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 )

 

[MarcV]

I have the impression that the pods on my overwintered bonnets are hotter than they were last year. Do you notice the same with those red habs?

 

[Sulsa]

I have the impression that the pods on my overwintered bonnets are hotter than they were last year. Do you notice the same with those red habs?

Those reds are scorching hot to me, above the point that i can clearly distinguish heat levels. Just instant pain, wich i like ofcourse. I do find them more fruity / floral in aroma this year whereas last year they were more on the smokey / spices side of the taste pallet.

 

[Sulsa]

Last year i grown some heirloom cayenne from a well known seed company here in the Netherlands and i had one plant growing bigger and better and producing fruits twice as big as the others. I isolated some seeds and i'm currently growing six plants of them this year. They grow quite uniform except for one... this one has purple stems and darker green leaves then the others. Was hoping for a spontaneous mutation, but it might be the result of some cross. Isolated both to see what they bring in the years to come!
Purple stemmed plant on the left.

Little update on the purple stemmed cayenne. Been keeping an eye on this plant daily and i think i know what happened here. Despite isolating the peppers last year with meshbags fhere must have been a cross with the jalapenos that were standing quite close to the cayennes. The purple stems also appear on the jalapenos as is variegation and dark green foliage. Also the peppers forming have some jalapeno looks to them. They are more shiny and smooth surfaced also they look more straight and bulky compared to the normal cayenne shape. Think that the wind managed to blow some pollen through the meshbags wich might have resulted in a jalapeno/cayenne cross.

First the normal cayenne also from seeds from last year
Thin long pods with some curling and a bit bumpy skin sometimes

Pods on the possible cross look a bit different

Variegated leaves wich i never seen on the cayenne, but pretty much on all the jalapenos

Succesfully hand pollinated some flowers cause they might be good, you never know

Clearly meshbags give no guarantees on isolating 100% I also have some Adjumas that turned red while supposed to be yellow. They must have crossed with the hab red close to them. They lost a lot of taste from the adjuma but gained on scorching heat from the red. Not exactly an improvement. I took off all the meshbags and will continue hand pollinating from now on!

 

[HeatMiser]

Nice grow! With regards to the Cayenne, my money would be more on just variation within that line vs accidental wind pollination through mesh bags.

Of course nothing is 100%, but the pollen must have made its way from a nearby plant, get through the mesh bag (which is still a physical barrier) and land exactly on the stigma of the flower before it had a chance to self-pollinate (which they usually do just as soon as they open). Again, not saying it can't happen, but I'd find it extremely unlikely .

 

[Sulsa]

Nice grow! With regards to the Cayenne, my money would be more on just variation within that line vs accidental wind pollination through mesh bags.

Of course nothing is 100%, but the pollen must have made its way from a nearby plant, get through the mesh bag (which is still a physical barrier) and land exactly on the stigma of the flower before it had a chance to self-pollinate (which they usually do just as soon as they open). Again, not saying it can't happen, but I'd find it extremely unlikely .

It would explain a lot of the differences with the other cayennes though. Will have to wait for one to ripen and see if they became thick fleshed or have jala flavors mixed in. Natural mutation could surely be a possibility too. Anyway it became a nice plant to look at and hopefully also with tasty pods.

 

[Sulsa]

Update on the baccatums

Aji mango doing fine and finally starting to flower a bit

Also first pod has set, did the pollination on this one by hand

Lemon drops are flowering a bit longer allready and have multiple pods growing

The sugar rush stumpy have some pheno differences in between plants. They came from the same batch of new bought seeds, curious to see how that develops.

 

[Sulsa]

The Frutescens starting to get bushy. 3 plants in a 45 Liter container.
First flowers appearing everywhere so pods will set soon.

The greek pepperoni are all over the place, branching, flowering and pod setting like no other. Have to tie them up regularly cause they grow quite weak branches that need support.

 

[Sulsa]

I like it when the plants start touching eachother and the garden is turning into a sea of green, now all that is needed is some bright colored pods everywhere...

First piquillo pods getting ready for harvest

Open ground peppers always become short sturdy plants and carry lots of pods in very limited space. Totaly different than pot grown peppers.

Also harvested part of the onions today, not directly pepper related, but whenever i use peppers there are often onions and garlic in play as well.

Garlic was allready harvested a few weeks ago

 

[skullbiker]

Add some tomatoes and you'll have a good salsa going.

 

[MarcV]

Impressive!

 

[Sulsa]

Add some tomatoes and you'll have a good salsa going.

Will have to wait a few more weeks for those!

 

[Sulsa]

Some moth has chosen the rocotos as host plant...
I noticed some damage before but did not notice what was going on here.
Several leaves looked like this

Inside this envelope is a little surprise that pops when you squeeze it!

When not squeezed on time this is what they leave behind

Non of the other peppers are affected, just the rocotos. They don't seem to mind much though, still going strong!

 

[PaulG]

Nice sleuthing, @Sulsa!

Pop goes the larva

 

[Sulsa]

Some early pods! Still quite small, but plants are loading up nicely. Hopefully in a few weeks from now pods will be bigger and more abundant.
From top clockwise: piquillo, bahamian goat, habanero red, sugar rush stumpy, bonda ma jacques.

 

[MarcV]

That bahamian goat looks exactly like the pods I'm currrently getting from my freeport orange SB... same size, same shape, same color!

 

[Sulsa]

That bahamian goat looks exactly like the pods I'm currrently getting from my freeport orange SB... same size, same shape, same color!

They supposed to look like this....
Maybe pods later on will grow more true to pheno, we will see.
They are nice to eat a bit floral and fruity, nothing compared to the bmj or adjumas but nice and quite a kick too!

 

[MarcV]

I myself am not a real fan of their taste, too much chinense to me. The (other?) bonnets have a milder taste and I do prefer that

 

[Sulsa]

They supposed to look like this....
Maybe pods later on will grow more true to pheno, we will see.

..... wait wut?

Let's try again......
Maybe we will hit the jackpot soon, we will see....

 

[Sulsa]

Open ground sweet peppers Kapia and Dulce de Espagna like the hot weather we have lately.

Some serious pod setting going on beneath all those leafs

To the left Piquillo de Lodosa in the middle Adjuma and to the right Ancho negro

When not cutting away the lower branches on the Chinense grown on open ground this is what happens

Anchos podding up very well and some are slightly turning brown allready

Piquillos also podding up nicely

 

[Sulsa]

I'm a big fan of piquillo peppers they don't have any heat but have a very distinct creamy and rich flavor. Besides that they are very juicy and thickwalled. Only downside is they have tough skin so you have to remove this prior to cooking.
I've been using them for ages and used to buy them canned. When i started growing peppers this was one of the first i had to try and i'm very pleased with the way they grow and produce in my climate.
Since the first ripe ones are starting to roll in it was time for the first fresh piquillo dish of the season.

First the traditional roasting to remove the skin, you will instantly like this peppers when you smell them during roasting.

After clean up

These are great for stuffing, but i like to cut them up and make the best Pollo Romana in the world (in my opinion! )
Good food needs smoke ofcourse so i prefer to make this on the bbq. Please do note the carefully placed twig of thyme.

Close up! Jamie Oliver voice; Come on, look at that!

I used to cook Arborio rice within the dish in the past, but i now prefer a simple risotto on the side made with some good chicken stock, a pile of Parmezan and a lump of butter. The creamyness of the risotto really complements the dish.