I bought a "Hottie" Pepper Plant from Home Depot about 1.5 months ago. I had never heard of a Hottie pepper, but the picture looked like a habanero and it was only $1.25. So I bought it, and a quick search on the web when I got home revealed that it was some sort of habanero hybrid.

OK good. So I decided to move it out of its small pot, and moved it into a pot about 5" high and 6" around and watered it every other day. I also placed the plant in the window sill to get as much sunlight as possible.

The plant grew very well for about a month, and even started to flower(!). Unfortunately, the plant got attacked by my roommates cat and many of the leaves were chewed. I clipped off the most horribly chewed leaves, but left a few because I was afraid of leaving the plant bare. Within a few days, the flowers fell off :(.

Post-cat attack, the plant has recovered and continues to grow leaves like mad. The plant started with one stalk, and now has two. The second has more leaves than the first and new leaf sprouts are pretty much all over the plant from base to tip.

The whole time I have had the plant, I have watered it almost every other day, and kept it in the window sill for a long day of sun. I believe the window faces southwest, so it gets a lot of light during the afternoon. Normal temperature in the apartment is 75, give or take 1 or 2 degrees and there was a week of 80 - 90 degree temps when my AC broke.

My questions are along the lines of if I can get some peppers out of this plant before the season ends.

1) In the forums, I have read that this could be a symptom of too much nitrogen in the soil. I planted it with soil from an old pot that had been sitting outside at my girlfriends house, so the quality of the soil is unknown. Is there something I could buy to even out the levels or to encourage pepper growth? I live within walking distance of a Home Depot.

2) Should I clip the remaining two chewed leaves? They are the biggest leaves on the plant, but it doesn't really need them any more since it has so many other leaves. I'm not sure if they are helping or hurting.

3) Is it too late in the season to hope for peppers from this plant? Should I go into damage control and try to keep the plant alive over the winter for next year? Its a strictly indoor plant, so keeping it warm shouldn't pose an issue. Any tips?

4) What peppers would you recommend I pick up next year in the spring so I can try to really grow some stuff. My space is limited to basically one window sill for full sun and small desk area for partial sun. The hotter the better!

Thank you for your time and I appreciate any help you can provide this aspiring pepper planter. :)

If I have done anything incorrectly, mods, please edit my post accordingly.

Info Card:

On Chair:

On Floor:

On Sill:

2) I don't think the leaves are hurting anything, so I would just leave(no pun intended)them alone.

3) It is not too late, especially if it is inside and there is no danger of frost. You may not get a huge harvest, since your plant is smaller, but not all is lost. Habaneros have a long growing season.

4) Jalapenos, cayenne, habanero,

The few things that might help you out are as follows:

1. Don't water them so much. Peppers hate wet feet. I usually water my pepper plants at the point where they are showing signs of needing water.

2. Having them outside would help them out a lot. I would figure that in the summer, your house/apartment has air conditioning. Peppers like hot weather. You might think about putting them in containers(like 5 gallon buckett). Then they ould be outside and you can bring them in when needed.

I hope this information is helpful. Others will chime in and give some more pointers

I am also trying to use as few chemicals as possible, but I'm not above giving nature a helping hand. I'll check out the Miracle Grow.

I'm not looking for a huge harvest. Since this is my first attempt at growing anything edible, I would be happy with one pepper :)

I will hold off on the watering. How can I tell when they "show signs of needing water?" The info card that came with the peppers says keep soil damp. After about 2 or 3 days, the soil becomes pretty dry.

I do have a balcony, so I could conceivably put the plant outside, but its getting down to the mid 60's at night. Would this be too cold for the plant? At what temperature should I be concenred?

Link to my weather forecast: http://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?CityName=Columbia&state=MD&site=LWX&textField1=39.203&textField2=-76.858&e=1

If I put the plant in a 5 gallon bucket, do you have a reccomendation on the type of soil I should buy to fill the bucket? This is a maybe option, because I'm not sure where I would put a 5 gallon bucket in my room. Although it would be really cool to see the plant get that big. :)

Thanks!

if youre watering them every 2 or 3 days id say that isnt bad...but since youre indoors...maybe every 3 or 4 days?

i dont think youre overwatering though

and theyre cool outside until it starts getting pretty cold...once they get flowers or blossoms on them id bring them inside if it dips down below 60 degrees

Dusty

All habaneros are chilenses
All chilenses are not habaneros

Hottie is a purveyor renaming.

I'm still debating whether or not to get a 5 gallon bucket. Aesthetically and logistically, it poses an issue in my apartment bedroom. The plant will return to the bedroom when the temperatures start to dip. Since the cat has full run of the rest of the apartment, it will have to return to my room. Also, I'm not sure where I could direct the drain off of water that such a large bucket would demand. Any ideas?

@Willard3... what does that mean? I'm very interested in learning more about what I have. Are you saying I don't actually have a habanero plant, or I do have a habanero plant that was simply renamed and marketed as a hottie?

You need a bigger pot. If you decide to use fertilizer, do not add much at all (about 1/4 of the recommendation) and do not use any grow based fertilizer, instead find some bloom based fertilizer as peppers hate nitrogen.

As far as drainage for your bucket, they make some nice ones for buckets at the big box home improvement stores.

the less light or more indirect the light, the slower the plant will grow. So, having it indoors will really slow it down.

Add those first two points together, and you get the idea - "slow motion gardening". This means you may actually get something for your labors, but later. Your plant looks (very roughly speaking) like an 11-12 week old plant. My habs did not produce pods until they were 20 weeks from seed and that is outside in the sun.

Something like a Jalapeno Early would be much quicker to get off the dime and give you something to eat. A Jal Early would give you fruit 20-30 days faster than a typical Habanero.

I'm under the impression the Hottie is a hybrid intended to be a Habanero with a lower heat level, but I could be wrong. I tried to get my hands on some this year because the idea seemed very compelling, but the only one I got died.

by the way, your leaves and plant look healthy to me, but I'm no expert. It looks like a plant that just needs some time.

You will find, if you continue growing chiles, that chile taxonomy is more honored in its abuse....it's best not to add to the abuse.

Given that, I wouldn't trust the picture on the seed packet, either.

When you get flowers and fruit, post pictures and get an educated guess from chile growers.

I have moved the pepper outside and it got the treat of being rained on all night. I plan on getting a larger pot this weekend from Home Depot. I'll keep everyone updated and take pictures when it starts to produce! :)

Dusty

Being the amateur that I am, I definitely broke some roots while moving the plant from one pot to another, but hopefully not enough to cause any major trauma. The roots had pretty much gone everywhere they could in the old pot and I believe that breaking some was inevitable.

Here's a pic of the pepper in it's new home with the old pot next to it for comparison.

I'll keep you guys posted as to the pepper's progress :)

Happy Planting and Growing:)

Dusty

@Organic_Dusty - The whole name of what I bought is "Miracle Gro Organic Choice Potting Mix for container vegetables, flower, and herbs." I think I got the right thing :) I did walk around the garden section for like 10 minutes reading all the bags first to make sure I got what I was supposed to, and still wasn't 100% sure, so I'm glad for the confirmation.

@Megachili - You are correct. It is the 14" pot from Home Depot. Thanks for the advice on expanding the holes, I thought they looked kinda small, but wasn't sure.

I will have to make a contraption to catch the water though. My balcony is made out of wood slats, and I can't have my water dripping onto the people below me, so I'll have to build something to catch the run-off.

One more question, the low temps are supposed to start dipping into the high 50's this week. Should I be concerned and bring my pepper in, or keep it outside?

Stay tuned for updates!

as far as the weather, all of my plants survived the 49 to 52 degree temperatures of mid May here in virginia. Not that that is the desired situation, but I think they can do it. Pending someone more knowledgeable than me here to state otherwise, I think your plants are fine outside with the occasional dip to 50 or a few degrees less, as long as it's not consistently 50 at night. One the temps are starting to be in the low 50's every night, it's time to bring them in. If you want to get creative, buy a heating pad from a pharmacy (like for bad backs), wrap it around the plant, and turn it on at night. That may be able to get you an extra 5-8 weeks of Ok conditions to try to make it work.

but i dunno...just my two cents this is alot of money to be spending to sustain one plant

for the drainage thing id say just prop it up on top of a cinder block with some shredded newspaper or something in the holes so it doesnt drip down on his neighbors

and for the temp thing...if it drops down into the low 50's consistantly and you have buds on there...that could cause them to drop...just bring it inside over night

I am a firm believer that you get what you pay for....and if you are going to try to do it, then try to do it right....so you have a success....instead of doing it half-xxxed and then you get a halfxxxed plant and pepper production.....confidence comes from doing the right job with the right materials and God only knows all of the mistakes we have all made so we are just trying to help him to succeed and guess what? That is exactly the right fertilizer pizza burgers:) Juicy- I thought you were moving soon? Did you take your plants with you?

Good Luck,

Dusty

Next year when I have some more plants I will definately build a more appropriate setup. I'm having way too much fun with this one plant to not do more next year.

It looks like today is forecasted to be the coolest day of the week, hi of 76, low of 51. Then its a gradual increase until its back to 80/61 this weekend. I'll keep the plant outside for now and bring it in if temps look to be staying in the 50's on a more permanent basis.

I don't want to get too excited, but I think I see the very very early start of 2 buds! Fingers crossed!

as far as moving though...yea im still planning on it...but its all dependant on my car selling, which i need for money, which hasnt happened yet.
so im still stuck in boise...but i cant complain seeing as its september and still in the 90's every day and 60's or 70's at night.
but when i do move i highly doubt ill be taking my plants with me

I gotcha now on the drainage.....well then keep on keeping on with your garden while you have the nice weather. I wish it was 60-70's at night here....it has been in the 90's which is too hot and humid to the max but I would love the cooler nights....it is still 80 at night:(

Dusty

i dont know...it hasnt been getting much past the mid 90's during the day here...sometimes reaching 100...but man that dry desert heat just makes my plants drop buds like no other....especially my bhut jolokia and devils tongues...still cant get them to set fruit.
though my chocolate bhut has like 3 little teeny peppers starting on them so...hopefully these night time temps will sustain for a month or two more eh?

New Home:

Above:

Buds?!

An interesting thing is that it dropped the most damaged leaves on its own, and is growing new leaves in their place.

I have two more questions.

I'm going on vacation for the next 2 weeks and won't be around to take care of my plant. I can get my roomates to water it, but I am wondering if I should bring it inside. Last October, most days ranged from 70 to 50, but one night temperatures managed to get all the way down to 37! Since we had a cool summer, I am thinking that it may be even cooler this year. Is this too cold for the pepper to withstand for one night? Should I bring it inside? I'm dreading coming home to a dying plant :(

Also, since it is getting colder, I'm guessing I won't get ripe peppers until after I bring it inside. I may get a florescent bulb in addition to keeping it in the sunniest place in my room. How long do you think till I get some fully edible peppers?

Some pics for your enjoyment below :)

Full Plant

Right stalk with flower!

Left Stalk

Yeah, it's a habanero (or at least we think since it was sold as a "hottie").

I'm thinking I'll have my roomate bring it in if it looks like the temps will drop to ~45 at night. Otherwise I'm just leaving instructions to water once a week until I return :)

If the plant is taken inside, will I have to manually pollinate the flowers to get the peppers to set, or has that already been taken care of with the plant being outside for the last month?

I'm thinking the answer is yes, I will have to pollinate, because how can a flower be pollinated that isn't open yet?

Good Luck,

Dusty

After a quick watering and some time, I now have a few more flowers opening, so all hope is not lost.

This morning my plant has created horror for me again! I noticed lots of little black bugs in the potting mix. They don't look like the dreaded Aphids that I have read so much about. Maybe they are just fleas? I thought I was in the clear since it had been almost 3 weeks since I brought the pepper inside with no signs of bugs. It turns out, I am not the luckiest pepper grower in the world.

I will be going to Target today to get a spray bottle and biodegradable soap. I'm hoping that the treatment will work for whatever I have on my plant

Any tips other than to spray liberally? How often? Every day? Every other day? Every week? Should I look for some other organic pesticide mix at home depot? Will I not find it there, should I seek out a garden store?

I can't have bugs flying around my room... my girlfriend will never come over and I can't get rid of my pepper baby either!

HELP!!!

I think the Mosquito Dunk water is critical as it kills larvae that live in the dirt. Also keeping the soil dryer might help, I believe these gnats feed on fungus that grows in wet dirt.

-Pizzaburgers