Some Chillies Have Been Planted

There are quite a few pictures today, so brace yourselves. 

The first pack of chilli seeds I attempted was the one where the pots had been stuck.

They included a bag of potting soil and wonderfully clear instructions. I was to cut open the bag of soil (not tear), stand it in the upturned clear pot and add 300ml of water. I was then to leave it for a few minutes to allow the soil to absorb the water. 

I left it for over half an hour, but when I decanted it into the opaque pot, water still ran through. I put the clear pot on top, as instructed, but I'll probably give the soil a little spray tomorrow as I'm worried about the soil being too dry. 

I then went for the cayenne bucket. That had instructions in incredibly tiny print.

As well as all sorts of bits. I was using my phone camera in close up to read the instructions. Then I had to pour 'some' water onto the little coir discs.

They didn't specify how much, and I got a little carried away. I ended up with something like soup and I tried soaking up some of the excess liquid with tissues.

Then, as instructed, I sprinkled the seeds onto the coir and put the clear cover on. Then I put it to join the previous pot on a sunny window ledge. I'll transplant later.

I looked at the jalapenos next. 

These had instructions on the inside of the packaging where the seeds were helpfully taped.

And there are two bags of compost per bucket. These need to be placed in a bright, warm place but out of direct sunlight. There is nowhere in the house like that! I'm going to have to do some serious furniture moving before I try planting them. I also need to plant these.

If they all grow, it's a lot of chillies, even if the plants are just moderately productive. DH and bear, however, will easily see off that amount of pickled chillies in a few months. DH makes a new batch of pickles every couple of weeks. Even with buying the plant pots and potting compost, we will save a fortune by growing instead of buying. The basic red chillies from Tesco are 60p for 60g. That's £10 per kilo, and going on what I'm asked to buy, that's maybe a month and a half worth of pickles (and it's still cheaper to pickle them at home, even at that price). If I can over winter the plants, the savings will be beyond worth it. If they don't grow, I'll have lost some money, but I think that it's worth the gamble. 

I'll keep on working on these. A couple of kind commenters suggested writing a story about planting chillies. I admit nothing.

Otherwise it's been a pretty quiet day which has been very welcome.

Hugs and good health to all.