# Chilliheads



## j4c11 (Apr 30, 2017)

I've had great success with peppers last year and in the process produced some pretty awesome hot sauce, so I've decided to expand next year. Last year I grew 7 Jalapenos, 4 Blazing Bananas, 6 Poblanos and about 6 belll peppers. The jalapenos, though very productive, only grew about 3 feet tall and produced fairly small jalapenos. The blazing bananas (which are a hungarian wax/sweet banana hybrid) were super-productive, they were loaded with peppers the entire summer.

The jalapenos and bananas made for a good base for hot sauce, but once you add the vinegar it tones them down and it's not quite hot enough. Had to supplement with copious amounts of ground cayenne pepper to get it to where it needed to be. I also added onions, garlic and two pears to the sauce, it's just fantastic on wings.

For next year, I plan on growing hungarian wax, a bunch of cayenne bushes, a few habaneros and a couple ghost chilis to bring up the heat.

What do you folks grow? Any highly productive varieties you would recommend - both hot and sweet?


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

This year I did cubanelle peppers. I found them at home depot Bonnie plants. They were great for cooking and it produced like crazy from two plants.

I like to use serrano or scotch bonnet for heat.


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## TroyScherer (Jul 17, 2018)

I have grown mostly bell peppers and jalapenos. But 2 years ago I grew ghost peppers as well. For me I am becoming a real chillihead, and the hotter the better.

In the past year I have really gotten into hot sauces. I go from mild that has good flavor to it burns.... twice......


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## TN Hawkeye (May 7, 2018)

My wife and I have been discussing the right location for a garden at our new house. We had one at our old house but had to wait a year in this one to see where the sun hits during the summer. I like to grow what I call my Salsa Garden. I usually grow jalapeños, bell peppers, banana peppers, tomatoes, onions, and cilantro. We also do lettuce, cucumbers, and sometimes okra. I've had mixed results with the peppers over the years. It seems like I can't ever get them all to do well the same year. There is nothing better than making homemade salsa from fresh picked veggies. I may have to try making homemade hot sauce. I'd be interested in seeing some recipes.


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## Kicker (Apr 5, 2018)

i've had the same 3 jalapeno plants for going on 3 or 4 years. This last year was the first year i had them planted in a raised bed and they produced more jalapenos than I thought they would. I'm excited to see their production this year as they've produced more and more each year. My last harvest had over 70 jalapenos. I even had a few minor set backs during the season with tomato horned worms destroying the plants down the the stems.
I'll probably get an additional plant either bell or poblano this season and see how it does.


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## j4c11 (Apr 30, 2017)

I got an early start this year! Thus far I have 4 ghost peppers, 6 habaneros, 10 Jalapenos, 10 Cayenne and 7 New Mexico. They were all seeded at exactly the same time, but grew very differently. The New Mexico peppers just took off - so much that I've had to repot them, followed by the Jalapenos, the Cayenne, and a distant last the superhots which took close to 40 days to germinate and have been growing very slowly since. If you're thinking of growing superhots from seed and haven't done so yet, better get them going right now.

The setup is a 48" 5-shelf stainless steel rack from Sams Club with 3 x dual T8 shop lights on each level. The distance between shelves gets progressively larger so the plants start at the top and move down as they grow, always staying about 3" from the lights. I also have an Inkbird temperature controller hooked up to a space heater to keep the temp at around 65.

I have another small greenhouse indoors where I start seed. I keep this one at about 80 degrees - it's easier to maintain 80 from indoor temp as base.

I also started parsley, dill, onions, 10 eggplants and about 16 heads of lettuce. I will start another batch of lettuce shortly and every 3 weeks thereafter. Early March I will be seeding a bunch of sweet peppers, tomatoes and basil. Anything else will be sown straight into the ground.


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## J_nick (Jan 28, 2017)

40 days to germinate? I would have gave up on them.

I plan on doing a couple cherry tomatoes ( my 3 yo will eat everyone of them) a couple larger tomatoes for salsa and slicers, a couple of jalapeños and a habenaro. There may be more but that's the plan for now.


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## j4c11 (Apr 30, 2017)

Unfortunately the capsicum chinense species (which includes all the superhot varieties - habanero, ghost pepper, the scorpions and the 7 pots including the Carolina Reaper) is famously slow to germinate and grow from seed. I will probably try to overwinter a few of them indoors next winter.


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## ceral weed killer (Jul 29, 2018)

A man after my own heart!

I always have what my friends refer to as a "salsa garden". Tomatoes, peppers, cilantro, tomatillos and onions.

I prefer habaneros and should have 8-10 plants, then jalapeno with another 8-10 and then I find something interesting to play with. Have grown scotch bonnets, ghost, reapers, scorpions etc. Probably going to grow some more ghost this year, haven't grown them in several years and I kinda think I like them better than most of the other "hot" peppers. only 2-3 plants of those and I will be giving a bunch away!

We don't make much hot sauce but we do like to make habanero gold pepper jelly. It is really good. Most of the rest I use in smoked sausage that we make each year from our venison. The rest will be diced up and frozen in individual serving sized bags and be used year round in chili, tacos and the like.

You look to be way ahead of the game, those plants look great!


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## Miggity (Apr 25, 2018)

Last year I overwintered two Carolina Reapers indoors that I had purchased directly from Smoking Joe at Puckerbutts in 2017. They got over 6 feet tall last summer, but I lost them both this winter. I use them mostly for making deer and rabbit repellent spray.

I never had much luck with jalapenos, they keep getting eaten before getting picked, I think by mice.


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## j4c11 (Apr 30, 2017)

Miggity said:


> Last year I overwintered two Carolina Reapers indoors that I had purchased directly from Smoking Joe at Puckerbutts in 2017. They got over 6 feet tall last summer, but I lost them both this winter. I use them mostly for making deer and rabbit repellent spray.
> 
> I never had much luck with jalapenos, they keep getting eaten before getting picked, I think by mice.


How tall did the Reapers get the first year?


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## Miggity (Apr 25, 2018)

j4c11 said:


> How tall did the Reapers get the first year?


Probably close to 3 feet. The stems were much weaker the first year, so I had some losses due to branch breakage. The second year the stems were about the size of a nickle.


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## j4c11 (Apr 30, 2017)

Miggity said:


> Probably close to 3 feet. The stems were much weaker the first year, so I had some losses due to branch breakage. The second year the stems were about the size of a nickle.


Thank you. Trying to do a better job of placement this year as the Poblanos got over 6 ft tall last year and shaded everything behind them. This is my first time growing the chinese varieties. The foliage on the young plants looks very different from the other peppers, so I expect they'll behave differently.

A lot of the pepper varieties benefit from being "topped" - trimming the main leader to stimulate lateral branch growth. Did you find that to be the case with the Reapers or do they naturally have a lot of lateral growth?


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## Miggity (Apr 25, 2018)

I top all of my pepper plants three times over the course of 3-4 months before planting them in the ground, so I cannot comment on their 'natural' lateral growth. I can tell you that in the first year they outgrew the largest 'normal' tomato cages available locally. I would say they branched about the same as a California Wonder bell pepper, just on a larger scale. I give them about four feet between plants and the branches will touch each other by the end of my season which is shorter than your own.


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## Kicker (Apr 5, 2018)

Has anyone thought about the use of PGR on pepper plants? The thought crossed my mind but I am not sure about using it on fruit/vegetable crops.

Can anyone chime in on this?

would it have the same effect as topping? increase the bushy-ness of the plant causing more nodes for fruit/vegetables to sprout from?


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

There are like 5 different types of PGRs. Some are food grade stuff (you plan to eat the peppers, right?). There are also pgr for shrubs and landscape plants.


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## j4c11 (Apr 30, 2017)

I think that's a totally different ballgame when it comes to stuff you're going to eat. Personally I try to keep pesticides away from the garden if possible. Sometimes it can't be helped - there's these little bugs that punch thousands of little holes into my eggplant leaves and I have to spray for those or the plant dies.


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## Robberthoffman (Jun 3, 2018)

This is my first year growing peppers. 
Seeded them 3 weeks ago in a heated propagator. When they germinated i putt them under light.









Now they are growing great!


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## brett2k07 (May 13, 2019)

I was accidentally gifted a ghost pepper plant. A friend of ours gave us a tomato plant seedling. It was growing great and then I started noticing some weird leaves popping up at the base of the plant. Turns out the guy accidentally mixed a ghost pepper seed in with the tomato plant. I like hot peppers, so I was happy when the ghost pepper plant eventually took over. I gleaned over 100 peppers from it the first year. I couldn't give them away fast enough to neighbors.


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## JWAY (Oct 16, 2018)

Anyone ever tried Thai White? Very hot with an excellent taste. My wife only likes super spicy so this is the majority of what we're growing this year. Last pack I got didn't germinate well from direct planting in soil but did well when first started wrapped in a damp paper towel.

https://www.amazon.com/White-Pepper-Chilli-Seeds-quality/dp/B00ZTW1RII/ref=sr_1_6?keywords=thai+white+pepper&qid=1558703538&s=gateway&sr=8-6


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## J_nick (Jan 28, 2017)

Finally finished up my small garden yesterday. My son and I planted 2 cherry tomatoes, 2 slicer sized tomatoes, a red bell, a mucho jalapeño, a habanero and a red ghost.


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## j4c11 (Apr 30, 2017)

Alright time for an update. The peppers from the first pictures are all grown up now 

Hungarian Wax 


Hungarian Wax + Red Marconi


New Mexico (anaheim)


Habaneros 


Cayenne(Ring of Fire)


Ghost Peppers


Red Marconi/Adjvarski


Hot pepper row(and some eggplant)


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## zinger565 (Nov 28, 2017)

Wow, you all are lightyears ahead of me. Last year was my first year growing and I planted a habanero and an Anaheim plant. Got a decent harvest and made hot sauce from the habanero. This year I doubled up on each style. Love the Anaheim's for general cooking and stuffing if they get big enough!

I've read a little about topping, but never had the courage to do it. I'm always afraid of screwing up and killing the plant.


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## TN Hawkeye (May 7, 2018)

J_nick said:


> Finally finished up my small garden yesterday. My son and I planted 2 cherry tomatoes, 2 slicer sized tomatoes, a red bell, a mucho jalapeño, a habanero and a red ghost.


WE put in a mucho jalapeño too. Getting close to picking the first one.


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## J_nick (Jan 28, 2017)

TN Hawkeye said:


> J_nick said:
> 
> 
> > Finally finished up my small garden yesterday. My son and I planted 2 cherry tomatoes, 2 slicer sized tomatoes, a red bell, a mucho jalapeño, a habanero and a red ghost.
> ...


Dang, mine haven't grown very much. I did plant about a month late I just never got around to it. Better late than never I guess.


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## smurg (May 30, 2018)

What's a typical spacing and space needed for medium to small sized peppers? I just bought some Bonnie plants about a month ago from Lowe's and started for the first time. Will have to grab some pics, but have 3 plants in a 26" diameter whiskey barrel currently. The 4th died and the new 4th started to die so I relocated it. Will have to grab some pics, but I've topped them twice already and have jalapenos, habaneros, and sweet banana plants.

Was planning to clear some space for a raised bed and plant some lettuce as well, but until then, if I bought pots for single plants, would a 5 gallon bucket size work?


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## TN Hawkeye (May 7, 2018)

J_nick said:


> TN Hawkeye said:
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I would guess ours have been about a month. They have been liking the hot weather. Lots of blooms on them. I'll post a picture when I get back in town tomorrow.


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## TN Hawkeye (May 7, 2018)

J_nick said:


> TN Hawkeye said:
> 
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> > J_nick said:
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I had my adjective that starts with an M wrong. Ours are mammoth jalapenos. Sorry about that.


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## smurg (May 30, 2018)

I sprayed them all with neem oil a few days ago (bought the 70% and recently learned of my mistake; will buy 100% cold pressed when it runs out). Each is in some local potting soil with a layer of black kow compost on top and cedar mulch to cover (just what I had on hand from the landscaped beds).

Jalapenos, Pablano Ancho (misrembered as habaneros earlier), Hot Banana in 24" whiskey barrel. Each topped twice; 2nd time maybe 5 days ago:



Re-potted that orange bell pepper that was seeing damage in a smaller pot. I will need to transplant it into a bigger pot when it recovers and grows. Haven't topped it yet.



Any help on the damaged bell pepper or the holes in the others? Will the neem oil keep insects/fungus at bay? Am using a little 24-8-16 soluble Miracle-Gro once a week.


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## TN Hawkeye (May 7, 2018)

Picked our first jalapeno. Had to pick it a little early as the birds got the last two.


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## smurg (May 30, 2018)

TN Hawkeye said:


> Picked our first jalapeno. Had to pick it a little early as the birds got the last two.


Looks good. Saw some of my flower buds coming in. Excited.


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## TN Hawkeye (May 7, 2018)

smurg said:


> TN Hawkeye said:
> 
> 
> > Picked our first jalapeno. Had to pick it a little early as the birds got the last two.
> ...


It was a good night. We picked leafy and romaine lettuce, a jalapeño, a hot banana pepper, and a bell pepper. Made a huge salad. Love this time of year. Just wish the tomatoes were ready.


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## smurg (May 30, 2018)

These suckers are popping after all that rain!


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## J_nick (Jan 28, 2017)

Had a hail storm come through last night. Most of the plants lost some leaves and some smaller branches but I think they'll be fine. I don't have high hopes for my Ghost pepper though. The top got taken off and she's only 4" tall now from the 7" or so she was before the storm.


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## Kicker (Apr 5, 2018)

J_nick said:


> Had a hail storm come through last night. Most of the plants lost some leaves and some smaller branches but I think they'll be fine. I don't have high hopes for my Ghost pepper though. The top got taken off and she's only 4" tall now from the 7" or so she was before the storm.


depending on the stage this might be beneficial and count as a "topping". I always top my pepper plants(both new and established).

It should help fortify the plant and have it concentrate on driving roots and becoming more bushy rather than tall and lanky.


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## smurg (May 30, 2018)

Does anyone bring their plants in or let them die to a freeze and re-plant indoors ~4 weeks prior to the last freeze?


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## Kicker (Apr 5, 2018)

smurg said:


> Does anyone bring their plants in or let them die to a freeze and re-plant indoors ~4 weeks prior to the last freeze?


I've overwintered jalapenos for the last 4 years. cut them back almost to the stalk.. leave just a few leaves then move them indoors or into a garage. I leave mine in the garage over winter and just give them a shot of water when the soil is looking really dry.

*disclaimer: My winter climate is fairly mild in comparison to most of the US


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## smurg (May 30, 2018)

Kicker said:


> smurg said:
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> 
> > Does anyone bring their plants in or let them die to a freeze and re-plant indoors ~4 weeks prior to the last freeze?
> ...


Do you dig them out of the ground or are they already in pots? The pot mine is in is too big to move. I probably will just replant indoors and get a head start on the season. Just got interested this year and got in a little late. Almost have my first pepper though, exciting.


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## Kicker (Apr 5, 2018)

i have mine in a raised bed. I've typically replanted them into a 5 gallon bucket for over wintering.


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## Kicker (Apr 5, 2018)

smurg said:


> Kicker said:
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> > smurg said:
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i have mine in a raised bed. I've typically replanted them into a 5 gallon bucket for over wintering.


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## J_nick (Jan 28, 2017)

After the hail storm about took out my Ghost pepper I'm finally getting some action. I wasn't expecting much out of it after that happened but it looks like I'll get something.



My Habanero is kickin butt, I bet it has close to 40 chili's on it but they are only now starting to ripen.



My brother-in-law has been insulting my salsa game. Once the Ghosts get ready I'm going to make him some death salsa just to shut him up for 10-15 minutes.


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## Kennyatx (Jan 22, 2019)

I've had a good summer so far.









Tabasco. Habanero. Ghost. And an unknown. Maybe a cayenne. The ghost made about a dozen peppers and stalled. But now there's probably 75 flowers on it. We'll see if it can handle the texas summer.


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## J_nick (Jan 28, 2017)

I've been trying to up my tolerance to capsaicin. Anytime we go out to eat and the place serves wings I order the hottest. BTW Johnny Carino's has a really good Habanero Sriracha that is the best I've tasted so far.

So, I started feeling a little cocky and took a couple bites out of a ripe Habanero. Holy smokes did it work me over for around 10 minutes. I had taken some bites out of some green ones and they weren't terrible but the orange ones are straight fire. The Ghosts are just starting to produce and now I'm a little scared for them to ripen.



That was the first bite that wasn't too bad. The next two bites really turned up the heat.


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

@J_nick i like to make a chicken breast marinade with those peppers and buttermilk. But I have to wear gloves with them. They are powerful.


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## J_nick (Jan 28, 2017)

g-man said:


> @J_nick i like to make a chicken breast marinade with those peppers and buttermilk. But I have to wear gloves with them. They are powerful.


Send me the recipe.


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

Recipe? umm. I just put the right amount of everything just by looks.

- I like bone in chicken breast but you can use boneless. The bone in doesnt dry as fast in the grill.
- buttermilk to cover the chicken
- a container
- 1/2 habanero pepper per chicken breast
- kosher salt
- turmeric

Cut the habanero into tiny pieces. Mix all the stuff together into a bowl. Add buttermilk to cover the breast. Let marinade for at least 4hrs, but overnight is best. Fire up the grill at medium low and place the chicken directly from the marinade (coated) into the grill.

The buttermilk turns down the heat, so you can go 1:1 ratio if you like it hotter. Or make a mayo/habanero/buttermilk dipping sauce.


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## hammerhead (May 14, 2019)

j4c11 said:


> Unfortunately the capsicum chinense species (which includes all the superhot varieties - habanero, ghost pepper, the scorpions and the 7 pots including the Carolina Reaper) is famously slow to germinate and grow from seed. I will probably try to overwinter a few of them indoors next winter.


I hag great success growing ghost pepper and carolina reaper from seed, i always had germination in under one week. I have ground heating (floor heating ? Not sure about the english word) and i think that did the trick. I planted th seeds in small pots and put them in a plastic container made for seeding. I then put the plastic container on the floor just in front of a big window (window is 7 feet tall and starts from the floor up) so the container also got some direct sunlight in the afternoon. I constantly kept the seed moist.
In my opinion the most important thing is soil temperature. I think that soil temp was around 85-90F, however never measured. Thanks to the ground heating the were no big temp fluctuations, i.e. the soil temps were pretty constant at a rather high level.
I have given some of the same seeds to my wife's parents who live in Portugal. They put the pots on the kitchen table next to a window and they never managed to make the seeds germinate.
Maybe the experiences i made can be helpful for you guys.


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## Reel Low Dad (Jun 1, 2017)

Ghost Pepper and Red Jalepeno harvest


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## j4c11 (Apr 30, 2017)

Well, this year's crop has been good and everything turned out well. I got about 45 8oz jars and about 12 pint jars of hot sauce (various flavors), a bunch of cayenne dried on a string, two large jars of thai/cayenne in vinegar, and two gallon bags of frozen ghosts and habaneros. More to come, they're still producing.

I made some really hot sauce packed with ghost peppers, which is great, I can tone it down with butter if need be but I can also make some fiery wings. I didn't quite enjoy the pungent floral flavor of the orange habaneros at first, but I'm starting to get used to it. The yellow sauce is mango/pineapple/habanero/ghost, the other ones are cayenne based with plenty of ghost added and various other flavors(onion, garlic, honey, brown sugar, lime etc.).

I figure one jar per week, should be good until next year's crop


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## j4c11 (Apr 30, 2017)

Also, can't forget about the chillihead's anthem. I always sing it when making hot sauce :lol:

[media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YKsQ8xOHhu4[/media]


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## TN Hawkeye (May 7, 2018)

j4c11 said:


> Also, can't forget about the chillihead's anthem. I always sing it when making hot sauce :lol:
> 
> [media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YKsQ8xOHhu4[/media]


Love the song, but my bunghole immediately began burning watching him make that.


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## J_nick (Jan 28, 2017)

My Habanero and Jalapeño plants have been doing awesome. I made a couple batches of hot sauce with the Habaneros. I'm waiting for my Ghost to start producing. It's growing and getting flowers but from everything I've read they don't like to set fruit above 90°. Extended forecast says by the middle of next week we will be out of the 90s so we'll see what happens.

Next spring we're going to be extending the garden so we can produce more of everything. I've got a empty zone on my irrigation controller so I might set up a drip system out there. My tomatoes haven't been getting consistent enough water and have been cracking which is frustrating.


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## LoveMyLawn (Oct 14, 2019)

Late to the game on this thread but I love growing peppers. I'm growing your standard jalapenos, serrano's, etc. Grew Scotch Bonnets this year for the first time. They are awesome. Great heat and one of best tasting peppers. Got some native Chiltipins (not to be confused with Pequin) seeds sent to me mid summer. They were picked off the Colorado River in Austin. Going to over winter them in the garage. Flavor is unreal. Hot, but the heat goes away pretty quick, but the flavor remains in the mouth. Kinda smokey. It's really seedy too so it has crunch to it.

Few pics I took today.

Scotch Bonnet




Tabasco


Chiltipin


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## Colonel K0rn (Jul 4, 2017)

j4c11 said:


> Also, can't forget about the chillihead's anthem. I always sing it when making hot sauce :lol:
> 
> [media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YKsQ8xOHhu4[/media]


Man, I'm just about to go to bed, and this song is going to be haunting me. It's catchy, but the creator reminded me of an SNL character "Pat" portrayed by Julia Sweeney. Hard to find clips on YT of the past skits, but here's one where she and Matt Lauer were dressed as each other for Halloween.


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## Dkrem (Mar 16, 2019)

Does anyone dry peppers for future use? I died and powdered a big grocery bag worth of jalapenos this weekend.


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## j4c11 (Apr 30, 2017)

Dkrem said:


> Does anyone dry peppers for future use? I died and powdered a big grocery bag worth of jalapenos this weekend.


I made a 3ft ristra out of my last batch of cayenne/thai peppers. Still drying but great to use for cooking, just pluck one or two off the string, stick in a coffee grinder with some whole black pepper, great for seasoning anything really.


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## TalonII (Jul 23, 2019)

@LoveMyLawn Do you over winter your peppers or just let them die and start over next year?

I have a couple of Tabasco sprouts going now in a tray. I was going to put them in the ground until I saw one guy on Tiger Droppings that has his in a pot and over winters it. It is massive.


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## LoveMyLawn (Oct 14, 2019)

I'm overwintering some Chiltepins this year. Did a jalapeno last year. I cut it way back and didn't put it under grow lights. I just took it outside on days that were above freezing, which where most days in DFW. It came back really well in spring and put off a nice crop this year. I'm not going to trim my Chilte's. I'm just going to let them go and see how they do. I start to germinate my pepper seeds around the first week of January, so I will give them some grow light exposure this winter.


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