I know exactly how you feel. I got into hot peppers for a very unusual reason. I mention this on my pepper website, but I have had a plant nursery for 27 years now, so I am already a "plant person". My next door neighbor is a guy about 10 years younger than I am (so he at least grew up listening to the wrong kind of music)and came up to me think he was hot shit, that he was able to eat an entire habanero, and showed me his scrawny habanero plant that was barely making it. So I thought to myself, I'm going to find the hottest pepper in the world (Bhut Jolokia at that time) and let him try to eat that, and that would make him puke. Anyway, I found some bhut plants and started growing them. He ended up chickening out and never ate an entrie bhut pod, but I got into it and started making my own bhut powder.
So that year I grew 3 plants. 5 plants the next year. Then the Butch T became the hottest pepper, so I HAD to branch out into something hotter! That year I had just over a dozen plants. This is when I met THP people. Things have just gotten worse sine then. I have learned about the other candidates for the next hottest pepper from the people here, and now have those 4 growing. I won an auction on this forum where I got 23 different types of pepper powder and liked several kinds of those, so I just went out and got some seeds for a few more that aren't even super hot, but are on the lower side of the hot scale. We were all just offered some peach bhut seeds recently and a good guy from the forum is sending me those as well, so things are getting a little crazy for me as well. Last year I had about 90 plants and I was up to 189 plants In January. I am thinking about adding another 100 to 140 plants to what I have now and that is just what I have in small seedlings and what i expect to get with the seeds I have coming this month.
I'm not sure how well I will do with more than 300 plants in 7 gallon containers, but we will see. I already know that I am a plant collector and am crazy, so I am not shocked by what is happening with me and the peppers. I have already had collections of cycads, palms, clivias, dyckias, sansevarias, agaves, and gingers. Another collection isn't a shock. The one different aspect of having the collection is exactly what you are mentioning. The other good people from this forum are such great people and are willing to share what they know and what they have with you. This is the very first time, after all these years, that I have met a group that are so generous. Sure, there is always that one old guy, or old woman that you go to their house and they always give you an interesting plant to take home, but those are one of a kind type of people that make our lives more worth while, but these pepper people are in mass.
Anyway, I've rambled too much, congratulations on being another person with the pepper fever, and try to give others the fever as well. Be good to the community, and the community will certainly be good to you. Tom
