My real start of the season is still months away but I couldn't resist to put something in the soil already - Tasmanian Black! 
2022 - too early to get started...
- Thread starter MarcV
- Start date
MarcV
eXtreme
I picked another pod of the not-red scotch brains today, unfortunately forgot to take a picture of it... 
It was a large pod, ball shaped with a diameter of about 5cm / 2”. It was more like a ballon though, thin walled with nearly no placenta inside. Tasted a little of it without placenta. Now I understand what is meant when they talk about "perfumy"! I'm not sure if I like it or not, and what it would be like if I made a power of it.
Mouth burn was moderate, maybe a bit higher than a regular scotch bonnet but not by much. Lip burn on the other hand was much more pronounced.
It was a large pod, ball shaped with a diameter of about 5cm / 2”. It was more like a ballon though, thin walled with nearly no placenta inside. Tasted a little of it without placenta. Now I understand what is meant when they talk about "perfumy"! I'm not sure if I like it or not, and what it would be like if I made a power of it.
Mouth burn was moderate, maybe a bit higher than a regular scotch bonnet but not by much. Lip burn on the other hand was much more pronounced.
MarcV
eXtreme
Yep, I tried a few now but I always keep going back to my Schneider Farms SB!
I just got to try the Scotch Brains (the "real" one) together with another couple of not-red Scotch Brains. While my initial taste test (see post 269) was good, all following test were not. I'm now always getting a strong "perfume" aroma which I cannot like.
The real Scotch Brains was something completely different. I took a couple of samples without placenta and got a strong bean taste with nearly no heat. Then I tried a piece with placenta. It didn't taste bad and initially there didn't seem to be much heat either. The heat came a minute or two later and kept on building quite a while. And it was definitely hot, it felt like I ate a complete scotch bonnet! But while scotch bonnets give me mostly throat burn, the heat of the scotch brains was mainly on the tongue.
A couple of low quality pod pictures...
Ordinary scotch brains on the left...
Ordinary scotch brains on the right. The 2 large halves (left and middle) are from the right pod in the above shot.
I think I'm going to discard the not-red scotch brains plant. I'll keep the regular scotch brains but will give the pods away...
I just got to try the Scotch Brains (the "real" one) together with another couple of not-red Scotch Brains. While my initial taste test (see post 269) was good, all following test were not. I'm now always getting a strong "perfume" aroma which I cannot like.
The real Scotch Brains was something completely different. I took a couple of samples without placenta and got a strong bean taste with nearly no heat. Then I tried a piece with placenta. It didn't taste bad and initially there didn't seem to be much heat either. The heat came a minute or two later and kept on building quite a while. And it was definitely hot, it felt like I ate a complete scotch bonnet! But while scotch bonnets give me mostly throat burn, the heat of the scotch brains was mainly on the tongue.
A couple of low quality pod pictures...
Ordinary scotch brains on the left...
Ordinary scotch brains on the right. The 2 large halves (left and middle) are from the right pod in the above shot.
I think I'm going to discard the not-red scotch brains plant. I'll keep the regular scotch brains but will give the pods away...
MarcV
eXtreme
I have the impression that this seasons' scotch bonnets are quite a bit hotter than those of last year. Usually, when I make myself a pizza, I cut two SBs to small pieces, placenta etc. mostly removed. With those from last year the pizza had some heat but nothing spectacular. Did the same today with this years' harvest. That was a really hot pizza! My stomach is a bit upset right now...
Hot weather + drought = plant stress = increased capsaicin production. There are, however, significant differences between varieties. I've got a paper on that topic, somewhere
Are your peppers sweeter this season as well?
MarcV
eXtreme
My scotch brain plant was the only one that didn't want to start producing ripe pods, so about a week ago I took it inside after I gave it a nice hair cut to size it down a bit. After a day or two the peppers already started to ripen!...
The plant after the hair cut...
Such pretty peppers!
I'm not sure what to do with the peppers yet as I think they are quite a bit hotter that my regular scotch bonnets. I'll probably make a powder out of them...
The plant after the hair cut...
Such pretty peppers!
I'm not sure what to do with the peppers yet as I think they are quite a bit hotter that my regular scotch bonnets. I'll probably make a powder out of them...
MarcV
eXtreme
So here we are again... the schneider farms scotch bonnet trimmed down for overwintering next to the scotch brains. The trunk of the schneider has become quite a bit thicker. The scotch brain will undergo the same treatment when most of the pods are ripe. These are the only plants that I will (try to) overwinter this year.
There were still quite a few unripe pods on the schneider. Not sure if they will still ripen properly but we'll see...
And even some more...
There were still a lot more but they were too small to keep...
There were still quite a few unripe pods on the schneider. Not sure if they will still ripen properly but we'll see...
And even some more...
There were still a lot more but they were too small to keep...
MarcV
eXtreme
Sure was! Unfortunately the warm season ended too soon...
Maybe it was still a bit early to take the plant inside. I checked my pictures of previous season and noticed that I took it inside halfway october back then. I could also have taken it inside as-is like I did with the scotch brain but the plant was just way too large
Maybe it was still a bit early to take the plant inside. I checked my pictures of previous season and noticed that I took it inside halfway october back then. I could also have taken it inside as-is like I did with the scotch brain but the plant was just way too large
At least to my standards it is...
MarcV
eXtreme
Season is over for me, but I'm already working on the plants for next season.
First the keepers...
HSH Scotch Bonnet in the center front, Scotch Brains left back, Schneider Farms Scotch Bonnet right back. The Schneider Farms will be in it's third year next season.
To avoid the issues I had with the seedlings this spring, I already have the new seedlings for next year growing
KSLS on the left, a new Schneider Farms Scotch Bonnet in the center and chocolate scotch bonnet on the right...
And two more...
SB7J on the left, 7pod brain strain yellow on the right.
The SB7J is a particularly nice plant. Both are already starting to flower
I might still add one or two varieties. It would be nice if I could add KSPS (peach starrkist) and KSSR (scarlet rose) to the list but these seeds are not so easy to get, especially on this side of the pond.
First the keepers...
HSH Scotch Bonnet in the center front, Scotch Brains left back, Schneider Farms Scotch Bonnet right back. The Schneider Farms will be in it's third year next season.
To avoid the issues I had with the seedlings this spring, I already have the new seedlings for next year growing
KSLS on the left, a new Schneider Farms Scotch Bonnet in the center and chocolate scotch bonnet on the right...
And two more...
SB7J on the left, 7pod brain strain yellow on the right.
The SB7J is a particularly nice plant. Both are already starting to flower
I might still add one or two varieties. It would be nice if I could add KSPS (peach starrkist) and KSSR (scarlet rose) to the list but these seeds are not so easy to get, especially on this side of the pond.