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The Pepper Addiction

CheriLBW

CheriLBW

As I sit here, browsing the pepper sites, I find myself wanting to grow them all.
 
This seems to be a common theme with pepper people and I wonder how everyone else got started in their addiction?
 
My Addiction is very new, I started two years ago with one type, Carolina Reapers because I simply wanted to try growing the "hottest peppers in the world"
 
This year I added 5 or six other types from the same vendor, only successfully growing two of them.
Wanting a better harvest, I found this place and my grow list for next year has ... well it is out of control.
The more I taste, read about and hear about, the more I want to grow.
 
So where did your addiction start?
 
Cheri
 
Grew up on a farm in the 60's. Never lost the love of growing. Its amazing how so much has changed yet it still boils down to planting a seed and pray for the best. Doing it more natural and simple gives me more pleasure then using the latest technology device since the digging stick. Hech I still use a digging stick then a metal seed trowel.
 
started growing tomatoes with dad and grandpa but wanted something more interesting / that doesn't die in 100+ temps thats usual for us in oklahoma.
 
I owe it all to dear ole Dad who was from the Great state of Louisiana.   When I was knee high he introduced me to raw oysters with tabasco/ketchup/lemon/horseradish sauces.
 
 As a kid, I remember eating shrimp stew over rice with whole jalapenos on the side.
Dam...ya know that stuff is still GOOODDD til this day !!   The tradition goes on... Thanks Dad !
 
I started when I moved in 2013 years ago, and bought a few pepper plants from Lowes and grew them out. I got hooked on the heat from the orange habs and started buying supers end of the season. The following year I started growing from seed and had about 35-40 plants. The next year (this past year), I had around 85 plants. Now I'm trying to factor out next years grow, keeping the numbers down enough that I can afford the grow mix and ferts. So many varieties I want to try. Also, wanting to see how some of my isolated saved seed turns out, and want to experiment with crossing next year.
 
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Back when my wife was pregnant with my son nearly 15 years ago I was the one with the cravings. Untill that year jalapenos were to hot. In 2001 I could not find anything hot enough. Daves insanity was added to my cup o noodles. I finally found Daves scorpion and Daves Bhut joluka. I was now on a quest to find these peppers or at least a chilihead club. The web brought me to THP (after years of failing to find the peppers. I WAS WELCOMED, and befriended a few THP members. They gifted me seeds and now I grow my own heat and try to spread the love.

PEPPER PEOPLE ROCK
 
I love growing things since I was a kid.  Not sure where that came from because most of my family members are not that into it.  I must be adopted.  ;)  I don't like the taste of sweet peppers, but I love spicy peppers.  I like the kick.  I also love the way the pods look on the plants.  Been looking at pictures of them on the Internet from time to time for years.  About five years ago, I tried growing peppers from seeds, but the plants never made it to flowering (not hot enough where I am in central coast California).  Three years ago, a friend gave me 2 big plants with pods already.  One didn't make through the first winter.  The second one got some damage after each winter, but it's still alive.  A little over 5 months ago, we got a greenhouse going.  I started to grow all kinds of stuff that I normally can't grow here, like basil, tomatoes, peppers, etc.  Then, I went crazy and started to buy all kinds of pepper seeds (well, my hubby bought the seeds I tell him I need).  While surfing the net, I found this forum and the rest is history...
 
I am very new to this pepper affliction as well.  I have always liked hot sauces and salsas, but never grew or knew much about them.  I grew up in Northern California were there wasn't much variety and jalapeños were too hot for me.   In 2010, I moved to Las Cruces, New Mexico where they like it spicy!  So, after a year here, I got used to the spicy sauces and jalapeños are delicious with every meal.  They grow lots of chile peppers here so it's just part of the everyday life.  Most restaurants will add green or red chile to everything on the menu, even at Subway and fast food places!  We have hundreds of acres of peppers growing here, so I started learning more about growing and the different types.  Fast forward to the beginning of this year, 2015, I was offered a job at a place that tests peppers.   That's when things got crazy.  I joined this forum, started growing local New Mexico types and super-hots.  I started tasting a lot of hot sauces and making my own.  Like you, Cheri, I find myself browsing all the sites, looking at grow logs, and dreaming of the next type of seed to buy or sauce or anything pepper related.   I can't figure out how I'm going to do more than the 24 plants I did this year, but it seems like I am going to double that.  
My wife thinks I'm nuts, of course, because I am!  
In less than a year I went from  having just Tabasco sauce and mild chile powders in the house to having 30 different hot sauces and moruga scorpions siting next to my bananas.  
 
Thanks for sharing your story.
 
After reading these stories, i'm in fear for myself! I've always liked spicy things and peppers in general growing up in a hispanic household. We always had a few different types of salsas, etc. fast forward to about a year ago, when a friend at work started growing scorpions and buht jolokias. He gave me a few to make with chili and I was hooked. I perused this site, picked up some sauces, mustards, spices from The Pepper Palace at the Mall of Ga and I literally just planted my very first Ghost pepper yesterday. Im growing indoors exclusively as I live in a condo and don't want to plant outdoors. I like that i can control a lot more of the process indoors rather than out. I like to experiment and brew my own beer on occasion. Maybe they'll mix? Lol I look forward to learning more and growing this love of hot peppers. Thanks guys!
 
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