Your Quickest Var. from Germ to Fruit?

Eephus Man

Eephus Man

I'm sure this has likely been covered previously, but the search functionality and I don't get along well. I either get nothing (title search) or 400,000 threads, most of which have nothing to do with the search terms. But I do know how to grow tobacco now, FWIW. !
 
Anyway...
 
What, in your experience are your most rapidly producing varieties?
 
I'm wanting to do some powders/canning/jams in our first season here (between March and June). After June, all bets are off on fruit actually producing. This year, it did. But for about a half-decade it was too damn hot to get any fruit again on most plants until September.
 
I always try and get them out early, but I want to know I'm gonna get some proper fruit when I need it. :)
 
I would have to say my yellow scorpion is my fastest chinense.  The other notably fast peppers are my pineapple ajis and fresnos. And it helps that the fresnos and ajis are fairly cold hardy.
 
Fresnos are one of the first I see with ripe pods.  My Scotch Bonnet is also very quick to produce.  Both these peppers are also quite generous producers.  I also find that both peppers tolerate the heat much better than most, and continue to produce even in torid summer conditions.
Renais
 
Y'all are awesome. Thanks for sharing your experiences.
 
Scotch Bonnets are going to have to get onto my list, if I can find a true source for them. And 2X for Fresnos. Interesting...
 
I'm all ears for more if y'all have 'em. Thanks again!
 
1st week in january to may 15th, i had to pick these because the plants were loading up on pods in their solo cups before i transplanted! ... all annum.
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joes long, jalapeno, prik chi faa, minibell, poblano
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my first ripe ones were "white" bullet habs on 6/2
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so, if you eat jalapenos, poblanos, bell peppers green, then they are first imo.
 
Thanks juanitos. I do eat all of those. :)
 
Man, you reminded me about the white bullet habs. I grew those a few years back and really had fun with them. May have to do them again...
 
Despite making mistakes with inadequate fertilization and providing too much mid-day shade, I got a modest spring harvest from several 'typical SW' annum varieties: NuMex 6-4, Lumbre, L.T. Cayenne, de Arbol.  The 'Dragon Cayenne' I bought at Home Depot was probably the most heat-tolerant plant of them all; it produced at least a few pods all through the summer, and was first to really take off in mid-late August.
 
The superhot Chinenses suffered the most in the May-July oven and were hopeless producers until coming around in September.  Even now, the 80-and-clear sun tends to fry small spots on pods.
 
My plan for next year is to push a little more ferts, water (and sun) in the spring so the plants can grow at will w/o needing to wait on the roots. 
 
Big roots can come later, during the Hot Months.  This may also require 'pushing' as much mid-summer sun as possible, and not being afraid to let the plants get lightly wilted.  Maybe a once-a-week 'drought' to encourage root development w/o retarding overall growth too much?
 
Geonerd said:
My plan for next year is to push a little more ferts, water (and sun) in the spring so the plants can grow at will w/o needing to wait on the roots. 
 
Big roots can come later, during the Hot Months.  This may also require 'pushing' as much mid-summer sun as possible, and not being afraid to let the plants get lightly wilted.  Maybe a once-a-week 'drought' to encourage root development w/o retarding overall growth too much?
Click to expand...
 
Interesting. I think it's time for a Southwest Growers' Thread. :)
 
I'm ready to figure out how to:
 
- Get more fruit in the "hell months"
- Prep plants for earlier production after said months
- Find varieties that work well in "split seasons"
- Etc.
 
I *HATE* July and August. It's the equivalent of the dead of winter up north, I think. NO fruit, NO peace, NO outdoor enjoyment, NO relief, NO rain. Blah, blah..."Hey Eephus Man, just move!" ;)
 
IMO, a water mist system is a possible try.  Perhaps combined with a 3 sided greenhouse open to the south.  That would reduce temps and increase humidity in a partially contained environment.  If we can mimic monsoon conditions in June, the plants will never stop producing.  :dance:
 
Of course, if the water fails the plants will be steam-cooked within hours...  :(
 
About 3 to 3.5 months for my Moruga plant and similarly for my other supers.
Though I did intentionally limit their sizes with small pots (3 to 4 Liters).
But still, that's kinda fast, from fresh germinated seedlings to ripe fruit.
 
Hungarian Hot Wax, Early Jalapeno, and Pepperoncini are my quickest varieties.
 
I'm in the DFW area and have no problems with getting my plants to produce all year round.(greenhouse in winter though...) Some types seem to handle the heat and humidity level here better than others. Production is a bit slower during the ultra-hot months here, but I still haven't had problems with fruit setting. Of course, each variety tolerates the heat differently.
 
Mulching is critical to retaining soil moisture during the hottest parts of the year. I use about a 3" thick layer of cedar mulch, as it is heavy and holds the moisture in better than lighter mulches.
 
Humidity plays a large part in how happy your peppers are too. Some types, like the habanero, datil, scotch bonnet, prefer humid climates, while Jalapeno, cayenne, and mirasol prefer arid climates. (taken from the book "Chile Peppers" by Beth Hanson) Misting systems can help prevent pollen from drying too quickly before it is rendered useless from high heat.
 
Bees. I've had a hive for around a year now, and they have made a HUGE improvement to my successful pollination percentage. Bees like hot weather, and gladly fly around to pollinate my garden, getting pollen stuck to their feet as they travel from flower to flower. Before I had bees, my basil always made an epic amount of flowers, but since bees, I now have exponentially more volunteer plants coming up from successful pollination (and consequently the creation of seed), rather than empty pods.
 
On the other hand, I've all but given up on Tomatoes here. Cherry types perform the best for me, but during the hottest months, they barely produce anything at all, but pick right back up once the temps drop in the fall.
 
The encyclopedia of peppers has some information of preferred growing conditions for various types of peppers. Of course, in the south we only have so many options when it comes to the weather here. I'm doing about 50 varieties and am excited to see how well / poorly different varieties handle the weather here in Texas.
 
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