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UserNotFound

(111 posts)
Fri Dec 31, 2021, 07:56 AM Dec 2021

Anybody here grow peppers?

I'm fond of saying: "Besides old and cranky, peppers and tomatoes are the only things I grow."

The end of the College Football season is my cue to start thinking about planting pepper seeds. Our historical last frost date here in Mississippi is about April 1st, but the weather in April has been really screwy the last few years, so who knows? At this point, I've decided to start my pepper seeds on 1/23, with a plant out date somewhere around 5/1.
This is my projected grow list:

Prairie Spice
Jalapeño
Numex "Nematador" Cayenne
Rooster Spur
Numex Big Jim
Bill's Striped
Fatalii
Dark Snacker*

*This is a variety that was grown from a grocery store pepper by a friend in NC. Several of us from a different gardening forum are growing it out this year just for schlitz & giggles...

I'd love to hear your plans for the upcoming season!!

11 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
Anybody here grow peppers? (Original Post) UserNotFound Dec 2021 OP
Carolina Reapers mikeysnot Dec 2021 #1
I'd say so! UserNotFound Dec 2021 #2
Chili mikeysnot Dec 2021 #7
Those sound wonderful. femmocrat Dec 2021 #3
Pepper plants are pretty easy to grow Major Nikon Dec 2021 #4
peppers! bikeboy Dec 2021 #5
My hot peppers got too much rain last year so they were mild Laurelin Dec 2021 #6
I am only growing 2 this year MissB Jan 2022 #8
Hmmm, UserNotFound Jan 2022 #9
I grow the big bell peppers. Emile Feb 2022 #10
I've got quite a a few pepper seeds UserNotFound Feb 2022 #11

UserNotFound

(111 posts)
2. I'd say so!
Fri Dec 31, 2021, 08:52 AM
Dec 2021

I grew Reapers several years ago, but I just can't handle that level of heat. What do you do with those superhots? I make a lot of Tabasco-style hot sauce...

mikeysnot

(4,772 posts)
7. Chili
Fri Dec 31, 2021, 05:20 PM
Dec 2021

I put a whole one in for back end heat. The rest I dehydrate and make into powders… a little goes a long way…

femmocrat

(28,394 posts)
3. Those sound wonderful.
Fri Dec 31, 2021, 09:05 AM
Dec 2021

I haven’t had good luck with peppers the past few years. I just buy the plants at the garden center.

Major Nikon

(36,900 posts)
4. Pepper plants are pretty easy to grow
Fri Dec 31, 2021, 10:14 AM
Dec 2021

If you have several varietals some of them can cross pollinate which sometimes leads to some interesting combinations.

Most are very much drought tolerant which means it's more difficult to kill them by under watering. The less you water them, the hotter and/or more intense the flavors will become. The strategy many use is to refrain from watering until the plant looks like it's about to die, and then water them. If you want milder peppers, water them more frequently.

I have also found they don't need as much direct sunlight as other plants which make them a great candidate for growing in containers on my back patio which gets a lot of evening shade.

If you have many plants you will find yourself inundated with peppers during peak season. I string them up with a needle and thread and hang them to dry. Once dry they will keep in mason jars for a very long time. You can then grind them up in a food processor or cheap coffee grinder.

bikeboy

(129 posts)
5. peppers!
Fri Dec 31, 2021, 11:27 AM
Dec 2021

I grow Rocoto peppers. They are from Peru and such a great plant. I live in the Bay Area and we are blessed with an incredible Mediterranean climate so if I protect my plant from frost (like last night) my plant can live up to 12 years or so. I usually get two to three crops a year. I ferment them and make hot sauce and I dehydrate them after fermenting them and make chili powder from them in my grinder. there are red ones like I grow and yellow ones. Yum yum yum!

Laurelin

(642 posts)
6. My hot peppers got too much rain last year so they were mild
Fri Dec 31, 2021, 11:31 AM
Dec 2021

This year I'll grow the jalapeños in a greenhouse. I'm still trying to adjust to gardening in the Netherlands.

My favorite jalapeño cultivar ever is Mucho Nacho. They're amazingly productive and really good when not over watered. They were productive last year too with great flavor but milder than they ever were in Texas. I grew some hatch peepers too; they might just as well have been bells.

I'm growing Sweet Pickle bells this year too just because I love them. The plants are beautiful with multi colored peppers and they're sweet and very productive.

MissB

(16,092 posts)
8. I am only growing 2 this year
Mon Jan 17, 2022, 10:39 PM
Jan 2022

Fireball and jalapeño.

Space is pretty limited. I grew several more varieties last year but I realized I really like fireball hot sauce and pickled jalapeños. So I may as well grow a bunch of those two.

I ended up with only a pint of fireball hot sauce this past fall. I also grew a bunch of fish peppers and made sauce out of those- over a quart- but I just don’t like it as much as the fireball one.

UserNotFound

(111 posts)
9. Hmmm,
Tue Jan 18, 2022, 06:00 AM
Jan 2022

I've never grown Fireball. I did grow a variety several years ago called "Joe's Round", though. It's got pretty good heat, but I thought it looked better as an ornamental...

UserNotFound

(111 posts)
11. I've got quite a a few pepper seeds
Thu Feb 3, 2022, 07:44 PM
Feb 2022

that have sprouted. My germination rate is not what I hoped for, but it is sufficient...

A friend in NY sent me some Baklouti pepper seeds. It will be added to the grow list. It comes from Tunisia, and is traditionally used to make harissa paste...

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