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.

 

[NJChilehead]

There's a song by Green Day with the lyrics "wake me up when September ends", but with the beautiful weather and good harvest that we had, I really didn't want it to end.

I got some beautiful harvests from the Caribbean Reds (top pic) and the Trinidad Scorpions (bottom pic):

Got to pickle and preserve some Yellow Scotch Bonnet, Caribbean Red Habanero, and Jamaican Hot Chocolate peppers. The green ones are unripe Yellow Scotch Bonnets. I was told by Jamaican friends that it's common to find both ripe and unripe bonnets in sauces, etc. so I started making them this way a few years ago. They're a nice contrast to the yellows!

Some nice harvests here and there!

The figs kept rolling in, little by little. It's my first year growing them but we got to sample enough to keep us interested. Left of plate: Italian Honey, right of plate: Pellegrino (Mario's), bottom of plate: Mt. Etna unknown from a friend's yard.

Some pickles I made with Kirby cucumbers (not homegrown) and scotch bonnet peppers. Hot and good tasting!

Antillais Caribbean fruit. Sadly, there was terrible cracking with these from humidity and rain, and some mildew or something set up on the leaves. I thought it was better to destroy the plant. I was always told not to preserve damaged fruit and with the cracking, I figured if we weren't eating fresh it would be best to get rid of it. None of the other types cracked this way. I wonder if this is typical for Antillais Caribbean. I grew it years ago and don't remember this happening, but maybe the weather was different enough that year to keep them from doing so.

The Yellow Scotch Brains kept coming!

The Hot Sunset Hybrid peppers made for really good banana peppers to put on sandwiches! Much better than anything that is available in the store. It's my first year canning and preserving, usually I would just make something and put it in the fridge and make sure we ate it within a few weeks. I made some mistakes along the way at first but feel that I have the groove now.

This was my first year growing Sugar Rush Peach, and my first time growing any C. baccatum in at least 5 years. The taste was great but the heat level was so low, that I was unsure what to do with them. I tried making pepper jelly from them, to give away to anyone who might not like high heat but wanted to try pepper jelly. I have to say that the results were pretty good!

 

[Downriver]

The figs kept rolling in, little by little. It's my first year growing them but we got to sample enough to keep us interested. Left of plate: Italian Honey, right of plate: Pellegrino (Mario's), bottom of plate: Mt. Etna unknown from a friend's yard.

Awesome growing season for sure, NJC. Canning and preserving can be fun, and rewarding as well. All that is great stuff, but the figs caught my eye, lol. I've been thinking about dabbling in the fig world. I was wondering if you could describe the flavor differences, if any. Any preferences?

 

[NJChilehead]

Awesome growing season for sure, NJC. Canning and preserving can be fun, and rewarding as well. All that is great stuff, but the figs caught my eye, lol. I've been thinking about dabbling in the fig world. I was wondering if you could describe the flavor differences, if any. Any preferences?

Hey Downriver,

I'm finding that figs are becoming my competing addiction! As far as fruit trees, they're very easy to grow and give a short turn-around for some delicious crops! I'd definitely recommend looking further into it, especially considering your location. The only real drawback is that there are so many different types of figs. It's not uncommon for serious fig afficianados to have 70, 80 or more fig trees and still feeling like they've only scratched the surface. Chileheads have a nice advantage where our crops are all annuals (unless we overwinter) and we can grow 50 types one year and 50 types the next year, and trial 100 different types in 24 months. Since figs take a few years to really get their stride, it's best to choose a handful that you know will grow well in your area, trial them for a few years, and rotate the less desired ones out before rotating others in.

Regarding flavor profiles, I'd highly recommend that you use that as a guideline if you are going to pursue the hobby. Take one or two from each individual type/flavor profile, consider the earliest and best performing in your area, and hold onto those for a few years.

The most basic breakdown of flavor profiles is berry, honey and sugar, but it really gets much more complicated than that. For example:

Honey figs can be straight honey flavor, or have undertones of berry. A few types have more complex undertones, with one (Izbat an Naj) supposedly having undertones of banana and pineapple (!). I've never tried it but hear that pretty consistenly. Honey figs are almost always green on the outside, and anything from very light yellow (almost white) to reddish on the inside.

Sugar figs (of which I have almost zero experience) are said to often have undertones of berry, but some are almost straight sugar. These seem to be the least desired among serious growers, but often people will say that Celeste types are a favorite sugar type fig, especially in the south. Improved Celestes are more of a sugar flavor, where the other Celeste types have more berry undertones.

Berry figs are the most deep and complex flavor-wise. These tend to be the darker figs inside and out (but not always, there is an Adriatic type fig that is extremely strongly berry-flavored and they ripen to green). Berry figs can have overtones of strawberry, cherry, fruit punch, grape, etc. Probably the most commonly-grown type are the Mt. Etna types. I trialed 4 Mt. Etna types this year. Two had undertones of mixed fruit jam, one had undertones of plum, and one was just a straight-up serving of strawberry jam. Keep in mind that these are undertones now, if you expect a mouthful of strawberry jam, you'll get fig flavors dancing in among them. There are other berry-type figs that are early in our area and just wonderful. The Pellegrino that I photographed above was just outrageous, such a large fig and delicious!

Here's an article about fig flavor profiles that does a good job breaking this down: https://mountainfigs.net/mountain-figs/8-basic-fig-flavor-pulp-skin-color-modes/

...and here's one about Mt. Etna type figs. No matter which way you jump, I highly recommend having a Mt. Etna type in ground. They're very hardy, cold-tolerant, and a well-ripened Mt. Etna fig is just incredible. They're nothing like the tasteless figs you buy at Costco or the dried stuff you get in fig bars. They're also typically very productive. https://mountainfigs.net/mountain-f...f-the-mount-etna-fig-cultivar-aka-mongibello/

Cuttings are very easy to start, I used the fig pop method and had really good success. Let me know if you want more detail on how I did it and I can walk/talk you through it. Let me know if you decide to jump in and share the addiction!

 

[CaneDog]

Good stuff, NJC. You make this sound very appealing!

 

[Downriver]

Appealing indeed! Great info NJC! Thanks for the detailed response. I fear I need to take lots of supplies down this rabbit hole, because I'm not sure when I'll resurface, lol. Off I go.

 

[NJChilehead]

Appealing indeed! Great info NJC! Thanks for the detailed response. I fear I need to take lots of supplies down this rabbit hole, because I'm not sure when I'll resurface, lol. Off I go.

My trees are small so the number of cuttings that I have is a little limited, but I'd be happy to send you a few cuttings from some good trees to get you on your way if you are interested. If you'd rather do a little research and start with some young trees from a local nursery next year, let me know if you want to talk figs in general or if you'd like any input from growers closer to you.

BTW, here's a thread that I started on a fig forum regarding my journey rooting cuttings for the first time last year, in case it may be helpful to you: https://www.ourfigs.com/forum/figs-...g-my-first-time-rooting-cuttings-via-fig-pops

Keep me posted!!

 

[NJChilehead]

Another update from the end of September!

Because this was my first year growing Rocotos, I'm going to be thrilled with any successes that I may have with them. I've never tasted one and after growing other types for so long, this is actually my first experience with them (although a few months ago I checked my notes from 2006 and saw Ecuadorian Red Pepper from Hell on the list, with the word -failed- next to it).

In late August, we had a cold snap. Temps went down to about 52 degrees at night, and remained in the mid-70's to low 80's during the day. The Rocotos that had been lingering for so long in the summer, dropping flowers and growing slowly, woke up and seemed to run a mad dash to make up for lost time!

First up, the Rocoto Turbo. The Turbo was said to be very productive and, based on what I had read so far, the easiest to grow. I didn't necessarily find it to be the MOST productive of the three but it wasn't shy about setting fruit!

Below is the potted Rocoto Turbo. This was was slightly smaller and had fewer fruit on it than the grow bag turbo, but it still produced over 40 fruit for me at the point that this pic was taken (9/22/24).

This is the Turbo in the 7-gallon grow bag. It's slightly larger and more productive than the other one, with close to 60 fruit on it. That would bring the total number of Turbo fruit close to 100, but last week this plant blew over in a storm and broke in half. I'm working to save the half of it that looks like it'll live, and hanging up the broken branches in a sunny spot to see if they'll ripen that way. I was sad to find it in that condition after looking after it so closely for so long.

The Rocoto de Sedas are big, sturdy plants as described to me by others. They're beautiful, and they seem to take their time producing but as of today (10/17/24) there are about 85-90 fruit between the two of them. One (anecdotal) thing that I noticed about the de Sedas vs. the other two: if I could pull an analogy from tomatoes, it seems like the Turbos and Ecuadorian Red PFH are more determinate in that they set a certain amount of fruit and then flowering slows way down, while de Sedas seem more indeterminate in that they continue to set fruit in more of a steady stream than a burst. They are still flowering and setting fruit today. While all three need cool nights to set, the de Sedas seem more sensitive to daytime heat than the other two.

The potted de Seda, which as of today is over 6 feet wide.

The grow bag de Seda, which grew upwards for some time in the grow bag, and is now growing in width.

The beautiful fruit of Rocoto de Seda. I can't wait to taste them!

Now I knew very little about the Ecuadorian Red Pepper from Hell when I decided to grow it. It really was a random shot in the dark, but boy am I glad I did, because they did really well for me and out performed the Turbo in fruit count. Here's a pic of my ERPFH in the grow bag from 9/22/24.

Here are the flower clusters on the ERPFH. So productive!

Now what happened to the potted Ecuadorian Red PFH makes me smile and shake my head every time I see it. Basically, it became so unruly and set so many fruit that I had to put it in an Adirondack chair to keep it from sprawling all over the ground.

This one is absolutely loaded with peppers. I counted over 100 on it before I gave up.

So between the two (the smaller one also got so big that she had to go into an Adirondack chair last week) I have over 130 fruit so far and counting. This makes me happy because I have students and friends who are from South America and I get to share fresh pods with them, as well as making jellies, sauces, etc. and sharing them with family and friends. Wish me the best in ripening all of these! We have had some frost this past week and I had to shuffle them in and out of the garage, but warmer temps are coming and I'm planning on taking advantage of them. Thanks for reading!

 

[CaneDog]

Your rocotos are looking awesome, NJC! Whichever you choose to OW will be absolute beasts next season. The pictures of the potted Ecuadorian Red PFH chillin' in its chair are hilarious.

Hope you get good ripening from the crop. That's a lot of rocotos!

 

[NJChilehead]

Your rocotos are looking awesome, NJC! Whichever you choose to OW will be absolute beasts next season. The pictures of the potted Ecuadorian Red PFH chillin' in its chair are hilarious.

Hope you get good ripening from the crop. That's a lot of rocotos!

Thanks @CaneDog , and thanks for your help and encouragement along the way!. I'm really looking forward to seeing which ones I like the most to determine which to overwinter, but at this time I'm considering overwintering all three and seeing which ones make it. Seems I've reached the outer limit of my sanity with this endeavor!

I get a kick out of it in the chair as well. Right now it's just hanging out in my driveway with some of the others. The Turbo that didn't break and the smaller ERPFH are in the glass-enclosed back porch, and these 4 are out front. The de Sedas make the ERPFH look small. These plants amaze me! These pics were taken just now:

The ERPFH in the back porch:

The larger one in the driveway with the other 3.

 

[MarcV]

Seeing these pictures make me want to give rocotos another try! I have very little experience with rocotos myself... had a beautiful plant growing once with lots of pods on it. The thing was... the (large) pot it was growing in was on a table. At some point the plant got out of balance and the pot tipped over and fell on the ground, which broke the stem at soil level didn't get to tasting any pods...