We go through A LOT of chile peppers in this house, mainly the cans of diced green chiles. For some reason, at least around here they've gotten harder to find and when you do the price has jumped way up. So we've decided to grow them this year. I know very little about growing peppers. What would you suggest? Do I need to build a roaster like for the Hatch Chiles? I do not want really hot ones as my stomach will no longer tolerate them. I am thinking of a separate garden area for them as I read it's better if you plan on growing a bunch of them. I'm in zone 8 with high humidity in the summer months. So what do all of you green thumbs suggest?
I grow at least 20 different kinds every year using only manure to grow them in and then I dry all them in my dehydrators then comes the hard part (make sure you have a mask on)grind them up and put in a large jar and add each year --mine has got so hot a pinch is all you need and we are talking real hot -its like the ground up peppers keep getting hotter lol---well as my father always said -if it don"t give your heart a Hickey it ain’t worth eating lol
OK, I'm not the world's greatest expert, but I will say that we're in gardening zone 8 also, and I find the zone number about the least useful piece of information in the world. We're west of the cascades, thus we get a long period of very stable warm weather, but we don't get much hot weather. In my opinion, peppers love hot weather. I really like bell peppers and mild hot peppers. I'd suggest starting them indoors and moving them out after the last frost worries, much like tomatoes. They aren't fussy things in my experience. They don't need really deep soil, but they like a fair amount of fertilizer and good compost. If you give them a simple stick to grow on, they'll love you. They must have direct light, or they'll not reach their true potential and you'll get tiny peppers. Mine continued producing until late October last year and past the first frost, surprise. Territorial and Baker Creek both sell a jalapeño that isn't hot, so you can get the taste, but no spice, and the purple jalapeño I grow because it's just a lovely little plant. I'd never buy a roaster just for peppers (because I'm a cheapo). I just roast mine on the grill. I think they taste better over charcoal, but that could be the placebo effect. Also, you're in for a treat: the ones you can yourself are so superior to store bought I can't really express it. Hope that wasn't pepper overload.
@Tully Mars @TXKajun is the best source. I have raised a lot of sweet and hot peppers. The trick for me is starting them EARLY. They take forever to grow. I am in Zone 7. I start mine inside anytime I want. You are wanting the very hot I believe. I will tell you Ghost peppers take much longer than green bells. Jalepenos take longer than green bells. Cayenne take longer too. In the fall you can dig up your peppers from the garden and put in a pot and be ahead of the game in the spring. I have several in the garage and in an unheated large outbuilding. When I watered them 2 days ago new growth had started at the base of the plant. The Garden Planting Calendar (All Things Plants) Peppers are very hardy once you get them up and going well. We also dry them and grind them up and put in a shaker. I freeze a lot of chopped up hot and sweet peppers. TXKajun has a thread on this. I do not know how to link a thread. I wish you the best of luck.
While we dont currently grow at our QTH, we used our gas BBQ to roast the store bought Hatch Chillis. I make home made Green Chili Verde(green chili pork) and roast ours on the bbq. The big rotating basket works great, but me thinks its for show to get you to buy them.
@Tully Mars that darn @TXKajun grows those ungodly hot peppers, he and @pearlselby are crazy about hot peppers. So don't listen to them unless you want to die from hot peppers! Anaheim peppers are great and make great chili relleno's, Hatch chili's are great! and so are poblano's I like this link for info Peppers | Master Gardeners of Santa Clara County This sight makes me laugh... did you know there is actually a rating for chili 'hotness' Scoville Scale Scoville scale Scoville rating Type of pepper 15,000,000-16,000,000 Pure capsaicin 8,600,000-9,100,000 Various capsaicinoids (e.g. homocapsaicin, homodihydrocapsaicin, nordihydrocapsaicin) 2,000,000-5,300,000 Standard U.S. Grade pepper spray[6], FN 303 irritant ammunition 855,000-1,050,000 Naga Jolokia 350,000-580,000 Red Savina Habanero 100,000-350,000 Habanero chili, Scotch Bonnet Pepper, Datil pepper, Rocoto, Jamaican Hot Pepper African Birdseye 50,000-100,000 Thai Pepper, Malagueta Pepper, Chiltepin Pepper, Pequin Pepper 30,000-50,000 Cayenne Pepper, Ají pepper [13], Tabasco pepper, some Chipotle peppers 10,000-23,000 Serrano Pepper, some Chipotle peppers 2,500-8,000 Jalapeño Pepper, Guajillo pepper, New Mexican varieties of Anaheim pepper,[14] Paprika (hungarian wax pepper)[15] 500-2,500 Anaheim pepper [16], Poblano Pepper, Rocotillo Pepper 100-500 Pimento[6], Pepperoncini 0 No heat, Bell pepper [6] You do NOT need a roaster, you can roast on the grill. All roasting does is add a bit of flavor and allow you to peal the chili just like blanching tomatoes (you can roast tomatoes as well) you can roast on the BBQ or in the oven on broil. You are removing the skin to prevent bitterness for long term storage.
@pearlselby nailed it as far as i'm concerned... Start EARLY cuz they take FOREVER to grow and fully flesh out. Rabbit poop is your friend for soil mix fert. While they don't require deep soil - i've had MUCH better luck with bell peppers in grow bags for air pruning the roots rather than pots or even in ground. Not sure what your setup is like but a kid pool self watering grow bag garden would do the trick nicely. 50/50 potting soil and rabbit poop if you can get it free.
@Ganado you are a doll!!!!! @Mindgrinder you are the man!!!!!! @Motomom34. The Lady. thank you for posting that. I knew it would be a big help to Tully Mars
@Tully Mars The game was AWESOME and the TIDE deserved it. I thought it was interesting that they told in some of the lead up info some days ago about Bear Bryant still having an office at the school. He was the greatest. I am a OU fan, but I always pull for Alabama. I worked there off shore in Mobile the 90's. Wonderful people. I felt very safe there.
Ive learned to prune the peppers. big yield with big fruit. now these are not chili's but we have had good yields on those too.
These are the first two on my list to grow. I would also like to have Pepperonci as we use these in cooking as well. Like I mentioned earlier, I really don't have much of an interest in growing really hot peppers mainly because I can no longer eat then after having a couple of different surgeries. I wouldn't mind growing some of the ghost type peppers if I decide to start making my own pepper spray, other than that, no. I miss the Hatch Chiles and the fun I had in NM during the weekends. I used to make a pretty badass green pork chili when I lived in Colorado and could get Hatch chilis A big thanks to @pearlselby ,@Motomom34 ,@Mindgrinder,@Ganado and all the rest of you for your direction and advice
I am not done with this but you're welcome. I have a perfect idea, totally honey-do that I think Sassy would approve of. Peppers are really pretty and nice vertical foliage. You can plant all sorts of peppers in planters and in flower gardens. I saw a garden that had tomatoes, artichokes, peppers all mixed in with roses and lilies. It was beautiful. Most probably had not idea that this was something more then a flower garden. The vegetable plants added color etc... You could plant red and purple peppers and cut back on planting pansies.
