chinense Black Habanero

Plantguy76 · Mar 31, 2015

I have black habanero seed form wicked mike that are germinating .
This is the ones that Jim Duffy has that are a chocolate habanero crossed with a clavo was wondering if anyone grown them and what they thought of them.
I grew the burning bush habanero last year and did not care for it at all .
The Hungarian sweet banana hybrid crossed with my Jamaican red mushrooms that grew volunteer fit the burning bush profile more than burning bush rant finished
I would like to know if the black habanero fits the bill as describe and others insights.

Noah Yates · Mar 31, 2015

I grew it the year before last. The seeds were purchased from refining fire chilis. I had two plants. One of the grew to a final height approaching 8 feet tall and a diameter of about 3.5 feet, but it didnt produce one ripe pod. (very late in the season it started to crown, but the frost killed it) The second plant was pretty small (it was transplanted late)... and it produced about 10 ripe peppers.

You can see the 8 foot black hab (7 feet at the time) towering above the rest of the plants. It was positioned in the middle of the garden.

I saved the seeds from these pods taken from the smaller plant. I wish the 8 footer would have given me some seeds....

This is a "black hab" that I grew out last season from those saved seeds

I saved the seeds from that pod and germinated them in mid December.
Here they are today 109 days after being sown:

Hawaiianero · Mar 31, 2015

What is the flavor profile of the black hab?

Noah Yates · Mar 31, 2015

Its not my favorite flavor to be honest... a little bitter with a black pepper after bite typical of most dark peppers.

But its good enough to keep around.

D3monic · Mar 31, 2015

Yea I have found that every "black" pepper that I've tried so far seems to have a bitter taste.

Plantguy76 · Mar 31, 2015

Thanks everyone I've read it has a raisin like flavor anyone found this to be true or close to it.
They are cool pods hope there not too bitter where it ends up tasting like dirt

Noah Yates · Apr 1, 2015

Honestly, I havn't tried one raw... so I cant get too specific with the flavor profile.

AaronTT · Apr 1, 2015

I can't speak for all dark peppers, but I have noticed that these need to be riper than most, and on the plant for the best flavor. If its green inside when cut, it will be much more bitter. I also noticed that too much nitrogen can cause excess bitterness as well.

Hybrid Mode 01 · Apr 1, 2015

AaronTT said:
I can't speak for all dark peppers, but I have noticed that these need to be riper than most, and on the plant for the best flavor. If its green inside when cut, it will be much more bitter. I also noticed that too much nitrogen can cause excess bitterness as well.

I agree 100% about the ripeness of brown pods. They take forever to ripen (especially after they're picked) but it's worth the wait.
I didn't know about the issue with N causing bitterness. Interesting. Do you use salt fertilizers, or organic?

AaronTT · Apr 1, 2015

Hybrid Mode 01 said:
I agree 100% about the ripeness of brown pods. They take forever to ripen (especially after they're picked) but it's worth the wait.
I didn't know about the issue with N causing bitterness. Interesting. Do you use salt fertilizers, or organic?

I use organic, but I have tasted both. I can't say I have proven this, but it appears from my experience that too much nitrogen can lead to a bitter flavor, regardless of variety. Of course unless I have grown every single type, there may be some that are much better than others. Just overall I have noticed this. I would bet salt ferts would be worse, but I could be wrong.

KrakenPeppers · Apr 4, 2015

I have to ask .. What classifies the pepper as a black habanero ... The creator / discoverer or the colour itself. I have a chocolate Hab plant that's pods are just as dark..

And now if I breed out an actual 'Black' habanero , what do I call it .. Charcoal.. ? Lol

Noah Yates · Apr 4, 2015

These will indeed turn very, very dark... so dark as to be correctly labeled black. Its not "the abscence of light," but it is very, very dark. The first pod I posted shows a fully ripe black hab.

KrakenPeppers · Apr 4, 2015

Noah Yates said:
These will indeed turn very, very dark... so dark as to be correctly labeled black. Its not "the abscence of light," but it is very, very dark. The first pod I posted shows a fully ripe black hab.

I do agree that first pod is especially dark .. Is it a common trait for them to have a scorpion tail? Is it allegedly natural or like a habanero x scorpion cross??

AJ Drew · Apr 5, 2015

Noah, just wanted to say I love the photo of your garden. I am a great fan of mulch, dont mind mud, and HATE plastic. Not ragging on the plastic covered lawn container growing folk. Just not my thing. Yours looks great.

I am also from Kentucky. Curious, did you get the land with an inch of top soil and then clay or two inches of top soil and then rocks. Seems obvious that you have done much work to amend your soil. That or you got the only good top soil in KY. Seriously, good job.

Noah Yates · Apr 5, 2015

ajdrew said:
Noah, just wanted to say I love the photo of your garden. I am a great fan of mulch, dont mind mud, and HATE plastic. Not ragging on the plastic covered lawn container growing folk. Just not my thing. Yours looks great.

I am also from Kentucky. Curious, did you get the land with an inch of top soil and then clay or two inches of top soil and then rocks. Seems obvious that you have done much work to amend your soil. That or you got the only good top soil in KY. Seriously, good job.

Thank you kindly. There was very little top soil to begin with. Down past about 2 inches you would get to hard red clay.. another few inches will get you to the sandstone.... However, over the past 8 years, I have been adding organic matter every season. 2012 was the biggest season for adding amendments... I layered all sorts of stuff onto the garden ultimately adding to about 4 inches spread across about 1000 square feet. Currently thae garden is raised about a half a foot from the level of the nongarden ground!!! However, that is my home garden space... and, since we live in the woods, we get less and less light coming into the garden every year.... that is why I am going to begin amending another garden plot/plots on my grandparents' creek bottom land. That land literally has feet of topsoil (from creek run-off and erosion from everywhere being deposited.) Additionally, that is where we have a local tree care and removal service dump their mulch.... so that I have a practically infinite supply of mulch... Tomorrow I hope the ground is hard enough to do some work with the truck and tractor moving mulch and getting things ready!!!

obchili · Apr 5, 2015

That is some beautiful garden you got going there. I could only wish.

AJ Drew · Apr 5, 2015

Noah, we have been amending ours for about as many years. Oddly, have a New Holland about same size or bit smaller than your tractor. It's got a lot of problems, so fortunately to the point where my walk behind tiller works fine for most things. Looks like you walk a lawn mower between your rows. I do the same with my walk behind tiller. No plastic no where.

P.S. curious... we are Waddy. Not really, but that is on our mailing address. We are actually outside of any municipal boarders. probably half way between Shelvyville and Waddy. Lots of hills, we are on top of a ridge so flooding was not an issue these past few days. Local towns, not so lucky. You?