What to grow up north?

[patrick]

I'm in the northern edge of 5a and I grow everything I want. From the sweetest to the hottest. For the superhots the key is an early start, like POTAWIE recommended. I usually get them going around the middle of January and I get two decent harvests. You won't know until you give it a shot.

 

[Hammerfall]

for your info... i have started some plant in november still in the house they are now 2.5 feet tall and throwing peppers already.

i live where the make snow !!!!!

still have 2 feet of snow around here!
ut my plants love my sun facing window, a good soil, good watering and plenty of space for the roots to grow! i started them in a small greenhouse in the basement with t8 lamps (shop lights) they are now giving lot's of fruits and are not yet in the peak of the summer time... so when those will be planted outside they should give another wave of peppers and assure the actual one ripens ok!

 

[MIPEPPERGUY]

I'm curious about the C. pub varieties as I'm trying them for the first time this year. How early did you start if the pods never ripened on time? Would I fare better from leaving one or two plants in large containers and just hoping for next season or perhaps trying to fruit over the winter indoors?

Consulting my grow log notes for the yellow Roccotos from 2010:

Seeds (4) started 1/14/10. Germination (3) on 1/26/10. Repotted 4/6/10. Planted (2) in garden on 5/19/10. Plants grew to a height of 22". First pod set was noticed 8/20/10. Eight fully sized green pods between the two plants was all that developed. Pods were of normal size (per plant description of appx. 2" dia.) but never ripened to yellow. Plants pulled on 10/20/10.

If I had it to do all over, would have over wintered one to see what my results would have been in year two. I read somewhere that Roccotos can be notorious for long grows and difficulty in ripening in a northern growing environment. Others may have had results contrary to this, just relating my experience in my garden. If already in pots, it may worth an over-winter try to see what the results would be. I've moved on from this variety, to many plants and not enough space.

 

[synclinorium]

Being from CT (6A) I've grown all sorts of different varieties with success. The big deal is starting on time, the temps are pretty okay throughout the summer as long as it isn't a cold and rainy one.

I'm curious about the C. pub varieties as I'm trying them for the first time this year. How early did you start if the pods never ripened on time? Would I fare better from leaving one or two plants in large containers and just hoping for next season or perhaps trying to fruit over the winter indoors?

(I apologize for momentarily hijacking the thread, Cap)

You might actually have better luck than me with the pubescens. The problem is that the Rocoto is more sensitive to heat than most peppers and won't set fruit much above 90, perhaps lower, and our late July and August weather is brutal... it didn't start setting pods until early September for me, even though it had been blooming for well over a couple months by that point. I got 4 ripe pods and about 35 unripened pods in various states of maturity. The plants were started in early March, I believe. This is a shot of a couple of the plants in early October, the post is five feet for scale. They get to be monsters, and keep in mind, I'm in 6b... not terribly different...

C. pubescens are plants you really should consider overwintering, since they grow to be huge and don't really peak until their second and subsequent years, and it's not as difficult as you might expect. It's easy to minimize the chance of introducing pests by removing the existing growth and cleaning the roots of as much existing soil as possible, leaving behind a stem and a root ball.

Rocotos also seem to be more amenable to lower light conditions than most peppers. The overwinters haven't been receiving much light, this one is about 2.5 feet tall and only gets about 3 hours of direct sun through a west-facing window:

 

[Capsicum]

(I apologize for momentarily hijacking the thread, Cap)


No prob. I enjoy all new subjects. They look ready to go outside soon!!!

 

[MIPEPPERGUY]

Synclinorium - Monster plant and nice pics. You stated, "I got 4 ripe pods and about 35 unripened pods in various states of maturity." Seems rather minimal given the size of the plant and your longish growing season. Is the plant in pic. 2 the over-winter of pic one? Grown in the ground or in a pot? Will this season be season 2? Interesting to see if it produces better this year. I still have some rocoto seeds at hand, now I'm thinking I'll give one plant a try again this year, do an over-winter and see what happens!

Again sorry for the hijack, sometimes inquiring minds......

 

[synclinorium]

Haha, yeah, I wish it had more, but I can't say I was surprised. It didn't really get going until the end of the year. The second pic is the same plant as the first one... unfortunately, I'll be moving in the middle of the summer so I won't have a full season, I'm hoping I might get some early season pods off it but who knows. I'll definitely take it with me when I go, though I might need to cut it down a bit more...

And yes... the plant is one year old today, in fact. Time flies.

They definitely need support though... the stems are a bit frail for the size they get. Some sort of trellis-type support works best, I've heard.