glog Hadanero's Lanco Pepper Grow 2025

Time for a new glog!

Last year's grow went okay. It could have been better, but I'll take what I learned and try to improve.

In particular, a number of varieties from one specific vendor all failed to germinate or failed really quickly after germination. Before I realized they were specific to one vendor, I started looking for a better heat mat and fan.

My brother gifted me what seems like a much better heat mat and a much better fan, so I'm hopeful that'll help all the seeds/seedlings do better this year. Not necessarily top of the line, but better than what I was working with. Next up, I think I need to upgrade my lights. I'm using some SANSI bulbs that have been good, but I've got my eye on this panel. And I'd like to think about some possible soil improvements.

(None of these are affiliate links, they're just meant to be helpful to other growers that might be interested. If it's better not to include links, @The Hot Pepper, let me know!)

I still don't know how many plants or what varieties I'll be growing, but I know I'll likely rely less on bags and expand the area I use in the berm along the west side of the house. I also plan to focus mostly on chinense and pubescens, though an annuum or baccatum or two will likely get into the mix.

But to kick things off, here's a blossom on an Aji Ayuyo, seeds courtesy of @CaneDog. I started six different winter plants in 8-inch pots just to keep things interesting while it's cold: two of the Ayuyo, Jigsaw from Baker Creek, KSLS from Peter Stanley, Olho de Mutum from @TexasHotPeppers, and Olho Peixe White from @mattspeppers. A couple of these will stay inside come spring, and a couple might get planted out.

So, that's the start for this next glog. Best of luck to the rest of you this season!

 

[hadanero]

Well, it's been a very busy (and wet) couple of months. But the peppers are going pretty well. I lost none of the Chinense or Baccatum varieties, which was a pleasant outcome. I did fail to germinate a few of the annuum varieties, though. Specifically, I couldn't get the Cobanero, Black Pearl, Hawaiian Sweet Hot, or Piment d'Espellet to sprout in time. No stress though - I'll likely start a Cobanero and Black Pearl indoors later this year and just enjoy them as a winter project.

I had several weeks of unavoidable work travel, and when I was home it was dumping rain, so today's the first good possibility for planting out. I'll be doing that this afternoon. I even put on my Chile Pepper Institute t-shirt.

The pubescens that I planted out and stuck outside on April 1, however, have been doing great. There was only one frost to worry about, and they've enjoyed the cooler weather in April.

And here's a couple shots of the seedlings ready for plant-out. I'll be bagging the baccatums similarly to the pubes, and the rest will go in the ground. I just got some fencing that I hope will work better than last year's chicken-wire attempt. We don't really have any deer in our yard - the main pest is a family of rabbits and they have plenty of food around to distract them from anything behind even a mild barrier. My son is eager to plant a number of beans in the garden as well, so that should make for a nice companion-planting situation.

I'm most excited about the various Bonnets and Pubescens, and very happy to finally have a good solid pair of Er Jing Tao seedlings and Padrón seedlings (both varieties failed last year).

 

[NJChilehead]

Looking good @hadanero ! I can't wait to see how all of them do for you. I'm also most excited about some new pubescens, baccatums and chinenses this year. Keep us posted!

 

[hadanero]

Okay, so I never managed to update this vlog with pictures of the plant-out. They're looking good. I have 15 plants out, and passed along an extra Ayuyo seedling to my mom who wants to add a mild pepper to her garden this year. I also tracked down a fence that'll look better than the chicken wire construction I attempted last year.

And here's a bloom from one of the ERPFH, which got an easily start and then planted out at the beginning of April in 3 gallon bags.

And here's a question: does this look like slug or caterpillar damage on my Bahamian Goats? I'm leaning slug-ward as there are those brown circles in the second photo that don't make it through the leaf.

I'll likely post the pictures over in the "issues" forum too, but appreciate any helpful insight!

 

[NJChilehead]

Okay, so I never managed to update this vlog with pictures of the plant-out. They're looking good. I have 15 plants out, and passed along an extra Ayuyo seedling to my mom who wants to add a mild pepper to her garden this year. I also tracked down a fence that'll look better than the chicken wire construction I attempted last year.

And here's a bloom from one of the ERPFH, which got an easily start and then planted out at the beginning of April in 3 gallon bags.

And here's a question: does this look like slug or caterpillar damage on my Bahamian Goats? I'm leaning slug-ward as there are those brown circles in the second photo that don't make it through the leaf.

I'll likely post the pictures over in the "issues" forum too, but appreciate any helpful insight!

Everything looks good man! We've got a nice cold front in the Northeast right now, so you have a good chance of some fruit set on that ERPFH before the heat comes. I wish I could advise you about the slugs/snails. I'm not sure, but hopefully it gets resolved soon.

 

[SadisticPeppers]

Nice setup so far!

 

[Downriver]

And here's a question: does this look like slug or caterpillar damage on my Bahamian Goats? I'm leaning slug-ward as there are those brown circles in the second photo that don't make it through the leaf.

Could be this guy. I just saw this damage again on one of my pepper plants just two days ago. Little bastiages just fly in, do the damage, then fly out.

glog Post in thread 'Downriver 2022 - Pepper Time'

Jun 7, 2022

I saw someone ask about damage that looked like this:



Answer - the striped cucumber beetle. I caught these guys in the act. Look close, there's actually two of them in first pic. P.S. they are no longer with us, rip.

• Downriver

• 

 

[hadanero]

Could be this guy. I just saw this damage again on one of my pepper plants just two days ago. Little bastiages just fly in, do the damage, then fly out.

glog Post in thread 'Downriver 2022 - Pepper Time'

Jun 7, 2022

I saw someone ask about damage that looked like this:



Answer - the striped cucumber beetle. I caught these guys in the act. Look close, there's actually two of them in first pic. P.S. they are no longer with us, rip.

• Downriver

• 

I went out last night with a flashlight and found no slugs, but that damage in the picture looks very much like what I'm seeing. I'll have to check for those beetles!

 

[JAB Farms]

I went out last night with a flashlight and found no slugs, but that damage in the picture looks very much like what I'm seeing. I'll have to check for those beetles!

Yes, beetles can leave spots but those look more like slugs to me. Seeing as I do not have the sunlight to dry out my garden when it rains hard (like today - we got 2.15 inches) - so when moist, slugs will be out. they are my nemesis... I go out at night with flashlight (when damp or wet) and pick them off and drop them in a cat food can full of beer. This becomes a normal occurance for me. While I completely agree those beetles can be pain, I wouldn't give up looking for slugs just yet!

 

[hadanero]

Yes, beetles can leave spots but those look more like slugs to me. Seeing as I do not have the sunlight to dry out my garden when it rains hard (like today - we got 2.15 inches) - so when moist, slugs will be out. they are my nemesis... I go out at night with flashlight (when damp or wet) and pick them off and drop them in a cat food can full of beer. This becomes a normal occurance for me. While I completely agree those beetles can be pain, I wouldn't give up looking for slugs just yet!

Okay! I'll do that. We had a few dry days here, but it's been raining all day, so I'll check again this evening. I appreciate the helpful input!

 

[JAB Farms]

Okay! I'll do that. We had a few dry days here, but it's been raining all day, so I'll check again this evening. I appreciate the helpful input!

I will likely be out doing this exact thing starting tomorrow night through weekend. Good luck!

 

[Downriver]

I went out last night with a flashlight and found no slugs, but that damage in the picture looks very much like what I'm seeing. I'll have to check for those beetles!

My comment above was about the perfectly round circular damage to the youngest leaves in the second picture. I agree with you, the other damage is most likely slugs, but can be snails or crickets as well. Good luck with your hunt!

 

[hadanero]

My comment above was about the perfectly round circular damage to the youngest leaves in the second picture. I agree with you, the other damage is most likely slugs, but can be snails or crickets as well. Good luck with your hunt!

I wouldn't be surprised if I had multiple threats.

I'm pretty sure a rabbit made it in last night and tore up the foliage on the Bahamian Goat in the first picture, and took the Aji Ayuyo halfway down to the ground. I've reinforced the fencing, so hopefully they'll not return!

It's proving to be an interesting start to the season!

 

[hadanero]

Okay, so a mini-update on the pubescens: I've got some pods setting on the Aji Oro (1st pic) and several on the Honey Badger. A good number of buds on all five plants, so likely I'll find other pods soon.

 

[hadanero]

Had a chance to go through the garden today and get some podshots. Did not realize until I started just how many pods are currently sitting out there. So this is a fuller update with a lot of pictures.

Here are a couple photos of the bed and bags. The bed has the Chinense and a couple of Annuum, along with some beans my son was eager to grow:

Then I've got 5 pubescens. The ERPFH struggle the most with yellowing and have yet to set any pods, but the Aji Oro, Honey Badger, and Rocoto De Seda seem pretty happy and have all put out a few pods:

My 4 baccatum plants seem very happy in bags. Oddly, the Brazilian Starfish has enormous leaves and not a single bud.

Overall, it seems like it's going well. I keep throwing down slug pellets every few weeks, and just sprayed a bit of insecticide where I was seeing some beetle damage. And a friend gave us a cubic meter or two of mushroom compost, so I used some to top dress the bed, and the plants seem happy with it. I've been doing pretty basic feeding - using Scott's Performance Organics in a hose-end sprayer every few weeks. Water has been an issue - we have four or five days of high heat, followed by a few days of intense rain. But mostly I've been able to keep them appropriately watered without overdoing it.

Now on to the pods!

Baker Creek Goronong:

Papa Dreadie Bonnets:

St. Lucia Bonnets - I have two SLBs in roughly the same shape, just posting the pods from one here:

KSLS:

Bahamian Goat (both of my BG plants took the worst damage from slugs & beetles):

Olho de Mutum - I have two OdM plants as well, both with a few pods on them:

Padrón:

Trepadeira Werner - I like how this grows in a bag and am looking forward to the color change they're supposed to go through:

Sugar Drop Orange - Seeds come from this year's ill-fated seed train:

Honey Badger Rocoto - Lots of pods on every side of the plant, so I've included two pictures of this one:

Aji Oro Rocoto - Just three large pods so far; picked one because it looked like it was ripening, and will try it soon:

Rocoto de Seda - Just a couple of pods as well, and I picked one that was looking sunburnt to try later:

 

[CaneDog]

Looking good, hadanero!

 

[NJChilehead]

@hadanero everything looks great!! I look forward to hearing how you like the Chile Goronong and Sugar Drop Orange, those are two that have been on my radar but didn't pull the trigger for in 2025.

Regarding the unripe Rocotos: have you ever seen the slow-mo clips where someone is saying NNNYYYOOOOOOOOOOO and trying to get stop someone from something before it's too late? That's what came to mind when you said you were going to try an unripe Rocoto Just a heads up that (in my limited experience) they taste horrible when unripe, extremely grassy and bitter, and in no way representative of how they taste when fully ripe!

I'm curious how your Honey Badgers will taste-that's some good productivity for this early in the year. Would you say it's the most productive of all the ones you have?

Also, regarding your ERPFH, mine did exactly the same thing last year. It lingered behind the others, dawdling along in the summer heat, and then once it started getting cool at night (low to mid 50's) the damn thing exploded and set about 100 fruit in a few weeks. Check out my GLOG from last year to see photos of that beast in an Adirondack chair. Post #17 shows the photos at the bottom. https://thehotpepper.com/threads/nj...ive-rocoto-heavy-glog-2024.78138/post-1793499

 

[hadanero]

You were not wrong!!!! I should have read your reply before I tried them.

 

[hadanero]

@hadanero everything looks great!! I look forward to hearing how you like the Chile Goronong and Sugar Drop Orange, those are two that have been on my radar but didn't pull the trigger for in 2025.
....
I'm curious how your Honey Badgers will taste-that's some good productivity for this early in the year. Would you say it's the most productive of all the ones you have?

Also, regarding your ERPFH, mine did exactly the same thing last year. It lingered behind the others, dawdling along in the summer heat, and then once it started getting cool at night (low to mid 50's) the damn thing exploded and set about 100 fruit in a few weeks. Check out my GLOG from last year to see photos of that beast in an Adirondack chair. Post #17 shows the photos at the bottom. https://thehotpepper.com/threads/nj...ive-rocoto-heavy-glog-2024.78138/post-1793499

After suffering the unripe Rocoto de Seda and Aji Oro, I'm letting one of the Honey Badger pods ripen on the counter. It's mostly a lovely yellow. I had also tried an unripe pod and it was pleasantly sweet with a hint of heat. (My son thought it was fairly hot, but he's young yet.)

I'm curious if the ripe pod will be hotter. Also, maybe early season is less piquant than later season?

And yes, it's definitely the most productive by pod count, but the pods are much smaller.

 

[NJChilehead]

Also, maybe early season is less piquant than later season?

My anecdotal and very limited experience is the opposite. My first Aji Largos this year were brutal, but either my tolerance has increased or they've calmed down a bit, and my first Rocoto Turbo last year tried to kill me in my kitchen, but as the season progressed they became more user-friendly.

 

[hadanero]

Okay, so after the terrible flavor of the unripe peppers, I'm letting a few of them ripen a bit on the counter. I had one of the smaller honey badger rocotos in this picture with my lunch. There are four of them in the picture, and I ate the small one to the left. It was genuinely sweet and then very hot. I'd say it was a similar heat level to last year's Aji Pineapples, but less aggressive, if that makes sense, and I liked the overall flavor much more. I'm looking forward to trying the large Aji Oro when it finishes ripening up.