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Chinense varieties suitable for northern gardeners

Donnie

Donnie

(UPDATE):
Best varieties: Naga Morich, Antillais, White Bullet, Limon, Beni Highlands (best fruit set + best flavour I think was by Antillais, the most aromatic one...)
Worst varieties: Quinstisho, NuMex Suave Orange+Red, Aji Dulce Red.


OLD MESSAGE:

Hoping for some northern gardeners to join the search for the most suitable chinense varieties for our climate... Let's be as specific as possible in our descriptions, so that people may get the information they are looking for...:lol:

General growing conditions:
- sowing date February 5th, except for Naga Morich Feb. 13th.
- germination temperature around 20-22 degrees Celsius, growing temp. 18-20 C, sometimes higher when sunlight was on for hours.
- Lighting conditions: south-facing windowsills, no artificial ligthing.
- Feeding was done with a standard tomato feeder (liquid, in water continuesly from around one week after germination).
- Repotting was done twice before initial planting out. First time when seedlings had their second pair of true leaves into 0.2 liter pots. Second repotting when roots penetrated botttom into pots containing around 1 liter.


This year I am growing the following chinense varieties (will comment those that stand out in some way):

In greenhouse:
- Limón (plant sack, approx. 12 liters):
- Beni Highlands (pot, 3-4 liters):
- Aribibi Gusano (pot, 3-4 liters):

Against south-west-facing wall:- Quintisho (pot, 7-8 liters):
- White Bullet(TM) (pot, 7-8 liters): has set more pods than any other plant outside, leaves also looking healthier.
- Antillais (pot, 7-8 liters)
- Aji Dulce Red:

In the ground, no protection:- Capezzoli di Scimmia:
- NuMex Suave Orange:
- NuMex Suave Red:
- Antillais:

Inside/outside growing:- Naga Morich (pot, approx. 4 liters): One of took extra care of this variety and had it inside during nigths and colder nights for an extra month compared to the other ones. Has done quite well, first fruits matured late July. After setting out bad weather conditions has made plant look a bit more stressed, i.e. yellowing leaves. Last pods not turning so big as earliest but may be due to the restricted growth in a small pot.

Will update and edit this reply again shortly...
 
The Limon is consistently the earliest hab-type to ripen for me. I'm in the South and my season is plenty long, but it comes in a good month before the others some years.
 
I like how you mentioned "against south facing wall"

My Chinense varieties in pots against south walls are maturing about twice as fast as those in pots in open locations and those in the garden itself. Seems like the radiant heat from the wall really makes em grow like crazy.
 
Pam said:
The Limon is consistently the earliest hab-type to ripen for me. I'm in the South and my season is plenty long, but it comes in a good month before the others some years.
Click to expand...

Pam, my Limon is also doing quite well in the greenhouse and has set several pods, the big question is whether they will mature before night frost sets in... Haven't tried this one before - could you say something about flavour, can Limón keep up with the classics like for instance Antillais and Habanero Orange?

gardenkiller said:
I like how you mentioned "against south facing wall"

My Chinense varieties in pots against south walls are maturing about twice as fast as those in pots in open locations and those in the garden itself. Seems like the radiant heat from the wall really makes em grow like crazy.
Click to expand...

Gardenkiller, this is my experience, too - my plants are also doing remarkably better when placed against south facing walls. I guess you're right, it is probably mostly because of the heat released from the wall during night...
 
Could anyone update this? How did yours do last year? What about the aroma and flavors of the C. chinense suited to the north.

My limons were 'OK' but so small. I may try again.

I've had moderate success with BENI HIGHLANDS too, but again, I need more time.

White and Gold bullets sounded promising, but were not that early for me last year. Will try again.
 
loki - where are you from ? as for chinense chiles unless you have a grow room or greenhouse to extend their season you're pretty much out of luck for getting monster crops of chinense chiles. I still grow chinense chiles but I dont get anywhere near what some others get for number of pods.

IMO its all trial & error for what will grow good for you in your location, but if you have a way to extend the season you pretty much could grow any chile with good success.

have you tried growing some thai chiles ? if not I think you should give them a try, they're great. this season I plan on growing about 20+ thai plants (3-4 species)
 
my cr hab was always prolific year round but really produced like crazy outdoors, but i think any chinense will work in the north as long as you start it early (all my chinenses are started already) and put them out late (my hab usually stayed inside until the end of june, way later then even the eggplants) the best case you can run into actually is when it starts setting flowers when its still inside but just before it goes out, just shakey shakey then out he goes and you'll get *at least* two harvests out of the season.
 
Thanks for the advice all. I live in Norther Utah. Late frosts are common, early sometimes (although we often are able to grow till late October).

I usually can plant in early May, but put all my tomatoes, eggplants, and peppers into green plastic, and have ready row covers for frost.

I have seen some of my C. Chinense actually do poorly in the heat we get though. It's often over 95 thoughout July and August. Others have thrived. Tomatoes sometimes won't fruit due to blossom drop too. Eggplants and C. annuum march on through the heat (as do most C. chinense as well).

Anyway - any other suggestions are welcome. Thanks.
 
put them in some shade in the heat is the best you can do, they like it under big trees in general, they'll still get enough sunlight. I have the same problem here, its silly in the winter we ussually go down to -40c for a coupla weeks but in the summer we go up to +40c for a month or so... this year was mild, so i'm hoping that means early spring
 
Cincinnati had a record number of 100 degrees or higher last summer, including some in September. That was the first time we had reached triple digits in several years. We also had record low rainfall through most of the summer. All in all, it would not be a standard for me to use as to what grows well in northern climates (though we are not real north!).

Mike
 
I am right on Lake Erie you can not get any more North then that and I have had good harvest on all the Chinese I try. I start seeds Jan 1 and put in ground 3rd week of may so far been good going on 37 years.I have grow all color Habs,Naga, Bhut, 7pot,Scorpion .My grow list is on thechileman.org under bowhunter take a look.
Dan




LET IT BURN
 
Well, maybe the question is not clear. It's like:

Question: My car won't start, got jumper cables

Answer: My car starts, so does my van and truck.

I have trouble getting C. chinense to mature here. It may be that starting earlier will help, but even friends who grow fairly large habs early here are not successful except in containers.

So I guess I'm looking for the earliest maturing varieties. I can look them up, but I'm interested in hearing about your experience.

So not only how far north, or how far south (in the Southern Hem) or how far up the mountain, etc.

The question should probably also be asked: What C. chinense matured earliest for you? Even if you live in a tropical climate.

Thanks much!

I am definitely trying Caribean Red Hab (new for me), and White and Gold Bullet again (had some success last year but lost some seedlings due to other issues).

I may also order some Orange Plum and repackage and sell individual packets.
 
Most of my C. chinense mature around the same time and do well with an early start. I haven't found any that are particularly early. I know I've seen some hybrid habs in a Canadian seed catalogue that might be bred for earliness but I'd have to check again.
 
again its all trial & error for what will grow well for your location & your methods of growing - Example do you start indoors months in advance, do you bring plants in at the end of season, do you grow indoors,etc...

& not all plants like the same weather conditions, so what grows great for one person may not grow well for you. trial & error!

if you want great chinense plants you NEED to do something to extend their season somehow. or just be happy & deal with the smaller harvest of chiles.

check this website out & use their search engine to help to choose which chile you'd like to grow

www.chileplants.com
 
Cross Country! I love their site, and I've ordered 3 times, with about 25 varieties. However, for some reason their plants take forever to harden off - or acclimitize to my climate and soils (Northern Utah - Dry Hot summers, low humidity, cool nights, low orgainic alkaline soils, intense sunlight). New Jersey is very differents except for growing season. If I plant after a week of hardening off, the plants sit for a month before growing substantially. With my home growns they take off immediately. I ordered the plants early last year and it helped, but not completely.

I don't think there is much they can do except for starting another facility in maybe a dryer part of the west (California, Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, Southern Utah) and using slightly more alkaline soils for people like me (probably not going to happen).

I love their plants though, and the service is great, and the packaging is simply the best I've ever seen in mail-order plants!
 
Just saw paper lantern habaneros and were listed as early and prolific - may give these a try as well.
 
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