Pepper varieties for a newb

[Jessica]

Hi, I am new to the hot pepper world. I had never touched a pepper or hot sauce until a few months ago, when I found myself addicted to dried thai hot peppers. I make stir-fry's frequently using them, much to my brother's disdain .

Anyway, I am a bit overwhelmed by the different types of hot peppers there are. I am looking for suggestions for pepper types to grow
for use in asian cooking, or for drying. I'm also looking for the best superhot for a beginner to try just for fun .

Also, I'm new to growing. I have two lil baby hybrid cayenne seedlings sitting under two fluorescent tube lights. They were bought here before I learned of the bad reputation this company has. They were originally planted in jiffy pellets/w humidity dome on top of a heater and were recently upgraded to plastic cups. The thing is, I have no idea how often to water these guys. I also realized that these guys will probably outgrow their current location before the last frost date. I will start any other seeds I get closer to Feb-March so I can get them outdoors soon enough.

Last thing, I have a pretty useless gift card from Christmas w/ 1.76 remaining on it. I am trying to find somewhere I can get some type of seeds for it. Found plenty on eBay, even after weeding out all of the Chinese wholesalers, but I am unsure of the reliability of eBay sellers. I've had mostly good experiences buying and selling on eBay, but I've never bought seeds there before.

 

[woody3says]

Dont use Ebay for seeds.....Look in the vendor vault for a reputable source. As for watering, just keep the soil moist. You dont want it dripping wet or bone dry. Easiest way with small babies for me is to get a spray bottle. As they grow switch over to bottom watering. Its not a super SUPER hot, but for ease and production you cant beat a Orange Hab. Welcome aboard and good luck!

 

[MGOLD86]

Stay away from eBay for seeds. Never met anyone who was happy with what they got. Try out the vendor vault area like Woody says. I like to bottom water my plants so it avoids getting the leaves wet which equates to less possible problems.

 

[frosty]

I'm a newb also so this is my advice until the real pros come in:

You can go without watering until they just start to wilt. Assuming you have normal sized cups you should at least wait until the top looks dry then water. I use RO water (water is pretty bad here) and water from the bottom by setting them in a tray of water for an hour. The top of the soil should look wet. If it doesn't poor a little water on top and wait 30 minutes. I'm making this over complicated soil needs to be a little settled and a little moist to wick well.

Kung paos are some of the most popular asian peppers to grow. My wife is chinese and she loves to cook with cayennes and jalepenos.

The nature of seeds means you don't know what you have until months later. That is why dealers with good reputations can charge higher prices. In Ebay you have to rank the dealer too soon and so their feedback is useless. This means there are no benefits to having a good reputation and good dealers end up being driven out.

The peppers you are looking for are almost commodities and any seed catalogue will be good enough.