Mike - I hope you've gotten rid of your mite infestation and are getting started again with new seedlings. Keep up the good work.
John A

Smoke. This is only my second year growing peppers and I owe alot of my success to you. I buy all my seeds(i do not need much)or get them in round robin trades. It erks me to see good people getting taken advantage of. I hope you will continue to post your pictures and helping us amatuers with gardening tips.I always look for forums that you are in because I know I will get a good laugh and some helpful advice along the way. P.S. Tell your boss that your peppers around your work only enhance the outside of the building.

Hey Smoke;
I've had a veggie garden for many years, but this is the first year for peppers from seed for me. I have enjoyed the pictures and relevant information of your posts & it has helped in some of the decisions I made concerning soils, fert's, lights, etc. I'm currently in the process of building a new 8' by 16' raised planter just for my new hobby.
When up to your azz in alligators, its hard to remember ya came to drain the swamp! Please don't let a few, well OK, several (pepper) wealth re-distribution types spoil your day, of all the pepper seeds so far, I prize the ones obtained from a forum member's BEAP offer the most!

Best Regards, T.............

I've been there and done that too. Yes, it is frustrating. I remind myself that at one time I was a newbie too. It is still difficult when someone contacts me and insists that they MUST have something rare that only I have seed.

DarJones

You just have to press the delete button more often. Don't let
those few bad apples get you down.

Don't get me Wrong,I like spreading the heat.
And whoever I have already sent seeds to are more than welcome to those seeds.

It's just that the last month I'm getting people wanting litterally oz. of seeds to start up commercial growouts and a few people are angry because I sent them 60 variety SASBE offers a while back and now they want another,but this time for rare or wild stuff.
A couple got angry when I refused.
It's only been a few percentage of the people but last night I got a dozen or more all at once.
I got upset enough to post as I did.
I hope anyone who I've sent seeds to as trades or SASBE offers gets nice healthy plants and tons of pods so they can spread some seeds around next season.

I really do enjoy spreading the heat to the Pepper Impared. LOL
Thanks for your kind words,I'll get over it when my new garden gets into shape in a few weeks.

Okay, I feel a little responsible, since the post I think you are referring to was on my pepper swap thread.

I am very sorry that it started a rainstorm of requests for you. The people in the swap were in awe of your growlist, and many of them will benefit from your kind and generous donation to the swap.

It has happened to me too recently. Not for peppers, but just people that have done a search of GW trade lists, and then send me a grocery list of what they'd like. I'll usually check out their trade page, and if they don't have any that interest me, I just reply that I'm not doing any individual trades at this time. Like Romy6, my seeds usually come from commercial sources, or round robin swaps.

I've donated to newbie projects, and there are plenty of seeds available for SASBE's on the seed exchange, and on the wintersowing forum, so I don't let myself feel obligated to give away the store ... and you shouldn't either : )

Thanks again for your generous spirit! And for encouraging the "pepper impaired", of which I guess I could be categorized as.

Bonnie

When I reread my own post, I realized I may have come across as being opposed to individual trades. What I was referring to is trades with people I don't know. I love doing trades or SASE's with people I have come to know on the various forums that I participate in. The requests that have been coming in lately though, are names that I am unfamiliar with. When newbies join a forum, most everyone is quick to offer to share seeds with them, but when someone who has never posted makes requests, I'm like you Smoke., I assume they are just interested in getting something for nothing.

Damn. Smokemaster, i was getting ready to ask you for a cubic yard of yer rarest pepper seeds. I guess now is a bad time to ask ;)

Lol, dont sweat it bro. I have found myself in poor areas of cities on occasion and have been bombarded by people begging for spare change. I know the feeling. And i know that 90 to 100 percent of them are asking for that money cause they want drugs or a 40oz. Something for nothing.

Get a job!

Jimmy

It's not from any one post.

If anyones to blame , it's me for posting my grow list every so often.
I know better.

It's like someone posting their bank account # or whatever on the net.Nothing good will come of it.

Google finds it no matter how big or small the site is that the post is on.

I been getting requests from posts on sites I haven't been to in years...
Some of these guys are refering to posts from several seasons ago.
They refere to stuff I grew a long time ago and haven't grown for years.

They google specific hot pepper names and have the nerve to even ask for large numbers of seeds to sell commercially as starts,seeds or sauces.
They offer a stamp and a baggie like I'm supposed to be impressed by not having to pay shipping...
Some of these guys were from overseas.That means they want seeds totaly for free-they can't pay for postage with their stamps.
Some requests are from people who cruise the Photo Bucket pics,then google Smokemaster to find a site I'm on so they can PM or Email me.

I'm not talking about 20 or even 100seeds.
I get requests for enough seeds to plant from 1 to 40 acres.
I especially like the guys who say they are new to growing peppers and don't know squat about chiles,but their list of wants is every wild,rare or super hot in the world.

The ones like that I see turn into instant experts the next year selling seeds,pods or whatever.

All from seeds given to them by people thinking they were helping someone with their little Victory Garden.

I think the requests are because all the media attention given to the different super hots these days and all the cooking shows and sites on the net pushing products made from chiles at off the wall prices.
$1.00+ a seed for a lot of stuff is very common.
Now with the race for the hottest pepper there are a lot of unstable hybrids showing up all the time too.

The tons of stupid videos of idiots eating peppers doesn't help either.

I just got too many people with the "Give Me" attitude in the last few weeks and got upset.
It usually doesn't bother me.
I send a reply that I'm out of sasbe seeds and thats it.
But I recently got guys who don't want to take "sorry,maybe next year" for an answer.

I'm sure I'm not the only one getting these type of requests either.
These type of people have their search system down and I'm sure send out tons of similar requests.

I agree with you, Smoke.

I prefer to send seeds only to those folks who maintain some sort of online "relationship"
in the growing community - and I like to give credit to those who have sent me seeds, including
sending them updates and pics of the plants that I've grown from their seed-stock.

I only send out a set number of seeds each year, and after that it's either wait until next year
or tough luck! If I feel at all suspicious about the request, I just decline.

You're an asset to this community of growers.

Josh

I think I'm done with mass seed offers, myself.

Though my last seed offer 2 years ago went well I've found the cut/paste of my offer on 3 sites (1 site's poster asked permission to repost, at least).

Luckily, everyone played it civil, though it kinda sucks I had to end my offer early due to extended volume of requests coming from communities I didn't reach out to.

I should also mention that my last seed offer was for something I bred myself from my own hybrid cross and I put years into stabilizing an open pollinated pepper.

I sent out about 120 filled requests from a limited seed supply and heard back from a total of 6 people either through this forum or my email giving me feedback.

Feedback wasn't required, but I would have liked to know how it worked out for people.

At this point I'm pretty sure a huge chunk of the filled requests came from somewhere other than this board.

Yep, what Greenman wrote exactly.

The nerve of some people, trying to take advantage of someone's generosity.

I would never ask for free seeds. It's too much trouble to germinate them.

However, I was wondering if anyone would consider sending me some transplants that are about ready to set out. The rarer, the better. 20 or 30 should do. And I don't mean for free. I would send you a couple of those u-haul boxes and some stamps.

Please respond quickly as spring is just around the corner.

I know that I appreciate all the advice given here and can understand your frustrations.I gave lots of free seedlings away last year and a couple of people complained that they didn't do well,even though others said they did great.So , not only were they unappreciative ,they had nerve to say how dissatisfied they were with something they got for free.
I won't be giving many away this year

Smoke and other GW helpers,

I am a newbie. I found GW last season, but not until after planting. The amount of information and knowledge you folks have, and so easily share with others was astounding to me. You all made the site feel warm and inviting to an old guy just beginning the journey into "Pepperland".

You all are an inspiration to me. Your conversations on GW are a like Pepperland 101 courses for those of us just getting started.

Thank you.

Jim G (southwest Oregon)

Its totally rotten that people are trying to take advantage of others' generosity and kindness in this fashion.

That's one thing that really irks me....freeloaders who are demanding!! Totally burns me up!

I've received a few freebies from folks here on GW, but, only when offered, never gone begging for anything. I just don't have many seeds or varieties - particularly interesting ones for trade.

nc-crn - I got some of your last offer (IIRC). Sorry I never followed up. I didn't have the best year last year, I did get some ripe pods eventually and they were AWESOME!! Bagged a bud and saved seeds - going to do a germination test soon. The one I bagged just didn't want to turn. Love that sweet little guy!

I appreciate the pepper seeds, and all the other type of seeds, that I have received and the generosity of some individuals in this community.

I've given away quite a few seeds to a small farmer and to a friend who has a yearly plant sale. I've also given generous amounts of seeds to some of the newer traders.

I figure what comes around should go around.

I have no problem with someone selling stuff to pay for their addiction costs so they can grow again next year.

It's the guys wanting acres worth of seeds and giving me crap for not sending them what they want at basically my expense sucks.
A buck + a seeds is greedy.
1 pod is worth a lot of money at those prices.

Several plants then become thousands of bucks when sold over the internet(free advertisintg etc.).

Sell the seeds and then the seedless pods for big bucks as powders or sauces, but they first get their seeds for an SASBE or free.
Not right.
Comes around goes around works for the guys on down the ladder.
The first guys who baught seeds from the snake oil salesmen still paid the price.
Some of them, backyard garden buyers, have limited growing space or seed $ to use and wasted a portion of their limited resources on bunk or expensive seeds.

Ya,a fool and their $ are soon parted but these days scams are sometimes what is More common than not.

Even if Karma catches up, eventually,they still laughed all the way to the bank for however long it lasted.

Doesn't make a difference to the common guy who splurged to buy seeds for whatever variety and got burned.

Like the guys that get busted for scams that ripped off retired people.
Jail time didn't make these people recover from their losses,just ruined their retirement by making them have to get a job and or loose what they have to just survive.
Karma still rips people off before things even out in the long run.
Like Reimers seed co.
They have,from what I've read,been burning people for years and still raking in the $.
Buying from them is generally a crap shoot.
But they don't care,they have your $.
I'm not angry at people asking for trades.I don't like being told I'm am ass because I won't set up someone with seeds at my expense or whatever,so they can grow acres of plants to sell peppers and or seeds and sauces.

nc-crn--I was also one of the recipients of your pepper seeds last year. They did quite well for me and produced a good number of peppers for me (despite nearly being flattened by 75mph Hurricane Earl winds in Sept). I passed on some of the seeds I saved in one of the tomato/pepper RRs and a couple of individual swaps so hopefully some other folks will have a chance to grow them out this coming season. :)

smokemaster--People have asked for seeds to sow ACRES worth of pepper plants?!? I suppose it's supposed to make you 'feel good' or something to basically donate hours of your time/labor/energy to their commercial venture...

I ended up buying a hand full of varieties this year, but the large majority of what I am able to grow this year is thanks to you, smokemaster, and a few other very generous GW members who offered to send me seeds for my garden this year. I LOVE peppers, of all kinds, and yes the eccentric side of me says the rarer the better. BUT I also know my place, as a second year grower I did not have many seeds to trade that did not come from a commercial nursery and you were quick to help out.
For that I am very grateful and I have grown a handful into seedlings that i will post pictures on sometime here in the near future.

again, thank you very much for the time you spent growing, and posting, and harvesting the seeds you sent me. It was much appreciated and with a little knowledge and a lot of luck they will be enjoyed in my household for years to come.

Trent

I've just gotta say I wouldn't be half the grower I am ( and that ain't much) without you guys and gals on here. Mike, you're my superhero, ;P I agree it's total BS for the bleepity bleepin bleepers to bleepin ask, nay DEMAND for your valuable commodity for their own self-interest, then have the gaul to turn sour at your denial. I hope they develop crabgrass in their nethers and aphids in their arses.

You, Mike, are one of the main reasons I've ever been able to do the things I do now, and yes, most of the peppers I have now are from seeds (albeit 2nd or 3rd gen OP) that I originally got from you and others like you. ( A shout-out to NJA, Chris, Lyle, and many others, as well)

Thanks for what you do. Don't let the other greedy bleepin bleepers cause you any grief. (Send 'em my way if they do, and I'll mail them bags of cheatgrass seeds, lol. j/k)

Mike

I normally refrain from long rants or long responses, but this one just kind of took off. Sorry in advance.

Mike, I'm one of those greedy bastards trying to make money off your seeds! Actually, I'm not. I asked for some C2C seeds this year, and will send you some back, but like you, I've had it with the folks wanting free seeds and feeling like they are entitled to them.

Don't get me wrong. I have greatly expanded my collection by trades with GW members, and will gladly spread the heat along with you. But last year, I had two newbies wanting seed. Although they were somewhat pushy about it, I sent them several varieties and wished them well. They never even responded to my messages asking if they got the seeds and how well they germinated for them. It really kind of soured me on sharing the heat. I can't even imagine folks having the gall to ask for acres of seed for free. What the h&)$ are they thinking?

I don't blame you if you want to pull back. I know I wanted to after my experience with those clowns last year. But I do know that many here appreciate all you do and would never impose on you. I don't know if that is enough to convince you to keep on sharing the heat, but can tell you that you will be sorely missed if you decided not to.

Midwest,I love spreading the heat to the Chile Impared too much to stop. LOL
It's just the few idiots around that hit me up all at once that promted me to write my first post in ther first place.

Most of the people I trade with or SASBE to are cool in general.
It's only that I got a dozen or so demands all in 1 day that I got pissed off and started this whole thing.
As I wrote before,this has nothing to do with any one post or site I post on.
These guys google around trying to get quantities of seeds to grow commercially from anyone or anywhere they can.
They think that since somebody grows a few varieties they should set them up for nothing or close to it.
It also has nothing to do with the C2C thing.
As I said,selling a few seeds or whatever isn't the problem,it's guys thinking that asking for an oz.+ of seeds or saying they want enough to plant acres of seeds for free is just wrong.
If you have $ to grow acres of plants for sales purposes you should have enough $ to buy seeds.
If I remember right 1/4lb. or 1/2lb. of orange hab hybrids was only about $30.00 or $40.00. from one of the suppliers I get a cataloge from every year.Wax peppers,Jalapenos and cherries were cheeper.
I wouldn't even mind if people asked about getting that quantity of seeds but some of these guys demand that since I grow a lot of varieties and do so many SASBE's that I should also give them what they want.
They don't see any difference between what I think is acceptable requests and just plain greed.
A lot of the guys doing the asking are googling some very old posts and not reading anything in the posts but the list of stuff people have as to what they are trying to grow out that year.
One guy refered to a 3 or 4 year old growout list I had posted on a site that I haven't visited in a couple years.
Another asked about stuff from a post on a site thats gone now but there are posts that were coppied on another site as a referance.
All the requests/demands were from a lot of different places I've visited from time to time.only a couple were from here.
Like you I've had people ask for somewhat rare stuff and sent it to them and didn't even get a thank you.
I just remember who they are and the next time they ask I don't respond back or put them on the Spam list so I never even see their E mail next time they write to me.

At the same time there are also a lot of people I've sent SASBE's to that whenever they run accross stuff they think I might want send me an E Mail asking if I would like some seeds for whatever it is.
I think a few of the SASBE recipiants take it as a challenge to find something I don't have so they can send me seeds for whatever it is.
Thats really cool I think.
It's not all bad and I'm sorry I might have given that impression to anyone.
Like I said,I got overrun with a dozen or so demands that I think were off the wall , all at once , and vented by writing about it here a few days ago.

When I started out a LOT of people helped me out with more than generous trades and SASBE offers.
Now I like returning the favors I've received by passing it on down the line.
I've met a lot of great people via the pepper sites I visit and have made some pretty good friends with people all over the world that I've never met face to face.
Between loosing my garden space this year and the mites destroying last years growout,the demands set me off and I vented here.

Since I've started this post I've gotten several E mails from people about how last years SASBE seeds did in their gardens too.
Pretty cool,I got a few people on their way to being chileheads.
I've sent out seeds for stuff they probably wouldn't have tried except that they were sent seeds for that pepper in an SASBE.
Some of the SASBE recipients were suprised by the different tastes and heat of the different pepper varieties because all they grew before were bells,jalapenos,cherry peppers and wax type peppers.
Baccatums seem to really suprise some people with their unique taste.
I think the local post office workers here would get bored if I wasn't there sending out seeds every couple days.
Today I sent stuff to Moscow as a matter of fact.2 days ago it was Australia and Sweeden.
South Korea and Italy were before that and China and the netherlands before that...
They,the post office ladies, started sniffing my bubble envelopes because when I send out smoked pepper samples with seeds my mail has a great aroma to it.
One lady says when it's pickup time all the mail in that container starts to smell like BBQ if I sent out some powders that day. LOL
Pretty cool,the ladies at the P.O. don't eat chiles but like the smell of my mail.
Just sending out seeds to someone brings joy to the people at the P.O. that aren't even into chiles,just their aroma.
Can't beat that I guess. :)

Smokemaster,

I'm so sorry to read about your frustrations. It really is unfair for people to ask you for such great demands. I hope this doesn't discourage you from posting here or from posting your grow out lists. I've learned so much just by looking up the different peppers on your seed lists. It's hard to imagine that several years ago I only know about a handful of them. I still have lots to learn! Its people like you, Fiedlermeister (where is he? Has he been posting?), Ottowapepper and several others that I've really learned a lot from and benefitted from. Maybe more people should be telling you things like this!

A sincere thanks for your generosity in wisdom and seeds!

Please continue posting!

This is ridiculous! I'm broke. I'm a school teacher at a private school with a mortgage to pay. As Smoke says, if you can't afford your seeds, you won't be able to afford to grow your chilies either. Step up and buy them! There are at least a dozen good, reputable sites out there where you can buy whatever you want (well, almost anything). If you're looking for a very rare variety that someone else has, don't expect to get it without at least a little bit of humility and kindness. In other words, just do the right thing.

C'mon Smokemaster. You have an opportunity to be the Mother Theresa of the pepper kingdom. :) No request too big, none too small.

Over 1,000 SASEs? Damn!!!!!! I've done my share, but you hit the turbocharge button and flew past me.

By the way, do you have any free seeds of that Guatemalan Insanity Pepper that is purple and white striped with more craters than a 7 pot and larger than a giant Rocoto. The first C. chinense x C. pubescens cross ever. If you have them, please send me only plants because it's too much effort to grow the seeds. But in the meantime, could you pay my monthly electricity bill to pay for the lighting used to grow my 50,000 plants for my hot sauce business?

On a serious note, I know exactly what you mean. I will say I've made a LOT of great contacts worldwide in this hobby that have been very loyal over the years.

Chris,you forgot to ask-Demand I pay the bills it cost for you to fix up your basement after that flood you had a while back...
Shouldn't I also be resposible since there might be seeds from me germinating down there now?
Only 50,000 plants?
Sounds like I should buy you some more acreage,maybe a bigger house with a bigger basement too.

After all,fair is fair.

Sorry,I only have the white and purple striped variety of insanity pepper.
Mine are from Tijuana and they are all basketball sized not softball sized.
Did you get the seeds I sent you yet?

Yep, got the seeds yesterday. I sent you an e-mail. :)

So when do I get your electric bill to pay for your growing expenses,since I MADE you grow those seeds? :)

real cool post,mike.

by the way,do you mind sending a couple chocolate hab seeds
my way

How many acres ya growing-need seeds for?
From every strain in the book too,Right?
Maybe a few hundred plants that are ready to bud too.

Hey Smokemaster, I'm trying to make the whole state of Tx my garden. Think you can help me out here? Please? I'll send you one chewy treat for the flea bag. think that'll cover the expenses? If not, i can send an additional chewy treat. please oh please say yes. Oh! and I want all of them to be purply colored stuff only. You know, cuz i want to make some purple colored chili powder. Wouldn't that be cool?!

Been a long time since I've seen you in these parts Podner.

Chewy treats for Heidi...

VERRRRRYYY Tempting.

Depends on what size they are.

She's getting bigger by the day.
Eats 3/4 lb. of puppy chow a day.
I got a swimming pool sized water bowl Bone shaped of coarse) that needs filling 2 times a day.

I'm getting a new Purple Pepper variety in a day or so from a seed company.
I'll send you an E Mail.

Now you can get back to shopping... LOL

Lol. It HAS been a while since I've visited here. Well, this year the hubby is gonna indulge me and build me 2 brand spanking new raised beds. He really really wants lots of cherry tomatoes. And of course I'm gonna have to have some peppers. I'm gonna try out that eskimo again. WooHoo! I'm back in the game! After i go shopping of course.

I have been on the receiving end of many of your trades and several others on a couple of pepper sites. A big thank you for all the seeds. I am still growing pepper from seeds I have from you. I appreciate your efforts to spread the heat around. Your list is like a giant wish book but sadly I don't have the room to grow them all. I also don't have the energy anymore, getting a bit older lol. Don't let them get you down.

Smokemaster you selfish SOB. You won't supply a complete stranger with an acre or two of every variety of chili seed you have? Shame! You should be banished from pepper forums and relegated to growing eggplant.

Seriously Mike, it's "your" seed; "your" time; "your" effort and "your" generosity. Do it on "your" terms and don't sweat the jerks out there.

Bill

I just wanted to say that there are still some of us "newbies" out there who really appreciate people like you who generously share your knowledge and seed varieties with us!

A couple years ago, I grew tomatoes and other veggies but not peppers. And I wandered into this forum one day and saw a post by fiedlermeister offering seeds for SASE (i don't believe he has this offer anymore). And I had never heard of ANY of his varieties, lol. But I did some research on some that sounded interesting and not too hot, and followed the instructions, and he sent me a package of about 8 varieties of seeds. I learned how to sprout them, planted them and have kind of gotten hooked on growing peppers ... I'll be grateful for that offer for years to come, started a wonderful new pepper experience for me, and I really appreciated it! Now, I'm trying new varieties, and I'm able to trade and share with other people ...

So I just wanted to say that for every scammer out there who is just trying to get something easily (and believe me, I get those shopping list requests from "newbies" too for flower seeds in the fall), there is a true newbie out there who really appreciates the start you give them when you share seeds, or share knowledge and experiences, and answer their silly newbie questions for them! Because they are just getting into the obsession and really appreciate any help along the way :)

As I said before,I REALLY like spreading the Heat to the Chile impared.

I just got over run by a dozen or so Users and it upset me enough to post what I did.

As you can tell by several of the posts above,I've made several new ChileHeads along the way along with a lot of friends.
I haven't given up on spreading the heat.

I sent out 7 SASBE offers and made 3 trades in the last 2 days.
I have a couple more SASBE's going out Monday.
It's that time of the year.

If nothing else , my original post stopped the users from E Mailing me for the last week or so.
Whoo Hooo! back to enjoying my addiction. LOL

Now I can get back into what I like to do.

Trade chile seeds and spread the heat to the Chile Impared.

It's a shame that the entitlement mentality has gotten so out of hand. There is no longer any stigma attached to begging.

While I enjoy being generous, I prefer to be generous when I offer, not when someone demands.

Smokemaster, I suggest that you simply make up a price list and whenever anyone writes demanding their share of free seeds, you send them a copy of the price list. They will probably go away, but if they don't, you can make a few dollars to pay for more potting soil.

Please don't EVER feel *obligated* to give someone any of your hard-earned seeds! It sounds like, to you, spreading the heat is a labor of love, and it should always be that way. Letting people take advantage of you could sour you on the whole idea, and the community would lose a great supporter.

But please don't let a few self-absorbed clowns ruin it for others. I'm sure there are a lot of people who would never dream of insinuating that you *owe* them something. Thing is, you won't be getting emails from those people, so it's hard to tell how numerous they are.

These rude so-and-sos don't deserve the time of day from you!

In my opinion Smokemaster is a chile saint. To call the advice and generosity he brings to the chile loving community admirable would be a huge understatement. The fact that people are trying to take advantage of him or assume he owes them something is disgusting. Smoke should probably get paid for what he does, but does it cause he loves growing peppers and sharing it with others. I don't know about you, but that's the reason I ended up on this forum.

yes, sleekit i agree smokemaster mike is a chile saint! last year he sent me quite a bit of seeds and i split them with a friend. i have caught his contagious seed sharing spirit and have also sent seeds as far as denmark and austria!

thanks for everything brother

souf

Well, I am in my second year of pepper growing and pretty much every bit of advice has come from people on this forum. This is, in fact, the only gardening forum I go to. I hope to have something to offer as seeds this year for trade, though I fear no one would want the varieties I have (pepperoncini, Cayenne, Hungarian Wax, Cali Gold, Red Bell, Anaheim, Inferno) since they are fairly common.

Hopefully next year Ill have some more interesting things to contribute.

All that said, I think it's awesome that folks here will share seeds that represent thier hard work and passion for peppers!This thread was the first time I had become aware that it was a common thing to do. So thanks to all you guys who do such a cool thing.

Tim

Smoke, Ill be needing one seed from every type of pepper you have ever grown, ill split the shipping cost with you to make it worthwhile. Thanks! :P

Seriously though thanks for the help setting up my containers this year, you and Josh really helped me out and my plants are looking a lot better! Now if the sun would just come out.

Smoke-

I can't speak to whether you continue to offer SASBEs, since I'm usually too much of a space cadet to even remember who is offering what, but I would like to point out that even if you never do another SASBE or even another personal trade, I have learned SO MUCH from you and all the other amazing pepper growers here on this forum. You are very much appreciated.

C'mon Mike! You know you like growing peppers, do you really
eat the seeds? lol, I always looked at it as if I didn't give
out the seeds how was anyone else going to appreciate how
great the pepper was? Most of the enjoyment of the superhots was people's reactions to them.
Carry on my friend, cu @ open fields?

ButchT

Hi Butch.

I had to stop eating the seeds.
People said they didn't like the seeds shipped in their own fertilizer...Took too long to dry them out for shipping too.

I was on the recieving end of some 7 Pot and Trinidad Scorpion Jonah seeds from you a few years back.

I'm still spreading around seeds to the chile impared.
Sent out a couple SASBE's the other day.

I'm getting really good at raising mites too.

I keep them clean and shiney with daily soap and neem showers too.
They line up in their webs every day wearing their little bath robes while holding a scrub brush and towel.

The Green Lacewings are starting to lay eggs in my plants and should be getting plenty of mites to eat when they hatch.