White hab: back from cusp of death

[caroltlw]

These are the Peruvian Whites that have been giving me a hard time again this year. It all started when I did a germination test and decided to raise a couple of the sprouts even though it meant going through winter with them.

By the end of January it was suffereing from some frost damage but overall healthy and comparable to my other plants.

6 weeks later and not looking so hot. Fertilizer didn't green it up and the roots couldn't soak up all the water from a 4" pot. The lower leaves are long gone and it has tiny side shoot leaves.
Please note that the entire plant was the color of the center leaves before I repotted it to 1 gal to get it in some better soil.

3 more weeks and things are starting to look much better. Amazing what some perlite and bone meal can do - along with some warm weather to help the roots dry out.

Saving the best for last - the overwintered one I'm keeping. I cut it back to beneath the first fork a few weeks ago and repotted into another 3 gal container w/perlite and bone meal. The roots were pruned to a trowel-sized cone.

c.

 

[Hotpeppa]

very nice..

how do you enjoy em ?

 

[FiveStar]

What's the variety of that overwintered plant? I think I'm gonna go with bone and blood meal as my ammendments this year, and your pictures have sealed the deal!

Beautiful plants Carol! That last one's got me dreaming of spring...

Only another month + a couple weeks to go before plant out here!

 

[caroltlw]

how do you enjoy em ?

We started slicing them fresh and putting them on Triscuits (cracked pepper and olive oil flavor) with sharp cheddar. It's the best taste combination I've found so far.
I also made a shaker bottle full of them with vinegar - I fit about 100 of them in there but I didn't like it much. Pulled some out and added them to some salsa a friend was making for some extra kick.

What's the variety of that overwintered plant? I think I'm gonna go with bone and blood meal as my ammendments this year,

It's the parent or uncle of the baby whites... I took seeds from 2 plants and I lost track of which seedling came from which parent. They are practically identical anyway. I'm calling them the Peruvian White because that's what they resemble, as opposed to the bullet type. I got them from someone on eBay who labeled them as jalapenos, so no telling where they came from before that.
This is the first time I've used bone meal and it did wonders for the sickly babies. They're finally getting some roots under them. Never tried the blood meal.

This is one type that WILL drop buds if you give it too much N. I go by the leaf color (not too yellow) and texture (not too wrinkly) to decide what they need. That year-old plant is a bit wrinkly but growing out of it since I transplanted. Supposedly the calcium helps. It's starting to bud, too.

 

[millworkman]

Triscuits (cracked pepper and olive oil flavor)

Best flavor ever.

 

[FiveStar]

I thought I was the only one in the know about the Cracked pepper/olive oil Triscuit!

You people even have good taste in crackers! I love this place...

Nothin like a CP/OO Triscuit topped with a piece of pepper jack or smoked chedder, with a half a hab on top. MMMMMMMMMMMmmmmmmmMMmmmMM Good!

 

[millworkman]

I go through probably three boxes of triscuits every two weeks.

 

[rainbowberry]

White or any kind of Habs on crackers is just the best, mainly white or orange, any will do though.

 

[caroltlw]

I knew there was a reason I liked you guys.

 

[PeterPepperPicker]

Carol,

The plant is recovering nicely, I love the cutback from last year, looks like it is going to be a huge plant this year!

 

[scoville]

MMM...Hard to go wrong with that particular Triscuit,Add some quality cheese and some pod,Over the top!

 

[scoville]

Carol,maybe we should trade some plants...can't reach you on PM or that photo site.Give me a shout!

 

[caroltlw]

...can't reach you on PM

Stupid interwebs. I'll look into it.

Things aren't looking good because of the flooding. May have to leave here tomorrow or Sun...

 

[patrick]

I've had all kinds of problems with white habs myself Carol. Zero for five on germination. Tried a few more seeds and still nothing.

I gave up on that packet and ordered up another pack recently and so far in two weeks one has peeked out of the dirt to say hi.

Best of luck to you with the rising water. Take Care and stay safe.

 

[LGHT]

Very nice looking plant. I actually bough a lb of white habanero last night. I've never seen them before for sale locally. Seems like the price is a good indication on how hard they are to grow because it was $6.99 a lb!!

 

[caroltlw]

I actually bough a lb of white habanero last night. I've never seen them before for sale locally. Seems like the price is a good indication on how hard they are to grow because it was $6.99 a lb!!

What are there like 1000 of them per pound? That is interesting that someone is farming them for sale - it seems like we're getting more and more variety in the pepper aisle. Never seen anything more exotic than an orange hab (fresh) around here. The Mexican supermarkets have an assortment of dried peppers though.

 

[caroltlw]

While I was taking pod pics this morning I snapped a current one of the "basket case" hab. Here's how much it's grown since last time. Still in the same 1 gal container.

(that's a plastic knife for label)

Both the baby habs are still runts compared to my other habs but they're doing acceptably well otherwise. I now add a sprinkle of bone meal whenever I transplant something chinese.

c.

 

[patrick]

Looking good Carol.

The Peruvian White Hab hasn't done well for me either. Had one of eight or ten seeds germinate. It's not setting any records growing either.

 

[bigt]

The Bullet Habs are always slow growers for me too, but when they get going, they really crank out the pods. I have a Gold Bullet that's 3 or 4 weeks old, fully hardened, and is still only about an inch. And that's the best out of the 3 I planted. Those Cracked pepper-Olive oil Triscuits sound amazing. Never heard of them before.

 

[caroltlw]

Update:

Mama plant has been giving me plenty to eat.

The babies are smallish but podding up. The birds love, LOVE, LOVE the habbies to pick the seeds out of though.