Too Hot to Handle

This last year I tried growing two types of chili. Both reportedly high on heat scale. One of these was Hot Teppin and is known for being one of the hottest chilies there are. Sadly my seedlings all died except for one, and the reason why is still not known. The single plant which made it was making its way from my home to the greenhouse when a large gust of wind hit it and me and the plant snapped in two right at the base and never recovered. I could have cried. Icelandic weather 1: Kitty 0.

My chili success story comes in the form of Demon Red. This fine variety of pepper was recently awarded The Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit, known as AGM and from my experience, so it should.

The plant is a dwarf variety and goes no higher than 30cm tall and thusly is perfect on a windowsill, where in all honesty it will do its best in this country (as long as you remember to pollinate). The chilies are on the 'very hot' description - but mine punched my face off when I bit a very small end off to test. I am addicted to incredibly spicy food and ate raw chilies when pregnant, but this is high even on my scale.

The fruit is very small and you get a huge yield per plant. I kept 6 plants as I had been using 4-8 shop bought chilies per week. The plants started fruiting at the end of July and they have just kept on doing so since then. As soon as the fruit is red I snip off the chilies with a little stalk and either use them or simply keep them in a little glass cup to dry.



As there have been so many fruits and they are so incredibly pungent (I am using one of these small chilies where I previously would use 3 Bonus bought ones) I have also put some in olive oil to make garlic and chili oil which I am letting be for a while so the flavour can permeate properly.



These plants have been a complete and utter winner for me. They look good, need absolutely no care except for watering and have produced more fruit than expected. I would buy these again for 2011 if it wasn't for the fact I am adopting a new technique with these and my paprika and attempting to keep the pants alive over winter rather than throw them away as you would tomato plants. Rumour has it that if you succeed, the fruit starts cropping substantially earlier on the second year, with even more of it. Without wishing to be presumptuous I assume that this has not been attempted in Iceland before, or at least not many have. So I am eager to share my results, and will do so here.