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some lunch (one of the benefits of working from home!) it was great to see the peppers still going strong.Peppers taste fantastic, they're good for you, easy to grow and they look attractive, especially when laden with fruit. I've grown a selection

of the chilli.This year a new chilli variety caught my eye. It's called 'Bhut Jolokia Fiery Furnace', and claims to be the world's hottest chilli.The heat of chillies is measured on the Scoville scale, and this variety comes in at an impressive 1,000,000

and air from reaching the leaves.Black or greyish-green mould spreads across sticky honeydew deposited on pepper plants by aphidsThere's no control for sooty mould, but you can control the aphids. Outside, natural predators such as birds and ladybirds

can encourage the problem. Compost sold specifically for tomatoes, such as grow bags, contains sufficient calcium for a good crop of fruits. Never apply fertiliser to dry soil, always give plants plenty of water first. tomatoes, peppers

; for the first time I've been able to run an extension to my greenhouse to power an electric propagator. When temperatures all around have fallen, the propagator maintains a warming 20Ë?C, perfect for germinating most seeds.I always grow an assortment of chillies

. I potted on my peppers and tomatoes, as they kept drying out in no time, their root systems filling the tiny pots. They're now potted into 2 litre pots and should grow nicely. I only grow a few tomato plants on the allotment, as we seem to get quite

Spores carried by water and wind spread this fungus, which leaves primula foliage peppered with holes. The initial signs are spots in a yellow-orange area, or in grey, papery tissue. When the centre falls out, holes appear. Look beneath the leaves

Sow sweet peas and pinch out the growing tips of seedlings for bushier plants Continue harvesting chillies, peppers and other cropsReduce watering potted tuberous begonias to allow the top growth to die downBring pots of tender bulbs like agapanthus

, but my thoughts are turning to the Mediterranean, and summer holidays. I like to imagine what I'll be growing and eating in the summer: masses of zingy tomatoes, sweet and crisp peppers, juicy cucumbers and buttery salad leaves. Oh, and warm ratatouille

inspection of the peppers and, having been off recording Gardeners' Question Time for a few days, I was horrified to find grey mould (Botrytis cinerea) had taken a hold on several fruits.The 'Romano' peppers were slow to crop this year, but each plant is now