vendor Why seeds and no peppers?

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OzDragon

OzDragon

Surely there's an answer to this: why is it so hard to find peppers for sale while there's seeds galore?

I love the bhut jolokia and would love to try some of the other peppers that are discussed but GEEZ! I'm in an apartment in Chicago. Not much farming is going to happen in my livingroom. (Rattlesnake meat is easier to acquire than scotch bonnet peppers.)

What's the background on this? Does anyone know of a reputable source for whole fresh peppers?
 
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I believe it has to do with liability issues. As you say rattlesnake meat is easier to accure, i dont think you would get sick or have any side affects from eating it, however with superhots there are many things that can happen and ppl are just scared in my opinion.
 
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Seeds keep pretty indefinitely, peppers once ripe, will rot even in mild weather shipping.

I myself have a pretty large indoor grow planned, but at a cost, I really wouldn't call my Maine weather mild.

I would think even the California and Texas weather declines greatly for growing season.

Peak of summer I found Fresh Peppers fairly cheap by the pound here.


Its easier to buy icecubes in winter, then hot peppers .... LOL..
 
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and btw i used to live in chicago also and used to olant stuff on the roof (we had those flat roofs) grew all kind of stuff lie tomatoes, cucumbers peppers and others. Or you can grow them under lights.
 
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charlie99 said:
I believe it has to do with liability issues. As you say rattlesnake meat is easier to accure, i dont think you would get sick or have any side affects from eating it, however with superhots there are many things that can happen and ppl are just scared in my opinion.
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Raw meat is loaded with potential for liability. So, I'm doubting that liability is the problem given that people sell meat, candy, popcorn, hotsauce, live lobsters ... all kids of foodstuffs online, and the vendors probably have liability insurance.
 
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Well the things said plus a whole diff can of requirements and licenses/permits. While we share peppers on here if one was going to sale to the public on a regular basis they would have to go through the department of ag and the food and drug both. I recently had a meeting with several venders and a garden center on marketing pods of the super hots and a few other less common types and they let me in on the ins and outs of it.
 
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onefowl1 said:
Well the things said plus a whole diff can of requirements and licenses/permits. While we share peppers on here if one was going to sale to the public on a regular basis they would have to go through the department of ag and the food and drug both. I recently had a meeting with several venders and a garden center on marketing pods of the super hots and a few other less common types and they let me in on the ins and outs of it.
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Please share more.
 
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I can tell you from working in the produce biz for 10 years now and researching our competition from small markets to established places as large as walmart, You gotta ask one of the produce workers/produce managers..

For instance.. I work in western WA, probably one of the last places you'd expect to get hot peppers. At our market we regularly have, org habs, serranos, jalapenos, pasillas, and anaheims. Which.. I see at almost every produce selling store around, from the small Asian markets to walmart.

Here's the kicker though, when I go to make my order for whatever we need... Through our distributor, I CAN order scotch bonnets, yellow habs, red habs, thai ANYTHING, etc, and the only super they sell, Bhuts. BUT, I don't. SO.. When a customer comes to me looking for any of the above (its happened maybe twice in my 10years) I tell them if they want, I can order them a 1lb or 5lb case, and sell it to them for damn near wholesale cost. Point is, ASK. Chances are they can get you what your looking for, but, I can guarantee you'll have to buy a case. Keep in mind also, our distributor sends stuff to canada, idaho, montana, oregon, and northern california. I can't imagine that you cant find atleast a couple stores in any state in the USA that can't order some different chiles for you to try. We can get habs,scotchBs,Bhuts, etc at anytime of year from Mexico.

Reason you can't find them on the shelf:
Verrrrry few people know what they are ( of the few % of people that have even heard of a bhut jolokia heard of them because of guiness), most are not willing to pay the price just to try them (prices are a premium b/c there's 1 scotchbonnet grower to every 500 orange habanero growers, 1 bhut grower to every 50000 jalapeno growers, etc) most people stick with chiles they know.

Most of all though. For 99% of the general public, an Orange Habanero is blow your head off TOO hot. From a produce guy, there's really not much of a market for them at all. I'd like to order a 5lb case of scotch bonnets.. But, I'd throw 4.7lbs of them away in 5 days. if not more. Sad, but true. Hell, now that I think about it, Even though we carry the chiles I listed above, other than jalapenos, we lose money on every one of them. we sell at best, 1/6 of every case we buy of plain ol' orange habs.

Hope that helps.
Good luck asking around!
Brandon
 
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BigCedar, this is GREAT.
Note: your reply doesn't help explain why it's so easy to buy seeds online and difficult to by fresh peppers. On eBay there's maybe 200 seed sellers for every 1 pepper seller.

However, I so dearly appreciate the insight from your perspective as a produce buyer at a grocery store. I had no idea that the orange habs are a money-loser for grocery stores. I'm going to take your suggestion and ask my local stores if they can get some scotch bonnets and/or bhuts while understanding that I might have to commit myself to buying 5 lbs.

Thanks for the education!
 
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OzDragon said:
BigCedar, this is GREAT.
Note: your reply doesn't help explain why it's so easy to buy seeds online and difficult to by fresh peppers. On eBay there's maybe 200 seed sellers for every 1 pepper seller.

However, I so dearly appreciate the insight from your perspective as a produce buyer at a grocery store. I had no idea that the orange habs are a money-loser for grocery stores. I'm going to take your suggestion and ask my local stores if they can get some scotch bonnets and/or bhuts while understanding that I might have to commit myself to buying 5 lbs.

Thanks for the education!
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No worries my friend, I have some insight on that as well. :)

So, pepper seeds out weigh fresh peppers 50 to 1. If not more. Keep in mind, those 200+ seed sellers on ebay? Maybe 10, and that's stretching it, are selling legit seeds. You buy some bhut seeds? have fun watching your "bhut seeds" grow red habaneros.. It's an open market on ebay, if your slightly shady, you wanna make money, have slight knowledge on the new superhots that are popular in the chilehead pepper growing community.. You'll advertise your selling some bhut jolokias that are actually red habaneros.. the sellers thought process goes like this.. when your plant starts producing and you see a red pepper, they think you'll believe its a bhut jolokia ( that's what you bought right? they are thinking you have no education in shapes, heat, size, etc) And even if you do know what your growing, and you know it's not a Bhut jolokia, too bad, you won't be getting a refund. Ebay is literally.. the last place you should be buying seeds, trust me.

Other than that..
And this is my opinion, but I think I'm dead on..
80% if not more that get seeds for free, buy seeds from a local nursery, and or buy from a reputable pepper seed selling site..

1. They do not succeed growing them. As easy as many members make it look (using seeds and making them produce peppers) It's not that easy really.. It's not like a sunflower seed that you can plant in your outdoor ground in march and watch it grow 15ft..

2. If they DO succeed in growing from seed, the grower is growing in a backyard and most likely for there own consumption, and here on THP, enough seeds to hand out to other lucky members :)

3. You gotta remember.. a single bell pepper will give you 150 seeds at the least, a jalapeno near 100, a super hot.. (bhut for example) 20-30 maybe.. So when you look at that ratio.. every single superhot you see, has 20-30 seeds in it.. so of course your going to see more seeds than peppers.

4. I'll admit.. I have 10 seeds atleast for every variety I'm growing next year but I'm only planting 3-4 seeds.. because 1 plant will give you 500+ seeds atleast if you grow it right, that's why I find it a bit funny when big seed dealers sell 10 seeds for 10 dollars.. That literally boils down to 30+ dollars for every single superhot pepper that grows.. 1 plant will produce a good amount of peppers and seeds for yourself and anyone else you wanna give to :)

Anyway, Hope this helps again!
Brandon
 
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BigCedar said:
So, pepper seeds out weigh fresh peppers 50 to 1. If not more. Keep in mind, those 200+ seed sellers on ebay? Maybe 10, and that's stretching it, are selling legit seeds. You buy some bhut seeds? have fun watching your "bhut seeds" grow red habaneros.. It's an open market on ebay, if your slightly shady, you wanna make money, have slight knowledge on the new superhots that are popular in the chilehead pepper growing community.. You'll advertise your selling some bhut jolokias that are actually red habaneros.. the sellers thought process goes like this.. when your plant starts producing and you see a red pepper, they think you'll believe its a bhut jolokia ( that's what you bought right? they are thinking you have no education in shapes, heat, size, etc) And even if you do know what your growing, and you know it's not a Bhut jolokia, too bad, you won't be getting a refund. Ebay is literally.. the last place you should be buying seeds, trust me.
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Brandon, thank You for a great insight.
Now I feel ashamed, because I bought a lot of seeds on ebay (mostly tomatos, some peppers and beans) :(

But, as I already said in other topic, most of the reputable sellers don't wan't to send seeds to my country :(
Ebay was the easiest way for me to get seeds, although I knew there's a greater risk involved with ebay sellers. :(
Guess I will have to cross my fingers and pray, hoping for the best :D


1. They do not succeed growing them. As easy as many members make it look (using seeds and making them produce peppers) It's not that easy really.. It's not like a sunflower seed that you can plant in your outdoor ground in march and watch it grow 15ft..
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That's true. I've grown some purple jalapenos last year succsesfully, but some other peppers (thai red dragon, cayenne red...) didn't produce...
I'm an amateur grower, I want to produce some peppers for my family needs, i take fun and enjoyment in growing vegetables in my free time, so if something doesnt grow as planned, it's not a big problem for me.

3. You gotta remember.. a single bell pepper will give you 150 seeds at the least, a jalapeno near 100, a super hot.. (bhut for example) 20-30 maybe.. So when you look at that ratio.. every single superhot you see, has 20-30 seeds in it.. so of course your going to see more seeds than peppers.
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Great info! Most of the sellers on ebay say that bhut produces only 3-4 seeds!
 
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If you buy from ebay (and i speak from experience) do research on the seller and ask him questions. See if he has any pics and how long he has been growing and selling. Most sellers only sell you about 10 seeds, not the total amount they get from one pepper, so if they sent you the pepper, they wouldnt be able to make moeny from the seeds. I had an issue with a seed seller and after my peppers grew (a long time after I bought them) I contacted him with little hope. Last week an envelope showed in the mail with three different peppers in it, seeds intact. Now, I don't really know when he sent them or if he attempted to dry them before he did, but when they arrived they looked dried but smelled a little off, they didnt have a good flavour as well, and I had been led to believe they should have tasted good. I think the rotting part might have something to do with it (for the legit sellers anyway) because it doesn't take much to get caught up in the mail system and be 2 weeks or more in the mail. They can go bad very quickly like that. I had a similar question a few weeks ago and couldnt find much info either. As for buying whole peppers, have a look at the ordering pepper seeds thread and check out some of the sellers there, some may sell whole if you ask them.
 
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for me the reason is simple
its a pain in the rear dealing with pods because of how delicate they are in transport temp etc
i prefer to deal in just seeds its alot easier

thanks your friend Joe
 
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there is a very limited season to being able to ship fresh pods (for me at least)- it's too hot until late september or so which makes pods spoil rapidly. once weather gets cold (generally some time near the beginning of november in my area) plants are dead and there are no pods to ship. that basically makes october the month for being able to ship fresh pods. seed, on the other hand, can be shipped under almost any conditions and keep indefinitely. many people also generate seed as a by-product of other interests such as making hot sauce ,etc.
 
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OZ, I do not have any fresh pods, but if you PM me your addy, I can send you some pure Bhut powder from this year's harvest, its killer wicked mean, guarenteed to make u sneeze if you get too close. LOL
 
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