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Need first time advice on buying/planting peppers

C

csice

So I'm not exactly a pepper nut, but I have been trying to get into it. I tried to gauge the forum members opinions on some of the better tasting peppers and decided to buy Fatali and pequin seeds; however, not one of them has grown(though that may be in part my fault). Anyhow, I need advice on where to buy them from. I tried to get them from a place that I could get both, but it didn't turn out so well. Now, I would like suggestions on where to get each. I also thought that since this growing season is long gone, that I would try the peppers themselves, so I would also like a place to buy the peppers themselves just so I can give them a try.
 
So in summation, I want a place to buy a pequin and fatali pepper and seeds for each.
 
Lastly, I wanted suggestions on a pepper to use in chili. My recipe calls for habanero and I didn't use it this time as my grandmother would be eating it and I found that it tasted much better with just jalapenos...guess I don't like the habanero aftertaste. Anyhow, the problem is that it is now not spicy enough. So, what pepper could I add that would not change the flavor too much but add some heat? The more readily available, the better. 
 
Thank you guys so much.
 
I think hab for the chili would be about the next readily available step up.
 
Sounds like Grannie likes the heat!
 
Use half of an orange hab and it should be plenty. Remember, just cause you have the whole pepper, doesn't mean you have to use the whole pepper. :P
 
Cayenne is probably the most all-purpose pepper around in the USA. You can get it almost everywhere powdered or flaked and sometimes fresh. Good for a dose of heat without much flavor impact. It's a big step up from Jalapeno in heat per unit weight and it will totally disappear in the rest of the chili flavors.
 
If you can find them, dried red New Mexico varieties are great in chili. Varieties include "Big Jim", "Hatch", and "Numex" though usually you don't see them labeled that way. They come in a variety of heat levels and have a nice flavor perfect for chili. Throw in one or 2 whole dried pods and let them steep.
 
PepperWhisperer said:
Cayenne is probably the most all-purpose pepper around in the USA. You can get it almost everywhere powdered or flaked and sometimes fresh. Good for a dose of heat without much flavor impact. It's a big step up from Jalapeno in heat per unit weight and it will totally disappear in the rest of the chili flavors.
 
If you can find them, dried red New Mexico varieties are great in chili. Varieties include "Big Jim", "Hatch", and "Numex" though usually you don't see them labeled that way. They come in a variety of heat levels and have a nice flavor perfect for chili. Throw in one or 2 whole dried pods and let them steep.
Click to expand...
 
Oh yeah, what he said. :P
I tend to forget about cayennes. Don't like em too much.
 
Habs are typically a citrus/fruity pepper. I can see why ypu would like Jalapenos more in the chilli. Serrano or Thai peppers would be good in chilli and would be just a touch hotter than a Jalapeno. You could also use a tiny little piece of a Naga Jalokia (Ghost Pepper) if you wanted to.

Lots of good seed vendors here. Ive only personally purchased from Jungle Rain.
Pepperlover.com I hear good things about same with Old Barn Nursery. I think both sites sell Chili Peppers as well.
 
Look in the vendor vault, opinions and experiences of members.
 
For Chili----A smoked Bhut is a wonderful thing, as are Boonies (Doni Sali) if you don't like the sweaty sock essence of a Dried, smoked Bhut.
A Cayenne will give you the traditional flavor, but who wants that?
 
You can get both more heat and most of the cayenne flavor out of a Thai Dragon, if you want something not too far into the whole "ring of fire" experience. :fireball:
Roasted and dried, then powdered----use as you would "regular" chili powder.
 
peter_pepper_dri_4eb6b98818c32_140x140.jpg
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peperoncinocajenna961.jpg
 
 
If you have any Mexican stores nearby they often sell dried Pequin peppers, which would be good for this. it`s possible that you could harvest the seeds and try to grow them from the commercially available bags. They will be other dried peppers, too, which do very well in chili recipes.
 
Take the dried chili, shred it while wearing gloves, then fry gently in a small amount of oil until they change colour from dark to light. Drain off oil (or use it for cooking) and put the chili pieces in a bowl of hot (not boiling) water for about 15 minutes. Use the chili as you would fresh. 
 
I`d bet you can find these online as well.
 
If you have asian stores, they often sell fresh Thai chills, which would also work well in this recipre.
 
As for buying seeds/plants, I have had a lot of luck with a variety of people. Jim Duffy at Refining Fire Chilis is excellent for seeds and plants, Judy at Pepperlover is great for seeds, Puckerbutt Pepper Company have always sold me good seeds, Cross Country Nurseries have sold me good plants in the past (closed for that right now), Ford`s Fiery Foods has sold me great plants.
 
PepperDaddler said:
peter_pepper_dri_4eb6b98818c32_140x140.jpg
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25847295-125x125-0-0.jpg
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peperoncinocajenna961.jpg
 
Click to expand...
Hehehe.
Beat up old Mr. Coffee grinder for me.
All small batches, or I would spring for another nice burr grinder.
The one I have is strictly for java bean soup production.
 
Thank you for the tips so far guys, I haven't had any exotic peppers so I appreciate it. My only reasoning for wanting a boring pepper...for the chili at least, is so that I can easily make it year-round.
 
I only brought up Cayenne because you can find it in every grocery store. Ethnic markets are your friend. When in doubt, try it out! If you like the taste of a fresh pepper you bought, save the seeds and grow it. That works for some dried and smoked peppers too, depends on how they dried it. 
 
Check out your local farm stands around harvest time for peppers. You probably won't find anything superhot or exotic, but if you want superhot or exotic, get them here in the forum ads, usually around $18 shipped for a small flat-rate sized box of fresh pods. You can save those seeds for growing out next season. Some of my favorite powders and flakes are found as dried smoked pods in the Mexican isle at Walmart. For under $2 each, I get a bag of smoked pequins and a bag of smoked chile de arbols. I pulse them in my coffee grinder 7 pulses to make flakes and 12 pulses to make powder. That smoky flavor goes in my morning eggs every day.
 
Fataliis and piquins are a pretty ambitious couple of plants to start with---both are kind of tough starts from seed.  There's nothing wrong with ambition, but you might want to plant some easier varieties along with them, sort of as role models.  ("Why can't you be more like the serranos?  THEY poked their cotyledons right up!  Don't you want to grow up like them?  You eat your nitrogen right this second or I'm going to give it to an eggplant!")
 
I've always kind of enjoyed growing a mix of semi-random plants and finding out what peppers worked well for what uses.  The worst that can happen is that I don't like them and end up giving them away at work or something.  Just wander through a vendor's seed list reading the descriptions and let yourself say "well, that sounds interesting".
 
-NT
 
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