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Growing Peppers 1st Time...

Z

Zeeky Banutski

OK - I've (apparently) become a pepper gardener. Along with tomatoes, I'm now growing Jalapenos, Habaneros, Carribean Reds, Chile Pequins, & (what apparently are) Peruvian Purple Peppers. All varieties are hot & hotter. I'm a little confused by my (alleged) Jalapenos as they were originally supposed to be Habaneros, but when they turned out to be long & green like a Jalapeno, I spoke with the local produce/nursery that I bought the (baby) plant from & they said that often, customers take the tags out of the (baby) plants & then they're stuck trying to match them up; so to compensate me for the error, they gave me a free Habanero & free Carribean Red plant (both with correctly shaped peppers already growing). The part that's confusing me is that the (alleged) Jalapeno peppers have turned orange & have also ended up with that typical "thin-skin" that's indicative of the Habanero & not more thick & "fleshy/meaty " like the typical Jalapeno. Bottom line, is they're very tasty & have already made some outstanding salsas for me.

Today, I bought the Peruvian Purple Pepper plant & it has about 30 "ready-to-eat" peppers on it, so I wasted no time making a round of killer salsa with them!!!!!

My question is, I'm obviously going to have more peppers than I can consume & want to be able to save them for future use. What do you recommend? Can they be picked & immediately frozen? Do I need to dry/dehydrate them? If so, how do I go about doing that? I don't think using my oven to dry/dehydrate them is a good idea as my wife is intolerant of anything hot & we have three (3) cats that would probably suffocate from the fumes if I were to choose that option. What's my best option?

I believe I asked this question once before, but was not serious about growing them & didn't want to take the time to search for older answers, so I'm being a "royal PITA" & asking again. Please let me know.


Terry
 
Welcome Terry, Yes drying, freezing, pickling, and making puree's are all way's to extend your oversupply of pods. Plenty of instructions here in the proper sections just have a look around or try the search function.

We also need to see pics of your plants like the "not Hab/jalapeno" etc. Figure out the pic posting and show us the pods.

Good luck with your season
Mike
 
OK - I searched the Help Topics for "photos" & found the "guide" for uploading photos. The problem is, the guide says to go to the "gallery" (at the top of any page) & I can't find the gallery anywhere I look. Will someone point me in the right direction? I'm no stranger to forums & how they work, so this is a 1st for me....
 
This is a subject that has to be covered for almost every new member :)

Because of that THP has a thread devoted to this topic.

I don't remember where it is, but you can use the search function just as easily as I can, you know?
 
jsschrstrcks said:
"...you can use the search function just as easily as I can, you know?...
Click to expand...

Thanks - I guess you missed the part where I said:

ZeekyBanutski said:
"...OK - I searched the Help Topics for "photos" & found the "guide" for uploading photos. The problem is, the guide says to go to the "gallery" (at the top of any page) & I can't find the gallery anywhere I look...
Click to expand...

DOH! :shame:

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

OK - let's see if this FaceBook thing (thanks to JssChrstRcks) actually works...

https://sphotos-a.xx...123844740_n.jpg

[sup]Now that I know it works (although I'd still rather see the actual photo in the post over a link to the photo)[/sup]
[sup][sup]https://sphotos-a.xx...687090847_n.jpg[/sup][/sup]
[sup][sup]https://sphotos-b.xx...471034343_o.jpg[/sup][/sup]

and my 1st Carribean Reds:

https://sphotos-b.xx...637277167_n.jpg

and my 1st Peruvian Purples:

https://sphotos-b.xx...866333234_o.jpg
 
380583_461249603892691_1637277167_n.jpg


There we go - I got it figured out now. Above are my 1st Carribean Reds - (left) about 3/4 inch & (right) about 1 inch.

552655_461250103892641_123844740_n.jpg


578704_461250170559301_687090847_n.jpg


471216_461250247225960_471034343_o.jpg
 
The question is essentially "How do I preserve my peppers?" right...

here, I'll help you....

Dehydration -

http://thehotpepper.com/topic/32605-dehydrating-peppers/page__hl__dehydrating

http://thehotpepper.com/topic/31659-whole-pod-dehydrating/#entry641311

Pickling -

http://thehotpepper.com/topic/31399-pickled-some-jalapenos-last-night/#entry635562

http://thehotpepper.com/topic/24464-pickled-peppers/#entry629576

Hot Sauce -

http://thehotpepper.com/topic/29501-making-hot-sauce-101/#entry597186

Puree -

http://thehotpepper.com/topic/32602-making-some-puree-todaywill-post-pics-of-the-processits-easy/page__hl__puree

Fermented -

http://thehotpepper.com/topic/23146-fermenting-peppers-101/

Freezing -

http://thehotpepper.com/topic/23788-freezing-fresh-peppers/#entry486944

I got tickled at your statement

[background=rgb(255, 244, 228)]I believe I asked this question once before, but was not serious about growing them & didn't want to take the time to search for older answers, so I'm being a "royal PITA" & asking again. [/background]

If you are short on patience and expect immediate results, growing peppers may not the right hobby for you....remember patience is a virtue, especially when growing peppers....

good luck with your grow this season...
 
AlabamaJack said:
"...I got tickled at your statement: "[background=rgb(255,244,228)]I believe I asked this question once before, but was not serious about growing them & didn't want to take the time to search for older answers, so I'm being a "royal PITA" & asking again." [/background]If you are short on patience and expect immediate results, growing peppers may not the right hobby for you....remember patience is a virtue, especially when growing peppers...good luck with your grow this season..."
Click to expand...

Thanks for the links, they'll certainly come in handy. As for the growing - it's not a patience thing (I have plenty of that), it was more of a "I've never grown anything in my life & at the tender age of 59, can I actually succeed; & if so, what should I grow?" That was the issue.

Then, last summer I bought a Chile Pequin (aka Thai Pepper) plant that was already yielding bountiful amounts of hot peppers & I thought to myself "this is what I'm going to try to grow - peppers & tomatoes". Lo & behold, I seem to be doing a fine job at it! Whoodathunkit? I gues I surprised myself....LOL

That still leaves my original question - why do my (alleged) Jalapenos closely resemble elongated Habaneros?
 
cool ZB...since I am in Texas, I won't be much help to you as far as what to grow but there may be some other members from close to your area that could provide some assistance...
 
romy6 said:
"...looks like a cross between a orange hab and jalapeno..."
Click to expand...

That's my guess - it's some sort of mutant pepper. Although it's got a nice "bite" to it, it's not as hot as I would expect from a Habanero. I'm hoping the Carribean Red (see the photo above) I'm cracking open tonight is much hotter... :fireball:
 
This is what my Chile Pequin plant looked like last year (not a photo of my actual plant) & what I hope this year's plant will look like:


241954_461384187212566_1292561225_o.jpg


and this is what I was told is the Peruvian Purple Pepper (but I'm not 100% certain)....

324018_461250287225956_866333234_o.jpg
 
Finally, a good shot of my Habaneros/Jalapenos mutant - most are elongated like the one on the left (almost 2" long) & only one or two have been similar to the one on the right.

202521_462017210482597_998208509_o.jpg
 
I think AJ nailed it.

Me - I like smoking peppers and dehydrating to make powders. Powder is cool because it stores easily in small containers. I also like to ferment when the big harvest comes in the fall. Jalapenos mostly go to chipotles (I do Adobo) and I use a few Caribbean Reds to make jerk chicken on occasion. Oh, I forgot salsa and verde - they keep well in the fridge.

When the wife's not hungry or out of town, I cook THAI.

I know I'm forgetting something......

Oh,, CR's make fantastic Apricot Pepper jelly. Great Christmas present!
 
spongey600 said:
those are just orange habs not hab/jalapeno mutants, i grew an orange hab that that pods just like that.
Click to expand...

I'm not completely sure, there are a few things that push me away from "just a hab" to "hab-not".

For one, op says its not spicy. IF it were an orange hab - other than perhaps the first pod of the year, they are all kinda kicky (not compared to the hotter ones, but then one wouldn't expect a person new to our community to neccesarily have our level of tollerance no?).

Though one thing that pushes me in the other direction, is the fact that its orange. red is a dominate genetic trait. UNLESS it was grown out from F2 seed, which explains the lack of uniformity, and the mild heat as F2's can be all over the map.
 
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