Chillies grow quite well here – the hot Japanese summer is just what they like, and if there’s plenty of sun you’ll get lots of hot colourful fruit. Even the chilly October evenings are coped with OK, but what chillies can’t stand is frost. As soon as the minimum temperature goes below zero, even by half a degree, that’s it. The plants are dead, although if the frost wasn’t too severe you might be able to pick a few more undamaged chillies. Protected by a tough skin, chillies are quite resistant to going bad, but if that gets damaged, by insects or frost, for example, it’s amazing how fast a firm shiny chilli can be turned into a disgusting bag of pus, still held in that skin…
- min -0.5°C, max – er, I forgot to check…
asazuke 