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The ever evolving garden...

First off, hello all! :cheers:

Am a newcomer to the site, looks very good indeed, am also a relative newcomer to growing peppers, so I look forward to reading through the threads and learning as I go!

I do like to document and photograph plants as much as possible, so thought I would start a thread of my own and see where it evolves to.

Am located in northern UK, not ideal conditions for chilli growing really, but that can't be helped for the timebeing!
Coming to the end of my second summer growing chillies, a year of mixed results it has been so far... new varieties started this year have been successful overall, but some of last years plants have struggled :(


It all started with a random trip to a DIY store early 2010, I've always been into growing plants & veggies and upon passing the seed shelves at said DIY store, I decided to get a few different packs.
I decided to try some hot peppers as I like good hot food, so into the seed mix went a pack of Orange Habaneros. :twisted:

Since that fateful day I have welcomed the following varieties into the fold:
Cayenne
Jalapeno
Fresno
Hungarian Hot Wax
Aji Lemon
Tabasco

So far I have concentrated on varieties that I'll use in the kitchen often, I do plan to get some stupidly hot ones for next season... saying that, the Orange Habs certainly don't mess about!
But more varieties are always needed by obsessives like myself, in fact I think I should get choosing now, I may have made a decision by next spring!

Anyway, that's a decent summary of where I'm up to, I can see this chilli growing lark being a lifelong obsession, so this thread could have some legs!
I shall update it whenever something interesting happens, or I feel like babbling about my plants.

Till then, I'll get uploading some pics, which will probably happen in stages as my harddrive isn't very well organised!

Aji Lemon
Aji2.jpg


Have to keep plants small at the moment due to space shortages.
Aji.jpg


(Not)Hungarian Hot Wax
HHW.jpg



That's all for this post folks, more pics to follow :)
 
:welcome: , I like that Aji Lemon , very tasty. Your Hungarian Wax appears different than what I,ve grown, was that started from seed or a nursery plant? also, How long can you continue to grow outdoors and could you continue to finish your harvest indoors under artificial light...good luck and keep us posted
 
Thanks for the welcomes!

Yeah, am slightly confused with the Hungarian Hot Wax, although it was grown from seed and that is the first pod it has produced... I have been told the first ones can sometimes be a funny shape, but it definitely is more Bell Pepper shaped.
It did go through the expected colours though, started green then went a weird fluorescent type yellow, then orangey red and it is now going dark red and getting ready to be eaten!
Maybe it's some sort of hybrid?
My tabasco is similarly odd, I expected the peppers to be upright but they have started growing downwards.

The Aji Lemons are lovely, only tried my first one recently and love the flavour from them.

I am in the process of hooking up a cheap indoor set up, probably with some form of CFL type lights, as I think that is it for outdoor growing this year, they are all in the house at the moment and haven't ventured out for a few days now.
 
I think I may have spoken too soon about the growing outdoor season being over for me, as the sun put in an appearance not long after posting that and my lot have all been out in the back for a good sunbathe.

More please!!

Found a pic of an Orange Habanero from last year, I overwintered them but clearly didn't do it properly as they have spent the whole of this year looking peaky and feeling sorry for themselves, after lots of TLC they seem to be picking up again now and I even have a small pod on one of the two plants.
I suppose it's all a learning curve though, and that can be the first thing on my list of things to learn from this site... how to overwinter plants without nearly killing them!

Please excuse the aphid problem, that at least has been dealt with.
OrangeHabanero.jpg


Ooh, and another pic I found from early this year, a curly Jalapeno!
CurlyJalapeno.jpg
 
Nice plants. My Hungarian wax start out light green then progress to be yellow then orange. I would bet that what you have isn't Hungarian wax at all but it may be even better. Good luck with the rest of your season.

Happy growing!
 
Cheers.

Yeah, it is possible that the Hot Wax isn't what it seems, kind of irritating as I bought the seeds from a reputable seed bank, but like you say it could be something better!

Impostors seem to be a theme with my chillies at the moment

I have a Hot Wax that is a Bell Pepper, a Tabasco that isn't looking like Tabasco (though I may have muddled the plant up with a Fresno... in fact, it really does look that way!)
I also have a Cayenne that produces pods that look a bit like Jalapenos, and a Jalapeno that looks more like Cayenne... and they definitely didn't get mixed up!

Ah well, as long as they all taste good, that's the main thing I think!
 
Cheers.

Yeah, it is possible that the Hot Wax isn't what it seems, kind of irritating as I bought the seeds from a reputable seed bank, but like you say it could be something better!

Impostors seem to be a theme with my chillies at the moment

I have a Hot Wax that is a Bell Pepper, a Tabasco that isn't looking like Tabasco (though I may have muddled the plant up with a Fresno... in fact, it really does look that way!)
I also have a Cayenne that produces pods that look a bit like Jalapenos, and a Jalapeno that looks more like Cayenne... and they definitely didn't get mixed up!

Ah well, as long as they all taste good, that's the main thing I think!

I like your garden, all of your peppers, are tolerable for most cooking conditions.

I will say you should add New Mexico green chili

it is a mild chili a step up from a bell pepper.
But the flavor is intense. Best tasting chili hands down!

you can order the seeds from New Mexico state university website
look up Nu Mex heritage 6-4

I was told over the phone it was the tastiest.

This may become your main cooking ingredient chili in the future, if you so choose to grow it.
 
Thanks guys, hope all is well in L.A and Atlanta!

Also, cheers Papadaca, I have had a good look around the Nu Mex site a while ago, they have some amazing looking varieties, I'll definitely look at their New Mexico Green Chili next time I am ordering seeds.

I can confirm that the Hot Wax is indeed a Bell Pepper, the one in the pic above came off and was used in last nights meal along with some Jalapeno and Aji Limon... very tasty it was, but alas no heat, just a standard red pepper by my reckoning!

So, Hot Wax is still on my "to-do list", slightly annoying, but Bell Peppers are always welcome as I do use them a lot.

Also, another pic of one of my chillies of questionable identity!

This time the last remaining pod on my "Jalapeno" for the time being.
Not sure if this is a true Jalapeno, as the pods always grow into this big long shape, and I've always thought of Jalapenos as little chubby things.
I grew it from a seed I recovered from an uncooked pizza bought from my local supermarket (lol), the peppers on the pizza where Jalapenos but this thing may be a hybrid, or maybe just a commercial Jalapeno cultivar... either way it tastes like a Jalapeno, so that's good enough for me!

Jalapeno.jpg


Hope she produces more before the year is out, come on flowers, you know you want to!!
 
Well, I was wandering through town earlier on and decided to have a look around an Indian food store that I often go in, look what I decided to buy...

Bonnets.jpg



Scotch Bonnets!!! :dance:

Have just taste tested a quarter of the sliced one, and yes... they are very hot!!

Very tasty aswell, sort of similar to my Orange Habs, but also a slightly different flavour. I detected a slight citrus/lemony fruity flavour befoer the heat kicked in, then I had to sit down and concentrate on my breathing so as not to hyperventilate! haha


Can't wait to get some seeds germinated, gonna grow some next year for sure!!
 
Well, I was wandering through town earlier on and decided to have a look around an Indian food store that I often go in, look what I decided to buy...

Bonnets.jpg



Scotch Bonnets!!! :dance:

Have just taste tested a quarter of the sliced one, and yes... they are very hot!!

Very tasty aswell, sort of similar to my Orange Habs, but also a slightly different flavour. I detected a slight citrus/lemony fruity flavour befoer the heat kicked in, then I had to sit down and concentrate on my breathing so as not to hyperventilate! haha


Can't wait to get some seeds germinated, gonna grow some next year for sure!!


Nice pods, your keeping seeds right? :)
I can only imagine eating part of a scotch bonnet pod, i can barely eat a full tabasco pod when its ripe, still cant figure out how some of the guys here eat a full superhot pepper pod.
 
hehe, yeah I now think some things are probably best left to imagination! :eek: :mouthonfire:

Definitely keeping the seeds though, looking forward to growing them out.
 
Hello all.

Pic update time, this time with my nice little Fresno plant.

A bit of a slow grower at first, but she is definitely starting to come into her own now.

Only a littl'un, but she's my littl'un!
Fresno.jpg


Fat pods!
Fresno2.jpg
 
Hello all, been a while since I last visited here, but chilli madness has taken over again with Spring nearly here!

Have gone a bit mental with the Scotch Bonnet seeds from the pic in post #13 and have a good tray of nice little healthy plants to look forward to, and maybe give away as there are a good few too many!

Went back to the same shop I got those from today and bought some Green Bullet chillies, and some long thin ones that an old Indian lady assured me are very fierce!

The Bullet chillies look like my immature Fresno pods, definitely a Jalapeno type, but a much lighter green colour. Going to taste test them tomorrow, I don't think they are too hot.
Scared of the long thin ones after what the lady said, she wouldn't even handle them with her bare hands, I do hope she wasn't exaggerating! haha.

Pics to follow!
 
Right ho, taste tested both peppers now, and love them both!


The green bullets are nice and mild, very fresh almost cucumber like flavour and a mild glow for heat.

The thin ones I now think are Pusa Jwala, as the shop tends to sell the popular Indian varieties being an Indian shop!
Just tasted one, the flavour is classic Indian curry cayenne and the burn is intense but short lived.
Complete tongue burn that makes you breath funny for a few mins, but literally after 4 minutes it has all but worn off.
I can see me using these more often, just warmed up a tin of Chicken soup and put a chopped one of each in with a clove of garlic, now that's how to eat a tin of soup!


PJandGB.jpg





E2A - I have already put some of the Green Bullet seeds in to germ, will probably try and crack a few of the Pusa Jwalas as well!
 
Have been taking the plants out into the garden this past week, and bringing them in for the night... leaving them a little later each night. Going to start leaving them out overnight shortly, depending on how the weather goes of course... it has a habit of ruining the best laid plans, but we'll see how it goes.

Here's some pics of my first pods of the year, a little Fresno plant from last year.

2FirstPods2012.jpg


FirstPods2012.jpg


Cheers.
 
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