Aji Amarillo

windchicken said:
 
Please don't take this as criticism or condescending, self-serving "illumination"…I mean this in the kindest, friendliest way, as a fellow chile head who has been disappointed by his experience with the classic, true Aji Amarillo.
 
Aji Amarillo predates even the Inca Civilization by thousands of years. Images of its plants have been found on jars dating back to long before the great structures at Machu Picchu were built. What we have today is the result of selection for more generations than we can imagine. The ancient breeders of this pepper knew what they were doing, and I don't think they were selecting for poor production...It is unfortunate when one attempts to grow a prized thousands-years-old-landrace far from its established home, in soil and climatic conditions far different from its homeland, and then characterizes it as "one of the less productive baccatums." I had the very same experience as everyone else here: Aji Amarillo wouldn't perform for me, but it wasn't the fault of the pepper, it was my fault for attempting to make it produce in a place that was not the Andes. Check out what Aji Amarillo can do in its happy home:
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0r6Pxw-v_d0
 
Arrrrg…If anyone can tell me how to embed a YouTube video in a THP post, please hollah…Otherwise, you got the above link to a great vid of a huge Aji Amarillo harvest in Peru...
Click to expand...
 
 
Thats pretty impressive, I finally get to see Amarillo in their native land and they look magnificent.  Sorry if my rant came off as blasting the pepper because of poor production, as you have explained I realize not all peppers will perform like they would if they were grown in their native climate. 
 
I probably wont grow Amarillo again, if I had more room and a way to over winter the plants I would.  I can buy Amarillo paste at my local Thai store for approx $3 a jar.  So its why I gave up on growing them, the flavor of the pepper speaks for itself. 
 
cheers
 
windchicken said:
 
Please don't take this as criticism or condescending, self-serving "illumination"…I mean this in the kindest, friendliest way, as a fellow chile head who has been disappointed by his experience with the classic, true Aji Amarillo.
 
Aji Amarillo predates even the Inca Civilization by thousands of years. Images of its plants have been found on jars dating back to long before the great structures at Machu Picchu were built. What we have today is the result of selection for more generations than we can imagine. The ancient breeders of this pepper knew what they were doing, and I don't think they were selecting for poor production...It is unfortunate when one attempts to grow a prized thousands-years-old-landrace far from its established home, in soil and climatic conditions far different from its homeland, and then characterizes it as "one of the less productive baccatums." I had the very same experience as everyone else here: Aji Amarillo wouldn't perform for me, but it wasn't the fault of the pepper, it was my fault for attempting to make it produce in a place that was not the Andes. Check out what Aji Amarillo can do in its happy home:
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0r6Pxw-v_d0
 
Arrrrg…If anyone can tell me how to embed a YouTube video in a THP post, please hollah…Otherwise, you got the above link to a great vid of a huge Aji Amarillo harvest in Peru...
Click to expand...
 
Heck, I'm amazed ANYTHING can grow in Southern Aridzona.  The summer heat stunts the plant's growth, and stops many varieties from flowering at all until late August or September.  If the season didn't extend well into November and beyond, trying to grow peppers here would be a futile undertaking.
 
I did qualify my statement with a mention of the state, and I think most people here are aware of the climatic challenges their plants face.
 
Buzzman19 said:
 
 
Thats pretty impressive, I finally get to see Amarillo in their native land and they look magnificent.  Sorry if my rant came off as blasting the pepper because of poor production, as you have explained I realize not all peppers will perform like they would if they were grown in their native climate. 
 
I probably wont grow Amarillo again, if I had more room and a way to over winter the plants I would.  I can buy Amarillo paste at my local Thai store for approx $3 a jar.  So its why I gave up on growing them, the flavor of the pepper speaks for itself. 
 
cheers
Click to expand...
 
I never get tired of that video…Thanks for watching
 
I never heard the "rant" tone in anyone's comments here, Buzz….frustration, maybe, which is certainly understandable.
 
I won't grow Aji Amarillo again, either, at least not the classic, large pod variant. It's just not worth the trouble. It would be so awesome to have fresh plants loaded with those massive pods like that woman is holding, though... :P
 
Geonerd said:
 
Heck, I'm amazed ANYTHING can grow in Southern Aridzona.  The summer heat stunts the plant's growth, and stops many varieties from flowering at all until late August or September.  If the season didn't extend well into November and beyond, trying to grow peppers here would be a futile undertaking.
 
I did qualify my statement with a mention of the state, and I think most people here are aware of the climatic challenges their plants face.
Click to expand...
 
Thanks for your patience with me, Geonerd…When I read back over my post, it sounds a little condescending and preachy, despite my (apparently unsuccessful) intentions of not doing that…And I'm sorry I didn't catch your qualification.
 
Here in NW Louisiana, at least in my particular micro-climate, there is very little to zero fruit set from August 1 through October 1. (This year has been the particular exception, as we have had two cool snaps in the last few weeks, and my plants are beginning to load up finally.) So yes, I hear ya! Basically my entire harvest happens in November...
 
windchicken said:
Here in NW Louisiana, at least in my particular micro-climate, there is very little to zero fruit set from August 1 through October 1. (This year has been the particular exception, as we have had two cool snaps in the last few weeks, and my plants are beginning to load up finally.) So yes, I hear ya! Basically my entire harvest happens in November...
Click to expand...
Know the feeling. While my aji cito, ethiopian fire, cumari do paro, and aji pineapple have been ripening steadily all my superhots, my aji amarillo, charleston hot etc. are just sitting there waiting to ripen or just putting on pods in Missouri.
 
hot stuff said:
Know the feeling. While my aji cito, ethiopian fire, cumari do paro, and aji pineapple have been ripening steadily all my superhots, my aji amarillo, charleston hot etc. are just sitting there waiting to ripen or just putting on pods in Missouri.
Click to expand...
 
I love me some Cumari do Para, as do everyone I have ever shared them with. The little bird peppers are the only ones that don't seem to mind the blast furnace of my garden during July-September. Thanks for reminding me of Cumari do Para; I need to start back growing it…It's interesting that your Aji Pineapple continues to produce through the hot weather, too. Maybe I need to try that one...
 
This is one of my ten Texas Pequin plants back in August, in the very worst heat of the summer. If they weren't such a pain to harvest I would just grow them exclusively:
 
pequin_aug12.jpg
 
This is my first year growing Amarillo's.  Take FOREVER to ripen, so much so that I've been harvesting pubes and rotocos for two weeks but am just now getting Amarillos ripe enough to pick.  :confused:
 
dragonsfire said:
Nice postcard picture :)
Click to expand...
 
Thanks DF!
 
shadrack said:
This is my first year growing Amarillo's.  Take FOREVER to ripen, so much so that I've been harvesting pubes and rotocos for two weeks but am just now getting Amarillos ripe enough to pick.  :confused:
Click to expand...
 
The large-pod Aji Amarillo, in my experience, is THE fussiest of all pepper varieties, no exceptions. To get ripe pods in the same year you sowed seeds is an amazing feat!  :dance:
 
Well damn I sure feel lucky then . Had pods within 90 days of sowing . Took 90 more to ripen though :)
 
photo.JPG by James Hill, on Flickr
 
 
IMG_3513.JPG by James Hill, on Flickr
 
 
IMG_3905.JPG by James Hill, on Flickr
 
IMG_3947.JPG by James Hill, on Flickr
 
IMG_3949.JPG by James Hill, on Flickr
 
IMG_4414.JPG by James Hill, on Flickr
 
 I do agree with Gary though not a very big  productive plant but I am still getting fruit set even in my harsh conditions. I would like to recommend the large orange thai for those of you that live in an environment like mine hot and humid . As you can see from the last pic much better producer and almost the same great flavor with a little more heat :)  Top left next to the aji's . 
 
romy, yours look a little different than mine do. Pods on mine are more elongate and aren't as smooth and glossy.

This year is going to be a bust as well, we just had a storm blow through and it wrecked the Amarillo. Oh well. I'll overwinter it one more year but I just don't think I'm going to get it to produce this far north.
 
Aji Amirillo are great green used on sandwiches and cut up on salads. Had to use my unripe pods some how. Won't grow them again here in Minnesota. Starters inside in March, they put out pods like crazy. Never ripened.
 
Much like Pavlov's dogs, I started salivating at the sight of the Peruvian pile of ripe Ají Amarillo.  And they're growing them to the size of baby arms?
 
The discussion is informative.  My results with this variety have mirrored those of many others in the thread.
 
Does anyone know at what elevations and in which climatic conditions these pods are most successfully grown? 
 
Aji amarillo seems to love my backyard, here in NOVA

On a serious note, though. Here is a pic of the regions in Peru where it is cultivated. The orange dots on the map are aji amarillo cultivation zones.
 

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Thanks for that.
 
Looks like it's almost all about the coast for Peruvian Ají Amarillo.  Seems to be a Goldilocks zone: mild, never freezes, perpetual Spring, (albeit a dry one).  No wonder they produce pods like mad. 
 
(All of the guajillo pods I see in Hispanic-oriented grocery stores in my area are also from Peru.)
 
I grew it once many years ago along side 23 other pepper varieties (chinense and baccatums). Do not recall seed source.
 
Mine grew fairly large and was rather lanky. It would have really benefited with cage/stakes. Of all the varieties that year, my Aji Amarillo and Giant Mexican Rocoto were the last to produce fruit. I think I got 2 ripe pods off the Amarillo and 1 off the rocoto lol. My other baccatums produced like mad in the same bed (including aji limon, aji omnicolor, bishops crown, etc). The amarillo had a few green pods but it was about to enter winter at that time and didn't bother.
 
I will say this though, it's my favorite baccatum in terms of flavor so far! If I ever grow it again I will start it much earlier and uppot it beyond my usual red party cups.
 
Ive wanted to try a Aji Amarillo for the last couple of years but the thought of a nice big plant with lots of green pods at the end of the season just dont cut it for me. I get a bunch of lemon drops that dont make it in time but i also get about 5 times as many ripe ones starting as early as mid July.
 
Im taking a chance with rocotos this year just because they are such a neat looking plant with different flavor than a baccatum. I went with Brazilian Starfish this year as my only baccatum and i already have some nice sized pods on it.
 
ShowMeDaSauce said:
Im taking a chance with rocotos this year just because they are such a neat looking plant with different flavor than a baccatum. I went with Brazilian Starfish this year as my only baccatum and i already have some nice sized pods on it.
Click to expand...
 
 
I would approach Pubescens and Aji Amarillo the same way. Go in with the mentality that you're growing for 2nd year plants. My 'Turbo Pupe' didn't produce any ripe pods for my the 1st year, despite starting them from seed in December indoors. Now in its second year the plant is fairly large and is loaded with an insane amount of blooms (whether they will set fruit is another beast ugh). I think i'll start an Aji Amarillo indoors soon and just let hang out until the 2nd year for production (it's just so good). Mind you i'm not a a big fan of baccatums thus far. Amarillo and Omnicolor are the only ones that i'd grow again. Sugar Rush Peach and Aji Fantasy are in my '19 grow... hoping those will become my new baccatum favorites.
 
Which rocoto are you growing? I grew the Giant Mexican Rocoto from PL many years ago and its flavor was friggin' stellar, but I had terrible production 1st year.
 
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