The Chile Man - Revisited !

"2006 was rather busy to put it mildly. I got engaged, bought a new car, changed my job, and moved both house and county. But despite all the changes, one thing remained certain; come February I would be planting the first of my chile pepper seeds.

If you read the article I wrote last year here on the Reckless Gardener you will know I had developed a significant interest in growing peppers, an interest that quickly grew into something of an obsession. Together with Mark McMullan, a fellow fanatic, I helped set-up thechileman.org which is an online database for the Capsicum genus and its varieties. Over the past year the site has grown and developed, providing a wealth of information for anyone wanting to know more about how to grow and what to grow.

With another year's experience we have written a series of guides ranging from starting from seed to pest and disease prevention. The guides also cover everything you'll need to know, whether you are a complete novice, or someone wanting to know more technical aspects, such as hydroponics (growing without soil). Mark and I will also be documenting our experiences throughout 2007 in a journal format. We have been amazed by all the emails we have received either thanking us for putting the site together, or asking for specific advice. We are always happy to help, though Mark was completely thrown by the person who contacted him to ask something really technical about rhododendrons!?

There is a healthy international community of people who all like to grow chile peppers, and we recommend a number of really helpful internet forums on the site. Knowing that there were lots of people out there all with a similar interest also led us to set-up a chile growers world map. In a matter of minutes you can create your own scaled down version of the database, showing just the varieties that you are growing, and attach your list to a map of the world. There are now hundreds of people listed on the map, from numerous countries, growing one or two varieties, to more than fifty.

You may also remember that we were running a competition last year, inviting people to grow the longest Whippet Tail chile that they could. We had about thirty competitors from various countries and the three longest peppers were separated by just five millimeters! Much to his delight, the 2006 trophy went to Luigi from Italy. With so much fun had by all, it was inevitable that we ran the competition in 2007. We hadn't bargained for the overwhelming response though! This year thechileman.org is running the Big Jim challenge, inviting competitors to grow the largest NuMex Big Jim pepper. And the prizes are incredible. As well as taking the coveted trophy, you can also win seeds, a tshirt, hot pepper sauce and an interview in the international Fiery Foods magazine. We are closing in on 200 competitors, with the Australians taking an early lead due to the fact that it is currently their summer.

It doesn't matter if you don't have an allotment, or any more space in your garden or greenhouse. Pepper plants grow well in pots, and small pots at that. While it is possible to grow something resembling a tree (I had an Aji Hot Lemon chile plant last year that reached almost seven feet tall), there are plenty of dwarf or ornamental varieties to choose from. You can also choose the level of heat to suit your tastes. When you think of chile peppers you immediately picture something red and hot, perhaps something like the Bih Jolokia; a pepper from India that is currently regarded as the world's hottest. But you can grow chiles that have no detectable heat at all, much like a sweet pepper. If you are tempted, give them a try. They are great fun to grow."

For more details please visit Julian's website at thechileman.org
Photographs - kindly donated by Julian.