A prolific producer for use as a spray insecticide?

[owkaye]

Hello all,

I hope to grow hot peppers to be used in a natural insecticide spray for the garden. And since I want to produce a large volume, I think I should grow some of the most prolific varieties I can find. Do you have any suggestions for a variety (or varieties) that would serve this purpose well?

 

[romy6]

7 pod red very hot tasty and produces tons of pods at one time

 

[owkaye]

7 pod red very hot tasty and produces tons of pods at one time

Thanks for the suggestion, romy6. Let me ask you this: After the initial "tons of pods at one time" do they continue to produce peppers throughout the remainder of the growing season? Or does this variety produce everything all at once (more or less) and then die off?

 

[synclinorium]

Depending on the actual physical volume of peppers you need, you might just want to look into the smaller-podded varieties. Compared to the large guys, you don't get flushes throughout the season but more a relentless stream of small pods.

For example, I can go out every single day during the growing season and guaranteed, there will be ripe pods on my White Habaneros. Those things are stupidly productive, but they're little so picking can take a chunk of time...

(plus if you're lazy like me, the pods are small enough that you can just cut them open, and drop them into the opening of a spray bottle, shake and let sit for a bit, then spray away. I usually add a drop or two of soap, seems to work for me. Got some in my eye the other day like an idiot spraying into the wind, definitely potent enough...)

 

[Dave2000]

Thanks for the suggestion, romy6. Let me ask you this: After the initial "tons of pods at one time" do they continue to produce peppers throughout the remainder of the growing season? Or does this variety produce everything all at once (more or less) and then die off?

Few if any peppers actually die off, they just stop producing because their nutrients were depleted faster than added or became dormant because the weather turned cold, or fail to set new blooms or subsequently drop them prematurely because it's too hot. With annuals like tomatoes there are some determinate types but not so with peppers. Some people claim otherwise, that their plant stopped growing and setting blooms but it was some type of stress that usually causes that.

Do you like to eat the flesh of any of the hot, to very hot, to super hot varieties? What seems most useful to me would be if you grew the type you liked to eat and saved the placentas to cook down and extract the capsaicin from for your garden use.

 

[gasificada]

Bizarre hybrid I ended up with:

One of MANY harvests:

Two plants, both produced non-stop last season... and both produced well over 1,000 pods each! Determined as all heck to produce too. Even after being smashed by mite and fruit fly, the things kept going:

However, being a completely unstable hybrid, there's no guarantee the next generation will give the same results.....

 

[AlabamaJack]

Super Chili...

 

[owkaye]

Depending on the actual physical volume of peppers you need, you might just want to look into the smaller-podded varieties. Compared to the large guys, you don't get flushes throughout the season but more a relentless stream of small pods.

This may be a good solution for me, thanks.

(plus if you're lazy like me, the pods are small enough that you can just cut them open, and drop them into the opening of a spray bottle, shake and let sit for a bit, then spray away.

Good idea, I never thought of doing it so easily.

With annuals like tomatoes there are some determinate types but not so with peppers.

This is what I was thinking about when I asked a possible "die off". Thanks for confirming that peppers do not have a 'determinate' growth pattern like some tomatoes.

Do you like to eat the flesh of any of the hot, to very hot, to super hot varieties?

I don't know because I've never actually tried them. What varieties would you suggest for the best flavors? I've heard that some are just "hot" with no redeeming flavor value, and I would not be interested in those. Instead I would be looking for the ones with the best flavors -- aside from their heat levels.

What seems most useful to me would be if you grew the type you liked to eat and saved the placentas to cook down and extract the capsaicin from for your garden use.

This sounds ideal to me. What are your favorites in terms of taste?

Bizarre hybrid I ended up with. Two plants, both produced non-stop last season, and both produced well over 1,000 pods each! Determined as all heck to produce too. Even after being smashed by mite and fruit fly, the things kept going. However, being a completely unstable hybrid, there's no guarantee the next generation will give the same results.

But if the next generation were as prolific as this one, it seems like a very productive variety!

Thanks for the great pictures!

 

[Dave2000]

^ My favorite is never the same thing twice.

Depends on what you are cooking. If I had to pick a favorite for adding to cooked dishes it would be slow smoked jamaicans, but quick and easy would be red habs. I'd rather have a different pepper than repeat the same flavor too soon.

 

[AlabamaJack]

Hey Dave...he's not cooking....wants to use them as an insecticidal spray...