Growing Hot Peppers!

[Agent Plissken]

So ive decided to start a hobby of growing a variety of pepper plants. I decided there is no point in starting out slowly, since it takes so long to grow them anyway... I ordered a variety of seeds from ebay:

Naga Jolokia (hottest pepper in the world!)
Chocolate Habanero
Jalapeno Pepper
Sweet Yellow Banana Pepper
Santa Fe Grande

Im excited, ive never grown anything before but my wife is helping me out.

[oblongmelon]

My grandfather always "seasoned" his soil when growing his hot peppers..he always stuck a fish in the soil under the plants..for some reason it kept the bugs away, and the peppers grew beautiful and hot!

[baggio248]

One of my friends in LA put 2 plants (I think it was a jalepeno and thai bird) in the same pot. It blended together to make this little green peppers with black on it, and they were HOT!

[raimin]

grow some of these, 1000000 Scoville units
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naga_Jolokia

[Agent Plissken]

grow some of these, 1000000 Scoville units
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naga_Jolokia

Lol, did you read the first pepper on my list?
I have over 50 of them sprouted now at about 2 inches :)

[oblongmelon]

Are you actually going to eat these peppers?

[Agent Plissken]

It had crossed my mind :)
Im going to bottle some hot sauces!

[Agent Plissken]

Here are some updated pictures of my babies! I built a greenhouse for them. It is cooled by a fan comming up from the center, and both sides can open up for access to the plants.

http://img523.imageshack.us/img523/533/greenhouse1ap2.jpg

http://img184.imageshack.us/img184/839/greenhouse2gl7.jpg

http://img184.imageshack.us/img184/9048/greenhouse3vn3.jpg

http://img513.imageshack.us/img513/4679/greenhouse4rh7.jpg

http://img513.imageshack.us/img513/8484/greenhouse5nn6.jpg

http://img513.imageshack.us/img513/4161/greenhouse6xc5.jpg

[Airencracken]

Awesome! I've been wanting to get into hot pepper growing and custom hot sauce making for a while now. Any tips?

[Agent Plissken]

this is my first go at it, ill try to document everything and share it with you (or whoever is interested)
PM me if you have any ideas or suggestions for me to try!
Right now im just on the phase of getting the plants growing. when harvest time comes, ill start a hot sauce production thread!

[uncledaddy]

Nice setup. I am interested in the turnout. And tips also. have cayennes but they are not hot at all. tried planting tai chillies, no success. must be soil or seed depth. :shrug:

[Agent Plissken]

Try germinating the seeds first and planting the sprouts... I had sucess doing that with some i couldnt get to sprout in soil.
There are many methods of pre-germinating seeds, do a quick google to read about it. i used a few different methods to expirement with. I actually had lots of luck with a wick bottle... hang on let me get my pencil out...

http://img511.imageshack.us/img511/9957/bottlecm7.jpg

You can use perlite as a medium and almost anything as a wick... cotton cloth, rolled up paper towel, etc.
I did one with 50% perlite and 50% soil too, it worked too.
Unfortuneately i didnt document anything so i dont know which one had a better success rating. I do know my bottles did better than my plain damp paper towel method...

[ufcrusher]

I personally make habanero and/or jalepeno hot sauces. I also pickle the damn things. Unfortunately my neighbors start screaming everytime I decide to cook up a new batch. I think the vinegar gets to them.

Have fun and good luck.

[Markel]

...my neighbors start screaming everytime I decide to cook up a new batch.
Wimps! :heh:

[Agent Plissken]

UFC, ill go ahead and start the hot pepper sauce thread if you want to post your recipes!
I already made one sauce with store purchased peppers, it turned out ok, but i was pretty much winging it, so i couldnt duplicate the results exactly.

[rajatQ2]

NICE!!

I grew habaneros last summer and they turned out wonderfully. The best advice I got an used was:

- Get pots with plenty of drainage. water a lot , and frequently.
- Plants must always be in direct sunshine. this increases yield and hotness
- organic fertilizers help a lot
- Don't pick until fully ripened. you're not shipping them or freezing them, so pick them at optimal hotness.

enjoy! I used to cook huge pots of Jambalaya with only 2 habaneros - 4 lbs raw chicken, 2 lbs shrimp, 2lbs of chorizo, and all the fixings. that is how hot they are :)

[Agent Plissken]

Excellent to hear that you were successful, i am encourage and excited about my crop.



One thing you said though,



- Don't pick until fully ripened. you're not shipping them or freezing them, so pick them at optimal hotness.



everywhere else i have read says to pick them when they reach their full SIZE, not wait until they are ripe. It is also my understanding that this will not effect the heat of the pepper.