maxcaps 2014 grow: avoiding the freeze!

Hello All,
 
New here, but feeling right at home. I figured I'd go ahead and get my glog started, though I may wait a few weeks yet before starting anything.
 
I'm pretty new, not totally new. I had a small grow last year, mostly in containers, bringing up plants that I hoped would make cool overwinter bonsai's (bonchi's). I ordered a handful of different varieties from http://fataliiseeds.net, all  95% of which sprouted nicely, though something must have gone wrong because many never grew true leaves. I think my house was too cold... I've moved now and now have an excellent heating system. I also kept the seeds by a window that I think got too drafty. 
 
I did have a handful of chinenses survive, including a wonderful Red Habanero from fataliiseeds, and some chiero roxa plants that produced a handful of tasty purple pods. I purchased some local Scotch Bonnett starts from a small scale nursery, and grew jalapeños and serrano starts from a local nursery. It's safe to say I am now addicted, as all these fire worked its way into my family's weekly diet. I have a 12'X8' plot begging for plants, and I may do some extra in containers...
 
Enough background. Here's the plan. As jalapeños (salsa, roasted, and canned) are not a staple, I want to grow a handful of varieties. The chinenses have amazing flavors, so I'm going to branch out with two or three new varieties (though sadly I did not save any scotch bonnet seeds from the last season... what is wrong with me?). Last year I tried some super hot varieties... none lived. I am going to try again! I actually ordered most of these seeds before stumbling upon this wonderful community. In any event, here is the lineup:
 
Chinenses:
 
Red Habanero (seeds kept and OW bonchi (thanks fatalii)
Chiero Roxa (seeds kept, may use OW bonchi, haven't decided)
Scotch Bonnett (forgot to keep seeds, but I can replant OW bonchi)
White Habanero (seeds from Pepper Joe, should arrive soon...)
Chocolate Habanero (seeds from Pepper Joe, should also arrive soon)
Fatali (from pepperlover.com)
Big Sun Habernero (from pepperlover)
 
Superhot Chinenses:
 
Carolina Reaper (seeds from PuckerButt)
Naga Morich (seeds from PuckerButt)
Bhut Jolokia (seeds from PuckerButt)
Dorset Naga (seeds from PuckerButt)
7 pod (from pepperlover.com)
 
Other Superhot:
 
Tiepin (seeds from PuckerButt)
 
Annuums:
 
Poblanos (from Pepper Joe... growing to Acho's to use as powder base)
Giant Jalapeño (from Pepper Joe)
Early Jalapeño (from Pepper Joe)
Black Jalapeño (from Pepper Joe)
Purple Jalapeño (from Pepper Joe)
Fresno Pepper (from Pepper Joe)
 
Wish I had found you guys sooner, I'd have added some douglah's to the list. I am also on the fence about adding a couple more chinense varieties. 
 
Also growing some companions. Planning on putting in a couple tomato plants, garlic, cilantro, and carrots (had a lot of luck with tasty fat purple carrots... atomic purple I think they were called)
 
Will post some picks of my OW bonchi's tomorrow, and start going into techniques. On the fence about coffee-filter germination versus sowing in a tray.

 

[HillBilly Jeff]

Sharp looking Neyde Cross.  Mine looked great in the grow room and have fizzled out in the garden.  Basically gave up on them.
 
Powder is looking top notch too!!!

 

[tctenten]

Adam that powder looks great.  How did you like the cherry wood flavor?  When I make powder I use a Magic Bullet, it seems to do a better job than when I use a food processor.  Either way the flavors are still there.

 

[stickman]

Good on Jason for sharin' the love, and the smoked powder you made looks very tasty! You might want to see if you can find toasted sesame oil at an Asian market near you... that does a great job for hot chile oil. If the flavor's too strong, you can thin it by cutting with another type of oil. Keep on truckin' Adam!

 

[GA Growhead]

A brave man you are Adam!
That reaper x bbg7 cross is no joke!

The Pimenta De Neyde x Naga Suomi sounds like the other pheno in heat. Very eatable. The are F3 by the info given and those came from the green leafed plant.

Ate your yellow brainstrain tonight with pizza. I like yellow pods or powder with pizza. It had some heat. Enough that my beer wouldn't put out, but I kept trying.

That pod had a hint of that tropical banana smell I love. It wasn't overly pronounced, but it was there. Great flavor was there!
Also ate the larger jalapeños. Didn't have any heat. ? You know which one that is?

Glad we could swap some pods.

 

[maximumcapsicum]

Sharp looking Neyde Cross.  Mine looked great in the grow room and have fizzled out in the garden.  Basically gave up on them.
 
Powder is looking top notch too!!!

 
Thanks HJeff! That is what 2015 is for, am I right?
 

Adam that powder looks great.  How did you like the cherry wood flavor?  When I make powder I use a Magic Bullet, it seems to do a better job than when I use a food processor.  Either way the flavors are still there.

 
Thanks man! Yeah the food processor is old but it's what I have. With a little luck in a couple weeks I'll be able to splurge on something more grindy. The cherry wood smelled great on the grill, but it's very very subtle in the powder itself. I think I'd like to give it a little more time in the future, but that's a tough roll with my current infrastructure.
 

Good on Jason for sharin' the love, and the smoked powder you made looks very tasty! You might want to see if you can find toasted sesame oil at an Asian market near you... that does a great job for hot chile oil. If the flavor's too strong, you can thin it by cutting with another type of oil. Keep on truckin' Adam!

 
Yeah Jason has really been a help. Provided about half my seeds and tons of advice when we met up at the beginning of the year. THP is an amazing community with tons of helpful folks. Hopefully I'll be able to reciprocate as I can.
 
Good to know on the sesame oil. I've seen in around... I'll give it a taste and let you know what I think. Bottleneck lately has been time, as always.
 

A brave man you are Adam!
That reaper x bbg7 cross is no joke!

The Pimenta De Neyde x Naga Suomi sounds like the other pheno in heat. Very eatable. The are F3 by the info given and those came from the green leafed plant.

Ate your yellow brainstrain tonight with pizza. I like yellow pods or powder with pizza. It had some heat. Enough that my beer wouldn't put out, but I kept trying.

That pod had a hint of that tropical banana smell I love. It wasn't overly pronounced, but it was there. Great flavor was there!
Also ate the larger jalapeños. Didn't have any heat. ? You know which one that is?

Glad we could swap some pods.

 
It's a delicious pod man. Balanced and rich. The de neyde cross was indeed quite eatable... I imagine it'd even fry up real nice. In India they make wonderful chili pakoras, mostly out of a serrano-like annuum. Sell them on the street for $.25 a bag. Delcious.
 
Haha, I'm glad the brainstrain challenged a master. I still haven't tasted banana... got to keep trying. Sometimes tasting these supers is a little like trying to read the front license plate number on a semi that's about to run you over. Once that heat kicks in it's all about survival.
 
The larger jalapenos are Pepper Joe's Giant Jalapenos. They indeed have very little heat, even red. I've had a couple that were completely mild as well, though I have to be careful because I taste no heat on a pepper, then I have someone else try it and it lights them up, then they'll never trust me again.

 

[GA Growhead]

Lol. I can use the misses for that. No heat to me, and she will tell me there is a some. She even said those had no heat. There already are many people, around me, that are still scared of a pepper when I say it's not that hot.

The banana is in the scent, not the taste from the yellow brains. Next time you cut one open, smell for it. Tropical banana dream. I do love the taste of those. That pod was warm, with a great burn!
I was eating it with a pizza, fresh out of the oven, cause i was starving, which sensed way hotter with the yellow brain heat kicked in. The sauce felt like molten lava with even bite.
I still haven't tried the green PDN x Naga yet. I have been tackling your pods instead. Thank you again kind sir!

 

[stickman]

 
Good to know on the sesame oil. I've seen in around... I'll give it a taste and let you know what I think. Bottleneck lately has been time, as always.
 
Haha, I'm glad the brainstrain challenged a master. I still haven't tasted banana... got to keep trying. Sometimes tasting these supers is a little like trying to read the front license plate number on a semi that's about to run you over. Once that heat kicks in it's all about survival.

 
Cool... bear in mind that sesame oil can be sold toasted or untoasted (the seeds before pressing out the oil)... untoasted has a lighter, more delicate flavor and toasted is much darker and has a deeper flavor. Like the Koreans, I prefer toasted sesame oil.
 
That's quite the word picture of tasting supers... Lol! And so true. Cheers!

 

[Spicegeist]

The contrast of the placenta in that pod is crazy!  Holy cow

Ok, and the Neyde cross is with Naga Suomi?  That must be one of mine too... It is F1, so if you grow out the seed in those pods you'll see a few plants that'll put out dark pods...

 

[annie57]

Gorgeous pods and powder looks , Adam! Great review of the brain. Dang, man . . . I hate cap cramps. But no; they won't kill ya; just make wish dead, for me. "One last bite." lol And true on Jason's BG cross. I still taste the BG sweetness and tad more heat. Have you had his Brown Butlah yet? That one's like trying to read a blank plate on vehicle aflame, coming head-on. I'd love for somebody to just try to review it for taste. (Does it have a taste?) Also, given rain, I think more flowers, more pods headed ya way! We had 2 solid days of lower temps and deary consistent rain here, and now I see, just looking, more pods turning, more tomatoes to begin processing Tuesday.   Wish one of the local Italian folks in Valdese would lend me, an O.M.R.A., ya know the mater processors on stands, electric? Cost over 500 bucks? Not happening. I called my aunt and she said, "No." I promised her sauce and she said, "No." (Then, again, she might be afraid I'd process peppers w/it. )

 

[Devv]

Good deal meeting up with Jason and exchanging pods Adam.
 
Nice reviews too!

 

[HillBilly Jeff]

So right.  Wish there were members closer to me.  Sounds like a blast hooking up with a member and talking peppers.

 

[maximumcapsicum]

So right.  Wish there were members closer to me.  Sounds like a blast hooking up with a member and talking peppers.

 
Hey man, next time you're in the deep south let's make it happen. Or next time I head up to Chicago... just need the stars to align and we'll make it happen.
 

Good deal meeting up with Jason and exchanging pods Adam.
 
Nice reviews too!

 
Thanks Scott! I just work through 'em as quick as I can... just trying to stay in front of the fungus. I am loath to put 'em in the fridge (won't that mess up the seeds?). Also working to keep the seeds separate. I am still burning from those jigsaws you sent me, and that lemon is one of my favorite discoveries of the season. So much to work with in the pepper world.
 

Gorgeous pods and powder looks , Adam! Great review of the brain. Dang, man . . . I hate cap cramps. But no; they won't kill ya; just make wish dead, for me. "One last bite." lol And true on Jason's BG cross. I still taste the BG sweetness and tad more heat. Have you had his Brown Butlah yet? That one's like trying to read a blank plate on vehicle aflame, coming head-on. I'd love for somebody to just try to review it for taste. (Does it have a taste?) Also, given rain, I think more flowers, more pods headed ya way! We had 2 solid days of lower temps and deary consistent rain here, and now I see, just looking, more pods turning, more tomatoes to begin processing Tuesday.   Wish one of the local Italian folks in Valdese would lend me, an O.M.R.A., ya know the mater processors on stands, electric? Cost over 500 bucks? Not happening. I called my aunt and she said, "No." I promised her sauce and she said, "No." (Then, again, she might be afraid I'd process peppers w/it. )

 
Thanks Annie! The cramps are rough. Enough yogurt calms 'em down it seems. What's weird is my ears have started poppin. I think "it didn't seem so hot when I ate it, the heat came later" means it was so hot my mouth went instantly numb, lol, and it was my throat and stomach that gave me the subsequent lecture. Live and learn. 
 
We had those cool temps as well. Dipped down to the low 60's the other night. A bunch of rain, but so far no pods are splitting. I may need to start harvesting more frequently to avoid the water damage. Really gives the jals a nice flavor though... they seem to soak up a ton of water and infuse it with delicious jaliness.
 

The contrast of the placenta in that pod is crazy!  Holy cow

Ok, and the Neyde cross is with Naga Suomi?  That must be one of mine too... It is F1, so if you grow out the seed in those pods you'll see a few plants that'll put out dark pods...

 
Ooo. Sounds exciting. Hopefully I'll be able to double quadruple my growing space next season. I'd love to see some dark pods too. Great crosses man.
 
My ears are still popping from that reaper cross.
 

 
Cool... bear in mind that sesame oil can be sold toasted or untoasted (the seeds before pressing out the oil)... untoasted has a lighter, more delicate flavor and toasted is much darker and has a deeper flavor. Like the Koreans, I prefer toasted sesame oil.
 
That's quite the word picture of tasting supers... Lol! And so true. Cheers!

 
Callin' it how I taste it. Got run over by another one just a couple hours ago. I bet the toasted oil is better... I tend to go for the complicated, bolder flavors... sometimes I have trouble reading the "delicate" flavors... with olive oils anyway. 
 

Lol. I can use the misses for that. No heat to me, and she will tell me there is a some. She even said those had no heat. There already are many people, around me, that are still scared of a pepper when I say it's not that hot.

The banana is in the scent, not the taste from the yellow brains. Next time you cut one open, smell for it. Tropical banana dream. I do love the taste of those. That pod was warm, with a great burn!
I was eating it with a pizza, fresh out of the oven, cause i was starving, which sensed way hotter with the yellow brain heat kicked in. The sauce felt like molten lava with even bite.
I still haven't tried the green PDN x Naga yet. I have been tackling your pods instead. Thank you again kind sir!

 
Oh man, that sounds great! Pizza night around here is Wednesday, though I've been dumping sauces on pizza lately. I got through another 3 or 4 pods today. Just one super of course. You got some very nice tasting fresh pods right there. Forgetting the name of that other red super you gave me though. Will post reviews shortly.

 

[Devv]

As an experiment I saved seeds from frozen JA Habs, I'll bet they sprout. In the wild the seeds have to go through winter.

 

[GA Growhead]

The other red super was probably the other reaper/bbg7 cross. It's more like the moruga side in the bbg7 mixed with the reaper.
I have refrigerated pods and seeds germinated fine. I have four plants from seeds out of frozen pods. Low germ rate but a few popped.

 

[HillBilly Jeff]

Sounds great.  If you do make it up this way, give me enough notice to pull some weeds lol

 

[maximumcapsicum]

As an experiment I saved seeds from frozen JA Habs, I'll bet they sprout. In the wild the seeds have to go through winter.

 
Yeah I know they can tolerate some cold. As a matter of fact some cold is supposed to be good for 'em. So let's hope...
 

The other red super was probably the other reaper/bbg7 cross. It's more like the moruga side in the bbg7 mixed with the reaper.
I have refrigerated pods and seeds germinated fine. I have four plants from seeds out of frozen pods. Low germ rate but a few popped.

 
Tried it a couple days ago. Hot, sweet pod. Definitely reaper genes in there. Starting to become very familiar with that sting, though as a powder it just seems to become pure heat.
 

Sounds great.  If you do make it up this way, give me enough notice to pull some weeds lol

 
Will do bud! Let's see how the vacation days fall.
 
Wow, so much going on. I looked at my glog update folder and had too many pictures for a post! So I whittled the picture list down to the newest content and here it goes. 
 
They sold about two pounds of my peppers at a farmer's market this week. Little sample bags, seemed to go like hot cakes. Mostly tobago treasures, but a couple of roxa pods too. I am thinking if they sell a couple more they'll waive my garden fees for the next season. In any event it's spreading the peppers around. People need to eat more peppers, so I'm on board for that.
 
Over the past week or so I've been trying tons of peppers. So many that I lost a bunch of review notes. Here are some of the peppers Jason kicked my way. 
 

 
CGN 23257. Jason left me a handful of pods. They have a very similar color to the roxas, though the shape is completely different. The taste of these pods is divine. Low heat. I'd say on the jalapeno level for a chinense. Tons of sweetness, that familiar cherry taste and a little bit of honey. This is a salad pepper.
 

 
Same deal here. Datil/Bahamian Goat cross. I was expecting more heat on these, but they were milder than the CGN 23257. Peachy color, and peachy taste. Again, very sweet. Juicy. I think they'd pair well with almost any tropical fruit. Neither of these peppers has any of the chinese floralness of the yellow/orange pods.
 

 
Name of this guy slipped my mind. It's white, with a taste like a sweet pepper. Great texture and crunch, with all kinds of delicate notes. I could see eating a cup of these a day as a snack.
 
So many peppers, and only three meals in a day!
 

 
Long Orange Thai. As you can see I followed up the CGN 23257's with this guy. Nice, citrusy annuum. Low heat. I passed these out at the market for anyone who would trust me enough to try something.
 
Now for the big guns.
 

 
The other reaper/bb7 pheno. As you can probably guess, this was a heavy hitter. Tons of heat in this guy. I only made it through the bottom third or so of the pod. Interestingly it burned the front of the mouth... went easy on the throat/stomach. A nice break after my week of supers. Flavor was reaper... balanced and rich, with all those sour sweet flavors that seem to come with the red super territory. Didn't get any cinnamon off this guy though. Nice, meaty pod for a reaper.
 

 
I was scarred of this one. Brown Doughlah from Jason. I went very easy on it.
 

 
Following Rick's lead I ate a bit of yogurt before eating this one. That really cuts down on the throat/stomach burn. This is a mean pod, but it wasn't as bad as that second chocolate moruga I tried some time back. The flavor was very complicated... dry, sandy, woody, but in a good way. The olive oil and coffee tasters would call it "bold." Interestingly, the brownness of the pod was uniform through the flesh... other's I've had were a little red toward the interior. 
 
After the initial munch, my tongue and lips were on fire. Am intense burn, like a swarm of fiery bees were running laps on the tip of my tongue, stinging every time they passed go. I closed my eyes and waited for it to pass. I chased it with some carrots, but didn't have to run to the ice cream. An no cap cramps... thanks Rick!
 
That was a ton of pod reviews! Yikes. My notes are getting jumbled. As an aside, I popped open Rick's Balaz's no boil pickled jal rings and they were pretty fantastic. I'm going to compare them to some rings that I processed and see how they work. The allspice and whole black peppercorns infuse the jals with tons of happiness.
 
So I added them to some tobago treasures, bahamian goats, and big sun habs for some tasty chinese pickles.
 

 
I also tried a ferment again, this time being more careful to filter out my milk solids. The other ferment smells good, so I have high hopes. 
 
Finally got to the hydroponics store too. Jason's CGN 23257 got some new shoes.
 

 
That's all folks. Garden, harvest shots next time around!

 

[tctenten]

Another round of great reviews. I processed some Jalapeños using Rick's Balaz's recipe as well. They were great and still had a nice crunch. I will definitely do another batch and I am also going to try it with some cherry peppers as well.

 

[HillBilly Jeff]

Congrats on selling some peppers and some great reviews.  Hope you get your fees waved next season!!!

 

[OCD Chilehead]

Thanks for another informative post. As Jeff said, great reviews. Hope your ferment takes. The pepper rings sound delicious.

Great glog.

 

[Ragnar]

Liking all the pod reviews in here! Great work, and your grow is looking fantastic!