Saturday 25 August 2018

Six Little Peppers & How They Grew




Babies in pot size #2.



Last Christmas, I got a seed kit from son El Punko that included 6 types of chilli peppers.  Because we don't have a greenhouse, I start my seeds in April.  These guys stayed in the box until then.

Somewhere, I got the notion they'd be hard to grow in this climate, so planted all the seeds.  A high incident of germination resulted, except for the California Capsicum.

I kept 4 plants of each variety, gave away the rest, then researched what happened next.  Apparently peppers like to start in a small pot, stairstep through a medium, up to a large pot.

Rather than buy lots of individual pots for a crop I expected to fail, I decided to take my chances outdoors & plant them in a raised bed.

Then we got a hot, dry summer.  Here's what's happened so far. 






1.  Cayenne

These weren't the first to fruit, but they've been the first to go ripe.  As you can see, quite a haul going on here.  Multiply this by 4 plants & you got yourself cayenne heaven.


The very green.

I've already picked a mess, which've been chopped & frozen without being tasted or photographed.  There's plenty more beginning to ripen, though.


Getting red.


2.  Etiuda

The bells were the first to fruit & the second to get ripe.  With a much slower growth rate than the cayenne, they also don't produce nearly as much fruit.  This plant only has 2 peppers on it.


Etiuda

A beautiful sheen & a slight blemish that I pretty much ignored until the . . .


3.  Bull's horn.

A professional veg grower recommened that both tomatoes & peppers should be fed less often during this summer's drought.  The thinking behind the advice was that, with dryer soil & higher temps, the roots could be burned by the plant food's minerals.  I did as I was told.

Then I noticed one of the bull's horns had a huge 50p sized brown spot on it that was soft.  Back to the books with me to hone my diagnostic skills.  And there I learned about blossom rot, caused by irregular watering & lack of food.


Reprieved bull's horn.

My watering'd been fine, so the reduction in feeding seemed the likely culprit.  I tossed the 50p bull's horn, gave one with a smaller blemish a reprieve, & returned to my regular feeding schedule.

No more spotty fruit.  And maybe coincidence.  The name 'blossom' rot would indicate the cause happened during flowering.  Being pepper-ignorant, I haven't a clue, but keep on feeding my babies.  Would love feedback here.

As you can see, not so many peppers as the cayenne, but more than the etiuda.  Since these are some big bad boys, I think we've got a way to go until they're ripe.


4.  Jalapeno

Like the cayenne, these've been high producers.  I'd read they could be eaten when they were about 3-4" & still green.  However, if you left them alone, they turned black, then red, & could be eaten at either stage.

One's already fallen off while still green, so into the kitchen with it to be finely chopped & put on a cheese pizza.



Jalapeno bounty.

It tasted great - bit of a zing & really sweet.  We'll see if its taste changes with its colour.


5.  Californa Capsicum

Only 2 of these seeds germinated, & they've also been the next to last plants to fruit.

California cuties.

In addition to fruiting late, they've only produced two peppers each.  That means both the bells've been slow growers & produced limited fruit.  Does anyone else have experience with these peppers?


6.  Habanero

These were my problem chillen.  They were expected to be the tallest at a full metre, yet were the runts from the very beginning.  Once moved to the raised bed, one of them died - my only loss.


Here be blossoms.  At long last.

They've only begun to blossom, so I've no idea if we'll get fruit.  Perhaps they didn't like the high temps & waited for cooler weather to bloom.  And they're still the runts.




Peppers in bed, veg on the lawn
<= There's my Six peppers.  It's been fun, growing a new crop.  I'll be sure to report back at a later date on how they taste.  Until then, if you've got some advice, I'm all ears.

If you'd like to check out more gardens, drop over to The Propagator who not only has his own Six, but hosts links to SoSers from all over the globe.  He's even got guidelines, if you think you'd like to give it a try.

As always, I appreciate you stopping by.  Hope to see you next week.


28 comments:

  1. Your Cavalo Nero (I am sure the spelling is wrong) is beautiful! I am full of admiration for your peppers. None of mine germinated so I didn't persevere. Anyway, have a good weekend.

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    1. The kale went thru a lacy period, where caterpillars were having a good time. They seemed to've grown up & away, so things are looking good again. I'd stopped giving the kale to my neighbours but think they'd be safe from little green critturs now.

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  2. I just looked (first time) at the diseases section of my Chilli book and the list of diseases they get is very long. I'm doubtful about blossom end rot, which on tomatoes is at the blossom end! of the fruit, not on the side. Uneven watering and too much nitrogen get the blame for BER. I would disagree with your veg grower and say that if you're doing more irrigation, in hot weather, you would need to feed more, both to offset nutrients leached out by the water and because the plants would be growing faster. It also depends on the compost you're using and what base fertilizer is in that. It REALLY doesn't look like you did much wrong.

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    1. Ah, name explained. Gotcha. So other'n a coupla blemishes, the peppers are fine. I'm the child of a doctor & married another. You'd think at my age I'd know I'm a rubbish diagnostician. Thanks for looking that up. I need to get better books. Or read more thoroughly.

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    2. I'd agree with Tim, while growing strongly and especially in hot weather when you are watering more I would feed more. But as plants slow down and fruit is ripening I feed and water much less but it's hit and miss to be honest sometimes it just goes wrong no matter what you do!

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    3. Thanks for that. Now that the fruit is starting to ripen, I'll slow down the feeding slightly. As to the watering, well the rain's in charge of that at the moment.

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  3. Nice peppers, madam. I have zero experience to contribute. My clients got BER on their tomatoes cos they didn't water them often enough. Serves em right.

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  4. The BER of tomatoes is due to a lack of calcium: Too much watering ... or not enough watering ...! Since I use a drip system for toms and chillies, nothing has happened to them in the last 2 summers. Several years ago, I had spots like you. They are also edible but remove around the spot of course. About jalapeno (the only one of yours that I grow) I always wait for them to turn red but nothing on the horizon .... Green eating them is already tasty and sometimes hot!

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    1. I've never had blossom rot w/my maters & I thought it was cuz I kept them cut back to air. Now I know it must be because I water & feed them. One of these days I'll follow your example & get a watering system in place. In my forever home, hopefully.

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    2. My watering system is easy to place, doesn't need power. Just a 9V battery for the summer ! ( and dismountable if you still move house ...��)

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    3. A winter research project for me then. I'll have to get details from you when the times comes. (If I get them now, I'll lose them.)

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  5. I know nothing about peppers, but I reckon that even with problems you should have enough for your needs. They’ll be great preserved in some excellent EVOO.

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    1. Chili oil is my fav garnish. I put it on everything, which is why El Punko got me the kit. Yes, I think I'll have enough & some to give to the neighbours as well.

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    2. Hi Lora - these peppers look really good - are they all hot? I always think it's a success to be able to start ANYTHING indoors and then watch them flourish outside.

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    3. There're supposed to be half hot, half sweet. The bells are both sweet, I'd imagine, so not sure which is the third sweet one. Will find out when I eat them, for sure.

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  6. I grew a variety of chillies last year, indoors in a conservatory which gets very hot in summer. They all fruited very well and I still have some in the freezer! For most of the winter everything I cooked had chillies in it. Like you I was a novice, but watered and fed regularly and nothing bad happened.

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    1. I guess the original blemishes were anomalies or pests. All is well now. Here's to a winter w/lots of chillies in my food.

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  7. Lovely peppers! Why have I never thought of freezing mine? Daft me.

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  8. Those peppers look fantastic! You've had a much better success rate than I had with some of my crops this year - you obviously had 'inside knowledge' that this summer was going to be hot & dry, and planted accordingly!

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    1. Thanks, Paddy. I'm pleased, but I suspect that'll have to do me for pepper crops the rest of my life, unless I get a greenhouse.

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  9. Veg on the lawn - now there's a great idea. I have never grown peppers, but you've got me thinking I might try next year. Hope you are enjoying eating them!

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    1. An idea that worked for my purpose. I didn't want to kill the lawn, simply use the space for the summer, so cut out a divet for each plant - beans, calendula, cosmos, kale - then dump the mown grass between them. At the end of summer, I'll stick the divets back in place & pretend it never happened.

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  10. I’ve only ever grown chillis and bell peppers. Seeing yours, I must try some other varieties. It’s good that some things have thrived in the heat.

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    1. Flowers & berries, disasters. Kale, peppers & tomatoes, fantastic. Beans were guns ablazing until the drought, then slowed to a stall. Next year, next year. The gardeners anthem.

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  11. The peppers and chillies were superb this year, weren’t they? Good idea using the lawn. X

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    1. It was the sunniest place. A bit windy, but w/supports, they're very happy.

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