NJChilehead's Semi-Retroactive Rocoto-Heavy GLOG 2024

This past season was too good to not have at least started a GLOG! A little late in the game for 2024, but here goes!

In the fall of 2023, I decided to break out of my old habits of growing the same C. chinense types (which I've been growing for over 10 years) and rotate in some Hungarian Wax Peppers for pickled banana pepper rings (my son loves them) and also some Sugar Rush Peach just to get the C. baccatum back into the rotation after not growing them since growing some back in about 2015. I also wanted to try the Yellow Scotch Brains after reading so much good stuff about it, plus save seeds from my original Trinidad Scorpion seed line (that I shared with Butch T and eventually went on to win the Guinness Book of World Records). My original list looked like this:

Hot Sunset Hybrid (banana pepper type)
Shishito
Sugar Rush Peach
Antillais Caribbean Habanero
Caribbean Red Habanero
Jamaican Hot Chocolate
Yellow Scotch Brains
Yellow Scotch Bonnet (Baker Creek) (2 plants)
Scotch Bonnet, Big Sun (failed)
Trinidad Scorpion

After looking this over, I felt that something was missing. I wanted to push myself out of my comfort zone, and it dawned on me that maybe I should try to grow some C. pubescens. I remember years ago how people would throw their hands up in frustration with them, and looking back over my notes in 2005, I actually did try to grow them and failed. So I made this thread: https://thehotpepper.com/threads/questions-about-growing-c-pubescens.77436/

With thanks to the generosity of quite a few members on there sharing tidbits, I came up with a loose plan to try to grow a C. pubescens. My endeavor was to grow them and get to taste at least one ripe fruit from it. I figured if I could do that, I'd call it successful. Worst that could happen? I fail and learn.

Following @CaneDog 's recommendation of looking into Semillas La Palma as a source, I ordered Rocoto Turbo, Rocoto de Seda, and Ecuadorian Red Pepper from Hell. I figured since so many issues arise with germinating them, I would hope for the best and just grow the ones that germinated.

On March 12th, I started pepper seeds for the 13 varieties using the paper towel method of seed starting. By March 22nd, all types had germinated, including all three Rocoto types, which surprised me. To be continued! (attached pic for GLOG cover).

 

[NJChilehead]

As the radicles emerged from the seeds, I transferred them to small growing cells with FoxFarm Happy Frog soil and kept them under grow lights. My other peppers must have felt a bit neglected as they were growing, because I never photographed any of the other types as they grew, only the Rocotos (about every 3-4 weeks). As they continued to grow, so did my fascination with them.

Photos from 3-27-24, ERPFH:

Rocoto de Seda:

Rocoto Turbo:

Photos from 4-25-24, ERPFH (with a little sunscald from a foolish mistake):

Rocoto de Seda:

Rocoto Turbo:

A photo from May 15th, 2024, showing the Happy Rocotos in their larger cups. I had given away the extras to garden-savvy friends who promptly killed them.

 

[NJChilehead]

On May 19th, all peppers except the Rocotos and Trinidad Scorpion were transplanted into the raised bed garden in my yard.

After some thought, I decided to try all three Rocoto types, and to keep a copy of each (6 total of 3 types: Turbo, de Seda and ERPFH). One copy of each was transplanted into 7-gallon fabric grow bags. I decided on tan grow bags instead of black to keep the roots cooler in the heat of summer. The other three Rocotos, as well as the Trinidad Scorpion, were transplanted into 5 gallon pots that I've had for many years. For the soil, I used Espoma organic potting soil, Coast of Maine compost, worm castings, some of my own compost, and some HP Promix garden soil (yellow bag) that I had left over from my fig cuttings experiment over the winter, plus added some Espoma garden-tone to it. I used at least 30% compost in the mix, plus the worm castings and garden tone to boost soil biota early on!

The pepper bed, from left to right, top row to bottom: Hot Sunset Hybrid, Shishito, Sugar Rush Peach - Antillais Caribbean, Jamaican Hot Chocolate, Caribbean Red Habanero - Scotch Bonnet (Baker Creek (2 plants), Yellow Scotch Brains.

The pepper bed in the bottom left, to the right is the tomato bed (Sweet Aperitif, Snow White, Paul Robeson (2 plants). In the background are two beds with watermelon (Gold-in Gold Hybrid, Blacktail Mountain).

The Rocotos in the grow bags, taken 5-20-24. Left to right Turbo, de Seda, ERPFH

A check in of the potted plants on 6-11-24, coming along nicely. From L to R EPRFH, Turbo, de Seda:

6-11-24 check in of the grow bag Rocotos. The potted plant on the left is the Trinidad Scorpion. The potted plants in the photo above were kept in morning sun only on the side of the house (5 hours sun a day, tops) whereas these were in full afternoon sun starting about 12:30-1 pm. As it got hotter out, it became clearly evident that these don't like heat or full sun. I was forewarned of this but wondered if they would tolerate it at temps under 90 degrees. They really didn't like it.

A check in of the potted plants two weeks after (on 6-26-24) showed nice growth and flowering!

More to come!

 

[NJChilehead]

July was a good month! This year I tried a 30% shade cloth on the garden beds for the first time. It definitely increased fruit set on the peppers, although can't say the same for the tomatoes (in fact I think it held them back a bit). I will definitely use the shade cloth again next year for the peppers. While the Rocotos were lingering and not growing much in the shade, the other plants were doing really well:

Sugar Rush Peach flower:

Sugar Rush Peach peppers:

Caribbean Red Habanero:

Yellow Scotch Bonnet (Baker Creek):

Trinidad Scorpion, nice and healthy in a pot and showing multiple fruit per node:

Trinidad Scorpion:

It became a nightly ritual for me to go outside at night with a flashlight and pick the Asiatic beetles off of my plants and put them in a bowl of soap. The neighbors must have thought I was losing it because every night I'd be out there trouncing around with a flashlight. I got a bowl like this every night for the first few nights, then the numbers dwindled to less than 10 per night for a few weeks. They really favored my peppers and sweet potatoes and almost defoliated my Scotch Brains. There was also an orb weaver (Neoscona crucifera) that set up in my tomatoes, she was beautiful and actually helped with the beetles (as did the harvestmen spiders, to my surprise). Unfortunately no good pics of her. She eventually disappeared, maybe a bird or mud dauber got her. When my older son was about 5, we used to watch one spin her web in the evenings after dinner. She became known as 'spider buddy' and created a lot of excitement. It brought back happy memories while I sat and watched this one do the same.

My cherry tomatoes. First pic (red) are the Sweet Aperitif. They are delicious! The second pic (white) are Snow White. The shoulders are still a little green in the ones in the picture, but once they are fully ripe, they are really special. Next year I'm going to rotate in some Sungolds, they're really a nice cherry tomato.

I tried my hand at growing purple sweet potatoes this year. It really surprised me how easy they are to sprout and root, and how many slips you can get. I'm barely joking when I say that you could feed a small army with the slips from one sweet potato.

I also grow carnivorous plants. Here's an assortment of North American pitcher plants (Sarracenia) in bloom. These plants are voracious. By September, these pitchers are filled an average of 1/2 to 3/4 of the way to the top with the carcasses of dead insects. Really amazing.

The mouth of Sarracenia Leucophylla:

Back to the peppers, I did a test run of a pepper jelly recipe with some red scotch bonnets that I picked up from a local farmer's market (the famous Trenton Farmer's Market, where I first picked up the Scotch Bonnet, TFM). The jelly came out good!!

Thanks for looking!

 

[MarcV]

I first thought those bugs were apple seeds...

 

[CaneDog]

Good stuff, NJC! I would love to grow sweet potatoes here, but our climate doesn't pump out enough heat to make that work very well.

 

[NJChilehead]

Good stuff, NJC! I would love to grow sweet potatoes here, but our climate doesn't pump out enough heat to make that work very well.

I'm not even sure that mine are going to make it to the end, but looking forward to seeing how it goes! The thing that I'm not looking forward to is putting them through the curing process. Looks like a process that takes very very specific conditions that I'm not sure I can replicate here (but I'll try).

I first thought those bugs were apple seeds...

That would have been much preferred. Those little buggers are a pain in the neck.

 

[NJChilehead]

August was a good month! The really hot days of July were behind us, and even though the heat was still there, it wasn't as extreme, and we started getting some slightly cooler nights.

I made some batches of banana peppers from my Hot Sunset Hybrid:

The plants loaded up nicely and I got some ripe peppers. Yellow Scotch Bonnet (Baker Creek):

Trinidad Scorpion:

Antillais Caribbean-loaded!

My Jamaican Hot Chocolate is a real workhorse. It reliably pumps out plenty of hot, chocolate-colored fruit through the summer. A really nice variety.

Sugar Rush Peach, starting to ripen (finally!)

This was my first year growing Yellow Scotch Brains. Wow! So productive and delicious! Will become a staple in my garden!

Yellow Scotch Brains fruit. These are absolutely delicious. They have the fruity taste of a scotch bonnet and the citrus taste and heat of a fatalii. Such a great pepper!

A little harvest here and there:

As mentioned above, the Rocotos lingered through the summer. They didn't look too bad but didn't set any fruit either. Later in the second week of August, we had an unusual cold spell. The nighttime lows dropped into the low 50's at night, and on the morning of 8/21, I went outside and found two fruit that had set on my Ecuadorian Red Pepper from Hell. I was elated, as I had mentioned above I've never grown Rocotos before so didn't know what to expect. Below are the pics from 8/21.

 

[Downriver]

I'm not even sure that mine are going to make it to the end, but looking forward to seeing how it goes! The thing that I'm not looking forward to is putting them through the curing process. Looks like a process that takes very very specific conditions that I'm not sure I can replicate here (but I'll try).

If you're referring to the "high" curing temp (85F) at this time of year, I've heard where folks will put freshly dug sweet potatoes in their vehicle, with the windows rolled up. All you need then is a little sunshine for a week or so. Just a thought.

 

[NJChilehead]

If you're referring to the "high" curing temp (85F) at this time of year, I've heard where folks will put freshly dug sweet potatoes in their vehicle, with the windows rolled up. All you need then is a little sunshine for a week or so. Just a thought.

That's a great idea @Downriver , maybe I'll give it a shot or think about what I can do to recreate those conditions. I understand that high humidity is also a factor. I'm going to see what I can do with that idea-thanks again.