🌱 A month-by-month diary of the 2024 chilli season.
This is my diary of the 2024 chilli season, from the overwintered plants in spring to the last harvest in November and the drying trays in December. I did not post anything in January, February or March, so the diary starts in April. Each month collects the short garden updates I shared during the year, with links to the variety profiles and guides I wrote along the way.
In this diary
- April 2024
- May 2024
- June 2024
- July 2024
- August 2024
- September 2024
- October 2024
- November 2024
- December 2024
- What I learned in 2024
April 2024
April on the blog was about varieties rather than the garden. I wrote profiles of Habanero Chocolate, a Capsicum chinense with deep brown pods, and the colourful Bolivian Rainbow, whose small pods change from purple to yellow, orange and red as they ripen.
May 2024
In May my overwintered Bolivian Rainbow came through the winter looking vibrant and healthy, as I shared in Overwintered Bolivian Rainbow Looking Great. Not everything went smoothly: millipedes were feeding on the tender roots of my young Jalapeños, so I wrote How to Prevent Millipedes Damage to Young Chilli Pepper Plants. I also picked the First Raspberry Of The Season and explained why birds do not feel the heat of spicy food.
June 2024
June was a busy month. Our dog kept an eye on the young chilli plants as I got ready for the 2024 season, and I gave my Habanero Orange a slightly bigger pot in Repotting Our Habanero Orange. The tomatoes were thriving, tied to their stakes, and the allotment gave us fresh raspberries. At the end of the month the first white Bishop’s Crown chilli flower opened. I also wrote a profile of the Jalapeño.
July 2024
July was planting month. My Habanero Orange went into the soil in Planting Habanero Orange, and I shared my tips for Transplanting Chilli Peppers into the Garden. Later in the month the next round of chillies moved from pots to garden plots, with their roots dusted with mycorrhizal fungi and the soil prepared with compost.
About a week after the flower, the first Bishop’s Crown pod appeared, and my Habanero Chocolate was growing well with lush leaves. Our kaki tree, a birthday gift the year before, showed its first fruits. We also planted a young grapevine and enjoyed raspberries from garden to table. Away from the beds I paired Turkish Coffee and Dried Chillies and profiled the Cherry Bomb Pepper.
August 2024
August was the start of the harvest. The tomatoes were still green giants early in the month, and I wrote about preparing for the tomato harvest. My Bishop’s Crown peppers were getting close to picking, and the first early Naga Morich pepper appeared, still green. The garden gave us A Colorful Bounty from the Garden, then grapes and a big heirloom tomato in Home-grown Harvest, and a tomato salad straight from the beds.
In the kitchen I ground dried chillies in a coffee grinder for homemade chilli flakes, and made homemade chilli powder in jars with handmade labels.
September 2024
In September I took a closer look at the flowers, from the Habanero flower to the Bishop’s Crown flower. Another haul from the garden brought large tomatoes and fresh figs. One of my chilli pods showed white patches and damage, so I wrote about the possible causes, from sunscald to infections and insects, in How to Identify and Prevent Damage on Chili Peppers. By the end of the month my Habanero Chocolate was slowly getting its rich colour.
October 2024
October was harvest and drying time. The green chilli peppers were coming in strong, and I picked yellow and orange habaneros together with red ghost peppers in Harvesting and Drying Hot Peppers. I shared how I halve the pods and lay them out in How to Dry Chili Peppers at Home. Pumpkins met Carolina Reapers and orange habaneros in A Spicy Autumn Harvest, and the garden still gave us fresh tomatoes and sweet cherry peppers. I also wrote about growing your own plants from cuttings and profiled Cayenne Pepper and Orange Habanero.
At the end of the month it was time for Chilliada 2024, a spicy Halloween challenge for kids on 31 October, with its own limited edition T-shirts.
November 2024
November opened with the Chilliada 2024 challenge results, where eight participants shared the top score of 15 points. Then came the last harvest of early November, with Habanero Chocolate, red ghost peppers and orange habaneros. I followed the habanero journey from green to fiery red, dried a batch of homegrown chillies and still found Mid-November Raspberries.
At the end of the month I uprooted the remaining pepper plants, bagged their roots and brought them indoors so the last pods could ripen, as described in End of Season Pepper Migration Update. I also profiled the Ghost Pepper and shared a favourite Sriracha quote, We’re not in the business of making mayonnaise.
December 2024
December was about the stash for winter. The dried chilli slices were a real Drying Season Success, and I wrote about smoky Dried Chipotle Peppers. The year ended with Merry Christmas 2024 and Happy New Year 2025 wishes to everyone who followed the garden.
What I learned in 2024
- Overwintering pays off: my Bolivian Rainbow came through the winter vibrant and healthy.
- Check young plants for millipedes, and keep them away by clearing decaying plant matter and reducing moisture.
- When moving chillies from pots into the garden, dusting the roots with mycorrhizal fungi helps them settle in.
- Shade during the hottest hours and watering at the base help prevent sunscald and fungal damage on the pods.
- At the end of the season, uprooting the plants, bagging the roots and bringing them indoors gives the last pods time to ripen.
- My best performer of 2024 was the Habanero Orange.