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Why do you grow peppers?

J

Jigsaw

We are all here because we love peppers but why do we grow them? I supose we can just walk into a nursery and buy the varieties we like and go home and plant them like everybody else but instead we have to invest so much more money and time. We have to go out n buy seed starting trays, heat mats, greenhouses, dirt, seeds, etc. And end up with 20+ plants


For me it started after being laid off from the oil field. Had lots of spare time in my hands and wanted to put some green plants around the house to make it look like a home. I was only home 7-10 days out of the month when i was working could never do anything always on call never really enjoyed myself or my home. Went out n bought some plants (flowers) put them in ground seemed easy just water them mow n then. Decided to grow seeds for more of a challenge wanted something that gave fruit but not trees as they take forever to set fruit n grow so i looked into peppers. I wasnt used to being home and got bored n depressed as i live alone. Found it hard to work 14-16 hrs a day to sit on my butt all day and peppers gave me that something to do and before i realized it i sort of became obssesed with peppers and have been growing them ever since
 
When my wife became pregnant with our son fifteen years ago I was the one to have the cravings. I sought heat. I had been able to eat kinda hot up till then, but all of a sudden I could not find anything hot enough. I went seeking a chilihead community locally. I never found that "local" community, but stumbled upon THP. I went into the welcome thread and bitched about seeds ( for the hotter peppers) being about a buck a piece on some sites and e-bay. I was pissed because I was not a gardener, I lived in an appartment, and the good seeds were a buck a piece. SMILEY (Mike Hess) answered my welcome post with a chuckle and offered to send me seeds. Shortly latter I opened a package with seeds and powder that I had never even heard of. I remember eating a 1/2 teaspoon of maruga powder (thought id try a little). I nearly died.

Now at nearly 9k posts THP and the grand pepper comunity that I have found here has made me known locally as "the pepper man". I supple friends and nieghbors with much needed powders and create pickles and goodies for their tables.

PEPPER PEOPLE ROCK

That's why I grow peppers
 
I grow my own peppers from seed for two main reasons: 1. The vast majority of the 70 or so varieties I am growing are things I have never seen available in a local nursery, and 2. I simply enjoy doing it. Growing peppers is a fun and satisfying hobby for me. And it seems like there are always so many more more interesting varieties that i "need" to try...  :)​ 
 
Jigsaw said:
Decided to grow seeds for more of a challenge wanted something that gave fruit but not trees as they take forever to set fruit n grow so i looked into peppers.
Click to expand...
 
This is exactly why I started growing as well.
 
If you look on my profile, you'll see my bio says "I don't like spicy foods, I love plants." This is the only way that I can put it. Peppers, to most people, are jalapeños, bell peppers, habañeros and maybe a couple more varieties. Before I discovered this forum, that's what I thought. Then I discovered SO MUCH MORE! There's literally hundreds of varieties that all produce some really neat looking fruits.
 
The journey is incredible as well. I don't know, maybe it's just me sounding like a hippy, but the bond that you share with your plants is something else. This is exactly why I love plants! It's kind of like playing as God. You are taking a seed, bringing it to life and creating a beautiful plant that provides delicious, gorgeous and unique fruit, and that to me is super rewarding. Even if I don't like to eat my fruits after I grow them, my family eats them. Don't get me wrong, I nibble on my pods but only nibble.
 
To me, pepper plants don't take forever to fruit like lemons, avocados, apples, cherries, etc etc that literally take YEARS to produce fruits. Nevermind the grafting process that is usually associated with growing those fruits.
 
To me, peppers are very special. Each plant is so unique in its own way and I don't think I could ever get sick of growing them.
 
 
Part 2,
I became obsessed with growing when I was 15 years old. I'm 17 now, but a few years ago I dealt with really bad anxiety. To me, pepper plants were my escape and something that I could learn from and go wild with. I remember that summer I germinated a ton of plants, lost a ton of plants and gained lots of knowledge.
 
This forum has really become a great place for me!
 
I had just lost my job at BP Pipelines and cashed out my retirement. Used some the money to build a nice garden and landscaping. I always liked hot peppers but during googling for seeds I found a thread about a pepper called Wild Brazil. It sounded really interesting so I did more research and ended up contacting a guy here named ajijoe. I ordered a bunch of seeds from him and thus my pepper growing obsession started. 
 
The first year I only grew a few varieties and only one was super hot. The next year I grew over 80 plants... this year... well yea. It's an addiction now. 
 
Next year I swear i'm going to cut back though....
 
Have been growing organic produce for much time.  Grew super hots for self because could not buy them.  But did not grow current volume until they started incorporating into our produce business.  Then they started taking over.  So I am going to say I didnt decide, the peppers did.
 
I grew up helping my grandfather in his huge garden (3 acres of plowed land) I always had a project plant that he'd assign to me as a kid, it was my responsibility to grow it from seed at home and bring him the harvest. He gave me jalapeno seed one time, and I loved growing that plant, I thought it was the coolest thing. After he passed I never really did much gardening, then my fiancee asked if I'd put in a garden a few years back. I figured I'd grow some peppers, tomato, the usual really. Since then I've been re-bitten by the pepper bug,I branched out naturally from jalapeno and bells to habs, to cayenne, to this year's selection of several hots, several super hots, and a few sweets. And im already collecting seed to make next year's grow even bigger!
 
As a few others said on here I wanted to start to grow for the sport and the relaxation I get from gardening. I always remember my grandfathers huge garden he had every year (of course he didn't have any hot peppers) which had your normal plants like corn, tomatoes, green beans, zucchini/squash, bell peppers and a few other things. Always remember the enjoyment of finding things ready to be picked and eating them. Now that I'm starting to garden (my first real time actually trying) I'm finding that things I learned from him have came in handy now and it brings back the wonderful memories I had with him.

I now have 35 different types of peppers growing in ground and in pots and can't wait to start reaping the rewards when they come in!
 
Primarily to make hot sauce with the flavors I like in a pepper and the heat.  I also like to chop them up and add them to certain foods. Lately I have to be in the mood for hot sauce and hot peppers in my food.  It looks like I'm settling in on good tasting peppers in the aji to scotch bonnet range on the scoville. 
 
I started growing chiles after moving here to OH (originally from TX then went to CA for a while), as most of the hot peppers at the grocery stores were either too mild or moldy. The stores have generally gotten better about tossing the ones that should be tossed, but they still pretty much only sell up to habs. In the meantime, through this site I've grown fond of some varieties I'd never heard of before. Now it's just pure addiction.... 
 
On the other hand, though, if you look a little harder you'll find people growing tomatoes and other things with as much passion and equipment as we have for our chile plants. 
 
Couldn't get the perfect Fataliis for my salad dressing, some guy online (massive thanks Helvette) was offering free seeds to a good home, it just made sense. Then family, friends and coworkers pushed me to go further. At some point scientific curiousity took over and now I have a greenhouse full of pain and flavour, waiting to be interbred in interesting ways.
 
In my younger days Mountaineering was my life and I was lucky to travel all over the world both in the services and as a civilian ... service ration packs were always bland and needed enhancing. I carried an old camera film plastic container with chilli powder everywhere then one day I thought why don't I grow my own

To me its one of the least stressful hobbies one can have ... working out side in the fresh air ... seeing a seed planted grow into a mature plant wether in a container or hydroponically is a wonderful sight. I always grow too many so the pleasure seen on others as you offer them a plant is again rewarding

Come Autumm/Fall it's time to source the following seasons seed ... As you know I am dedicated to the "bonnet" but I couldn't have continued my venture without your help .... wonderful like minded people happy to exchange seed makes me want to continue to grow into my retirement ... only regret was not starting when I was a lot younger
 
For me it's a combined love for cooking/(spicy)food, gardening, and making things myself. Also the chilis in supermarkets here are very limited and usually not of superb quality.
 
An extra bonus is the fact that although I can spend hours reading this forum and sciency articles about peppers, plant, pests etc. but the moment I go take care of my plants it all becomes very relaxing and uncomplicated.
 
I've always been interested in gardening, even though I knew basically nothing about it.  This year I knew I'd have some free time this summer, so I decided to grow my favorite thing in the world... heat. 
 
I started by purchasing full plants and putting them in a raised while I learn the basics of gardening.  Next year I plan to start from the seeds, and possibly expand the garden.  I'm loving it so far and I'm still weeks away from even seeing any pods!
 
Loved spicy food, but the supermarket only carried shitty orange habaneros with no real flavor and all bitterness and heat. One evening while eating chili I thought, why don't I just grow my own? 
 
One of the biggest motivators was wanting a new hobby after a divorce, and gardening was the perfect choice. All the pieces fell into place after that!
 
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