vendor Pepper Joe

[mrz1988]

I ordered my first season's seeds from pepper joe a while back. He has a small selection that he grows out each year. He will send you seeds in little coin envelopes and always sends some free varieties with each order. I had excellent germination rates from all of his seed with the exception of one variety that I ordered. Considering how it was my first season and I was germinating OUTDOORS in soil (dumb dumb dumb) I was very pleased with the germ rates and I assume most of my problem seed was due to poor growing skills in my first season. I also germinated two more of his seeds the next season that had been stored in a drawer for a year, and both germinated.

I will say that he has a higher rate of hybrids than most growers. I'm not sure how he isolates his plants if at all but I've gotten hybrids from him. I also reallllly wish he would post more pictures of his pods because it's really hard to tell what you're going to get. My Bhut Jolokia seeds that I got from him didn't get a chance to fruit the first year, but the second year the plant I grew out ended up not being a true Bhut. I'm not sure if it was a hybrid or what, because it had a pointed shape that looks like a lot of the smaller bhuts I see on the web and definitely had C. chinenses genetics, but it was nothing like the large, wrinkled, superhots you see coming out of the NMCPI. Also probably around hab heat or slightly above, not superhot. I'll post pics on request.

Overall I'd say he's a good source for novice growers but I wouldn't recommend him if you're trying to get superhots and such. There are more reputable sources out there. Overall probably a C+/B-

 

[pepperjoe]

Hey Gang it's Pepper Joe.
Thanks for the Post and input from all.
I'm glad to see a lot more postives than negative....I appreciate that.
We do strive to excell at Customer service, so if anyone has an issue that has not been corrected just drop me an email and I'll fix it.. pepperjoe@sc.rr.com
One common denominator to your posts is that my seeds DO germinate well. The exception appears to be the White Habanero and that is accurate. I wasn't impressed with 2010's germanation rate, but we had already gone to press with our catalog. I was going to dis-continue the White Habanero for that reason but this past summers germination % were so good I decided to include it again. I'm getting good input so far this year.
We do not grow our plants in total isolation but crosses appear to be fairly rare.
For 2012 we've added a large category for the Super-Hots and I'm getting excellent feedback on the Butch T Trinidad Scorpion Pepper. It grew fantastic in my 5 tests gardens.
Hot sellers so far are the Filius Blue, Yellow Bhut Jolokia, Yatzy (Yatsufusa), Caloro, Chocolate Bell, Fushimi Sweet, Purple Jalapeno, Garden Sunshine and our new "Volcano in a Box" with our 7 Hottest Peppers in the World picks.
We've decided to do a lot of Garden shows this year. So far we've hit Atlanta, Charlotte, Charleston and intend to do several more. We're enjoying them so well that I may open a new Division of our company to service that piece of our customer base.

Is this "Filius Blue" Pepper gorgeous or what?
Again, thanks for all input.
Fiery Regards,
Pepper Joe

 

[hotjohn9]

Well this is my first year buying from PJOE's so I am unable to identify the peppers with the seeds I have got from him, but I will add that all of the Giant bhut plants are massive, I started them in October inside and they are HUGE plants. Will keep everyone posted

 

[mrz1988]

Hey Gang it's Pepper Joe.
Thanks for the Post and input from all.
I'm glad to see a lot more postives than negative....I appreciate that.
We do strive to excell at Customer service, so if anyone has an issue that has not been corrected just drop me an email and I'll fix it.. pepperjoe@sc.rr.com
One common denominator to your posts is that my seeds DO germinate well. The exception appears to be the White Habanero and that is accurate. I wasn't impressed with 2010's germanation rate, but we had already gone to press with our catalog. I was going to dis-continue the White Habanero for that reason but this past summers germination % were so good I decided to include it again. I'm getting good input so far this year.
We do not grow our plants in total isolation but crosses appear to be fairly rare.
For 2012 we've added a large category for the Super-Hots and I'm getting excellent feedback on the Butch T Trinidad Scorpion Pepper. It grew fantastic in my 5 tests gardens.
Hot sellers so far are the Filius Blue, Yellow Bhut Jolokia, Yatzy (Yatsufusa), Caloro, Chocolate Bell, Fushimi Sweet, Purple Jalapeno, Garden Sunshine and our new "Volcano in a Box" with our 7 Hottest Peppers in the World picks.
We've decided to do a lot of Garden shows this year. So far we've hit Atlanta, Charlotte, Charleston and intend to do several more. We're enjoying them so well that I may open a new Division of our company to service that piece of our customer base.

Is this "Filius Blue" Pepper gorgeous or what?
Again, thanks for all input.
Fiery Regards,
Pepper Joe

Thanks for the input Joe. Certainly one of the more friendly folks around selling seed. I had great germ rates for you, pretty close to 100% so good job with that. If you're worried about your White Habs in the future I hear they are tough to tell when they are fully ripe so if you can leave them on longer I'm sure it will start to fix itself.

I will certainly look to order from you again in the future. I noticed people had posted that their bhut seeds grew into red habaneros (I'm sure a problem with PJ's suppliers) and I'd just like to add that it wasn't the case with mine. Mine seemed hybridized or something which to me is not nearly as big of a concern as the seeds growing into a false strain. The plants yielded far more pods than you would expect and they were significantly smaller than the true CPI or Assam Bhuts. They were also were a much deeper green when unripe and were not super hot, probably closer to a red savina. I would say a Bhut/annuum cross of some kind. Very flavorful pods though, and a half pod could make a huge difference in a pot of anything. I intentionally forced the plant to be potbound and it yielded something like 80-100 pods on a 2' plant over a month or so. I just couldn't be disappointed with them and hybridization is perfectly normal so no complaints on this end.

Mine:

Joe has great service and great seed as long as he grows his own. That's about as much as you can ask for from a seller. If you're listening Joe, I'd order from you again, but I suggest you reevaluate some of your less than satisfactory suppliers

 

[pepperjoe]

I'm always listening Matt.
THANKS for the glowing report.
I've narrowed my suppliers by trying to grow as much of our Pepper seed inventory as possible here in Myrtle Beach, or in our own, controlled gardens in Philly, Baltimore, Fort Myers and Michigan.
Thanks for the shout out, Matt...this seed business is always a work in progress.
I'm just thrilled that most customers are voting YES...we're up to 30,000+ Facebook fans, 17,000 Newletter Subscribers and will be featured in the Farmers Almanac, 2013 as well as Catalog.com and the Gardening Mail Pac that is nation wide.
Fiery REgards,
Pepper Joe

 

[Pinoy83]

hey joe

this is my first time ordering to your website i bought SWEET TREATS 5-PACK- Buy 4 get one FREE! and PETER PEPPER
i live in oahu, hawaii how long does it take for the package to arrive here?

 

[Joshuap2000]

Man, i dont know if anybody else is on the facebook page, but its getting pretty crazy with the freaking buy buy post lately. I understand its a business, but posting on your wall, than posting the same thing in different comments is kind of annoying. I might be removing myself off there facebook page here soon as I can take the same post over arnd over again.

 

[hotjohn9]

[sup]Joe, so far so good with my germination rates and all the plants are huge, 4-6 inches taller then the rest of my plants. Cannot wait for some peppers. I will post photos soon. [/sup]

 

[bayside]

I ordered seeds from pepper joe last year. That was my first time ever trying to grow any type of pepper. I started the seeds way to late in our short Canadian growing season. The seeds germinated very well and the plants grew well until fall came and the plants froze. I ordered more seeds from his site this year as i wanted to try it again. The seeds arrived about two weeks ago and i planted them in doors in a 72 pod domed seed starter kit with heat pad. The seeds sprouted very well and would say I had 80% germination or better. The only ones i had a problem with was the butch T. I planted 4 seeds and 2 of them sprouted but got moldy and do not look well. (I know this is due to my rookie pepper growing skills and not pepper joes seeds). I am going to try planting some more butch T peppers as I still have more seeds. Over all I will order from them again.

 

[pepperjoe]

Penoypride83,
We're turning orders in 3 or 4 days. Then it's up to the Good ole US Post office.
HotJohn9,
Thrilled to hear about those germination rates and robust growth. Would love to see your fotos.
Bayside,
I'm in your 1st post...wow. Cool. Welcome to THP and glad to hear of your good germination %.
THANKS to all for being a customer.
Fiery REgards,
Pepper Joe

 

[jacobp]

I'm getting a late start, but received my seeds from pepperjoe not long ago. Immediately got them planted, and germination has already been a success with all of them. Golden habs came up within 5 days. Right now I'd say I'm around 80-90% germination, and with early spring we're getting I'll be ready go move most of them into outside pots within a month.
I've had more success by skipping the several weeks under grow lights and just moving straight into my containers on my patio. worked last year, and I'm hoping it works again this year.

I'll order from pepperjoe again.

 

[Yumyumyellow]

The super hot seeds I got from pepper joe are sprouting faster than any of my regular peppers!! 5 days for Naga's to poke out their little heads.
I ordered too many seeds from him on accident and got a call back within 2 minutes at 9am on a sunday morning to say it had been taken care of. excellent customer service!

 

[pepperjoe]

Hey Gang, Thanks for the nice reports. They say "You can't please all of the people all of the time"...but we're getting close here.
I appreciate it.
Can you post some pics of how your plants are growing so far? Would love to see them.
Silva, We had an issue in 2011 with the White Habs germinating...they are doing much better with this new batch for 2012. If they don't grow for you email me with your order # at pepperjoe@sc.rr.com and I'll fix it...fast.
Cerberus apparently had good success with the White Habs.
The Charleston are fabulous germinators. Try those other seeds.
Fiery Regards, Pepper Joe

 

[silva83tj]

wow really Joe thats awesome...my first batch failed to germ in a burpee seed starter kit thing so i recently put some more in a wet towel in a bag on the heat mat, its only been 6 days so far so hoping for the best...will def let you know! btw the, bhuts, and charleston hot i got from you i am getting great germ rates and really fast sprouts! especially the bhuts had poked up at day 6

 

[bayside]

Hey Gang, Thanks for the nice reports. They say "You can't please all of the people all of the time"...but we're getting close here.
I appreciate it.
Can you post some pics of how your plants are growing so far? Would love to see them.
Silva, We had an issue in 2011 with the White Habs germinating...they are doing much better with this new batch for 2012. If they don't grow for you email me with your order # at pepperjoe@sc.rr.com and I'll fix it...fast.
Cerberus apparently had good success with the White Habs.
The Charleston are fabulous germinators. Try those other seeds.
Fiery Regards, Pepper Joe

Hey Pepper Joe here are some pic of my peppers. all the seeds were from you.

 

[pepperjoe]

Looking good Bayside.
Do you find the reflector works well?
I'm surprised your Poblanos are up as fast as teh others. I find them to be finicky germinators. They eventually come up but you need patience. That Peter pepper is a robust germinator...and I think you'll be pleased with the shape. The seeds are from teh Alfrey family, in Easter Tennessee....the originals and the real deal.
Thanks for the updates...would love to see more pics down the road.
Pepper Joe

 

[bayside]

Looking good Bayside.
Do you find the reflector works well?
I'm surprised your Poblanos are up as fast as teh others. I find them to be finicky germinators. They eventually come up but you need patience. That Peter pepper is a robust germinator...and I think you'll be pleased with the shape. The seeds are from teh Alfrey family, in Easter Tennessee....the originals and the real deal.
Thanks for the updates...would love to see more pics down the road.
Pepper Joe

The reflector seems to work well, however this is my first grow so I don't really have anything to compare it to. The Poblanos took a few extra days to germinate but they seemed to catch up fast after they sprouted! I am super excited to see what the Peter peppers turn into, should be fun

I will post some more pictures as the pepper plants grow just to keep you updated.

Colby

 

[jacobp]

We had some flooding in north Louisiana that caused a small electrical fire in my garage (its detached from the house thank God), and it wreaked havoc on my starts. I was able to salvage about 13 plants that will survive. Several of my bhuts and a few butch t's are going to pull through. But my grow box, lighting, everything is pretty much worthless. Luckily I had just started the last of my seeds, 64 jiffy pots total, in the house on a heat mat. Just about 13 days in and I'm reporting almost 95% germination. Seeds include golden habanero,chocolate hab, white hab, scotch bonnet, jalapeno, cowhorn, mulato, giant bhut, butch t trinidad scorp, and cayenne.
With the loss of my equipment i had to go completely ghetto so I could keep these guys alive, using a large cardboard box lined with foil and using the only thing resembling a grow light I had in the house, which isn't very strong at all but the plants seem to be thriving anyway. I've put the box beside a large window that gets full sun all day to help make up for the lack of strong lighting, and thankfully they're thriving so far.

very happy with the results of the seeds I got from pepperjoe.com this year, definitely will order again if I need seeds.

 

[pepperjoe]

We had some flooding in north Louisiana that caused a small electrical fire in my garage (its detached from the house thank God), and it wreaked havoc on my starts. I was able to salvage about 13 plants that will survive. Several of my bhuts and a few butch t's are going to pull through. But my grow box, lighting, everything is pretty much worthless. Luckily I had just started the last of my seeds, 64 jiffy pots total, in the house on a heat mat. Just about 13 days in and I'm reporting almost 95% germination. Seeds include golden habanero,chocolate hab, white hab, scotch bonnet, jalapeno, cowhorn, mulato, giant bhut, butch t trinidad scorp, and cayenne.
With the loss of my equipment i had to go completely ghetto so I could keep these guys alive, using a large cardboard box lined with foil and using the only thing resembling a grow light I had in the house, which isn't very strong at all but the plants seem to be thriving anyway. I've put the box beside a large window that gets full sun all day to help make up for the lack of strong lighting, and thankfully they're thriving so far.

very happy with the results of the seeds I got from pepperjoe.com this year, definitely will order again if I need seeds.

Hi Jacob,
I feel horrible for your loss of some chile starts that you worked so hard for.
I'm so glad though that no one was hurt in the electrical fire in your garage. They can be nasty.
Please email me at pepperjoe@sc.rr.com and tell me which varieteies were most impacted.
I'll comp you some free seeds to help you along since your electrical fire.
THANKS for beign a Pepper Joe Customer.
Fiery REgards,
Pepper Joe

 

[DonLava]

Wow! Joe!

Thats to kind to send Jacob some seeds...

Jacob, If your in the area. I would be happy to help you out with plants.

 

[jacobp]

Hi Jacob,
I feel horrible for your loss of some chile starts that you worked so hard for.
I'm so glad though that no one was hurt in the electrical fire in your garage. They can be nasty.
Please email me at pepperjoe@sc.rr.com and tell me which varieteies were most impacted.
I'll comp you some free seeds to help you along since your electrical fire.
THANKS for beign a Pepper Joe Customer.
Fiery REgards,
Pepper Joe

Joe, that is absolutely appreciated but not necessary. Between the plants I was able to salvage (who are outside thriving in this wonderful weather right now) and the 60 starts I have in the house, I'll have more than enough plants to get me through the year. I appreciate your dedication to your customers though, and I'll continue buying my seeds from you and spreading the word about your site. I'll get some pictures up of your seeds doing their magic soon.
DonLava, I appreciate the offer as well. I'm in Ruston, LA, just about an hour east of Shreveport. Not sure how far that is from Beaumont, TX, but again, your offer is very appreciated but I think I'll be ok for the season.