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Curry peppers 2022

I have seeds ready for 2022. Will start by reviewing varieties from past seasons, then discuss what I am growing in 2022.

2019:
Orange Habanero: delicious. Will grow again at some point.
Shishito: Nice peppers, but will not grow again.


2020:
Trinidad pimento: excellent pepper, will try to keep my freezer permanently stocked with this variety
Trinidad perfume: Nice pepper, will probably grow periodically in the future.
Red foodarama scotch bonnet: I enjoyed this pepper, but I preferred both of two red varieties I grew in 2021, will not grow again. Of note, taste had minimal resemblance to the foodarama yellow.
Foodarama yellow scotch bonnet: Nice scotch bonnet with classic Jamaican scotch bonnet flavor that you would get in a Walkerswood product. Consistent disk like shapes.
Lemon Drop: Beautiful peppers, but did not like the flavor much. Will not grow again.

2021: total of 15 pepper plants
Bahamian Goat (2 plants) - Really enjoyed this variety. Beautiful pods with interesting shape, color, and pearly white interior. Productive plants. Nice flavor with lots of both fruity and floral character. Made excellent jerk seasoning. Will definitely grow again. I enjoyed to fully ripe pods, but the green pods were not my favorite.
Congo yellow (2 plants): Most productive variety for me this year. Nice large pods. Excellent taste both green and fully ripe. Nice floral taste, pairs very well with Trini dishes.
Congo red: (2 plants) Good productivity, but less productive than the yellow for me this year. Pods had a tendency to turn soft before fully ripening. Taste was very similar to the congo yellow, and excellent both green and fully ripe. The yellow pods were longer, while the red pods wider. Both had nice large pods. Will probably grow the congo yellow in the future, while I explore additional red varieties.
Red antillais: (Two plants) Average productivity. Nice beautiful pods. Has relatively minimal floral flavor. I tend to prefer aromatic peppers, but I found the flavor of this to be very good, and useful for the times that I am not looking for the strong floral flavor. Of this year's varieties, the antillais pepper was nicest in my hot chocolates. Ok green, but prefer ripe with this variety.
Foodarama yellow scotch bonnet: (One Plant) Much better productivity than last season. Ended up an average producer compared to other varieties. Nice flavor, works well for Jerk seasoning. Good both green and fully ripe. Nothing wrong with this variety, but I will try probably try growing the MOA and TFM varieties in the future to see how they compare.
Jamaican Hot Chocolate Habanero: (One Plant) I enjoyed the color of these. High heat, otherwise flavor was average to me, and did not really stand out.
Grenada seasoning pepper: (two plants) Good seasoning pepper with nice habanero flavor. Average productivity. Prefer to use these fully ripe rather than green. For cooking, I slightly prefer the Trinidad pimento and Trinidad perfume seasoning peppers over these. Might grow again.
Venezuelan Tiger: (One Plant) Nice beautiful plants. Average productivity. Large pods with lots of purple sun-tan coloring when green. Pods lack chinense taste. Fruity, somewhat sweet, nice tasting pods - similar to a bell pepper. Pods taste good both green and fully ripe. Really nice plants, but probably will not grow again.
Aji Cachucha (One Plant) and Aji Cachucha purple splotch (One Plant): Purple splotch was more productive and was a better looking plant. Both types have nice fun pod shapes. Both lack chinense flavor. Both were better fully ripe rather than green. Will not grow either variety again

2022:
Refining Fire Chiles Order: will grow two plants of each
1. sugar rush stripey
2. aji fantasy
3. thunder mountain longhorn
4. fish pepper
5. congo black habanero
6. Trinidad pimento
7. Aji dulce

Refining Fire Chiles Free samples: will start two of each variety, but only grow one of each
1. Black scorpion tongue
2. Aji Colorado
3. Wiri Wiri
4. Yellow Siam

Rareseeds.com order:
West Indies Red Habanero, will grow two plants

That makes 20 plants. I am tempted to grow some of my old seeds from 2021, congo peppers, red antallais, and goat, but it is nice to save some excitement for 2023, and 20 plants should be more peppers than I can consume, with plenty to give away to friends.
 
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Last year I started my seeds on January 18. Plants were large and fragile by spring, not used to the outdoor wind. Ended up with some wind damage, and most plants needed staking.

I am going to start my seeds later this year. I need to pick a date, but I am thinking sometime in February.

This will be my first year growing annum varieties. Should I start them a couple weeks later than the Chinenses?
 
Starting my seeds today, 2-5-22, with a hydrogen peroxide soak, followed by soak in water. Was planning on 1 hr in the peroxide, but it ended up being 1.5 hours.
 
spicy.curry said:
Starting my seeds today, 2-5-22, with a hydrogen peroxide soak, followed by soak in water. Was planning on 1 hr in the peroxide, but it ended up being 1.5 hours.
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:cheers: Good luck this season, @spicy.curry.

spicy.curry said:
This will be my first year growing annum varieties. Should I start them a couple weeks later than the Chinenses?
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In my PNW climate, I start my annuums on March 1.
Even at that, they can get big by June plant-out.
 
When I used to live in West Lafayette, IN I started my C. chinense around the last week of February or 1st week of March. I started everything else mid to late March. The spring winds in Indiana are brutal! The hot and humid summer weather with warm nights certainly resulted in all pepper species growing like weeds, which I loved! The thunderstorms also were never kind to my plants. All of my plants would lean over by the end of the summer from storms, but I rarely totally lost any to lodging. I remember metal tomato cages being bent over in some of the storms lol.
 
This year I am trying Miracle gro indoor potting mix with all of my peppers.

The basic miracle gro mix worked well for my peppers in the past, but the fungus gnats were an annoyance, and my herbs didn't grow very well in it.
 
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spicy.curry said:
This year I am trying Miracle gro indoor potting mix with all of my peppers.

The basic miracle gro mix worked well for my peppers in the past, but the fungus gnats were an annoyance, and my herbs didn't grow very well in it.
Click to expand...
I have used Miracle Grow in the past, but in the
last couple of seasons have switched to Black
Gold All-Purpose Potting Mix to supplement my
Fox Farms soil when I need a little extra. It has
worked very well as a seedling mix, as well. Good
luck with the Miracle Grow this season.
 
Fish pepper seedling showing some variegation already.

I had a lower percentage of seeds sprout this year, perhaps from soaking in the peroxide longer than I planned. Still have plenty of pepper seedlings overall.

I started some more pimento seeds and yellow Siam seeds today in paper towel plastic bags, and didn’t bother with the peroxide this time.

https://imgur.com/QHLt2CV
 
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Transplanted peppers yesterday after work.

Didn’t have much time to mess with hardening off. Weather was warm enough, and two cloudy days forecasted, so I decided it was an opportune moment, and if they get burnt, they will grow new leaves and do alright.

I put 9 plants in the ground, and 8 plants in pots. I may transition away from pots in the future, if the plants in the ground do well this year. I do not want to have to water every day in the summer, and want to be free to travel and ignore them for a week or so.

https://imgur.com/a/DL97iYW
 
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After a week outside, no significant damage from the sun or wind. The past week has been slightly cool, rainy, and moderately windy.

I was happy with the size of the plants at transplant. They were just small enough to not be overly susceptible to wind damage.

I started seeing occasional winged aphids soon after bringing the plants outside. I have been removing them with my fingers so far. Not sure how long the spring aphid hatching season lasts, but I am hoping that it subsides soon. I am considering applying some neem tomorrow as a preventative treatment, but not sure if it will do much good, this early in the season, with a predominance of winged aphids.

West Indies Red has been setting pepper pods, and so far it seems to be a relatively vigorous chinense variety.
 
I would refrain from using any pesticides unless the aphids become severe. Of all my years of growing peppers outdoors in Indiana, aphids were never a significant issue, there were always enough lacewings, ladybugs, hover flies, and parasitoid wasps to keep them in check. Aphid mummies were always fun to find.
 
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