Stickman's 2012 Gochu Pepper Glog

Well, here we go... Started about 35 Korean Gochu Peppers and a few Korean salad peppers, jalapenos and orange habs. All are mostly up today but the habs. I started them early last week in my heated grow tent down in my cellar on top of a grow mat, but didn't have the thermostat quite dialed in. When I left it it was 70 degrees f. in the tent. When I checked again the next morning it was 85 degrees, and I was afraid I'd cooked the seeds, so I moved them onto my kitchen windowsill on the grow mat and awaited developments. Looking much better now. I'll give the Habs until the weekend to pop, then move the flat down to the grow tent.

 

[HillBilly Jeff]

Start those Manzano EARLY. I had one early pod that just dropped off and was the size of a cherry bomb and green as a gourd. It is still blooming and has some pea sized pods on it now. They are not going to make it for me.

 

[stickman]

Start those Manzano EARLY. I had one early pod that just dropped off and was the size of a cherry bomb and green as a gourd. It is still blooming and has some pea sized pods on it now. They are not going to make it for me.

Yeah, that's what I heard... I'm resigned to the fact that I'll probably have to overwinter it before getting pods the following season. I'm planning on starting them in January unless experienced growers tell me to start them earlier. For practice I'm going to try to overwinter my orange habs.

 

[KiNGDeNNiZ]

Your food glog looks nice Rick. Looks like your set with jars of Korean powder. 30-40lbs of onions. Wow. Makes me cry even here in SoCal. I'll confirm. Manzanos take forever to ripen

 

[HillBilly Jeff]

December 1st is when I'd start mine if I was to grow them again. Will have to really pick off the early blooms and try to keep the plant from getting leggy I would imagine.

The thought of overwintering these never crossed my mind. I might have to try to save the best manzano and my chocolate cayenne as well. Thanks for getting the idea across my brain that I can overwinter more than just one plant lol.

 

[SocalChilehead]

Rick I have red rocoto seeds I can send only if you want to wait for pods they are are still small so it might take a while.

 

[stickman]

Your food glog looks nice Rick. Looks like your set with jars of Korean powder. 30-40lbs of onions. Wow. Makes me cry even here in SoCal. I'll confirm. Manzanos take forever to ripen

Thanks Denniz
Appreciate the input on the Manzanos. It sounds like whenever I start them I may end up taking them inside to finish ripening up the pods... Does anybody know what conditions they need to flower and how many days to get ripe pods after that?
I bet short-day onions would grow well outside in SoCal during the winter. They like cool temps. and more rain than you get in the summer.

December 1st is when I'd start mine if I was to grow them again. Will have to really pick off the early blooms and try to keep the plant from getting leggy I would imagine.

The thought of overwintering these never crossed my mind. I might have to try to save the best manzano and my chocolate cayenne as well. Thanks for getting the idea across my brain that I can overwinter more than just one plant lol.

Hi Bodeen
Thanks for the info, and glad to make the assist! That's one of the things I like about THP... We chip in where we can help and spur each other on.

Rick I have red rocoto seeds I can send only if you want to wait for pods they are are still small so it might take a while.

Hi Fernando
Thanks for the offer, but I think I'll pass for now... my chile plot is only 6 by 24 feet, and I've already planned out my grow for next year. I still need to get some Aji Omnicolor and Criolla Sella seeds. PaulG's going to send some of the Omnicolors and I'll find the Criolla Sellas somewhere. I should probably post a thread and see if anybody wants to swap. Cheers

 

[roper2008]

Another thing about manzano's. I tried growing one 2 years ago. My whole yard is full sun. It was not
a happy plant in our hot humid weather. I put it under a tall table on my deck that had frosted glass on top.
As soon as it cooled down it started producing some pods in the fall. They did not ripen on time and
I didn't want to overwinter it ,as it was pretty large plant by then. I plan to try one again. Maybe next year.
Apparently it grows okay in So.Cali. I know it gets hot there, but maybe it likes dry air.

 

[stickman]

Another thing about manzano's. I tried growing one 2 years ago. My whole yard is full sun. It was not
a happy plant in our hot humid weather. I put it under a tall table on my deck that had frosted glass on top.
As soon as it cooled down it started producing some pods in the fall. They did not ripen on time and
I didn't want to overwinter it ,as it was pretty large plant by then. I plan to try one again. Maybe next year.
Apparently it grows okay in So.Cali. I know it gets hot there, but maybe it likes dry air.

Hi Linda
We sure can't do anything about the humididty here in the east, this year was a fluke! Maybe it'd do better under a shade cloth? I can certainly manage that... it would make it easier to grow lettuce and cabbage too. Thanks for the tip!

 

[stickman]

Hi All
I've been in the kitchen making more Orange Habanero sauce, chunky garden style spaghetti sauce to can for the winter and tomatillo-De Arbol salsa for a pot-luck this afternoon. Went out to check the mail and found a package from romy6...

Jeez, it looks like he crammed the whole garden in there! Thanks Jamie! You too are a gentleman sir!

 

[highalt]

Hey, I recognize some of my seeds in there!
Nice selection! Way to go, Jamie!!!

You probably already know this, but that Caribe is the also known as Santa Fe. You would like that one, I think. It's around jalapeno level heat or maybe a little less, but very sweet, and a great addition to salsas.

 

[stickman]

Hey, I recognize some of my seeds in there!
Nice selection! Way to go, Jamie!!!

You probably already know this, but that Caribe is the also known as Santa Fe. You would like that one, I think. It's around jalapeno level heat or maybe a little less, but very sweet, and a great addition to salsas.

Thanks for the heads-up Bonnie, I think I did read it somewhere but had forgotten. I'm definitely all over that!

 

[HillBilly Jeff]

The Santa Fe is an excellent salad pepper. I wasn't impressed with the plants until Bonnie told me to give them a taste. Outstanding.

Excellent looking package too!!!

 

[stickman]

The Santa Fe is an excellent salad pepper. I wasn't impressed with the plants until Bonnie told me to give them a taste. Outstanding.

Excellent looking package too!!!

Thanks for weighing in Bodeen! With two fellow foodies speaking for it I'm definitely going to give it a try next season.
I've been grinding my pasillas and anchos as they ripen to make chili powder. I also let some of my Anaheims ripen to add to it and put in 3 tablespoons of my Chimayo molido, with toasted ground cumin and a little garlic powder to round it out. By the end of the season I should have at least a quart. They have a chili cookoff in Charlemont, MA in January and I'm planning on entering this year.

 

[HillBilly Jeff]

Good luck in the cook off. My one Bajio plant is loaded, I'm just waiting for them to get ripe. Excellent flavor to these peppers.

 

[stickman]

Good luck in the cook off. My one Bajio plant is loaded, I'm just waiting for them to get ripe. Excellent flavor to these peppers.

Hi Bodeen
Pasilla Bajio and Holy Mole hybrid are what I grew. The Holy Mole pods were easily twice as large as the Bajio, but the Bajio had at least three times the output. I noticed that the Bajio pods had a tendency to dry out at the stem and drop... probably due to the hot, dry conditions. I love the smell of these when I dry them and grind them up for powder. The same for the Anchos... letting them get red-ripe on the plant and drying them in the dehydrator seems like the way to go for me. I was expecting the pods to get black when ripe, but they seem to turn a chocolate color instead... or do they go through chocolate before they go black?

 

[stickman]

Made Mu S'aengcho for supper tonight with some of the Korean radishes I'm getting in my garden now. They have green shoulders and are about as big around as my wrist. I peel and shred them in the mandolin and make up a dressing of soy, dark sesame oil, garlic, scallion, vinegar, lemon juice (or grated asian pear), salted shrimp, salt, pepper and a heaping tablespoon of my gochu garu.

I tried the Orange Thai with supper tonight Chris... Spicy Annuum smell, but the one I ate was pretty mild, about like a Jalapeno or a little less. Maybe that was because I scraped out the seeds first. I think the best test of whether or not they crossed with a gochu would be to dry and grind them first. It's kind of hard to tell from the fresh pods. Thanks for letting me try them!

 

[JoynersHotPeppers]

Yeah no way it is a Thai Orange, very bummed about that. On the other hand, the plants are full so off to the smoker they will go. Thai Orange is much hotter than a Jap, up there with a mild Habanero. I found a plant tonight that has kinda been hidden, it is not 4 foot and growing long skinny pods. I can only hope it is a Thai Orange or something I grew last year known as a Indonesian String that I brought back from Bali. I'll post some pictures once ripe and try to capture the flower and leaves. The plant is hidden well.

 

[HillBilly Jeff]

The only one I had get ripe was a chocolate color. Massive poddage on my plant right now, but all are that dark glassy green. I have been having some bad spots creep up on some pods...I contribute it to the weather as well.

 

[stc3248]

Maybe it'd do better under a shade cloth? I can certainly manage that... it would make it easier to grow lettuce and cabbage too. Thanks for the tip!

The ones doing best for me have full sun early and late, but filtered through a shade tree during the heat of the day. A shade cloth would definitely help. Seems as though they produce best once they've reached their growth potential. Once my 5 gallon plants filled their containers with roots they started pushing out pods, but the one in the ground and my 15 gallon container just kept growing and dropping flowers until they were huge then they caught up pod wise. So...I am going to try to grow them next year to the point they're almost root bound in 1# then 2# containers before going up to 5# to see if I can get them to pod up earlier.

I agree with the early December start date too...or even earlier if you can manage a setup to keep them growing well. Overwintering would definitely be the way to go if you could.

Good luck!

 

[stickman]

The ones doing best for me have full sun early and late, but filtered through a shade tree during the heat of the day. A shade cloth would definitely help. Seems as though they produce best once they've reached their growth potential. Once my 5 gallon plants filled their containers with roots they started pushing out pods, but the one in the ground and my 15 gallon container just kept growing and dropping flowers until they were huge then they caught up pod wise. So...I am going to try to grow them next year to the point they're almost root bound in 1# then 2# containers before going up to 5# to see if I can get them to pod up earlier.

I agree with the early December start date too...or even earlier if you can manage a setup to keep them growing well. Overwintering would definitely be the way to go if you could.

Good luck!

Thanks for the recommendations Shane! I'm going to have to figure out my strategy for overwintering one of my Orange Habs and starting the Manzano without breaking the bank in electrical costs. Fortunately, overwintering doesn't require heat as well as light... What temperature would I need to keep the Manzanos at to foster growth? My basement is a pretty constant 50 degrees farenheit all winter... if I didn't need to add heat at all, that would be the ideal situation.