Marturos 2024 Glog.

It's that time of the year, cold & gloomy outside, & inside the magic is happening. Those little green pepper plants are pushing up
towards the artificial sun. Who came up first? The early Jalapeño, Serrano, & the Sugar Rush Stripy. A little game we play LOL.

This is the best set up we have ever had before. 4 LED grow lights 2 heating mats, room stays at 66 F at night & 74 F during the day.
With 22 varieties & 50 plants we hope to have a real special grow for the 24 season, with a lot of great tasting peppers.

When I joined THP I had just moved from Fluorescents lights to the new LED lights. Outside everything is about the same, it's the indoor
adventure that has changed for the better. Compact high output grow lights, heating mats instead of heating cables without thermostats
it's a lot of fun once again.

This is my first Glog. Welcome to the ride.

Grow list:

1. Antep Aci Dolma
2. Aji Panca
3. Aji Strawberry drop
4. Sugar Rush Stripy
5. Aji Pineapple
6. Aji Chombo Amarillo
7. Aji Fantasy
8. Pasilla Oaxaca
9. Pasillo Apaseo
10. Pasilla Mixe
11. Chilhuacle Negro
12. Aji Chombo Rojo
13. Aji Rainforest
14. Brazilian Starfish
15. Jamaican Scotch Bonnet
16. Aji Charapita
17. Jigsaw ( ornamental )
18. Poblano Rojo
19. Early Jalapeño
20. Serrano
21. Lesya
22. Datil

 

[NJChilehead]

Indeed we are!

 

[Marturo]

Here are some current pics of the @Downriver Aji Chombo it is the same color as the Baker Creek plants.
So far all I see is the Red Aji Chombo not a yellow. Possibly the seed saver in Panama bought the pods when
they were yellow before they changed to Red. At this time I have found no real info on a Yellow variant.

 

[NJChilehead]

Beautiful!! It would be interesting for you to compare the taste of both side-by-side, to see if there are any minor differences. I've done the side by side thing with different peppers over the years (chocolate habaneros come to mind) and it's always neat, whether there are any differences or not!

 

[Marturo]

The three year old Chiltepin & Pequin are loaded & getting ripe.

This is one of the four Aji Charapitas, 2 in pots for overwintering.

 

[Marturo]

Some things happening around the Homestead. Working everyday putting food back.

Speckles is sitting on 10 eggs. We bought 8 hens 2 died & one became a Roo so make more babies.

 

[NJChilehead]

@Marturo, what kind of watermelon and tomatoes?

 

[Marturo]

@Marturo, what kind of watermelon and tomatoes?

The Watermelons are Sangria F1 & the Red tomato is & Hungarian Heart, the Green are Brandywine Heirlooms.

 

[Marturo]

I have been harvesting some really cool peppers., Thanks too @CaneDog great heirlooms from Mexico & perfect for Mole & salsas.
I plan on deseeding & drying the peppers. More on the way, this is exciting growing these Rare Heirlooms.

Pasilla Oaxaca.

Chilhuacle Negro

Chilhuacle Negro

Pasilla Mixe

Pasilla Mixe

 

[Marturo]

More Colors & flavors coming in everyday. A starfish is ripe. What does it taste like?

The brazilian Starfish, is already 6 feet fall & still growing.
Loaded with pods that turn red, very thick crunchy flesh with a sweet fruity taste, a snaking pepper with very little heat.
It taste like an Aji Rainforest pepper, the Rainforest has more heat. Not a bad pepper just have a 7 foot support for it.

Just a few peppers we picked this morning.

 

[Marturo]

Our first Brandywine tomato it's Short LOL were making Mater sandwiches on Cheese bread, Mayo & salt that is all.

These berries are from the Plants we saved the seed from Baker Creek stock.
Cool thing was the Mother Of All Scotch Bonnets we saved seed from, had a little tail also

 

[Marturo]

I have been watching these for awhile, & now they are ripening.
One Aji Chombo from Baker Creek. They look sorta like, ???

The other Aji Chombo's are pods like this.

 

[Marturo]

Looks like Speckles is gonna have her wings full, the Krackins are hatching 2 outta 10.

Sugar Rush Stripy, 4 plants three shown. These plants are very large & loaded with pods & flowers, so far none have ripened.

The thing about the scotch Bonnet is that it hides it's peppers under that massive leaf cover & then WOW

 

[Marturo]

Antep aci Dolma
A large stuffing pepper with heat the perfect stuffer. This is the first large one, most are large with more of a pointy look.
I would grow it again for stuffing & fresh use.

 

[ahayastani]

Antep aci Dolma

Wow, that's a big one. Mine were perhaps half the size of yours.

 

[Marturo]

Wow, that's a big one. Mine were perhaps half the size of yours.

I have 2 plants with lots of pods & flowers, however this was the biggest so far. I will save seed from this one.
When researching this pepper I saw pics of pods as big as Grapefruits that's a big pepper.

The taste is Sweet bell pepper with low Jalapeño heat level.

 

[Marturo]

Today we are making Salsa & Speckles is having a very busy day so far.
This is one of our favorite times of the year, Salsa making time. No two batches are the same & this season we are putting fresh Mexican drying peppers into our batches for a new taste. Salsa Amarillo with Tomatillos, Salsa Rojo with Brandywine tomatoes, & Salsa Everything with
a mix of ingredients + Aji Charapita & Scotch bonnet 4 that extra kick. Some get fresh garlic & some get roasted Garlic so much great taste.

I ate my first Aji Fantasy this AM no pics I ate it LOL. It was good, very sweet crunchy with very little spice, although the slight burn did last for awhile. We started the plants late however they are now loaded with large green pods, this was the only yellow one so far, & I ate it.
AKA. A true snacking pepper.

Las month we had one of the wettest times, our routines for Spraying & feeding were totally interrupted. Many tomatoes cracked open when ripening & cucumbers had a washed out taste. This month so far has been much dryer with a lot more sunshine, I hope it stays that way for awhile.

 

[Marturo]

It's late summer & the monsoons have quit for awhile, everything is changing color.
Other than trading my upper 80s F for mid 70s F the peppers are loaded & thriving.

Here are some pics we took today real soon it will become crazy, so just sit back & enjoy the pictures.

Lesya, makes great Pimentos.

SRS. Lower pods starting to change it's slow.

Three SRS plants over 5' tall I have 2 4' stakes for each plant, they are massive & loaded.

Aji Pineapple.

Serrano.

All 9 pants are loaded with bonnets.

Aji Strawberry.

Aji Rainforest.

9 Scotch bonnet plants. What was I thinking? LOL.

Brazilian Starfish.

Pasilla Mixe.

Chilhuacle Negro.

Pasilla Oaxaca.

Early Jalapeño.

Aji Charapita. WE have 4 of these. Ever pick these things? They are small.

 

[MarcV]

Yeah... who the h*ll grows 9 scotch bonnet plants! That's ridiculous!

 

[Downriver]

Plants are lookin great! BIG pick is just around the corner.

 

[Marturo]

Plants are lookin great! BIG pick is just around the corner.

Thanks to @Downriver we have Aji Pineapple & Sugar Rush Stripey plants with hundreds of pods yet to come.
Growing over 60 pepper plants has proven to me, I need professional help. I've known that for awhile LOL.

A few things I have realised over the past few grows.
I like frozen fresh peppers better than dried ones.
You can use fresh pasilla, Chilhuacle & other of that type peppers for Salsas with Tomatillo or Tomato base taste very fruity.
The longer time & lower heat you dry your peppers with, the more flavor & color they retain.
So much more.

This is my first Glog & I could not have progressed so far without my friends here @ THP. Thank you all.