Growing Peppers this summer and always

[macmex]

Peppers are a crop which generally does great in our hot climate. I rarely experience anything remotely resembling a crop failure when I grow them. In fact, the peppers I grow fit my category of "feel good crops." That means, I would grow them just to feel good, as they produce so well, and the harvest is so impressive, that they cheer me up when conditions make gardening tough. My wife and I do eat sweet peppers and appreciate them. But I rarely grow sweet peppers, simply because I save my own seed and try not to get crosses. 

Depending on conditions, peppers may be quite resistant to crossing or...they may be quite promiscuous. Late, during hot dry summers I have often observed my honeybees working pepper flowers. This would mean they would cross easily at that time. I will write more about species and crossing at another time. But I generally only grow two species at a time: one c. annum (which would include the majority of the varieties one finds in box stores) and c. chinese, which includes most of the habanero types. These, I separate by at least 100' if possible. So far, I have never had a cross.

This year I have started seed for Aji Yellow #2, which I truly love. This is a c. chinese species.

Chileplants.com/Ají Yellow #2

I also started Chile Rayado, a Jalepeño type from the part of Mexico where we lived for some years. Chile Rayado produces a lot, it's early and the peppers tend to be hotter than a regular Jalepeño. This is my wife's favorite. Even if only dehydrated, the pods have a rich smoky flavor when added to cooking.

Finally, I planted seed of a Tabasco type pepper which our own member, Ken Goodpasture, handed out back in October. This is a small, pepper, shaped kind of like a small Serrano. It ripens red and  when I nibbled on one of the two pods he gave me, I found I was tempted to eat my seed supply! The flavor is fantastic! I will plant this one about 300' from the others, as I'm not sure of species. Ken received his seed as a mix up with some bell peppers and just kept it going.

Okay, time to get out and do chores. Tell us what you are growing and why.

George

[fourteenmilecreek]

George,

It would be nice to have a pepper, and tomato, thread devoted entirely to the very basics of seed propagation, as a lot of folks don't know the first thing about seed selection from within a seed packet (I'm talking about what to look for within a seed packet, and what to throw in the trash) nor do they know the best dates to set seed for germination for our Oklahoma climate, or the methods used, and temperatures, humidity, etc., to get the seeds to germinate. Most probably don't even know the depth in which to cover them with soil. The same thing holds true with egg plants.

I've just begun to get a handle on this myself after several years of trial and error. Before the Internet, it was very hard to acquire that type of information, as it was kept a "trade secret" by those who propagated plants for sale.

[fourteenmilecreek]

George,

I'm growing a variety of Bell Pepper called, Super Heavy Weight. I think I originally got the seeds from Riemer Seeds?

I grow them for market sales, people tend to believe "bigger is better" though this is almost never true! I get nearly $1.00 each for them when they are freshly picked and very crisp. When you bite into them freshly picked, they are so crisp, that the snap of the outer skin hurts the tip of your tongue. People are not used to getting freshly picked, they are used to store bought peppers that are grainy, pithy, and soft. Freshly picked draws a premium price from the folks who appreciate quality.

One draw back is that you have to cage them or stake them, because the fruit they bear will pull the plant to the ground without proper support.

[macmex]

I understand about the need to cage Super Heavy Weight. For the time being, I've put off growing sweet peppers, as they have proven more temperamental than my beloved hots. I will start that thread soon. But you better show up and help!

[Deleted]

im going with jalapeno,for eating as is and cooking alike.cheyenne for cooking and what ever else it's good for.habanero for i don't what.simply figured it'd be good to grow..and yes.i like peppers

[john]

Pepper are always a reliable crop for me too. They seem to resist many of the pests and diseases that eggplant and tomatoes are more subject too. I grow a huge variety of types. Last year I grew a variety called 'La Rouge Royale' bell pepper. The plants were very tall and produced these huge long bell peppers. (To grow this variety properly it probably should be supported.) My garden is too big, so the only crop that gets caged in my garden are the tomatoes. I had saved seed from some of the biggest fruit of the" La Rouge Royale' but the seed must not have been mature as I couldn't get it to germinate this year. Another variety I have been growing is 'Cubanelle', I grow it every year, it is such a high yielder. My favorite for hot pepper would have to be any of the jalapeno types. Last year someone gave me some Tabasco seeds, I grew them and was impressed with the plants, they grew huge and were covered with peppers.

[macmex]

John, you and my wife agree on a favorite kind. We grow a Jalapeño type called Rayado, which is like a large Jalapeño with cracks in the pods. That is her absolute favorite.

George

[john]

I love the cracks in the pods too. The peppers have all that extra weight at that point. I have never tried the Rayado.

[heavyhitterokra]

December 23, 2016

I'm gonna throw in a hot pepper, Christmas, Ritz cracker spread recipe in here, that I shared with George this morning. I call this spread, "SNEAKY DOG". It's my own concoction.

We named it Sneaky Dog, because it's hot and very spicy, but it's so good that you just keep coming back all day and trying one more bite. By evening, it has sneaked up and bitten you pretty good.

You can 'tweak' it by adding pickled tabasco peppers, or any other favorite hot peppers... Because of this, I 'tweak it a bit every year, adding a different pepper and noting the results for posterity.

It only has a few basic ingredients and takes only a few minutes to prepare, but is best if not eaten for about one week, so I always make it way ahead of time to allow the flavors to meld. I just now made a fresh batch to last between Christmas and the New Year. My Christmas batch was made last weekend.

The ingredients:

1 CUP OF PICKLED JALAPENO PEPPERS (DICED, DRAINED, AND DE-SEEDED)
2 CLOVES OF FRESH GARLIC (MINCED)
1/2 OF A LARGE, sweet YELLOW ONION (MINCED)
A SMALL HANDFUL OF PECANS (CHOPPED FINE)
A PINCH OF SALT TO TASTE
2 PACKETS OF CREAM CHEESE (8 OUNCES EACH)

The spread looks more appealing if you hand process the ingredients and add them to the cream cheese, but tastes better if you use a blender to puree the ingredients and add the cream cheese. So, lately, I've been cheating and using a blender.

I just chop it until it looks like mush, then add it to room temperature cream cheese, using a nonreactive dish (glass or stainless steel).

I mix it really well with a potato masher, then cover it, date it, and set it in the refrigerator to age for a few days. It never lasts much more than a week before it's gone, so I don't know the shelf life?

I also mix it 50/50 with mayonnaise to make sandwich spread for roast beef sandwiches on New Year's Eve, so it has more than one use during the Holidays.

[macmex]

Ron, I can share some hot pepper seed with you. I have Rayado, Tabasco and what I have called Ají Yellow #2, which actually is misnamed. I need to look up the correct name. Suffice to say, it's an habanero relative.


That Sneaky Dog was absolutely delicious. But the "sneaky" part, in my book, was the garlic. I kept startling myself, as the day would go by, catching whiffs of strong garlic and wondering "where's that smell coming from? Oh! That's me!"

George

[glen]

This is an old thread. However, still applicable as far as I am concerned. I am okra'd out so now I am messing around with peppers. I have adult habenero's outside that are just covered over. I bought one habenero from the supermarket and used the sedes awhile back. I planted them during the rainy season and forgot about them. In fact, I didn't even thin them so I ended up with 2 4 gallon pots with 3 or so plants in each pot. They have been covered over with peppers many times and I just pick em, they might look ratty for awhile, but pick up the pace and go again. They are so heavy with peppers now that the plants want to lay down on the ground. I have dried em. I have made sauce out of em. Now I am just picking em red and freezing em. Hot peppers grow in Panama with Little or no supervisión. I have a jalepeno pepper outside that is just full of Green peppers. This isn't the first time for this plant either. I also saved seed from this plant and have 4 other plants that are the next generation and these plants have 4 or 5 peppers on them. I plan to pick these peppers red to make sauce. I also have Latino sweet peppers, several types. They are all the small variety's, some ripen yellow some red. Small sweet peppers usually give me less problems. George, I plan to send you guys some of the sweet pepper sedes. Sometimes small sweet peppers are easier to grow. The sweet peppers are the temperamental ones. Usually disappointments for me. Production can be low and the peppers sometimes are even smaller than you thought they were going to be.

[macmex]

That's great Glen! I LOVE peppers.  My experience has been that the hot ones are easier to grow. But perhaps a small fruited sweet pepper will be easy. I'd have a place for such a pepper. Thanks!

George

[glen]

George, one thing about Peppers is that they don't take up much space and you don't need many plants either if they are good ones. And, they are more enjoyable to me to grow than tomato's(to each his own). I won't forget to send the aji seeds to you guys to play with. I have a surplus of seeds that a friend of mine passed down to me. Bought from the local feed store. I believe that the seeds are just the normal green ahi's that are sold in the market. Very small green peppers. I don't know exactly which ones they are yet but I have em growing outside and will find out soon enough. They germinate real fast though. All green peppers are delicious as far as I am concerned. The big ones are over rated and no, I refuse to buy a big pepper for a dollar. I would rather have 10 small sweet peppers any day of the week(I am a cheap skate I guess). I have tried to grow those monster green peppers for years and have never had any success. I sort of gave up on em.