@Grass Snake is that the Aji Mango long, or is it the standard one like that offered by Baker Creek?
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baccatum Baccatum Suggestions?
- Thread starter NJChilehead
- Start date
@Grass Snake is that the Aji Mango long, or is it the standard one like that offered by Baker Creek?
Brazilian Starfish is one of my favorites for flavor. Really tasty fresh off the plant. They also seemed to ripen a little sooner than some other baccatums I have grown. Google says they take about 90-100 days. Sugar Rush Amarillo, Aji Mango, and Aji Guyana are all really good as well.
Thank you @BlackFatalii ! I've read good things about Brazilian Starfish before.
BTW, the Aji Mango that you mentioned: is that the Aji Mango long, or is that the standard one like Baker Creek sells?
I have tried both the longer and shorter phenotypes, which I got from three different members here. They were both tasty. Both phenos had a similarly sweet, mildly fruity flavor to me, but the short pheno ones that I tried had a noticeably milder burn than the long pheno ones. That may not necessarily always be the case given seeds from different sources and different growing conditions, but that was my experience. For me, I would say the "Mango Drop" phenotype was not much more than Aji Fantasy level heat, while the longer pheno was more like Aji Lemon Drop level.
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Thank you! I may pick up Aji Mango as a last consideration for 2025, but if not, I will definitely grow it in 2026. I need to balance what I have with the space I have to keep from being overwhelmed!
My definites for C. baccatum so far for 2025 are Aji Guyana, Sugar Rush Amarillo, and Aji Chinchi Amarillo (with thanks to @JAB Farms for recommending that on a separate thread).
They're beautiful!
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Hey Folks, I'm still doing research on baccatums out of interest and wanted to follow up with a question-have any of you ever grown the Sugar Drop Orange? It is also regarded as being an early type with good productivity/flavor/heat.
Also, I rarely hear anyone recommend Aji Lemon Drop anymore. Years ago it had a decent reputation. Is that one that ripens on the later side as well, or does it fall short in the flavor department in any way?
Also, I rarely hear anyone recommend Aji Lemon Drop anymore. Years ago it had a decent reputation. Is that one that ripens on the later side as well, or does it fall short in the flavor department in any way?
Aji limon (lemon drop) is really productive and usually it's one of the first baccatum to ripen in my balcony.
It's a staple, it is very rich in flavor, with citrus undertones (finger lime) and balsamic (mint, herbs). Some untrained friends say it tastes like cat's piss, but I disagree... anyway it's not one of the easiest to pair with food. I prefere making powder
Sounds good, thank you for the info.
Cat's piss? Sounds like I should be pairing it with my fig leaves.
Alright, with all of the excitement brought about by how well my baccatums are doing, I've given myself permission to start peeking a little at possibilities for the 2026 season (a little early, I know). I have some ideas on some jellies, powders and other stuff I'd like to try to make with the baccatums that I'm growing this year, so if all goes well, I might expand and actually do that baccatum trial that I've been promising myself for the past two years.
What I'm growing this year:
Aji Guyana
Aji Chinchi Amarillo
Aji Mango short pheno
Lemon Drop
Sugar Rush Amarillo
I'd like to get some feedback on the following tentative list for 2026. Are there any that you would eliminate for any reason? My criteria are
1) Ripening early enough for me to get a good crop in NJ. After waiting forever for my Sugar Rush Peach to ripen last year and only ripening a few before the frost set it, I'd like to avoid a repeat of that.
2) Flavor and productivity. I LOVE sweet and fruity flavors in peppers. Not so concerned about heat, but at least a little burn would be nice.
Let me know your thoughts? @CaneDog @Marturo @JAB Farms @BlackFatalii and a few others on here have mentioned growing some of these in the past, I believe? I think @TexasHotPeppers sells some of these!
Thank you for any feedback that you can offer!!
Brazilian Starfish
Queen Laurie
Criolla Sella
Aji Ahuachapan
Peppapeach Stripey
Aji Cristal
Aji Fantasy (not sure if I should go for orange, yellow or white?)
Aji Rainforest
Trepadeira Werner
(possibly) Aji Cito
What I'm growing this year:
Aji Guyana
Aji Chinchi Amarillo
Aji Mango short pheno
Lemon Drop
Sugar Rush Amarillo
I'd like to get some feedback on the following tentative list for 2026. Are there any that you would eliminate for any reason? My criteria are
1) Ripening early enough for me to get a good crop in NJ. After waiting forever for my Sugar Rush Peach to ripen last year and only ripening a few before the frost set it, I'd like to avoid a repeat of that.
2) Flavor and productivity. I LOVE sweet and fruity flavors in peppers. Not so concerned about heat, but at least a little burn would be nice.
Let me know your thoughts? @CaneDog @Marturo @JAB Farms @BlackFatalii and a few others on here have mentioned growing some of these in the past, I believe? I think @TexasHotPeppers sells some of these!
Thank you for any feedback that you can offer!!
Brazilian Starfish
Queen Laurie
Criolla Sella
Aji Ahuachapan
Peppapeach Stripey
Aji Cristal
Aji Fantasy (not sure if I should go for orange, yellow or white?)
Aji Rainforest
Trepadeira Werner
(possibly) Aji Cito
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These 3 were fun to grow however the taste were not all that great.
All 3 were Trepadeira in nature & took up a lot of space.
This season we have Aji Amarillo, Aji Guyana, Peppa Peach Stripey, & Aji Mango ( Long ).
I think your current line-up is a solid one. I like bishop's crown and brazilian starfish from the new short list, though when I've grown them they haven't had much heat. Both have been highly productive. I'd expect you to be able to grow sugar rush peach just fine in your climate as long as you got it off to a good start.
Oh! I'm glad you let me know about the taste of these, I thought I remembered positive feedback going around about the flavor of them. Are there any other ones on my 2026 list (besides Brazilian Starfish) that had outstanding flavor for you over the years?
Maybe I'll bump one of the red ones mentioned in Marturo's post above (Trepadeira Werner or Aji Rainforest) and add Bishop's Crown. Regarding SRP, I'll likely grow that again down the road one day, but it just wasn't outstanding for me last year. Honestly, it was a bit of a funky year for my garden, so that could have been part of it.
SRP was a good producer for me, and the pods are massive compared to other baccatum i've seen/grown. they do take forever to ripen though, so an earlier seed start date is essential (i think we are at a similar latitude).
from your new list, the only one i have experience with is aji cito. it was a very good producer for me, hundreds of 1-2" long banana-shaped pods ripening to a light orange and with upper-range heat for a baccatum. nothing to write home about flavour-wise, but not bad-tasting either. best use case i can think for it is to add volume/bulk to a sauce or powder
from your new list, the only one i have experience with is aji cito. it was a very good producer for me, hundreds of 1-2" long banana-shaped pods ripening to a light orange and with upper-range heat for a baccatum. nothing to write home about flavour-wise, but not bad-tasting either. best use case i can think for it is to add volume/bulk to a sauce or powder