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Hey All,

I am super excited to grow my own peppers and have found a lot of useful info around the web and on this site. I am still trying to figure out what are the best noob peppers to start with. It seems as though bhuts can be tricky to get to sprout and given where I live I already have plenty of challenges ahead of me. I am planning on building a hoop house which should help make the most out of the weather to come.

I've read that annuums are easier then chinese but not much past that. My current wishlist from tradewindsfruitstore.com is Paper Lantern Habs, Fresno, Chocolate Bhuts, Fatali, Mayan Love Pepper, and aji lemon drops.

I realize there's a lot of factors that make a plant grow successfully but I'm just wondering what are the more forgiving plants of first time growers.

Thanks guys!
 
Padrons, early jalapenos, serranos and I have found the lemon drops and aji limons to be fairly easy. This is just a few of many.

Charles
 
This is my 1st year growing from seed and I have not had any problems germinating over 40 varieties. (20+ were superhots) You should be fine as long as you get yourself some quality seeds and follow the basic principles. Now the challenge for me has been getting them from 8" tall to 36" inches and exploding with pods. I just can't seem to keep them alive once they go outside. I guess there is a learning curve to growing in 3% humidity, 100+ temps, and no ProMix with in 500 miles. LOL As log as there are kind souls here who will send out a few seeds and give out good advice I will keep trying until I get it right.
 
Bhuts really aren't that hard to grow, they just take a long time to mature. They can be a little finicky early on. They don't seem to like much fertilizer and can get burnt easily, and they have a tendency to drop a lot of lower leaves early on, but that's about it. The majority of mine sprout in about 7 days or less. Once they get established they grow very large and don't have very many problems. Also, bih jolokias are a bit easier to grow and more productive, so you could try those first. They're very nearly the same as bhut jolokia, the heat is the same or maybe very slightly less.

For me personally, I find that baccatums are the easiest to grow, followed by chinenses. Bhut jolokias are easier to grow for me than anaheims, poblanos, or bell peppers. Pubescens are probably the hardest to grow out of the 5 domesticated species though.

Super chile is a good, productive, easy to grow variety. Orange habaneros, caribbean red, red savina, jalapeno, serrano, and aji limo are all pretty easy to grow. Any of the highly standard/common varieties are usually pretty easy. I would just try whatever you think looks interesting. Growing any kind of pepper really isn't that hard if you do your homework use quality growing media. A lot of people think it's harder than it is because they scrimp on potting mix and use some crappy mix, or don't properly prepare their soil. When I first started I used Sta-Green (or Turn-Brown as it should be called) and it led to disastrous results. Pot them in something like Pro Mix, harden them off properly, and don't over water and it's pretty easy.
 
Thanks for the responses guys, I really appreciate it. I guess I'll just try what sounds good and hope for the best. Now to just get my seeds and get them to sprout lol and take it from there.
 
This is my 1st year growing from seed and I have not had any problems germinating over 40 varieties. (20+ were superhots) You should be fine as long as you get yourself some quality seeds and follow the basic principles. Now the challenge for me has been getting them from 8" tall to 36" inches and exploding with pods. I just can't seem to keep them alive once they go outside. I guess there is a learning curve to growing in 3% humidity, 100+ temps, and no ProMix with in 500 miles. LOL As log as there are kind souls here who will send out a few seeds and give out good advice I will keep trying until I get it right.
So true!!!

Germinating the seeds was definintely the easy part for me too! Like you, most of mine are still ~ 8" tall. Low humidity - yep, no ProMix for hundreds of miles - yep, 100+ temps - not yet, but lots and lots of strong winds, and low nighttime temps. All adds up to no real growth happening once they go outside, along with plant losses from wind damage.

This isn't my first year though, and I know from previous experience that once the plants get established and finally start to take off, they will go like gangbusters, so I'm trying to be patient.
 
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