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shoontok

Shoontok 2011 Pepper grow

shoontok
13 years ago

Howdy All

Im gonna use this forum to document my 2011 pepper grow season. Hope you all enjoy.

So far im planning on growing 12 different types of peppers, but this number may increase as spring/summer approach. So far the list is....

Tabasco

Hot Cherry

Aji Yellow

Thai Chili

Pepperoncini

Serrano

Habanero

Cayennne

Carribean Red

Bell

Hungarian Wax

Jalapeno

I havent yet started any mass germinating of seeds yet as its still a bit early and im also not set up properly yet to germinate multiple hundreds of seeds. But i did get a start using old egg cartons, and old reptile basking stone for a heat source and my 90 gallon aquarium and flourescent lighting to get going.

So far i tried germinating one of each pepper in an egg carton using some leftover potting soil as the medium and only have one seedling to show after 8 days. I since purchased a seed starting mix and am now starting a second egg carton with one of each seed as of last night on the reptile basking stone set at around 80 degrees and being monitored by my girlfriends digital kitchen thermometer ;) shhhhhhhh. lol

Here is a pic of my makeshift setup so far.



I just had to show off my aquarium too ;)

And here is the first seedling of the new season. A Thai Chile.

I plan on updating this thread from time to time with new updates and pics.

Feel free to comment, ask questions, make suggestions on any of this thread.

Thx

Jim

Comments (110)

  • shoontok
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    Just snapped a few photos of the pepper plants at my residence, but it seems photobucket aint workin?!?!

  • shoontok
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    Finally got some pics uploaded.

    Some Birgit Locoto's, an Aji Yellow, and an Aji Limon ready to go in the soil.

    Some pics of some pepper plants at my residence.



    A Thai Chile plant

    I think this is a pepperoncini pod forming

    My camera is crappy i think the lens cover shield didnt totally retract and i still having trouble trying to upload pics from camera to PC to photobucket.

    Hope you enjoy the pics.

    Happy growing
    Jim

  • greenman28 NorCal 7b/8a
    12 years ago

    Thanks for the pics, Jim! Nice line of pepper plants.
    That rock wall ought to provide some good ambient warmth and protection.
    I can't believe how far along your plants are. That Thai is growing like crazy.


    Josh

  • shoontok
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    Got the final 27 plants i had left planted in the ground today. Now i can finally dismantle all the flourescent lights i had all over my apt. for the last 4 months. Not sure exactly how many i planted here at my residence but i think its somewhere around 75 in total. Now the waiting game until i can start harvesting some pods!

    I still got room for more plants. Now i wish i wasnt so genorous giving plants away to my brother and co-workers, lol.

    Maybe ill visit the local garden nursery or farmer market and git me some more ;)


    Jim

  • shoontok
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    Yep, i couldnt help it, i went out and bought 6 more Jalapeno plants while i was food shopping today. I think i only have two or three of them planted so far but this extra 6 will give me plenty of jalapeno's to make some stuffed bacon wrapped poppers on a regular basis this summer ;)

    Jim

  • greenman28 NorCal 7b/8a
    12 years ago

    Jim, I think you might have one of the largest pepper gardens here.
    You are in for some massive harvests...I can't wait for the pictures of peppers piled up
    in containers, on chairs, on tables, everywhere. I love having decorative bowls full of chiles
    on the kitchen table. Then I just grab a handful, throw 'em in a bag, and take 'em to friends.
    Parties get a lot hotter when the chiles come out!


    Josh

  • kosherbaker
    12 years ago

    Who said chile plants can't be decorative? :) :D That looks amazing Jim. I can't wait for the thorough flavor review of each one. :D

    Rudy

  • wayright
    12 years ago

    Cool that you got them all in the ground!
    Now they will really start thriving!
    Excellent work Jim!and great looking plants!!

    Kevin

  • shoontok
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    Yeah, most of them are really starting to kick it up a notch in growth and flowering and setting pods.

    I made an adjustment to my grow list today by adding two more pepper types. The new grow list total for pepper types is now 24, lol.

    I picked up a 4 pack of Scotch Bonnetts and a 4 pack of Pimiento's at the local nursery today while buying some tomatoes for my brothers garden.

    Me and my dad and bro worked on my brothers garden at my moms house today but i didnt bring camera to take some new pics from there. We planted 44 tomato plants and a few other types of veggies and did some weeding cause its getting overrun by weeds! The garden was idle for a couple years and the weeds really got a roothold in there.

    Here are some pics of that garden i took last weekend.

    The birds eye shot, lots of unplanted bed space with lots of weeds!

    The pepper row.

    A hungarian wax with peppers on it.

    A hot cherry putting out some pods.

    A pic from last weekend of a bed of pepper plants at my residence. These were planted out in late april and survived heavy rains, temps in the upper 30's and heavy winds shortly after planting. They are doing really well now. Some people talk alot about "hardening" off your plants, well, i through them out into some "hard" conditions and they pulled through just fine ;)

    Happy Growing
    Jim

    Ill get some fresh pics of the rock garden at my moms house next weekend maybe. Its starting to come along real nice.

  • wayright
    12 years ago

    That looks awesome Jim!!!
    You need to start searching for recipes!
    Cause you are gonna have a ton of peppers!!!!

    Kevin

  • shoontok
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    I planted the 6 Jalapeno's, 4 Pimiento's and 4 Scotch Bonnets today. I also added a tablespoon of granular 5/10/5 Fertilizer at the base of each plant (3 inches from stem) and gave em all a small dose of 24/8/16 miracle grow from the hose attached watering canister. There are 24 kinds of pepper types outside and some of the varieties are really starting to blossom like crazy and set fruit. Looks like the Thai, Hot Cherry, Pepperoncini and Hungarian Waxes are the main plants that are setting fruit right now. Some of the other types are flowering too, while others are just starting to put out flower buds and others are still just putting out foliage and growing.

    I just did a count of the pepper plants in my yard. 109, lol.

    I think im gonna have to invest in a dehydrator to make some pepper flakes for sure.

    Happy growing
    Jim

  • sjetski
    12 years ago

    Nice !!!

    Those are going to be some 1st class pepper flakes with all of the varieties you have. Can't forget the pepper mashes and pickled peppers while you're at it, they should carry you over those cold autumn and winter months.

  • romy6
    12 years ago

    Looking good. I too am in the market for a dehydrater so keep us in the loop on what you find. Best of luck.

  • greenman28 NorCal 7b/8a
    12 years ago

    Jim,
    you're putting together a fantastic garden. I'm more and more impressed with each set of pics.
    A dehydrator is a must when dealing with that volume. I'm going to invest in a spice grinder this year.

    Josh

  • tsheets
    12 years ago

    The excalibur dehydrators are pretty popular. I bought a 5 shelf unit a couple years ago.

    Here is a link that might be useful: excalibur

  • shoontok
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    Took a few more random pics yesterday of some pepper plants at my residence.

    A pic of the pepper bed with 20 various plants in it.

    Some plants i just put in recently. 6 Jalapenos, 4 Scoth Bonnets, 4 Pimiento's. And some other pepper plants in the background.

    A few Chocolate Bhut's



    And a Maui Purple

    These babies came along way since growing up on top of my fishtank this winter ;)

    Oh yeah, i picked and ate a pepperoncini today, ummmm good, actually had a tinge of heat in it.

    Happy Growing
    Jim

  • wayright
    12 years ago

    Looking really great Jim!!!
    Diggin the S shaped access for tha rows! :)
    And man you got that Maui Purple looking happy!!

    Kevin

  • shoontok
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    Thx Kevin

    I got those Maui Purple seeds from a really cool guy on this forum. All the other plants are doing well too.

    I think i may have a Jalapeno/Pepporoncini cross growing this year. It appears that the seeds i planted from open pollinated Jalapeno's i grew last year look sort of like pepperoncini? They aint quite as wrinkled as pepperoncini but they sure as heck dont look like jalapeno's. The unripened pods are still small with the largest one being just over an inch long so far. I guess its possible they may have crossed with something other then Pepperoncini being that there were other species such as Cayenne and Bell in closer proximity and could be other varieties from further away? who knows? lol.

    Ill have to get a pic posted soon.

    Jim

  • shoontok
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    Got to spend some time in the garden and tend to my 119 pepper plants and other veggies. I dug up alot of little tomato seedling volunteers that are sprouting up all over the place like weeds and relocated em away from my pepper plants.

    Looks like the seeds from last years Jalapeno i saved may be a Bellapeno. I know they arent close to ripe but i decided to pick these pods to test em out (eat em) and let the plant focus some energy on growth. It definetly had a bell taste to it at this stage of pod maturity.

    Jim

  • KMKacan
    12 years ago

    They look great!!!

    Happy Gardening,
    -Kristina K.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Urban Farm Wife

  • greenman28 NorCal 7b/8a
    12 years ago

    Ah, the bitter bell flavor of unripe peppers.... ;-)

    Plants are looking great, Jim. In a month or so, we'll be posting pics of ripe peppers!
    The Hot Cherry plant (the larger of the two I'm growing) is over a foot tall and flowering well.
    I'm hoping a pod will set before the other peppers begin flowering, that way I can save the
    first pod for seed-harvesting. I think my friends and family are going to want to grow
    these peppers next year.


    Josh

  • shoontok
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    They might be Bellapeno's but i will sure you use em up in a batch of salsa or fry em up along with some other pepper types for sausage and peppers.

    Im really liking the pepperoncini plants that i grew from the seeds ya sent me Josh. They have a nice little zing to em. The ones i grew last year from store bought seeds were very bland.

    And them Hot Cherries will sure to be setting pods for ya. The Hot Cherries im growing from the same seed pack have some nice pods on em up here in NY. The plants are still kind of small at about 18 inches high, but im sure they will grow alot more over next few months and pump out alot of pods. Maybe ill pick a few of the larger green pods and eat em up to let the plant have some more energy for growth. From what i experienced last year when picking pods from small plants, it seems to give em that extra energy that was used to grow pods converted into plant growth thus increasing the plants ability to pump out larger number of pods. This year its kind of easier to pick pods off of small plants instead of waiting for ripeness cause i got a heck of alot more plants to choose what to pick and what not to pick. 119 plants is a good number of plants to choose from ;) And having 26 varieties growing is giving me alot of experience in seeing how the different kinds have different growth rates and different types of growth characteristics. Some plants want to keep growing for the sky while others start bushing out quite rapidly in early develepment.

    I must say that the Thai pepper plants are flowering the most of any other types as some of the plants seem to have 100 small pods and flowers on em. While others like Birgit Locoto and Aji's seem to be growing quite tall but really havent exhibited much flowering yet. We shall see, lots of growing season left to go!

    Happy Peppering and Happy Fathers Day
    Jim

  • shoontok
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    Howdy All

    I did a little work (therapy) in the garden yesterday. Staking some tomatoes and peppers and tending to other stuff. And took a few pics today. And even picked a few unripe peppers to dice up for a macaroni salad. Its definetly been a great experience so far this season starting these pepper plants from seed under makeshift grow stations in my apt. this winter. And also been great meeting cool folks on here and trading seeds and growing peppers ive never grown before and even heard of.

    I dont post as much as i should on here but im always reading through most of the new threads and posts almost daily and really enjoy reading and seeing everyones pepper growing experiences.

    Enough jabber out of me, here is some pics.

    The first flower of a Chocolate Bhut Jolokia

    A Thai Chile with lots of pods and flowers

    A pic of a slightly overcrowded pepper bed ;)

    same pepper bed, further away. tomato rows in foreground

    tomato rows have peppers towards the end of the rows

    A Numex Sunrise with some pods

    Some pods. On Top is a Cubanelle. Left to right, 3 Pepperoncini, a crossbred Jalapeno, Cayenne, Thai, Arbol, Hot Cherry, 2 Hungarian Wax, Numex Sunrise.

    Happy growing
    Jim

  • wayright
    12 years ago

    Thats an awesome harvest Jim!!
    I bet that was some good Mac. salad!!
    Everything is coming along wonderfully man!!
    Great Work!

    Kevin

  • greenman28 NorCal 7b/8a
    12 years ago

    Thanks for the updates, Jim!

    I'm glad you like the Pepperoncini...I wish I had a good cold pickling recipe,
    but they're great in salads as is.

    The Thai is warming up nicely, too. I can't wait until the first pod turns brown, then red.
    I hope you'll just snap off the stem and toss it in your mouth...and then report back here ;-)

    How's the other garden doing?


    Josh

  • shoontok
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    Howdy all

    I just got in from picking a few peppers. There is lots of pods growing out there on lots of different kinds of plants.

    I know its kind of a few days late to respond to Kevin's comment about the mac salad, but it was delicious ;) And Kevin the varieties you sent me are fun to grow and those plants are doin well. The Numex Sunrise are doin good, got some big pods on a couple of plants. The Maui Purples are really bushing out like crazy and are really pretty to look at with the purple foliage and flowers, and the pods got a nice lil sting to em ;) The Birgit Locoto's are groing like trees, lol, about 4 foot tall and no signs of slowing down, they aint quite putting out alot of flowers yet as they still growing upward like crazy. The Peruvian Serlano's are starting to produce some mean lookin pods. Aji Limons starting to put out some pods too. And last but not least i got some Chocolate Bhut pods growing real fast on one of the 5 plants i saved, one of the pods on that main plant is about 2 inches long and looking mean!, The other 4 plants are catching up!

    One of these days ill take the camera outside and snap some more photos. I did snap a few photos inside after i picked a few Pepperoncini pods grown on the plants that Josh sent me the seeds for. Josh you know i like snacking on pickled pepperoncini's and my 8 year old daughter loves em too!

    Here is a lil harvest i picked today.


    I picked these off of 3 or 4 different plants, I like picking em green and i guess it frees up plant energy to go ahead and start putting out more growth and flowers for future pods. Pepperoncini did really well in my garden last year, LOTS of pods.

    I put em in a jar after making a couple incisions with a knife on each pod. Then i filled up the jar with 3 parts vinegar, 1 part water solution and i also added about a tablespoon of sea salt and about a teaspoon of ground black pepper. Then to the fridge to chill. Ill snack on em in the coming days and then i got to pick more! :)

    Jim

  • greenman28 NorCal 7b/8a
    12 years ago

    Great lookin' pods, Jim. And nice size, too!

    Today I ate my first Thai Chile. It was still green, but I wanted to test the heat and flavor.
    Not hot yet, but they have potential...

    The Hot Cherry plants are the largest in the garden and covered in flowers and pods.
    It's gettin' hard to wait!


    Josh

  • shoontok
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    Picked a couple of Cayenne pods today off two different plants. Looks like i got some variation on this type from saved seeds from last season. One Cayenne is growing quite large thick green pods and another plant is growing a more typical Cayenne in my opinion. Could be that one of the types is from a cross polinated pod or maybe a mutation of the same strain. Anyways this kind of variety in my pepper grow definetly makes things more interesting.

    Both pods taste pretty similar and have the Cayenne heat level to em for this stage of pod development (in my opinion) upon sampling a slice of each up near the stem end.

    Here is a pic of the pods along with a few cuttings of basil im using to spice up a quart of pasta sauce.

    Jim

  • shoontok
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    Took some photos today of some of my garden. Hope ya all enjoy.

    A Thai Chile from Josh, these lil pods are tasty lil buggers and pack a nice burn.

    Some tomato plants. How'd that pic sneak by to the pepper forum?

    Some baby Chocolate Bhuts. Thx Kevin!

    Choc Bhut and some Pequins.

    Peppers and Maters, YUMMM

    Couple a pepper plants with some Jalapeno's in the background

    Josh's Fav. Orange Habs

    Some Aji Limon's

    Them Thai Chile's sure are purdy.

    More pepper plants! I tied these up today. Last night thunderstorm knocked a few plants over. Minimal damage.

    And some bigger Bhut's!

    Serrano's seem to be quite productive.

    Pequin

    These i believe came from saved Jalapeno seeds. I believe they are possible crossed with a Bell? Anyways, i will eat them anyway!

    A bunch of different pods i picked last night to chop up for another batch of my homemade macaroni salad.

    Happy Growing
    Jim

  • greenman28 NorCal 7b/8a
    12 years ago

    Happy growing, Jim!

    Your garden is lush and productive!
    Man, them Thai's are surely a thing o' beauty, and starting to ripen, I see!
    Great variety!


    Josh

  • Spongey600
    12 years ago

    WOW!!! nice garden! looking at your garden helps me to envision what mine will look like when i have a yard!

    Eric

  • esox07 (4b) Wisconsin
    12 years ago

    Jim:
    On your july 12 post, you list a recipe for "canning" your peppers. It is a simple recipe with vinegar, water, sea salt and ground black pepper. What kind of vinegar do your use? Is it cider vinegar or distilled vinegar?

  • shoontok
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    Esox

    I use regular distilled vinegar because i bought a big ole jug of it. I suppose ya can use cider vinegar instead if ya like.

    I love snacking on them pepperoncini's! I just picked about 40 of em a couple days ago.And them plants setting many more pods :) Pepperoncini produce well for me.

    I bet ya can use the same "canning" solution for other peppers too. Maybe some slices for sandwich toppers and such. Its a cheap, easy, quick way to store peppers in the fridge for a few weeks. If ya got lots more peppers then ya will eat you can probably seal em up with more long term method of canning.

    Side note.... I never really give em a chance to fully ripen, i usually pick the plants clean of any green pods of good size. I guess the constant picking of these pods promote the plant to go out and set more?

    Happy Peppering
    Jim

    P.S.

  • redtailforester
    12 years ago

    Pods are looking good big guy!!!

  • shoontok
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    Thx Redtail

    Yep im having alot of fun growing 26 varieties. Who knows what next season will bring ;)


    Jim

    P.S.
    To Redtail
    BEAT TONLY! Muhuhahahahaha ;)

  • shoontok
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    Picked all the large Jalapenos off my 4 Jalapeno plants today. I was in the mood for some poppers.

    I sliced 10 of them in half lengthwise and gutted em. I cooked up one cup of white rice and mixed in a halfpound of hot italian style sausage (removed from casing), about a cup of shredded cheddar and a little parmesan.

    I stuffed them jalapeno halves and put em in the charcoal smoker/grill with some water soaked mesquite chips on the coals. Let em slow cook for about an hour and then.....you know the rest.

    Delicious!!!

    Now to decide the fate of the other 16 pods i got leftover ;)

    Jim

  • chile_freak
    12 years ago

    stuff them w/ cheddar and cream cheese wrap them in bacon and grill them deeeeeelicious!

  • wayright
    12 years ago

    Wow you are getting alot of pods Jim!
    And your plants are looking awesome man!!
    Cant believe how much I have missed!
    I need to get by here more often!

    Kevin

  • greenman28 NorCal 7b/8a
    12 years ago

    Kevin, you should stop by more often ;-)
    I'm sure your pepper jungle is huge by now.

    Jim, your plants are so far ahead of mine!
    Love seeing the progress.

    Josh

  • shoontok
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    Thx for the nice comments pepper brothers!

    I been harvesting some pods for consumption here and there. And i been snacking on some as i browse through the garden and perform watering/maintenance in the evenings. Yep i love them hot peppers!

    There has to be a thousand or more unripe peppers out there in the garden ;)

    I ate a green Peruvian Serlano about 15 min ago during a garden walk through, from Kevins seeds. Man! thats a sweet tasting pepper with quite a punch too, and they nasty looking lil buggers too! I also ate a few Thai's from Josh's seeds, nice lil firecrackers! Picked a few ripes ones to throw in the dehydrator.

    Ill get more pics of the plants soon. And maybe a few pics from the garden at my brothers place.

    Happy Growing
    Jim

  • shoontok
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    Howdy all.

    Snapped a few random photos of the pepper garden today.

    Enjoy the pics.

    Chocolate Bhuts

    Chocolate Bhuts

    Aji Lemon almost as tall as the Oak trees

    Chile De Arbol

    Peruvian Serlano

    Mixed Pepper bed had a 20 pound piece of tree deadfall in the front right side this morning. Glad the peppers took the brunt of the hit and not my head.

    Tabasco

    Maui Purple in between some De Arbols

    De Arbol

    De Arbol

    A Yellow Jacket sucking on some Maui Purple

    Maui Purple and De Arbol

    Baby Scotch Bonnet

    Some pimply Chocolate Bhuts

    Arghh! Bells! Who planted those here in my hot pepper garden???

    Some Pickens!!!
    Peruvian Serlano's, Arbol chiles, green Aji's, green Carribean Reds, a pimply green Bhut in the middle.

    Hope ya enjoyed.

    Jim

  • romy6
    12 years ago

    Awesome pics Jim . I am very envious. Those chocolate bhuts look tasty!

  • esox07 (4b) Wisconsin
    12 years ago

    Ya, nice peppers. Man, this thread took forever to load. I guess pepper porn is pretty popular in this forum.

    On those chocolate bhuts, what colors do they go through on to what I assume is a brown when they are fully ripe?
    Bruce

  • shoontok
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    Guess i went a little overboard with attaching photo's to the thread ;)

    Hey Bruce, im not sure what color phases they change to, its my first year growing these and the pics you see here so far are the furthest stage of development at this point. Im guessing they will turn chocolate brown.

  • wayright
    12 years ago

    Excellent peppers Jim !
    They look really nice!!
    I agree the Peruvian Serlano are very tasty! Im glad you are enjoying them and your plants are loaded man!!

    The Choco Bhuts go straight from green to brown!!

    Kevin

  • greenman28 NorCal 7b/8a
    12 years ago

    Sweet harvests coming in, Jim!
    Thanks for keeping us updated!

    Josh

  • chile_freak
    12 years ago

    jim, great pics, your peppers look great, and sortalike peppers, u can never have too many pics of peppers;)
    ps those serlanos look tasty for sure, thats one I have not yet tasted but they look great, the chocolate bhuts look fantastic too, my choc bhuts are the only of the three bhuts left to pod, of course they are a month and a half younger than the regs and 2 months younger than the lemons ;) time to play americas favorite game show "The Waiting Game" ;)
    Paul

  • Phildeez
    12 years ago

    I love the Maui Purple, really vibrant flowers. Maybe I can trade you for some seeds from those and your de Arbol, my Arbol has upright pods and I keep reading they should be pendant style like yours.

    What did you do with green Carib Reds?

    Phil

  • shoontok
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    Hey Phil

    Sure, id love to trade ya some seeds from the Maui Purple and De Arbol.

    I used those green Carib Reds and other peppers in that picture to make a small batch of hot sauce. I pureed the heck outta them in a food proccessor with some white vinegar and some water then brought that mix to a boil and simmered it for about 15 minutes, then added a tablespoon of brown sugar to sweeten it up a bit and ran that mix through a cheesecloth and bottled it. I saved the leftover pulp too and gonna add that to my next batch of pasta sauce or chili.

    My email is Shoontok@gmail.com

    Jim

  • esox07 (4b) Wisconsin
    11 years ago

    Looks good. However the listing now shows a price of $24.95 with shipping of $11.83.

    Looks like you got a bargain.

    Bruce

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