Chillies are indispensable in Malaysian curries and laksas, rojaks and sauces and sambals. They add that little bit of fire to the dish. In the 80’s, I tried to grow chilli by using the seeds of the few fresh chillies which flew home with me from a visit to my family in Malaysia. My relatives instructed me to rinse these seeds well and to soak them in brine and then to put them in the soil. Alas! They did not germinate. Then the next attempt was with dried chillies and their seeds. Neither with brine nor without, nor soaking in water without additives overnight produced any results.

This year my attempt was successful. On the safe side I bought a seedling from the gardener and had it in a pot on the balcony. This little pot yielded since September 3 ripe Lemon Drops chillies. My seedlings did quite well on the balcony in the box.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is the harvest:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is my attempt to find out if the chilliplants could withstand the winter on our balcony.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The chilli plant should be perennial according to: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/gardening/howtogrow/8243859/How-to-grow-chillies-anywhere-in-Britain.html.