Actually, I have successfully grown them in the open. When I say successfully, I mean that the plant grew and it fruited and the fruits ripened. There the similarity between chilis and what I grew ended. The whole point (apart from simply enjoying growing them) as far as I'm concerned is to grow fruits of consistent flavour and heat. I like chili heat, but there's nothing worse than a mouthful of something much, much hotter than you expected (memories of a Budapest cafe and a salad with rings of red pepper - it wasn't red pepper, it was a very large chili and it was HOT, but I would have enjoyed it had I expected it).
