It's never too early to get started!

Sooo... 2022 season is over and most of my 2023 plants are already there - no reason not to start a new thread already!

See my previous glog... https://thehotpepper.com/threads/2022-too-early-to-get-started.75362/

While all my current plants are technically overwinterers, only a couple have grown through the 2022 season and are considered interesting enough to keep for next seasons grow.

Let's start with the famous Schneider farms SB plant, which will be going into it's third season in 2023. It currently doesn't look all that nice but that was also the case during the winter of 2021 so no worries here...

Top view:

Next in row is my Scotch Brains plant...

Top view:

And then there's the Humble Servants Homestead (HSH) SB, which was also elected to stay for next season...

Top view:

 

[Marturo]

. Unfortunately, US customs would not allow that to be shipped to the US. They have a thing about seeds entering the country

Send your friends a

card with special wishes inside.

 

[NJChilehead]

I did a little taste test this week, putting 2 different scotch bonnet varieties on a pizza. One half was topped with a Papa Dreadie SB, the other half was topped with a HSH SB. There was a clear color difference before the pizza went in the oven but when I took it out again, the halves looked virtually the same. Taste and heat were clearly different though. The Papa Dreadie half was clearly hotter and with a more pungent taste that the HSH half. I preferred the Papa Dreadie half for the heat but the taste of the HSH was nicer.
All in all, this was a hot pizza!

Scotch bonnets on pizza are about the most addictive combo that I've found so far!

 

[MarcV]

I ordered 2 of these kits. Even then the shipping costs (€20) are more that the cost of the actual goods... Now it is waiting untill it arrives...

Expected to arrive today...

 

[MarcV]

The package arrived in the mean time

The contents of the kit...

• two peat pellets
• sachet with seeds
• growing instructions

I haven't opened the seed sachet yet, but keeping it against the light reveals that there must be 20 or so seeds inside.

And, just in case you don't know how to grow peppers from seed, here are some instructions for you!

 

[MarcV]

Send your friends a

card with special wishes inside.

Done!

 

[MarcV]

A nice harvest of jeromin peppers . They actually taste quite nice and sweet! There's only a little heat though...

 

[MarcV]

And there's the first hook from the jaranda seeds!

 

[ahayastani]

I see that you're already at ~15ºC at the moment, almost tempting to start growing outside.

 

[MarcV]

Yes it felt like spring outside, I measured up to 19.6°C today. But these temperatures aren't going to last unfortunately... (or maybe that's a good thing? it's only February...)

 

[wiicek]

Omg, you have winter harvests there! That is so nice

 

[MarcV]

It's been a while since I posted a proper update. And your reaction at the end of this post may be like... "that's it?"...
Yes, that's it. That's all there is after getting started so early. It's never too early to get started but because the growing season at that point is still far away, it's never too late to change your mind also. And I'm known for that...

As I don't have the growing space that some of you do have, I need to carefully select the plants that I want to grow. And I've always been saying that I should grow less plants. Not only because of grow space but also... there's always a couple of varieties that I don't like. I can ignore the plants and/or give the peppers away. But if I have to donate half of my harvest to my colleagues at work for instance, I don't think that's the right way to go. Better reduce the number of plants and stick with the varieties that I know I like.

So here we go...
The yellow 7pot brain strain (texas hot peppers):

Papa Dreadie G2-2018...
In the end I only kept one seedling because I also still have the overwintered PD and these plants are VERY productive so no need for more...

The overwintered Papa Dreadie G2-2018 is starting to grow again...

Humble Servants Homestead (HSH) scotch bonnets...
Kept 2 seedlings and discarded the overwintered plant as it started looking worse over time...

And then I have 3 Schneider Farms scotch bonnet plants. At first I did not want to grow this bonnet in the 2025 season but like already said it's never too late to change your mind. I did however have quite some issues with germination of this variety and had to start over a couple of times. That's why these are way behind the other plants.
Two seedlings are from White Hot Peppers, the 3rd one is from Texas Hot Peppers. I wanted to know if there would be any difference. I know that, when I first grew the WHP Schneider, it was hot like other SBs but the last couple of seasons the WHP Schneider was way milder that the other SBs. That can be a good thing but not if you're after the heat. Hence a comparison...

And that's all for the chinense varieties! The other 7pot members of the brainstrain family got cancelled. I had to be realistic. I could never put all that heat to good use, they would be too hot for sharing with colleagues and they would probably end up on a compost pile. The yellow one I did find a good use for in my jams but even only one plant produces too many for this purpose.

And then the annuums... I only have 2 right now...
The Jeromín:
All peppers are harvested and seeds are collected . I topped it again so it can start over in the actual growing season...

The Zapotec Jalapeño:
Topped also to keep it a bit short. About to start flowering...

And that is really it. The Jaranda that I recently received the seeds for will probably be my next winter grow (didn't continue the seedling that recently came up).

I still have something hidden that hasn't germinated yet. It's really nothing special actually... It's from a free seed pack that came with a recent seed order from WHP. I'm not going to talk about it for now as I might still decide not to continue with it.

And yes, there are so many other varieties that I would like to give a try. Thinking about the baker creek SB, madame jeanette, fatalii, aji margariteño, yellow moruga scorpion, SB7J, 7pot burgundi... and maybe one or two baccatums? Already looking forward to 2026... that season starts in September I believe but this season I want to keep it simple.

 

[SatanicFlatIron]

Yes, that's it. That's all there is after getting started so early. It's never too early to get started but because the growing season at that point is still far away, it's never too late to change your mind also. And I'm known for that...

I appreciate your wisdom. Today I was saying to myself: I feel like I'm on vacation, because I don't have to do anything anymore except wait!
I started the season sharing your motto, then in the middle I thought I started much too early, but now I'm happy again for having anticipated the times. And changing your mind is always positive to be able to grow

And I've always been saying that I should grow less plants.

it's always like this...

and maybe one or two baccatums?

maybe it's my favorite species, do you never grow them?

 

[MarcV]

I grew baccatums a couple several seasons ago, I believe it was 2017... does time fly or what? I remember that the plants grew huge, pods took ages to ripen and I wasn't especially thrilled by the taste. But in the mean time I have evolved and I should give them another try

Here's a shot of my baccatums from that season. This was taken in July, plants weren't at their maximum size yet. I don't exactly remember what varieties I had growing, but there was aji lemon drop, aji cito, aji pineapple, aji fantasy and sugar rush peach. The one in the front is an annuum and in the rear corner is a pubescens.

 

[Bou]

Are you planning to try new varieties this time or stick to the ones mentioned above?

 

[MarcV]

I think I will probably stick to some sugar rush variety, even if they take long to ripen...