Although Plantui’s smart gardens are mostly used to grow herbs and salad plants, there’s nothing stopping you planting chilies in a Plantui indoor garden. However, there’s a few little things to keep in mind when growing them. Read our chili cultivation tips from this article.
Choosing the right variety
Chilies grow thick and tall. Therefore, it’s worth choosing a chili variety that is compact enough in size to be grown in your Plantui device. The Demon Red chili in Plantui’s range is just such a chili, as it remains a suitable size. If you use your own chili seeds along with empty plant capsules, keep the size of the plant in mind when choosing a variety. Two seeds of your own chili can be added to each empty Experimental Plant Capsule.
How to adapt the Plantui Smart Garden to suit chilies
Chilies need a lot of space and light. Plantui’s six-slot smart garden can either be used to plant six chili plants or used by leaving every other opening empty. If you leave empty spaces in the smart garden, cover the empty holes, for example with a piece of cardboard. This prevents light from entering the device through the opening, which can cause algae to form.
If you grow six chilies in a six-slot Plantui indoor garden or three chilies in a three-slot Plantui indoor garden, it’s especially important to make sure that the plants get enough light. It is then a good idea to get a boosting light block to ensure that the lower and innermost parts of the plant do not suffer from a lack of light. In general, the best place for a boosting light block is at the very bottom section of the column. This additional light is useful even when empty spaces are left in the device.
No matter how many chilies you grow, we recommend using a blooming light block to accelerate flowering and fruit formation. This additional light is activated when the first buds appear and should be placed at the same height as the buds. The blooming light block should always be placed where the flowers and ripening fruit are, at any given time.
A total of five height blocks can be used in the Plantui smart garden. Two of these may be boosting light blocks.
Pollination of flowers
When the first flowers open, shake the whole plant from its stems. This is how pollen is spread between the flowers. The pollination is always repeated every few days, to ensure that even new flowers are pollinated.
Harvesting
Warning! Hot! The crop is always harvested as the chilies ripen. It’s worth remembering to peek behind the leaves, as some chilies may hide away.
