Stickman's 2013 Glog - Time To Pull The Plug on 2013

I'm pulling things together to get ready for my next growing season. I bought NuMex variety seeds from Sandia Seed company in New Mexico, Hot Paper Lantern Habaneros and Antohi Romanians from Johnny's Select Seeds in Maine and Korean varieties from Evergreen Seeds in California. Due to the unbelievable generosity of a number of THP members I've also gotten seeds to a wide variety of chiles from around the world. Special thanks to BootsieB, stc3248, romy6, PaulG, SoCalChilehead, joynershotpeppers, highalt, cmpman1974, smokemaster, mygrassisblue, Mister No, chewi, KingDenniz, orrozconleche and most recently and spectacularly, Habanerohead with a great selection of superhots and peppers from Hungary!

There are eleven varieties of Hungarian peppers in here, mostly the early, thick-fleshed, sweet ones that range from white through yellow to purple and red.., plus Aji Lemon Drop, BJ Indian Carbon, Naga Morich, Bishop's Crown and TS CARDI Yellow! Now I just have to go through my seed bank and match the space available to what I want to grow. Thanks Balázs!

 

[FreeportBum]

Everything looking awesome as usual Rick! 

 

[stickman]

Thanks Devan, for the kind words... it's definitely winding down here though. The Manzanos are slowly ripening

 
I picked one today to sample, so I'll be good with the rest and let them finish ripening... The aroma was a bit like a freshly mown field with overtones of Pine... tastes sweet, with notes of Carrot and Melon, and leaves a rich aftertaste that sorta reminds me of refried beans. Heat is moderate... I'd have no trouble eating the whole pod... and the burn was mainly on the lips and front of the tongue. I can see why the folks who grow these are so passionate about them. I'll definitely be growing Manzanos in future!

 
As for the rest of the chile garden... The Aji Panca pods are pretty good sized, but underneath the dark purple suntan they're still green

 
7-pot Yellow is beginning to drop its largest leaves. It still has a few pods on it, but doesn't seem to have the energy to ripen them off.

 
Almapaprika is still doing surprisingly well... it's even still blooming and setting pods.

 
There are still green pods ripening on the Serrano Tampiqueno plants even though they've pretty much dropped their leaves.

 
I picked the last 3 pods on the Douglah, and it's also dropping its largest leaves and preparing to go dormant.

 
The plants in the raised bed garden next to the south-facing side of the house seem to be doing the best... like this Orange Habanero...

 
Not Yellow Bhut...

 
and Peruvian Purple with the Omnicolors behind it.

 
As I said, things are winding down, but they're still not ready to quit!

 

[Devv]

It doesn't look like they are ready to quit just yet. I'm thinking they will put all of their energy into ripening the pods. I wonder if removing the pods that are sure to never ripen would help?

 

[Jeff H]

Thanks Devan, for the kind words... it's definitely winding down here though. The Manzanos are slowly ripening

 
I picked one today to sample, so I'll be good with the rest and let them finish ripening... The aroma was a bit like a freshly mown field with overtones of Pine... tastes sweet, with notes of Carrot and Melon, and leaves a rich aftertaste that sorta reminds me of refried beans. Heat is moderate... I'd have no trouble eating the whole pod... and the burn was mainly on the lips and front of the tongue. I can see why the folks who grow these are so passionate about them. I'll definitely be growing Manzanos in future!

 
 
 

 
 
Those monzanos look great. Mine are coming along, but not near as good as yours due to some mite issues on the plants. I have my first ripening right now with a small handful more likely to be ripe by the end of the season in a few weeks. Not really a banner crop, but lesson learned, they take forever to grow. I'll over winter both plants so they get an early start next year. 

 

[stickman]

It doesn't look like they are ready to quit just yet. I'm thinking they will put all of their energy into ripening the pods. I wonder if removing the pods that are sure to never ripen would help?

Hi Scott,
   I've gotten so many pods from the Yellow 7 that I'm not gonna worry about 3 more... In the end I made up nine 4oz Ball jars worth of the puree, and that's a lot of Jerk marinades! Bonnie (Highalt) told me after I planted the Aji Panca chiles that they have a very long growing season, and she wasn't able to get them to ripen. Her climate is pretty close to ours here, so I wasn't surprised to find them unable to beat the clock. I just won't be growing them again, that's all.
 
 

Those manzanos look great. Mine are coming along, but not near as good as yours due to some mite issues on the plants. I have my first ripening right now with a small handful more likely to be ripe by the end of the season in a few weeks. Not really a banner crop, but lesson learned, they take forever to grow. I'll over winter both plants so they get an early start next year. 

 
Good on ya Jeff, and better luck next year!
Just a few more pics taken today...
 
Second round of Chilhuacle Negro pods are beginning to ripen as the plant drops leaves.

 
This Hungarian Tomato pepper has 3 more pods on it, but only this one is likely to ripen

 
This Criolla Sella is still keeping its leaves, but it's stopped blooming and only has a few pods left on it.

 
Cheiro Recife is still stumping along...

 
The Omnicolors too... I sold 3 pounds of pods to the local organic market, and probably still have twice that left on the plants.

 
One of the few major disappointments this year... these were supposed to be Mucho Nacho Jalapenos, but I think they crossed with a Bell pepper or something else equally as bland. No heat at all. Still, no worries... I got plenty of heat from my other plants.

 
That's all for now... have a good Friday Eve all!

 

[FreeportBum]

Thanks Devan, for the kind words... it's definitely winding down here though. The Manzanos are slowly ripening

 
I picked one today to sample, so I'll be good with the rest and let them finish ripening... The aroma was a bit like a freshly mown field with overtones of Pine... tastes sweet, with notes of Carrot and Melon, and leaves a rich aftertaste that sorta reminds me of refried beans. Heat is moderate... I'd have no trouble eating the whole pod... and the burn was mainly on the lips and front of the tongue. I can see why the folks who grow these are so passionate about them. I'll definitely be growing Manzanos in future!

 
As for the rest of the chile garden... The Aji Panca pods are pretty good sized, but underneath the dark purple suntan they're still green

 
7-pot Yellow is beginning to drop its largest leaves. It still has a few pods on it, but doesn't seem to have the energy to ripen them off.

 
Almapaprika is still doing surprisingly well... it's even still blooming and setting pods.

 
There are still green pods ripening on the Serrano Tampiqueno plants even though they've pretty much dropped their leaves.

 
I picked the last 3 pods on the Douglah, and it's also dropping its largest leaves and preparing to go dormant.

 
The plants in the raised bed garden next to the south-facing side of the house seem to be doing the best... like this Orange Habanero...

 
Not Yellow Bhut...

 
and Peruvian Purple with the Omnicolors behind it.

 
As I said, things are winding down, but they're still not ready to quit!

Rick- No joke it's post's like this that give me motivation for the future- love it.  If you end up with some extra seeds from your manzano's send me a few and I will start them asap. 

 

[annie57]

I have hope for the pods. Depending on cultivar, if they start to turn, annuums do okay in brown paper bags to finish ripening. But truthfully, couldn't get past manzano pics! Just keep staring, mesmerized. Think I might have some red rocoto lingering on into November to ripen. Lone standing plants in garden but 'at's okay!
 
Glad you were able to share Omnis with local folks. 3 lbs.? Okay, back to staring at yellow manz! Beautiful!

 

[Devv]

Those Manzano's are impressive, they remind me of tomatoes in appearance.
 
Have a great weekend!

 

[stickman]

Rick- No joke it's post's like this that give me motivation for the future- love it.  If you end up with some extra seeds from your manzano's send me a few and I will start them asap. 

 
Thanks Devan, and right enough on the seeds. I got your back brother...

I have hope for the pods. Depending on cultivar, if they start to turn, annuums do okay in brown paper bags to finish ripening. But truthfully, couldn't get past manzano pics! Just keep staring, mesmerized. Think I might have some red rocoto lingering on into November to ripen. Lone standing plants in garden but 'at's okay!
 
Glad you were able to share Omnis with local folks. 3 lbs.? Okay, back to staring at yellow manz! Beautiful!

 
Glad you like the Manzano pics Miz Annie... Yup, 3 pounds of Omnicolors from my 2 plants... I knew they were prolific, but not to this extent. They're only first year plants too. I can't imagine what they'd be like next year if i successfully overwintered them...
Good luck with your Rocoto, it can take a few mild freezes I understand, so I bet you pull it off.

Those Manzano's are impressive, they remind me of tomatoes in appearance.
 
Have a great weekend!

I know Scott... nice, eh? I've never sampled Red Rocotos, so I don't know if they taste anything like their cousins, but the Manzanos are unique in my experience. Definitely grow them if you can, but be prepared for a long wait. They take a long time to set pods sometimes, and they also take a long time to ripen when they do. Based on the one I sampled yesterday, I'd say they're worth it.
 
Cheers all, and have a great end of September weekend!

 

[Spicegeist]

Did you end up growing the Guhahati Bhut?

 

[WalkGood]

Awesome job and season Rick, these last pictures are wonderful, love da color but I’d ride milk dat wave till mama winter blows a cool breeze. Do you have an OW list yet … how many made da grade?
 
Have a great day brethren and awesome week to boot!

 

[stickman]

Did you end up growing the Guhahati Bhut?

Hi SG
     No... I didn't have enough space for it this year, but next year for sure. I'm also planning on King Naga Jalokia, Bhut Orange Copenhagen, more Yellow 7s, Dedo de Moca, Aji Lemon and the usual Korean, Hungarian and Mexican varieties... and Kapias!

Awesome job and season Rick, these last pictures are wonderful, love da color but I’d ride milk dat wave till mama winter blows a cool breeze. Do you have an OW list yet … how many made da grade?
 
Have a great day brethren and awesome week to boot!

Me too Ramon... I have a few varieties that can take a little cold and still produce, so I'll be keeping on with those.
 
Yeah, in the end I decided to OW the Doughah, Butch T. and Manzano. Again, that's all I have space for. The plan is to have them potted up in 5 gal. Airpots under CFL spots running on a timer. For water, I got a few "Plant Nannies"... unglazed terra cotta spikes you set into the soil at the top of the pot, and plastic inserts that you screw onto plastic water bottles and set into the ceramic spikes. The water slowly seeps through the ceramic to the roots and leaves the soil surface dry, so hopefully no fungus gnats. I can measure the water into the plastic bottle, so I can control how much water each plant gets.

 
Yesterday, I washed down the places on the outside trim where I scraped away cracked and peeling paint, today I'm priming them now that they've dried in the sun, and cooked up another 2 cups of puree from the last of the Yellow 7s while I was waiting for it to warm up and dry out.

 
That just leaves enough pods left for one more batch of sauce, and that'll be all for the superhots this season. Hope you all are having a great and productive weekend... cheers!

 

[Sawyer]

That sauce looks lovely and lethal at once.

 

[stickman]

That sauce looks lovely and lethal at once.

You know it Buzz!    I followed AJ/BillyBoy's recipe, and for every hundred grams of seeded pods I used a quarter tsp of salt, a tsp of agave nectar and 60 milileters of 5% white vinegar. I find that when you cook it down, each hundred grams will pretty much exactly fill a 4oz Ball jar. I got 4 jars out of today's batch, so I put away 10 of them total from my Yellow 7 plant this year. Not too shabby, that means I got a bit over a kilo of pods from that one plant! I figure a level tablespoon is about the equivalent of 2 pods, so I'm set for Jerk marinades until next year's crop comes in.

 

[WalkGood]

Great looking sauce Rick ^_^

 

[Sawyer]

I gotta do that with some of my pods.  I don't want to dehydrate everything.

 

[meatfreak]

You know it Buzz!    I followed AJ/BillyBoy's recipe, and for every hundred grams of seeded pods I used a quarter tsp of salt, a tsp of agave nectar and 60 milileters of 5% white vinegar. I find that when you cook it down, each hundred grams will pretty much exactly fill a 4oz Ball jar. I got 4 jars out of today's batch, so I put away 10 of them total from my Yellow 7 plant this year. Not too shabby! I figure a level tablespoon is about the equivalent of 2 pods, so I'm set for Jerk marinades until next year's crop comes in.

Thanks for the recipe, Rick. Gonna try this out next weekend with my Scotch Bonnets and Yellow Brain Strains. Good thinking on those water nannies! I'm convinced those nasty fungus gnats will stay out of your pots Glad to see you still managed to get some ripe Manzano's this season, I'm gonna have to overwinter mine I'm afraid.
 

I gotta do that with some of my pods.  I don't want to dehydrate everything.

That was my thought exactly! Gonna give this a try for sure.

 

[Devv]

I'm another one who needs to make puree, powder I have
 
And the puree is even more flexible.
 
I'll be watching to see how you like the water nannies.
 
Have a great week bro!

 

[stickman]

Thanks guys, and good luck with your puree-making enterprises... I canned mine up in a hot water bath canner, and simmered the jars for 15 minutes to get a good seal. I just need to de-seed and smoke the last of my Chinense pods for a batch of sauce, and I can pretty much put the pepper plot to bed for the season. The last holdouts will be the Manzanos, Omnicolors and Cheiro Recife. I need to pot up the Butch T. this weekend, and will do the Manzano when I get the ripening pods off the plant, then it'll be time to set up the over-wintering spot down in the cellar in between painting the trim, pulling the weeds and senescent plants from the garden and shredding the leaves we rake up in a few weeks, adding the compost that's ready to put into the garden and spreading them on top. Lastly, I'll line up a source of green Horse manure to spread on top of that to mellow over the winter, and in spring I'll spade it all in with some "Tomato Tone" fertilizer and wood ashes, and be ready to plant.

 

[Devv]

Sound like you have a plan. I looked at the garden today and now that it rained, weeds are coming up everywhere. It's too much to double dig so tiller here we come and rye grass to over winter.
 
Have a great week!