Hadanero's Lanco Pepper Grow 2024

So, we're finally in a house and I'm getting ready for my first growing season with an actual yard. The patio back in Málaga was wonderful and never had snow, but I'll be able to grow more than four pepper plants at a time here.

I'm not germinating any seeds for the spring just yet, but I did put together a little indoor germination station and started three varieties that'll go into mini-Kratky systems, and one that'll go into a 5-gal Kratky bucket. Never tried hydroponics before, but thought this was a good chance to get my feet wet. The varieties are: Peruvian White Habaneros and Yellow MOA Scotch Bonnets from Midwest Chile Heads, as well as Aji Ayuyo and Er Jing Tao from CaneDog.

My heating mat is a cheap one off the shelf from a local grow shop. Don't have a thermostat yet, but will see how it goes and pick one up if needed. The light overhead is the Sansi 36W full spectrum LED bulb. I have two, so I can increase the light as things progress. Finally picked up a timer too.

If there are any suggestions, I'm more than open to them. Should I lower the light some? It's currently 13" off the tops of the rockwool.

 

[hadanero]

All right - a lot's been happening in a few weeks. Here's some photos:

First up, Fushimis. I have two plants loaded with pods. They're starting to ripen from green to yellow, and because my job has me on the road for the next 4 weeks, I decided to pick and freeze some of the annuums. I had tried a green Fushimi pod two weeks ago and they tasted like soap - these taste much better now. Family's keeping an eye on my plants while gone, so I hope picking these gives the plants time to throw out another flush.

Next up, Calvin's Jalapeños. These are unidentified jalapeños from Midwest Chileheads, hence the name. (One of my kids is also named Calvin.) Plenty of healthy looking green peppers on two plants. Strangely, these are the only seeds from MWC that ended up growing well. This bowl-full will go in the freezer for pickling in the fall. And in the second bowl, a pile of Zapotecs (and one Aji Pineapple). These are from Baker Creek, and the two plants are vigorous and loaded. I left the smaller pods to ripen, but picked and froze a good number.

Next up,two photos of Baker Creek Aji Chombo plants. The one in the pot has just a few pods, but one of these is ripening. The one in the ground has spread out nicely, grows very low, and has dozens of pods. I'm not picking these, I'm just hoping they'll ripen slowly and be at the right place when I get back in 4 weeks.

After that, I have several pods growing nicely on the Papa Dreadie Scotch Bonnet plant. This is potted as well, and I wasn't sure how it would do, but these pods are growing quickly and they look vicious. The seeds were a gift from @Sawyer and I hope to pass some along, though they weren't isolated.

And I have a pair of plants loaded with Aji Pineapple peppers.At least I think these are Aji Pineapples. They came from Facebook if I remember correctly. I'm just including one picture, but both plants are similarly loaded up.

And a shot of the Peppadew plants from @mattspeppers - a very healthy plant, and I'm keen to try them!

And then some Zebrange pods on a healthy plant, seeds also from @mattspeppers (I'll be getting more seeds from Matt in the future - I've been very happy with the results).

Okay, and I think this is the last. These are Pimenta Bode Amarillo from @mattspeppers and I picked a few of the more yellow peppers to try. They are hot. My kids laughed hysterically as I suffered. This is also in a pot, but the plant has done very well in spite of the poor potting soil. Again, credit to Matt for good seed. I have really liked the growth pattern of this plant.

So, hopefully the peppers still on the plants don't overrippen in my absence, and hopefully the jalapeño and fushimi plants push out a lot more pods while I'm gone!

 

[hadanero]

A quick update with some photos from my sister-in-law who has kindly kept my plants alive while I've been on the road.

First up, I've got some nice looking pods on the P. Dreadie.

And second up, some nice pods ripened on the Aji Chombo:

I'm back home in three days, so I'm eager to check things out in person and get some better photos for a future update. My biggest question is the status of the Aji Pineapple plants - they were very productive, and I was hoping they'd ripen well while I was away.

 

[MarcV]

So... where are the photos of your sister-in-law?

 

[hadanero]

Okay, part 1 here is just the patio peppers. My sister-in-law's pic of the P. Dreadie (G3-2020, source @Sawyer) plant had me happy there were a couple ripe pods but bummed there were only a couple. Turns out she just doesn't get low enough--there's about a dozen, looks like.

I'll be picking them soon, trying one, maybe making a mash or powder with the others, and saving seeds both for my own use and for others here.

The other good plant is the Pimenta Bode Amarillo. I like these, and will be smashing them up for a paste. I'll save some seeds as well.

And finally, a mystery pepper. Any ideas what this is? I had the seed marked as Pimenta Bode Amarillo, but it's clearly not. It also doesn't look like other peppers on my list for this year.

 

[hadanero]

That mystery pepper is hot--maybe habanero level--but not insane. The heat shows up immediately, but stays on the tongue. No particularly fruity nor floral flavor or odor--just heat. At the same time, there's no offensive flavor and I think it'd be good either as a powder or pickled. Walls are on the thin side. I'm guessing it's not a specific variety, just a random cross, but if there are any ideas as to what it is, I'm open to them.

Edit to add: Maybe a Datil? I thought all my datil seedlings failed, but maybe this is one?

 

[MarcV]

Certainly has a nice orange color...

 

[mlh5953]

It does look similar to a Datil, and the heat level sounds about right too.

 

[hadanero]

Certainly has a nice orange color...

I thought so too - solid and rich. I'm really happy with the color.

It does look similar to a Datil, and the heat level sounds about right too.

Occam tells me this must be it. I bought seeds from Pure Florida Datils on a recommendation from @Bou and it looks very much like photos of their pods. I had thought all the Datil seeds failed, but I am glad to have been wrong!

 

[hadanero]

And here's today's picking. Got some P. Dreadies, several Aji Pineapples, 2 Peppadews, 1 Zebrange, 1 more Datil, a handful of Pimenta Bode Amarillo, a few Fushimis, and a healthy haul of Aji Chombos.

 

[hadanero]

This is another small harvest - not pictured are another handful of P. Dreadies and PBAs. My family helped pick, so a few Peppadews and Chombos aren't totally ripe yet.

When in Málaga, I think my whole harvest was smaller than what I've picked since Sunday. I'm enjoying having the extra space for extra plants.

 

[hadanero]

Just want to recommend grilling the Fushimis. Really good with some olive oil and salt. One or two were lightly spicy, but the rest were pleasantly sweet.

 

[PaulG]

Nice looking pod harvests, @hadanero!

Grilling pic is awesome, too. I can taste those!

 

[hadanero]

Nice looking pod harvests, @hadanero!

Grilling pic is awesome, too. I can taste those!

Thanks, @PaulG - It's been fun to have a full season with sufficient space to grow a few more plants! And we've since grilled a whole lot more of those Fushimis and they are very good. Even my kids have enjoyed them under compulsion .

Taking this chance to drop a few more photos. I don't catch a picture of every harvest, but every three or four days I'm pulling a lot of ripe pods.

The first two pictures are a collection of Jalapeños, Aji Chombos, Aji Pineapples, Fushimis, Pimeanta Bode Amarela, P. Dreadie Bonnets, Zebranges, and Peppadews. The Zebranges and Peppadews are all ripening right now.

The third picture is the first small harvest from Olho de Peixe White. Those little pods are about the size of those fish eggs you can use for bait, and they're good and hot. This plant has been really interesting to me - very small and bushy.

And I've made some more Chombo sauce, a fermented Jalapeñó and Aji Pineapple louisiana style sauce, and a Pimenta Bode Amarela sauce with just the peppers, some white vinegar, and agave. When I dropped my first seed a few years back, it was because finding good hot sauce in Spain's grocery stores wasn't so easy, so the goal was to make my own. So I'm glad it's come together.

I've also started picking up seeds for next year because why not. And I'm saving seeds for the seed train. They're not isolated, but hopefully they'll be healthy and fun for someone.

And just for winter entertainment, I dropped the last Aji Ayuyo seeds from @CaneDog and some Olho de Peixe White from @mattspeppers - both have given me a couple of strong seedlings. I'll be keeping them indoors in small pots. I tried the Aji Ayuyo as a mini-kratky last winter, but apparently I'm very bad at hydroponics, as all my hydro plants failed. So I'll be using soil this time around.

 

[hadanero]

With December upon us, it seems like a good time to wrap up this 2024 glog. All the pepper plants have been ripped out and chopped up for the composter, and I've got a healthy number of pods from most of my plants sliced and frozen for use in sauces and jams. (I picked up a breadmaker and found out it has a jam setting, so I'll be making some raspberry/strawberry/chombo jam sometime soon.)

Some end-of-season thoughts (don't hold me to these!):

• I don't think I want to grow Jalapeños again for a few seasons - by the time the pods began to ripen to red, they were getting nailed by pests.
• I'm going to spend a bit more for better potting soil for the few plants in grow bags.
• I think this next season, I'll focus mostly on pubescens and chinense varieties.
• I might use fewer grow bags and extend my bed, though as I say that, I think I'll use just as many grow bags AND extend my bed); in either case, I'm going to use the bags for smaller pod varieties.
• I need a dehydrator. Any recommendations?
• I need better plant supports.

So, that's where my head is at for the moment.

To keep things rolling through the winter, I've started the following plants indoors in very small pots:

• Olho Peixe White
• Aji Ayuyo (x2)
• Jigsaw
• KSLS
• Coyote Teeth
• Olho de Mutum

And, for good measure, the Olho Peixe White has its first bloom this morning:

So that's all for 2024. I'll start a new glog in a month or so when I get seeds sorted and dropped for next season. Thanks all for the helpful comments and kind words.

 

[NJChilehead]

With December upon us, it seems like a good time to wrap up this 2024 glog. All the pepper plants have been ripped out and chopped up for the composter, and I've got a healthy number of pods from most of my plants sliced and frozen for use in sauces and jams. (I picked up a breadmaker and found out it has a jam setting, so I'll be making some raspberry/strawberry/chombo jam sometime soon.)

Some end-of-season thoughts (don't hold me to these!):

• I'm going to spend a bit more for better potting soil for the few plants in grow bags.

@hadanero let me know how that mixed berry/chombo jam comes out! Sounds delicious!

Responding to your point above: I planted in a mix of 30% compost (either Coast of Maine or Espoma) and 70% Coast of Maine potting soil or Espoma Organic potting soil, with good results. I added a little worm castings and a handful of Espoma Tomato-Tone when first planting as well.

• I think this next season, I'll focus mostly on pubescens and chinense varieties.

Chinenses and pubescens are my favorites too, I've got you covered for 3 pubescens types (although only 2 are isolated).

• I might use fewer grow bags and extend my bed, though as I say that, I think I'll use just as many grow bags AND extend my bed); in either case, I'm going to use the bags for smaller pod varieties.

Definitely use grow bags for the pubescens! I used 7 gallon and they did great. I now feel strongly that being able to shuffle them in and out of a protected area when there's frost is a key to success, otherwise there's not so good of a chance that you're going to get a decent amount of the crop ripened in time before they're killed off.

• I need a dehydrator. Any recommendations?

Not sure if you saw this thread that I made, but some experienced folks added some good recommendations: https://thehotpepper.com/threads/any-input-on-cosori-hamilton-beach-and-excalibur-dehydrators.78282/

• I need better plant supports.

I see people using livestock fencing or other cage-type materials for bigger plants. I'm definitely investing in some next year for my pubescens. I thought I'd be okay with just light staking/trellising but I lost quite a few pods because of breakage. Good call on the supports.

 

[hadanero]

Thank you, @NJChilehead for all of the great recommendations! That soil mix sounds like a good idea, and may be just what I need for the grow bags this year. And thank you for the pubescens seeds - I've only ever enjoyed one jar of Rocoto paste from a Colombian store in Spain, and I've been eager to see what I could make from them.

EDIT TO ADD: Had a look at that dehydrator thread and now I've got something new on my Christmas list