Chilligrow hydroponic chilli pepper growing kit

This is the Chilligrow, a new product for 2011 from soil and hydro growing kit company, Greenhouse Sensation. I have been using a few of their products over the past couple of years to grow peppers, tomatoes, gherkins, etc, and have had fantastic results. This is the first kit they have designed specifically for chillis so I am looking forward to seeing how it compares to the great results I had from its sister product, the Quadgrow. The slightly smaller pots are designed to promote strong but restricted root growth, encouraging pods to form and ripen in countries with a shorter growing season, such as the UK and northern Europe.

The kit arrives in two boxes, one containing the long thin feed tray and 6 litre nutrient reservoir and miscellaneous bits. The other contains the three 6 litre plant pots. Everything is well padded with bubble wrap. The basic idea is that the plants sit above the nutrient reservoir and a wick passes through a hole in the pots and the feed tray, allowing the plants to draw up the nutrient, as and when they require it. This removes the guess work involved with watering your plants, and because they always have access to water and food, they are always growing at optimum rate (weather permitting).

The kit is well thought out, and based on their other products. The instructions are well presented in full colour, and make the set-up process very easy to follow. Everything you will need is included, something that Greenhouse Sensation make a key selling point. If you are looking for a complete solution, especially as a gift for a relative who may not have the DIY growing skills that you have, a Greenhouse Sensation kit is well worth looking at. Back to the items included, two bottles of nutrient mix, a pipette to measure out the nutrient, a lolly pop type dip stick so you can check the level of nutrient as the plants take it up, and their special "SmartMats" which link the plant pots to the nutrient reservoir below. A word of warning, if you run out of the SmartMats at the end of the year, order some more - I didn't have time and tried to use jiffy cloths as a substitute wick, but they didn't work and I had to resort to top watering which defeats the whole exercise.

First impressions, the pots are compact, but should allow enough root space for some good size plants. If space isn't an option and you want to grow monster plants, take a look at the larger Quadgrow and Octagrow. The long slim layout of the Chilligrow is perfect for either a greenhouse, or at a push, a windowsill. If you are going to grow outdoors and varieties that are quite sprawling, such as a Pubescens chilli, I'd recommend looking at their support frames because a large, lop-sided plant with heavy pods may not be very stable. But a standard Chinense, or compact ornamental will be well suited to this kit. Another modification would be to get their 'holiday watering kit', which is a back up nutrient tank that can be anything from a 25 litre tank to a massive 220 litre water butt. The water butt would be overkill for this Chilligrow kit, but the 25 litre tank would be a sensible upgrade. During a hot spell in mid summer, three full grown chilli plants covered in pods are going to make short work of the 6 litre nutrient reservoir, especially if you decide to grow two plants per pot. The backup tank will refill the nutrient level automatically using a float valve and is a very elegant watering solution.

The weather has finally turned warm and the peppers are big enough to go in the chilligrow, so I cleared a space in the greenhouse and got to work, setting up the new kit. First thing to do is mix up some nutrient. They give you two plastic bottles clearly labelled A and B. Each contains powder, which will make up into solution with which to keep the nutrient tank filled.

The instructions are clear and tell you exactly how much nutrient to add. I haven't been feeding my plants anything other than water, and because they accidentally received a good frosting one night, they have been a bit slow and delicate. For this reason I soaked the FeederMats in plain water rather than nutrient. Once soaked, thread one FeederMat through each plant pot hole so that it stick up well into the pot. Make sure the other end passes through the hole in the Feeder Tray and into the SmartReservoir.

Once all the pots are in place, fill them with soil and add your plants. Make sure you have the bung in the hole in the Feeder Tray to stop flying compost getting into the SmartReservoir. The number of plants you put in each pot probably depends on the type of pepper you are growing. Mine are Jalapeno Conchos so I decided on two plants for each of the three pots. When you fits put them in, the FeederMats won't be enough to water the plants, so you will need to top water. With the Greenhouse Sensation Quadgrow I found I had to top water a few times, though those pots are bigger. The plants have been in the Chilligrow for four days, in full sun under glass, probably 40 celcius, and they only needed top watering once.

The Feeder Tray has a hole in the top which you use to keep the SmartReservoir topped up. They provide a wooden lolly stick to check the water level, simple technology is great and it does the job. I will update again in a few weeks as the plants progress and let you know about water consumption rates. They do offer a holiday watering kit which you can attach to the Chilligrow, which would be useful when the plants are big and drinking a lot of nutrient.