String 'em up

A more positive garden drama. My chili plant is going nuts (here it is on the left). Bright red fruits all over it. They start off green, then slowly, like those weird T-shirts popular in the Eighties that changed colour with your body heat, they turn red. I’m waiting to harvest enough to make a string of them, as demonstrated on this website here. Has anyone tried this? With one of these hanging in my kitchen, I'll be that bit closer to my rustic French farmhouse fantasy.

Comments

[Kathryn]

Maybe the string of chillies would make interesting eco christmas decorations, they are red and green after all! I've used home grown chillies to make chilli oil which was great for making them last that bit longer.

[IL]

Where do you get chili seed? Can we just used the seeds within the chili bought from supermarket? They are often been in the fridget, would it affects their growth prospects?

Why waste your chilis by making an ornament out of them Ana?
Chop them up finely when green (scrape out the seeds if you really are chicken), mix with chopped tomatoes and onion to make spicy Salsa Mexicana which has the green, white and red of the Mexican flag.
Years ago my Mexican wife brought seeds from hot chilis here in Mexico and we planted them in plant pots indoors (in Oxfordshire). They bloomed and gave chilis which were mild!
Why? The climate? Maybe they yearned for the hot tropical climate.

[hedgewizard]

Because the ornament is edible, and remains so long after undried chilis would have gone mouldy! (And I expect your mexican chilis were hybrids and didn't grow true from seed)

I've not done this Anna, but my books say to wear rubber gloves and run the string through the thickest part of the stem, including underripe ones as well as they ripen a bit as they dry. They should be hung up somewhere with low humidity - like an airing cupboard, or a sunny windowsill. They keep fine hung up (although they do get dusty), but better in an airtight jar with a couple of sugar cubes or some salt to soak up any residual moisture. Let us know how you get on!