what up pepper peeps? your boy growyourown here with a bold proclamation:
i challenged myself to try to grow all the five major pepper species for the first time; wish me luck!
(and give me advice, i could use it)
to begin, let's forget what i did last year.
(just like i said last year)
doing the big five became the goal because there are so many pepper types and flavours i have not experienced before, and that by working within those parameters for this year, i have a chance to grow and discover types of peppers which are mild enough that my wife may also enjoy.
(she taps out at habanero heat, but said she'd try the 20-30k range, hoping she might step up to 50k)
let's take a look at what we got going on:
BACCATUM
that's what i bought specifically for this year. plan is to start a 12-cell tray for each category above.
obviously that's only four species, so also on board will be (2 or 3 12-cell trays comprised of):
CHINENSE
!!_BONUS ROUND_!!
WILD / ANN. V. GLAB.
should be fun; my plan is to start the first round of seeds (all but the annuums) the last weekend of january, then do a couple trays of the annuums a few weeks later when some of the first batch are done sprouting. i don't want my plants to outgrow the 4" pots i have before it's time to put them out again, so i hope starting this much later (i was very eager in 2022) will be the sweet spot, but i have zero experience with bacc. and pube. so i hope my timing works out considering my indoor conditions and later my outdoor environment.
thanks to everyone joining me on this journey. next we speak i will have sown something...
toasting to a prosperous 2023, and wishing great success to all!
i challenged myself to try to grow all the five major pepper species for the first time; wish me luck!
(and give me advice, i could use it)
to begin, let's forget what i did last year.
(just like i said last year)
doing the big five became the goal because there are so many pepper types and flavours i have not experienced before, and that by working within those parameters for this year, i have a chance to grow and discover types of peppers which are mild enough that my wife may also enjoy.
(she taps out at habanero heat, but said she'd try the 20-30k range, hoping she might step up to 50k)
let's take a look at what we got going on:
BACCATUM
- Aji Cito – 50k -hottest baccatum has to offer
- Aji Omnicolour – 20k -nice looking plant/pods, milder
- Sugar Rush Peach – 15-25k -very good reputation, milder
- Purira – 300k -had no ideas about any specific frutescens, just went for the heavyweight heat
- Lotah Bih – 300k -above reasoning, plus "granddaddy of ghost/superhot" hype on website
- Rio Hualaga Orange – 100k -name is familiar, believe it's a popular rocoto among members here
- Ecuadorian Pepper from Hell – 50k -cool name, and they were selling it cheaper than other C.pubes
- Florida Bird – 100k (free seeds) -free, and quite hot
- Hawk's Claw – 30-50k (free seeds) -free, cayenne-esque
- Bolivian Rainbow – 30k -nice looking plant/pods, milder
that's what i bought specifically for this year. plan is to start a 12-cell tray for each category above.
obviously that's only four species, so also on board will be (2 or 3 12-cell trays comprised of):
CHINENSE
- Alligator Tongue – 100-???k (free seeds) -free, give 'em a whirl, heat level on site literally said "hotter than hab but less than ghost"
- undecided others from my seed stock -choose several types and do 2-3 seeds of each
- generic jalapenos -but i've never actually grown them from seed, waffling on whether to once again just buy cheap greenhouse seedlings in may
- "Portugal" (x hab?) -i grew some plants called simply "portugal" in 2021, my mom took some pods and grew their seeds in 2022 which according to her were much hotter than what i gave her so i suspect a cross and habs pretty much surrounded where these were located. the portugal pods were typical annuum a la hungarian wax with big broad shoulders leading straight down into a long curled body, but the pods she gave me back (from which i got these seeds) were the same curled shape but not as wide around at the top and with a bit of a corkscrew/twist up near the shoulders instead of the usual stark straightness of wax or jalapeno.
!!_BONUS ROUND_!!
WILD / ANN. V. GLAB.
- Dwarf Chili Tepin – 50k -free seeds from 2021, never tried yet, what better time than when doing a big variety grow?
should be fun; my plan is to start the first round of seeds (all but the annuums) the last weekend of january, then do a couple trays of the annuums a few weeks later when some of the first batch are done sprouting. i don't want my plants to outgrow the 4" pots i have before it's time to put them out again, so i hope starting this much later (i was very eager in 2022) will be the sweet spot, but i have zero experience with bacc. and pube. so i hope my timing works out considering my indoor conditions and later my outdoor environment.
thanks to everyone joining me on this journey. next we speak i will have sown something...
toasting to a prosperous 2023, and wishing great success to all!
After all, no one wants weed in their gardens 
