Post by macmex on Mar 25, 2023 18:16:20 GMT -6
Since this pepper has come up in other threads I thought I'd start a thread dedicated to the Chiltepín pepper. I haven't grown this one since 2013, when I obtained some seed from my brother in NJ. It is a good one though; hot and not very fleshy as a rule. I've seen these growing in "coffee country," in Central Mexico, when their trunks got to be a couple inchs across and the plants stood maybe five feet high. In the Rio Grande Valley of Texas I remember seeing them growing up the bars in the office windows, of the self storage place where we rented for some years. The proprietor said that he hadn't planted them, but that birds had dropped the seed there, when they pooped. Those plants grew almost vine like, to the very top of the windows. In parts of the desert Southwest, the are acres set aside for their genetic preservation, and, in the wild, I understand that turkeys devour the fruit, causing their own flesh to take on a hot flavor when hunters bag them!
My father grew these in NJ, when I was small. He had a hobby of trying new varieties of peppers. I believe he purchased his seed from Thompson & Morgan. He obtained one strain which was called "Peking," as I recall, probably a corruption of "tepin." Another strain he grew was called "Chile Tepin." As a kid I wondered where "Tepin" was. Perhaps in China? But no, they're from Central and, perhaps South America.
Here's a photo of the ones I grew in 2013. These plants stayed low and grew like a small low growing "globe." I happened to interplant them with basil and found it to be a wonderful combination, as picking the peppers, I would brush up against the basil. The scent was wonderful!
A couple links
Wikipedia article on the Chiltepin Pepper
Normally I'm not a great fan of Wikipedia, but this article is pretty well written.
USDA Article on Crop Wild Relatives (use your search option to find Pepper)
Anyway, let us know if you've grown these and what you think of them. I loved them, though they were very laborious to pick.
My father grew these in NJ, when I was small. He had a hobby of trying new varieties of peppers. I believe he purchased his seed from Thompson & Morgan. He obtained one strain which was called "Peking," as I recall, probably a corruption of "tepin." Another strain he grew was called "Chile Tepin." As a kid I wondered where "Tepin" was. Perhaps in China? But no, they're from Central and, perhaps South America.
Here's a photo of the ones I grew in 2013. These plants stayed low and grew like a small low growing "globe." I happened to interplant them with basil and found it to be a wonderful combination, as picking the peppers, I would brush up against the basil. The scent was wonderful!
A couple links
Wikipedia article on the Chiltepin Pepper
Normally I'm not a great fan of Wikipedia, but this article is pretty well written.
USDA Article on Crop Wild Relatives (use your search option to find Pepper)
Anyway, let us know if you've grown these and what you think of them. I loved them, though they were very laborious to pick.
