Sulsa's 2022 grow log

As already stated in my welcome thread i'm fairly new to growing peppers. This is gonna be my second year of growing them.
Last year was quite a succes, started out with ten variaties that i could find locally and ended up with a garden full of lush plants and dito harvests. The climate here is not ideal for growing peppers, especially the 2021 season was quite wet arround here. Hoping this year will be a bit more favourable.

The plan for upcoming season is all about diversity in varieties. I'm trying to find the peppers i like the most and find good use for in the kitchen. Also cutting down on the number of plants per variety so i will not have to proces tons of peppers wich i don't really like.

Below my growlist for upcoming season:

Capsicum Pubescens (sowed 1-7-2022)

5x Rio Hualaga
5x Mini choco

Capsicum Chinense (sowed 1-15-2022)

5x Bonda ma Jacques
5x Bahamian goat
5x Habanero red
30x Adjuma yellow

Capsicum Frutescens

20x Chabai green

Capsicum Baccatum (sowed 1-15-2022)

5x Lemon drop
5x Aji mango
5x Sugar rush peach
5x Rainforrest

Capsicum annuum

5x Jalapeno el Jefe
5x Greek pepperoni
10x Cayenne
10x Cayenne #1 (big and beautyfull off pheno that popped up last year, giving it a try...)
5x Rawit
20x Piquillo de Lodosa
20x Kapia
20x Dulce de Espagna
5x Ancho negro

Most of this plants will be grown in containers in my backyard. I also have about 300 square meters of vegetable garden in wich i will grow a few varieties in open field. Did this last year with sweet peppers and this turned out pretty good.

First hook for this season... Rocoto mini choco (7 days after it hit the dirt )

 

[Tinkerbelle]

wow Sulsa, it all looks very productive

 

[PaulG]

Those piquillos make the best stuffed peppers I have eaten.

 

[Sulsa]

Those piquillos make the best stuffed peppers I have eaten.

They sure are special peppers! Sweet and silky, and a quite unique flavor.

 

[Sulsa]

Every now and then i take some plants out of the jungle to do some grooming and some close up inspections.
Today i took out the O.W. Habanero red. It's her second year now and she's getting quite big horizontally and is loading up with pods very well. These pods are very hot to me, but after the initial agony they leave a clear and nice, long lasting habanero taste. Also found some good looking off pheno pods hiding inside the foliage.

 

[MarcV]

Wow that's a nice looking plant!

 

[Sulsa]

First decent harvest of the Piquillos... about 3,5 kg. and still lots to come!

 

[Sulsa]

 

[Tinkerbelle]

wowzer Sulsa good haul

 

[PaulG]

Yeah, buddy, pods rollin' in for ya! Your
grow is way ahead of mine this year!

 

[Sulsa]

Yeah, buddy, pods rollin' in for ya! Your
grow is way ahead of mine this year!

Up to now things are going great, hoping that the weather in fall will be equally good up here in the north!
Hoping that the weather in your neck of the woods will become a bit more pepperfriendly! You still got a few months to go, so plenty of time to make up for a sucky spring!

wowzer Sulsa good haul

Not bad indeed for the first serious picking, still loads to come though... if everything goes well i'm pretty sure that i will make it through winter!

 

[Sulsa]

Great looking Bahamian goat pod

 

[PaulG]

Up to now things are going great, hoping that the weather in fall will be equally good up here in the north!
Hoping that the weather in your neck of the woods will become a bit more pepperfriendly! You still got a few months to go, so plenty of time to make up for a sucky spring!

That has been the case for the past several grow
seasons, my friend. Looks like highs in the 80’s*F
from now to mid-September, with a few 90’s thrown
in. If the forecast stays that way, peppers should do
okay. Most wilds have turned the corner, and there’s
a chinense or two with some pods. I’m hoping that
the Fall weather saves the day again this season.

Enjoy that Bahamian Goat pod! It’s a beauty!

 

[francisp]

Great looking Bahamian goat pod

It sure it.

 

[Sulsa]

I love this time of the year!

I went to pick some more piquillos yesterday.
Just shy of 4,5 kg. this time.

 

[Sulsa]

WWWOOOOOOOOOOOOSSSSSSHHHHH

 

[MarcV]

Those piquillos look really delicious! I grew them once myself and ate them fresh including the peel but they are actually too tough to be eaten like that.

 

[Sulsa]

Those piquillos look really delicious! I grew them once myself and ate them fresh including the peel but they are actually too tough to be eaten like that.

It's a hell of a job, but once they are done and cleaned they are absolutely delicious!

 

[Sulsa]

Picked one of the rocoto mini choco today. Plants are loaded with dark brown pods, but since i never grew a pubescens before i haven't got a clue when to harvest them. They don't seem to color up any more but are still quite hard to the touch. This pod tasted quite bland and greenish. It was juicy though. Heat was concentrated around the placenta and initial heat was about cayenne level in the front of the mouth. The heat peak didn't last long but there was a pleasant lingering heat all the way down the throat for about half an hour... nice!
Any experienced rocoto grower here who has some insights on best harvest time for these peppers?

 

[CaneDog]

That's how they've tasted for me when I've grown them and there was no harvesting around it.

They're cool plants, but the pods were among and perhaps the worst of the 3 dozen plus rocoto varieties I've grown, at least to my palate. My memory is there was a bit of an acrid chlorophyll flavor to them which I found unpleasant.

 

[PaulG]

On the minis, I harvest by feel.

For my money, the mini red is the best
tasting and juiciest of the mini rocotos.