This years stuff

[Dorkasaurus]

So let me start my second post by saying this year the pepper gods smiled upon me, so thanks to friends and my gardening efforts I've been able to sample quite a variety of different peppers. A picture's worth a thousand words so:

crappy camera, bad lighting, etc. so the colors are off a bit (The Fatalli is more yellow than it appears, the White Hab more white, etc.)

In the last row near the end there's an unidentified habanero type I grew. It was sold as Bhut Jolokia but clearly is not, and it doesn't look like any of my other habs. If anyone wants to guess what it is I'll listen. It's pretty hot, and the burn seems to be an afterthought (i.e., not instant heat.. kind of creeps up on you).


From left to right:

1st Row: Chichi Meca, White Habanero, Jamaican Hot Chocolate, Hinkle Hatz, Fatalli, Red Savina, Mustard Habanero, Scotch Bonnet

2nd Row: Trinidad Scorpion, Naga Viper, Malagueata, NuMex Suave Red, Orange Habanero, unidentified Rocoto, Red Cap Mushroom, Bhut Jolokia

3rd Row: Black Pearl, Santa Fe Grande, Carribean Red (not ripe), Thai Hot, NuMex Twilight, Kung Pao, unidentified, Bulgarian Carrot (aka Shipkas), Peter Pepper

So not a bad year for me at all. Hope everyone else is enjoying their peppers.

 

[SuperHot]

Nice!!

You got some hotties there!!

 

[Dorkasaurus]

Nice!!

You got some hotties there!!

Probably no surprise but the Naga Viper was blistering. I've sampled hotter sauces and extracts, but I don't think I'm ready to eat a whole one just yet. I like cooking with the superhots because I hate the taste of extract and they allow me to crank up the heat without adding the disgusting (imho) extract taste.

 

[Flamecycle]

Nice crop!

Your "malagueata" looks sort of like a naga of some sort... I thought malagueta were supposed to be little birds eye chile's?

 

[Dorkasaurus]

Nice crop!

Your "malagueata" looks sort of like a naga of some sort... I thought malagueta were supposed to be little birds eye chile's?

Good call on the "Malagueta". I love this place already.

Anyway I was told it was a Malagueta but a quick search tells me it's not. I picked it because it looked interesting. I already ate my sample but it was thin fleshed and not hot, but keep in mind I had been sampling bhuts and habs before hand so it's possible it has some heat to it that I just didn't notice. I have a crappy phone pic of the plant. The plant was about 4' tall, pendant pods going (I'm guessing) from purple to cream to yellow to orange to red. Didn't notice any flowers.

Anyone care to guess what this is?

 

[Pulpiteer]

Wow! Great stuff - they look beautiful.
I'm just starting to get into growing the hotter peppers, I've grown cayennes for years. I having a little luck with my scotch bonnets this year - your's looks awesome btw, and seeing your pics my mind is buzzing with questions. How big of a garden? Do you have several of each variety or a few or single of each? Do you have to care for any of these varieties differently than the others? From some of my reading it seems that the bhuts can be pickier, but maybe I'm wrong. And taste wise - what's your favorite. Also, I used some hot sauce with extract a few years ago to really spice up a few dishes and I totally agree with you on the benefits of using a hot pepper for the taste.

anyway, great crop!

 

[midwestchilehead]

That looks like a Cajamarca to me.

Anyone care to guess what this is?

 

[papadaca]

Good call on the "Malagueta". I love this place already.

Anyway I was told it was a Malagueta but a quick search tells me it's not. I picked it because it looked interesting. I already ate my sample but it was thin fleshed and not hot, but keep in mind I had been sampling bhuts and habs before hand so it's possible it has some heat to it that I just didn't notice. I have a crappy phone pic of the plant. The plant was about 4' tall, pendant pods going (I'm guessing) from purple to cream to yellow to orange to red. Didn't notice any flowers.

Anyone care to guess what this is?

looks like a jolokia

n because of climate and soil and growing conditions

its comming in purple. I noticed this with my own jolokias

but not at this level of purpacy.

 

[xXA_HillbillyXx]

nice job on the grow!

 

[PIC 1]

Nice selection displayed, I'm sure where your located you probably have a few months left to grow before the weather changes, and for the plant, I also agree with MWCH, "Cajamarca"

 

[Dorkasaurus]

Wow! Great stuff - they look beautiful.
I'm just starting to get into growing the hotter peppers, I've grown cayennes for years. I having a little luck with my scotch bonnets this year - your's looks awesome btw, and seeing your pics my mind is buzzing with questions. How big of a garden? Do you have several of each variety or a few or single of each? Do you have to care for any of these varieties differently than the others? From some of my reading it seems that the bhuts can be pickier, but maybe I'm wrong. And taste wise - what's your favorite. Also, I used some hot sauce with extract a few years ago to really spice up a few dishes and I totally agree with you on the benefits of using a hot pepper for the taste.

anyway, great crop!

First off I've only been at this about five years and I'm not a scientific or particularly knowledgeable grower so I'm not the best person here to ask for growing advice. What I can tell you is the c.chinese types which pretty much includes all of the "superhots" are supposed to be pickier about conditions than other types but if you can grow cayenne you can probably grow anything since I don't do anything very special.

I usually start from seed in late February or early March using a south facing window supplemented with two 275 watt metal halide lights. I do this because the c.chinense have longer growing seasons than mother nature provides here... they wouldn't have time to mature if started outdoors. I always plant way more than I have room for, so when it's time to transplant them outside I pick 1 or 2 of the healthiest plants from each variety. Most go in 3 gallon nursery containers but I also have a small "lasagna" bed (search for it...basically a compost pile) and this year I tried growing in hay bales and it worked out okay.

The bed uses the dirt under my feet (which has too much clay and drains poorly, hence the need for raised beds and containers)mixed with old hay, dead leaves, and aged horse manure. All of these things are from this location since we have horses and giant cottonwood trees on the premises. In the pots I've tried many different potting soils and mixes but the best I've tried so far is Fox Farm Ocean Forest. I usually mix in some coconut coir and perlite to stretch it a bit further, since the Fox Farm ain't exactly cheap (like me lol). I rarely fertilize but if I do it's usually just a little fish emulsion because it's virtually impossible to kill anything with fish fertilizer.

At this point I'm still trying to find "the one" (or ones) I want to commit to, so plants are crammed in to the point of being overcrowded. Not ideal but I try to grow as many types as I can for "testing" purposes. My favorite all around pepper is still the Jalapeno but I rarely grow them since they are so common. Here I can easily buy fresh Jalapenos, Orange Habaneros, Poblanos, Serranos, Pasillas, Hot Wax, Thai Hot, and several kinds of "green chile" so I don't grow any of those. If it helps any my girlfriend grows Cayenne here without any trouble, but also grew healthy and productive habanero, bhut, tabasco, jalapeno, santaka, bolivian rainbow, bulgarian carrots, black pearl, chimayo, big jim, barkers hot, sahuaro, caribbean red, and giant marconi peppers this year.

Give it a shot. The only pepper that has failed me so far is Datil. I may not grow the biggest prettiest plants and peppers, but I do get a taste of everything at least. Except Datil lol.

 

[Dorkasaurus]

looks like a jolokia

n because of climate and soil and growing conditions

its comming in purple. I noticed this with my own jolokias

but not at this level of purpacy.

No way it's a bhut because it's less than 10 feet away from bhut plants and definitely not the same. I didn't grow this one, this is someone elses garden. I ate one and it wasn't hot... can't say the same for the bhuts.

 

[Dorkasaurus]

Nice selection displayed, I'm sure where your located you probably have a few months left to grow before the weather changes, and for the plant, I also agree with MWCH, "Cajamarca"

I wish that were true, but by the end of September it's pretty much over here. Might be able to keep stuff alive until the end of October if I cover it but I usually just bring in the potted ones and let them finishing ripening inside if there's many peppers left on the plant(s).

I doubt I'm the only that wishes for a 10,000 square foot heated greenhouse.

 

[Dorkasaurus]

That looks like a Cajamarca to me.

I think you might be right since I live in a state heavily influenced by the CPI, and the person who grew this lives within a couple miles of the institute and acquires most of their seeds there. I'm reading they're hot, but mine wasn't. Didn't seem to have much taste at all really. *shrug*

 

[midwestchilehead]

Was it ripe? If you ate it at the purple stage, it was not ripe. My recollection is they eventually ripen to red, but it takes a long time. Mine tasted like a hab with just a little less heat.

I think you might be right since I live in a state heavily influenced by the CPI, and the person who grew this lives within a couple miles of the institute and acquires most of their seeds there. I'm reading they're hot, but mine wasn't. Didn't seem to have much taste at all really. *shrug*

 

[Dorkasaurus]

Was it ripe? If you ate it at the purple stage, it was not ripe. My recollection is they eventually ripen to red, but it takes a long time. Mine tasted like a hab with just a little less heat.

The one (I thought) I ate was mostly red at time of picking. I'm a moron because I just realized I didn't actually eat the Malagueta...er Cajamarca at all because it's still hanging up to dry.

So I ate it "for real" this time, mere seconds ago in fact. It's still not very hot but doesn't taste too bad, nothing special. I've had hotter Jalapenos for sure. Oh well.