leaves gently transplant them individually into small plant pots (Poundland again). If you don't fancy doing the seed thing then pop off to Homebase or some place and buy some baby plants. Keep them in as sunny a place as possible watering only when the compost starts to dry out. As they get bigger and the roots fill that pot, pot up into a bigger pot. At this point you might want to give them some tomato food (you guessed it...Poundland), just follow the instructions on the packet. If your plants are indoors you'll have to perform a spot of vegetable husbandry as there are no pollinating insects: when you have a flower, gently rub the inside of the flower with a Q-Tip, or your finger. I like to play some Barry White whilst doing this...!
Before you know it you'll have some little green chillies which by the end of summer will be turning red
* Personally I use cold camomile tea rather than water (one tea bag in a pint of boiling water, leave to go cold) as camomile has anti-fungal properties.
