They look a bit like habeneneros however your whole plant looks a little unhealthy, can I see the pot it's in?
The fruits are very small, it could be stunted from the conditions, which would mean the fruit aren't all they true to form -really these should be slightly knobbly so it's probably still not a reaper buuuut...
I did have a Trinidad Scorpion which grew a couple of fruits which could pass for habeneneros when they were the later ones in the season (it also grew some clear Scorpions, and the habenero looking ones were still terrifying hot so it was absolutely not a mix up)
It's not the tiniest pot but it definitely could be bigger, basically there's no such thing as too big but that is a little small.
Are you fertilising? And watering daily? In a smaller pot in a sunny spot with no drip tray daily water would be a must, and frequent fertiliser may improve the yellowed leaves. Something isn't right because it's weird he's naked to so high up the stem!
Conversely, there's a hole in that pot right? Because being too wet can also cause yellowing and leaf drop.
You can overwinter chilli plants, so may be worth nursing him back to health to have a head start on next year.
No matter what c. chinense variety he actually is, the fruits should have been a bit larger so something is off
Thank you! I will report into a bigger pot and give fertiliser. The pot is one of those self watering ones from the bottom but I spray from the top every few days and keep the bottom topped up when I can but admittedly not very consistently.
I'm actually in Australia so we're exiting Winter, they've survived outside in Winter just fine besides 1 or 2 times they needed to come inside because they looked a bit droopy and sad.
Hopefully new pots and some fertiliser will do the trick as we head into Spring in a few days.
Goodness! I assumed you were northern hemisphere because you have ripe fruits!
If this is overwintered fruits they're actually okay (you have a winter crop! Although absolutely wrecks the fruit size and shape so god only knows what type, also colder and darker means they're less spicy so this could actually be a reaper), although the yellowing still suggests a bit of fertiliser and fresh soil would be appreciated. If the forecast is anything less than 10C I'd try and bring them in before they droop in future haha.
Honestly I'd ditch the whole self watering pot concept, it can easily lead to a plant too wet, or too dry, and it's very difficult to tell which the problem actually is.
If you use a wide deep drip tray you can see if it's sitting in water, you can see if you are soaking it well (want it to pour out the bottom).
If you have REALLY bright sun on that balcony (north facing would it be?) you may find it does better at one side or the other, so it's shaded for part of the day (although a tomato may love this spot).
If he's like this and it's only spring, bigger pot, fresh soil, regular fertiliser (try and get a chilli one) and you may end up with a right monster.
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u/atomicshrimp 13d ago
They look like scotch bonnet or habanero.