I have used the newspaper method Josh referenced with good results. I've also had good results partially sinking small plastic containers, like you get sour cream in, into the ground and half filling them with cheap beer or pop with a bit of veg oil (to break viscosity). You loosely tent them and the earwigs crawl in and drown. You need to dump and replace when the body count gets high.

If you can find Diatomaceous earth, I think it's the most effective control when dealing with large infestations. It's organic and can be used indoors and out.

There's no daily maintenance required and it gives you the pleasure of knowing the little bas_ards are dying a slow (and hopefully painful) death by dehydration ;-)

The only downside is it needs to be re-applied after rain.

My step daughter likes Franks hot sauce. I can't understand why because it tastes like a hot vinegar to me. Surfing the Web I came across a copy cat Franks Cayenne Hot Sauce recipe. It calls for vinegar, sea salt, 18 Cayenne (I happened to have 18 Bulgarian Spicy Cayenne type peppers) and garlic... which I have...

So I added 2 cups of vinegar, 1/2 tsp sea salt, 3 crushed cloves of garlic and 18 Bulgarians in a pan.

Boiled and simmered for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes I dumped it into a blender.

At this point my genetic defect that makes me think I can fit 50 plants into a 30 plant space and blending hot liquid won't explode if it's only a couple of cups kicks in.

While I waited for the mix to cool I tended to a few burns, changed my clothes and cleaned the table.

Blended it up...

and strained it into a squeeze bottle. I don't like Franks but if you do it's pretty close.

The worrywart in me for tested safe preservation makes me think 3 months MAX in the refrigerator. Yes, there's a lot of vinegar but the garlic sets off bells in my head.

You could freeze your Cayenne and whip up a new sauce when needed. I really don't think this recipe benefits from aging.

You'd have loved a shot of the 1/4 cup of hot sauce that sprayed over my face and white shirt. I'm just glad my GF wasn't home to see it! I'd be grounded ;-))

Josh

Tim

It does look pretty good!

Today's harvest

Left to right

-Red Fatilli?
-More Bulgarian Spiicy
-Datil cross
-Nagabon Jolokias
-(top to bottom) TS Moruga, 7 Pot Douglah and Datil
-Chimayo (finally!!!)

My Trinidad Scorpions are getting close to ripe and my Takanotsumes are just getting ready to put on a show.

I tossed my first growing plant this year. When I was potting up some hanging baskets I put an extra Christmas Bell in one pot as a joke on my GF. I didn't think it would do as well as it did. Here's a shot of the basket beside our little bud who keeps chipmunks and squirrels out of the yard.

I tossed the plant because I don't trust the slow release fertilizer for hanging baskets I added as food safe.

Bill

Tim

That "hanging basket" doesn't seem to be hanging, though???? ;-)

peppernovice, I don't really worry too much about rot in the longer thinner annuums. Doesn't mean it can't happen but I've yet to experience it. You do need to check the plumper annuums and pretty much all common chinense. Halving won't affect the texture or taste.

tsheets, I think I came close to hanging when the GF realized what I did ;)

Tim

I'm not a fan of the vinegary hot sauces either. Tend to go for the thicker ones, like Sriracha. I'm hoping to make my own hot sauce for the first time this year, once I actually have enough ripe peppers that is. Not sure if I want to go the fermented route, which my understanding allows for smaller amounts of vinegar to be used, or to use an approved BWB canning recipe. Any thoughts?

Bonnie

I, however, used red thai chiles and did not bother fermenting at all. The result is hotter and fresher tasting.

Try SeriousEats.com for a copycat sriracha using simple fermentation. Or you can check out my recipe (link below).

I am going to try making both this month, so I'll let you know how they compare.

Clockwise from the top; Nagabon Jolokia; Bonda ma Jacques; Chimayo; Trinidad Scorpion; Datil; Kurtovska Kapija; Billy Goat; 1 small Jalapeno; TS Moruga; 7 Pot Douglah; Red Fatilli?; Datil cross. Center: Bulgarian Spicy.

Thanks to my earwig infestation this year I'm starting to harvest some peppers before they're fully ripened if the plant is under attack.
Here's a shot of 10 Bih Jolokia pods that have all been damaged and starting to rot. It's really starting to boil my blood!

On the positive side, I'm really liking this Yellow Jellybean I grew this year. I was on the fence as to whether or not I grew it this year and am happy I did. It's going to look great when more pods ripen up.

Nice harvest and quite a variety.

Do you have any close up pics of the earwig damage? Do they look like little drilled holes?

The cause a few types of damage. They chew off the top layer of the pepper and the exposed flesh starts to rot. In some cases the bite area is small and a small hole rots out. They also chew holes through the peppers and turn them into earwig condos to hide out in during the day.

I'll take some close up shots next I pull a damage pod.

Josh

Regarding earwigs drilling holes, I don't have examples from this year (yet) but I found some shots from a few years ago.

Here's an example of a pod converted to a condo:

Here's a shot of a Bhut with a small hole drilled:

Here's a shot of a Douglah from a few weeks ago:

Here's my latest causality, a non-standard Butch T pod. It was at the back of the plant and I just found it today. This is really making angry!

I'll be doing a small harvest tomorrow. I'll post an update then ;)

What's the heat and flavor like on those Jellybeans?

I harvested another platters worth of pods this morning:

Clockwise from just a bit left of 12: Kurtovska Kapija; Nagabon; TS Moruga & Chocolate Scotch Bonnet; Jalapeno; 7 Pot & Christmas Bell; Chimayo; 7 Pot Douglah; Red Fatalli?; Bulgarian Spicy; Datil; 7 Pot Jonah unknown cross; Datil cross; Billy Goat.

Center: Orange Sun and Sorok Sari (un-ripe)

I'm still waiting to harvest undamaged Bhut and Bih Jolokia; Trinidad Scorpion; Piri Piri; Butch T; Dorset Naga and Trinidad Scorpion FG. Soon I hope!

Bill

Tim

Josh

Tim, I use them all and then some. I also get a supply of Serrano and Habs from friends farm.

I freeze some. I dry and smoke and dry to store pods and to powder. I can hot jellies, mustard and salsa. Freeze sauces, ketchup and jerk marinade. Of course I do rellenos. Never enough peppers ;-)

Picked a few pods today.

Here's what was sold to me as a Chocolate Bhut Jolokia (bottom) and a Bih Jolokia I snagged before earwigs did more damage. Is it just me or does chocolate come in red ;0

Also pulled my first Trinidad Scorpions of season. Love the look of these puppies:

tsheets, the Christmas Bell pod you were curious about finally ripened up. It's in my latest platter shot but I thought you may like a closer look.

Bill

tsheets, ya gotta stuff some with queso fresco (if you can find it) and chorizo. Yum!

Funny Bruce, I was thinking the same thing looking at the shots, they do look plastic.

Center: 3 Kurtovska Kapija and a Poblano on top.
Clockwise from 12:00: Bonda Ma Jacques; Douglah; Fatalli - Red Cross?; Aji Cito - Not; Moruga; Datil Cross; Trinidad Scorpion; Billy Goat; Chocolate Scotch Bonnet; Dorset Naga; Datil; Butch T; Jalapeno.

It's getting busy, my posts are going to be erratic (OK, more erratic than usual). Between preserving my pepper harvest (my highest priority), we're harvesting and preserving beans; tomatoes; carrots; herbs; various other numerous fruits and vegetables as well as stocking up on local beef and chicken. When we wonder why the hel# we do this to ourselves we remember what it's like to taste summer when it's -20 to -30 in Jan and Feb ;-)

Bill

Bruce

It's a win win ;-)

I'm finally harvesting ripe Butch T's. I'm not only impressed with the flavour/flavor and heat, I have some neat pod variations on the plant. The pod on the left reminds me of some Primo pods I've seen posted.

Here's a few shots of my most recent harvest...

12:00 going clockwise: Billy Goat; 7 Pot Douglah; Jalapeno; TS Butch T; Bulgarian Spicy; Dorset Naga; TS Moruga; Bhut Jolokia; Trinidad Scorpion; Bonda Ma Jacques; Red Fatalli?; Datil Cross.

Left to right: Not Chocolate Bhut Jolokia; not Aji Cito; Nagabon Jolokia; Bih Jolokia Chocolate Scotch Bonnet; 7 Pot.

Bill

Tim

Josh

I had an unexpected risk of frost forecast last night so I did a scramble harvest of anything that looked ripe enough. Didn't get the frost but I got this harvest:

12:00 clockwise: Dorset Naga; Piri Piri; Douglah; Bhut Jolokia; Bonda ma Jacques; Trinidad Scorpion; Moruga; Bih Jolokia; Butch T; not Aji Cito; 7 Pot; Poblano; Kurtovska Kapija; Nagabon; Chocolate cotch Bonnet

Center: Green & Red Jalapeno (I needed green for colour contrast in salsa I'm canning this week)

Here are some shots of some other plants I haven't harvested from yet. The Takanotsume is the only one I'll harvest for powder. The rest are ornamental.

Takanotsume

Yellow Jellybean

NuMex Twilight

My Black Cuban / Twilight cross

It's not a bad looking plant but I'd prefer if it had the dark Cuban foliage and the colourful Twilight pods. Maybe F2?

Bill

Here's another shot from today. My GF stuck a few of the cuttings I used for the branch shots into a small vase. Cute ;-)

Josh

Pulling some pods today I spotted an earwig emerge from a damaged Bih Jolokia. Lost another pod (I think I've only harvested 3 or 4 Bih's this season that weren't damaged) but the earwig won't be munching on anymore. Let's just say it died of massive internal injuries.

I've been freezing, smoking, drying, powdering and cooking with my pods through the season. Now jellies, salsas, sauces etc. This past week we got 31 pints of (hot, medium and mild) salsa done (we do a lot because friends raid our stock), 6 Trinidad Scorpion jellies, 6 Nagabon Jolokia Jellies and a liter of TS ButchT Ketchup.

Here's a shot of a liter (approx. quart) of the ButchT Ketchup.

A shot of TS Gold jelly

A shot of our salsa.

If you're curious about the recipes we used for the Ketchup, Jelly and Salsa see DMForcier's post below.

I had time to snap a shot of one of my Black Cubans. They got mowed down be earwigs early in the season so they're late ripening up.

Bill

Tim

I agree with Tim....them pics are enticing!

Josh

Josh, as my future Western VP Marketing and Sales, I'll be forwarding a few sample powder blends for you to try. I'm currently working on Grim Reaper Blend #5 ;-)

Bill

Would you believe that I still have a pinch of the ol' Grim Reaper left?!
It was lost in the cabinet for a time, but recently discovered. On Saturday morning,
I made myself a Grim BLT with the powder dusting the mayonnaise....good lord!
Spicy BLT is probably my favorite compliment.

All my friends ask about your powders. They were blown away by the spiked salt,
the dust mix, all the hot mixes.

Josh

Looks like tonight is the night. Here's an warning issued earlier today Expect widespread frost to develop tonight as temperatures fall to or just below the freezing mark under clear skies and light winds. Temperatures will slowly climb above zero after sunrise on Monday.

Anyhow, here's a quick shot of my last 2012 harvest (minus a dozen green Bell peppers of varying size).

From left of 12:00: Christmas Bell; Kurtovska Kapija; Chocolate Scotch Bonnet; Billy Goat; not Chocolate Bhut; Trinidad Scorpion; Bhut Jolokia & TS ButchT

Center: a lone un-ripe Sorok Sari

Tim

I've already started informally planning next year's garden, thanks in part to Bill. :-)

Looks like a nice final harvest capping off a very productive season. Your peppers look very tasty.

BTW, moving back to the top of the thread, I was wondering about the use of diatomaceous earth for pest control. Maybe you touched on this already and I missed it (if so, sorry). I have access to Celite at work, and I have access to earwigs in the pepper garden, now...to get them together. I'm thinking ahead to next year's crop of earwigs...how exactly do you use DE? Do you use it to smother bugs upon sight, or do you dust the plants as a preventative measure?

Alex

Alex, I don't dust my plants / pods because DE used for insect control is not "food grade".

It works by adhering to the crawlers as they pass through it. When I'm moving pots I'll give any earwigs hiding under the pots a direct blast but for the most part I dust the soil around the plants and pots. When DE is present the earwigs avoid it or slowly die. The only down side is it needs to be reapplied after rain or top watering.

I did lie in my previous post... I saved one ornamental, a Twilight, and what I thought was a Thai. Bruce (esox07) and Edymnion have inspired me to try the cutting back and overwintering thing.

Anyhow, the Twilight is a Twilight but the Thai turned out to be a Scotch Bonnet (at least the "Scotch Bonnet" the company I bought the seed from sold). I've grown Scotch Bonnets from their seed in the past.

I wasn't too surprised when the leaves looked more chinese than frutescens. I've had stray seeds in packets from the vendor before.

Just to be sure, do these look like Thai peppers to you folks ;-)

The ripe pod doesn't look like a Scotch but the majority of the pods on the plant have the squat pleated Bonnet shape.

I'm going to cut them both down and see how it goes. A nice winter project.

I made my last batch of salsa today. I had some homegrown jalapenos which I added to the batch - I bought the jalapenos for my previous batches. Anyway, I asked my 13 yr old son to test them for hotness and he put a whole hunk in his mouth and suffered the consequences. Who would have thought I could grow hot peppers in Saskatchewan? None of my peppers ever ripened to red...

It was a productive year for you in the north, and your powders turned out very hot!!!
I am still basking in the glow of that Grim Reaper #5. I took the powders/mixes to a barbecue
on Saturday, and I had the usual suspects sample them all. My buddy Jason took a big
knife-tip of the Spiked Salt, then a big tip of the Grim. I could see it hit him hard, haha.
After a few seconds, he reached over the counter and grabbed his wife's watermelon lemonade
martini and quaffed it! If a powder will make a man do that, it must be good! No offense
to watermelon lemonade martini drinkers out there ;-)

Temp is at 42F for us this morning. Gettin' closer.

Josh