A Case Against Superhots - Or "Why I'm Changing My Garden for Next Year"

In my case the superhot skew started when I grew Red Bhuts (at the time to me, the infamous "ghost chili") for the first year.  My garden only had a few standard chile varieties at the time so this was truly exotic for me.  I ended up really liking the flavor of the bhuts and despite having 4 plants I never had a ton of productivity from them so there was always just enough for personal use and for friends/family give aways.
 
Then it just slowly snowballed with a few more superhot varieties (multiples of each for redundancy) and in the case last year I had so many scorpions I was giving them away by the SFRB.
 
I don't think there was ever a conscious choice to "grow something I won't use" it was more a curiosity to find out what other superhots are like, and the uniqueness in growing them.  Partial adventurer/explorer mentality and partially a collector mentality.  The thought of usage was down the list.
 
So, now I'm thinking more about use and less about the capsaicin arms race.  If a successor comes along to the Carolina Reaper then I probably won't actually try to grow it and leave that particular adventure for someone else in the hobby, with which I'll probably trade some of my unique, not-quite-so-hot, flavored peppers.  :D
 
Pr0digal_son said:
It's a hobby and some are grown for shock value or asthetics. I grow shit that would literally kill me if I ate it. I think he is saying he has gotten caught up in the superhot circus act and found out that a single plant will put out 4 or 5 pounds of peppers that are hard to even eat one of. It's happened to 90% of people that grow hot peppers. I for one hate the majority of C.chinense I have grown but continue to grow them trying to find ones that I like. Every year I find a couple,mostly Carribean or bonnet varieties.
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I see. Some some people get caught up in the hype and some grow for ornamental purposes. I guess i don't have enough room for peppers for that to happen, and my plants always die anyway. :lol:
 
 I only grow a few plants and usually only stick to  ones I know  I like the flavour of, with a few testers of other kinds.  I am a bad grower though, mine usually don't do well or die   Until last year I hadn't found any superhot that I  liked, but I actually like the flavour of reapers, and I love the flavour of the white Bhuts I grew on a complete flyer.  I didn't get a very good harvest off  of either ,  but growing again this year and hoping for better.    I loved the flavour Reapers give to pepper jelly, if you want a use for them that tones down their heat a bit. 
 
Ashen said:
 I only grow a few plants and usually only stick to  ones I know  I like the flavour of, with a few testers of other kinds.  I am a bad grower though, mine usually don't do well or die   Until last year I hadn't found any superhot that I  liked, but I actually like the flavour of reapers, and I love the flavour of the white Bhuts I grew on a complete flyer.  I didn't get a very good harvest off  of either ,  but growing again this year and hoping for better.    I loved the flavour Reapers give to pepper jelly, if you want a use for them that tones down their heat a bit. 
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This sounds a lot like me. Growing prowess, yield, pref ... the whole thing.
 
I also like Reaper for a superhot variety, so you might find that you like Butch T's - my other favorite in the superhot category.
 
I also like Naga Morich, for the grittier/dirtier/more organic hot ... I prefer them over all the ghosts.
 
TBH, I really mostly only like Butch T's, Reaper's, Naga's, Mystery Wine, Scotch Bonnets, and I loved the Mystery Citrus pods from the individual plant I've had them from so far.
 
Everything else is a "kind of" like kind of deal, usually followed by "I might have to try this w/ _____!" (sub in one of those 4x above) ...
 
Does anyone buy pods (or even salsas, etc.) before they grow so they know what they taste like? It seems like a lot of work to grow a bunch of peppers you don't like or will never use. Serious question.
 
I wish I could,  fresh   superhot pods are pretty scarce up here.  Usually in very poor shape when you do find them in stores.   I was so surprised to like the white ghost , because any fresh, or product I have tasted with other bhuts has been slightly repellent to me. I don't do most of the extract sauces for the same reason, love the heat but finding something with a flavour I like is hard. 
 
I figured out what I liked from powders and some of AJ's purees. I guess there's plenty of ways.
 
I guess there's also something cool about growing something you've never tasted.
 
The Hot Pepper said:
Does anyone buy pods (or even salsas, etc.) before they grow so they know what they taste like? It seems like a lot of work to grow a bunch of peppers you don't like or will never use. Serious question.
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It's worst than that, even.
 
I had a plan to not grow anything except the one's I liked, and still ordered 75% super's again ...
 
It's hard to explain ... kind of an addiction, of sorts.
 
Fun to watch other people eat them ... I grow them because they are a fun novelty item to have ...
I use powders to cook, except for a couple of meals where I can work a super in (chili, curry, wok are really about it) ...
 
The Hot Pepper said:
Does anyone buy pods (or even salsas, etc.) before they grow so they know what they taste like? It seems like a lot of work to grow a bunch of peppers you don't like or will never use. Serious question.
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For me it is just a hobby. I have over 100 pepper plants. Really no reason why. Trying many varieties for the first time and I hope to process as many as possible. It probably would have been easier to buy a few sfrb's to try the different peppers, but then I would just have more tomatoes or other veggies.
 
The Hot Pepper said:
Does anyone buy pods (or even salsas, etc.) before they grow so they know what they taste like? It seems like a lot of work to grow a bunch of peppers you don't like or will never use. Serious question.
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Yes I've purchased several boxes of specific peppers and also assorted mixed from THP members last year. I also saved seeds from the ones I liked the best. The only bummer was one of my favorites the MOA that I saved seeds I couldn't get to germinate. In fact this year I will order a box of reapers from a member so I can save some seeds. My brother really likes the reaper sauce I made from a couple of boxes last year. So I'll have to grow some next year.
 
This year I have about a 110 pepper plants growing. Next year I'm planning to cut that in half and plant other vegetables that the family enjoys more. I'm planning to overwinter the best producers this year from each variety that I'm growing. 
 
Reaper does have a good taste, and burn. I don't find the (good) sauces gimmicky/novelty at all like you may expect when something is a Guinness record holder. It's a damn good pep.
 
The Hot Pepper said:
I figured out what I liked from powders and some of AJ's purees. I guess there's plenty of ways.
 
I guess there's also something cool about growing something you've never tasted.
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Peppers are like wine to me.  Half the fun is investing in something you haven't tried before.  Sometimes you are disappointed, and sometimes you find a gem.  I try to grow 50% peppers I know I like, and 50% peppers I've never tried before.  Eventually as my list of peppers I know I like grows, that proportion will change I'm sure.  But its fun to try something for the first time when you've grown it from seed. 
 
I've mostly stuck to non-super hot Carib and Aji varieties.  I know what I like, and don't get caught up in the competitive, machismo pissing contests of who can eat the hottest peppers
 
Albanian Hot Pepper☑
Aleppo ☑
Aji Pineapple ☑
Bishops Crown ☑
Brazilian Starfish ☑
Creme Fatalii ☑
Rain Forest ☑
Tepin x Lemon Drop ☑
Trinidad Perfume ☑

a few more. Chris sent me seeds from his TSMB. Gotta have at least one Super. Cheers!
 
KingLeerUK said:
 


I'd like to find a good source for Shishito Pepper seeds but this might not be the best time of year.  CGN21500 is another one I'd like to get viable seeds for but I haven't been able to locate a good/reputable vendor that has them.
 
Also, if anyone has any suggestions to add to my list it would be much appreciated!
 
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I can send you a half dozen or so CGN 21500 if you want.  Might have a few other unique treats to send your way too, send me a pm if you are interested.
 
  CGN21500 is another one I'd like to get viable seeds for but I haven't been able to locate a good/reputable vendor that has them.
 


I have some CGN21500 seeds . If you want them just shoot me a pm.
 
The Hot Pepper said:
Does anyone buy pods (or even salsas, etc.) before they grow so they know what they taste like? It seems like a lot of work to grow a bunch of peppers you don't like or will never use. Serious question.
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That's what I do, Last year and even this year i've bought sfrb's of mixed pods to see what I liked and what to save seeds from. I'm also growing a bunch i've never tried. some of them I only have 1-2 plants each of just in case I don't like them but this year I shot for taste mostly. 
 
Here's this years grow list, most of these I have tried but a few are new. The one's that are new I watched reviews of and added the ones that sounded good (though if you're watching nigels reviews they all sound good)
 
Bhut Orange Copenhagen
Jays Peach Scorpion
Fatalii- new
Bonda ma Jaques- new
Butch T Yellow
Sweet Datil
Bulsa de dulce
Aji Omni-color- new
Aji Limon
Fidalga Roxa- new
White Bullet Hab- new
Paper Lantern Hab.
Jamaican Hot Chocolate hab.- new
White Fatalii- new
White Bhut jolokia- new
Urfa Biber- new
Inca Berry- new just tried a ripe pod and not too bad, needed to ripen a little longer
Caribbean Red Hab
Aji Pineapple
BG7-new
Pineapple Ground Cherry Tomato
Orange Wild Brazil
Goatsweed-new
Chocolate Habanero
Mystery Hababhut?
Scotch Bonnets
Taquila Sunrise "Hot"-new
Fooled you jalapeno
Yellow Primo- new
White Devils tongue- new
7pot Yellow brainstrain
Trinidad Giant yellow congo- new
Bahamian goat
Aji Crystal- new
Cumari do Para- new
Carolina Reaper
7pot Yellow
Yaki brown -new
Xalapa Jalapeno
Pink Tiger - new
Criola Sella- new
7pot White - new
Tepin X Lemon drop (iso) F2 - new
Aji Amarillo - new
MOA Scotch Bonnet - new
Champion (baccatum)- new
Large Orange Thai (growdown throwdown)-new
Yellow bhut
Australian Lantern Habanero- new
CGN-21500- new
Pablano
Serrano
 
Here's the current cross list, note more have failed than taken. though i'm about to harvest a ripe crossed pod from White Fatalii https://www.dropbox.com/s/p0iqsj9n2iebjcr/Pepper%20Cross%20spreadsheet.xls?dl=0
 
grant said: .."a fun novelty item to have ..".
 
Yes, I have grown Supers for that reason, as well.  I do eat as many as I can but more than one person can eat! Turned the ButchT's last year into a mash/chili paste in the frig.  Not enough to ferment.
 
THP: "Reaper does have a good taste, and burn." 
 
I agree. 
 
I have 5 out of 7 superhot small plants growing and even that small amount is kinda of a bit too much in producing pods.
Still I love tossing a few superhot pods in my food so I can scorch myself.
And I started a bunch of superhot seeds I harvested last year, I do like superhots a tad too much not to grow them.
 
Yet I understand the line of reasoning of discontinuing the growing of superhots.
If it's too much, it is too much.
 
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