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west_texas_peg

Chili Petin

west_texas_peg
16 years ago

Need advise on harvesting Chili Petin peppers for seeds. My neighbor says a bird has to fertilize it and drop it where he wants, that I can not harvest and put where I want the plant.

I tried one year saving a few peppers and planting the seeds but did not get one to germinate.

Just recently had 2 Chili Petin plants to pop up in my flowerbeds so I would like to try again if someone can offer advise.

We do not eat hot peppers but my husband does enjoy putting the Chili Petin in vinegar and using that on his red beans and cornbread. I told him I thought he needed to do a hot water bath but he doesn't think so, any advice.

Thank you!

Peggy

Comments (24)

  • fiedlermeister
    16 years ago

    People grow them all the time without the help of birds or any pre-treatment. they sometimes take longer to germinate and bottom heat helps speed things up.

  • willardb3
    16 years ago

    +1

    I don't have problems w/petins either....there's a lot of legend surrounding them, but it's just legend.

  • west_texas_peg
    Original Author
    16 years ago

    Am currently waiting on one of my Poblano peppers to become completely ripe (it is currently red/dark green) so I can harvest the seeds and let them dry.

    Do I do the same with Chili Petin...let it turn red before harvesting the seeds?

    Can I direct sow where I want them?

    Thanks so much for the response!
    Peggy

  • fiedlermeister
    16 years ago

    Yes, I would wait for them to ripen before I harvested seeds. I don't live in an area where direct sowing is practical so I'll let someone from your area answer that part.

  • reyna1
    16 years ago

    If you are harvesting just to eat, you dont have to wait until they turn red

    if you are harvesting for seeds, yes you want to wait until they turn red and then dry them out for seeds.

    you dont need any pretreatment to plant and grow chiltepins, they take a long time to germinate and need some nice warm temperatures to have them germinate

    i have some in a planter so i can bring it inside during the winter and move to a shadier spot during extremely hot days
    my plant is going on 4 years old in february/march

    the hardest part of growing a chiltepin is watering it
    because you dont want to overwater, but these texas days can get extremely hot, so its hard to keep a balance if you plant them in movable planters...this year i lucked out because of all the rains we had in central texas, my chiltepin was very happy this summer!! :)

    hope that helps.
    Danny

  • t-bob
    16 years ago

    say reynal,
    you said you live in central texas and your chile petins did well this year. where in central texas? i will be coming for a short visit to see my mom in waco in november. my friend (who lives near mart...outside of waco) recently told me his petins had done poorly this year, and he thought is was due to soooo much rain. i now live in washington state and so i was hoping to load up on them when i came down ((assuming the baggage checkers wouldn't realize they are really WMD"s and STEAL them from me)), but then became dissapointed with their report. how about some of you other petin growers during this texas rainsoaked summer .....how did yours produce this year...just curious and hoping to come up with some when i'm there.......not hinting at you reynal....but wouldn't turn them down either-----peas and hot lips---bob

  • cherylk
    16 years ago

    Peggy,

    I too think that is an old wives tale. I live in Z5 and start them inside every winter. They are slow to germinate, but they do eventually come up.

    As for your hubby's use of the peppers, we wash up peppers, poke a hole in them and store them in a jar of vinegar in the fridge for up to a year. (For longer-term storage, I do water-bath can them.)

    Cheryl

  • reyna1
    16 years ago

    i live in austin, i dont think that waco had more rain than we did this year, this summer we had rain like once every two days but the kicker was that i didnt water my plants for the whole summer at all
    maybe he was watering his plants as well as the rain, which i could see easily how his plants would become water logged

    my plant didnt produce TONS of peppers, but the peppers that it did produce were huge (comparatively speaking as chiltepins are small)..its had 2 bloomings, its starting to bloom again right now and we'll see if there are many peppers this time around

    i mainly grow chiltepins just for the heck of it, and it makes me feel good...lots of memories of family associated with it, so i keep the same plants around for years regardless if they are producing or not, this year was good for my plants

    right now, my plants leaves arent as nice as they were when it was raining all the time, as during september - october we've actually had hot hot weather..so hopefully w/ the cooling weather i can get one last small drop before i trim her back and bring her inside for another winter in the bathroom or kitchen.

  • ccwillis
    16 years ago

    I am still hoping someone will answer how to get petins to grow? Can you germinate them from the little peppers?

  • cmpman1974
    16 years ago

    In my opinion, the whole "Tepins take a long time to germinate" is myth. I am growing many varieties of these and germination has been consistent with other hot pepper varieties. Growth rates are faster under lights than initially anticipated as well.

    CCwillis, you could plant the whole pod, but most likely you'd get tons of seedling come up and have to thin a lot. Each pod contains 10-20 seeds usually. You're better off taking seeds out of pods and planting individually as needed.

    Chris

  • ccwillis
    16 years ago

    Chris - I have never tried to grow, but have petins from my grandfather. Can you just plant them? I am a true novice if you have tips or can tell me where to look for details. Thanks so much!

  • sanangl
    16 years ago

    If you are talking about the chile pequin, they can grow from the little chiles that just fall to the ground. I have a forest behind me with wild chile pequin growing and now have a true survivor that is coming out with gusto this spring. It was just a volunteer that escaped from the forest. The momma plant is just on the other side of my fence in the forest. It has never had any help from me, but San Antonio was wet last summer.

  • biermaster
    16 years ago

    I have found that if you will cut a sheet of paper towel (Bounty kind) to fit in a plastic zip bag when folded in half and then soak it in tea, (Manure)and then plant your seed inside the fold. zip it up and keep it warm day and night 80-85, you will usually have plants in about a week at the most. I then plant them in peat pots until about 6" high or the roots start showing thru and they then go in to 5 gallon self watering buckets. I water with the Compost/Manure tea once a week. They take a long time to mature red. I have started a number of "Bird" peppers this way with very good luck. I usually plant two plants per bucket, this gets them off the ground so they are easier to pick. After the 2nd year in the early spring Mid-March I plant them in the ground. Most of these peppers grow in areas with very little rainfall so be careful not to over water them. In research on peppers of this type, it was stated by the Texas Ag people that cultivated plants usually do not do well because too much care.

  • linadelagarza_hotmail_com
    15 years ago

    I recently purchased a chile petin plant from a local market in montreal canada. It seemed happy when I purchased it but soon after bringing it home the leaves started to droop. The weather is not the best but we do get warm and sunny weather. Does anyone know what I can do to make my Texas plant happy? I am originally from Texas and I need to have chile tepins to make me feel at home. Help!

  • peterfelker
    15 years ago

    Hi I have access to a heated greenhouse bench and would like to grow half a dozen chili petins for my daughter (30) for her birthday in March. Does anyone know where I can buy a few seeds.
    Thanks

    Peter_FElker@hotmail.com
    831 235 2847(cell)

  • west_texas_peg
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    I have seeds for the Chili Petin...send your addy and I will put in the mail.

    Peggy

  • Darres Munds
    8 years ago

    These chilies only grow next to something like a tree bush fense or building. Like heavy clay type dirt.

  • tomt226
    8 years ago

    Not in my experience. They used to grow anywhere in central Texas where a bird dropped the seeds...fence line, under trees, under power lines, most anywhere and in any kind of soil. I've got'em growing in sandy loam, garden soil, and MG potting soil. The wild variety is a Tepin...

  • galaxysave
    6 years ago

    Joe
    Pena

    I have read here that tepin peppers are hard to harvest, not so
    for me.
    Here are my 2 cents worth.
    I have a lot of plants in my
    home garden here in South Texas .
    So I don't mind sacrificing a
    plant once in a while.
    I just pull up a big plant full of peppers
    ( sometimes hundreds of peppers) from the ground.
    These plants
    grow big, I've seen them grow like 6 feet or more.
    I put newspaper
    under it (If you can find it nowadays) or a cloth or anything to hold
    the
    peppers then I cut away with scissors with the stems on them (
    They last longer that way).
    I save mine in a paper bag or in a jar
    with apple cider vinegar for later use. You can eat
    them whole if
    you can stand it (not to many people do) but be sure to take off the
    stem,
    you don't eat those. These peppers are hot and taste good
    (not like other peppers), and
    you can eat them green, brown or
    red. I like red better.
    They make a great sauce too, just add as
    many peppers as you want. then add tomato, garlic,
    onion, sliced
    carrots, and cilantro if you wish and then put them in your kitchen
    food grinder
    and grind them..
    save in the fridge up to several
    days, maybe for a week or more.
    The ones in a jar in apple cider
    vinegar last longer , maybe up to a year, but keep the jar in a
    fridge. Some people know how to can, I don't.
    You can also leave
    them to dry and eat later.
    Save some of the red peppers in a paper
    bag and plant the seeds on the last day of winter next year on the
    garden right on the ground ,do not use fertilizer. ( Here in south
    Texas planting time is January 31, do not wait to long after that to
    plant your seeds or your plants will not grow as well) of course
    different parts of the country have different zones, you need to find
    out what your planting time is in your zone. Water as needed . Use
    your finger to poke the ground , if the top 3/4" is dry it's
    time to water lightly. Keep the plants from the north wind.
    The
    only birds that I've seen eat these peppers
    are the state bird of
    Texas, the Mocking bird. No wander they can imitate lots of birds'
    singings. Besides that, they are loud and beautiful. These birds
    transfer the seeds to other parts of the land when they poop. That is
    the way that nature works. But you can also plant them yourself. Dry
    the red peppers for next year in a paper bag and keep dry. Plant the
    seeds on your favorite soil. Or some of the seeds just drop on the
    ground from previous plants and geminate next year. I do this all the
    time. Not bragging, but I have hundreds of plants.

    Tips on planting:

    1- loosen soil well ahead of time before planting seeds.

    2-Do not plant seed too deep on the ground, usually 1/4 " to
    1/2 " is enough.

    3-Do not disturb the seeds with watering after you plant.

    4- Do not use water hose ever, only sprinkle with water lightly on
    top so as not to disturb the seeds.,

    rainwater is best.. and do not put water on the plant itself, only
    on the ground.

    Best to water in the morning.

    5-Plant on high ground or mounds to avoid flooding.

    These plant can withstand hot weather, I don't know about colder
    climates.

    If you can add to this tread please reply.

    Thank you and I hope this helps.

    Happy planting and
    Best wishes.

    Joe

  • Brennan (New Mexico 7a)
    6 years ago
    last modified: 6 years ago

    .

  • t-bob
    6 years ago

    Galaxysave/Joe Pena,
    Would you be willing to mail me some pods/seeds? You have Tepin and not Pequin correct? Tepin being round with a few seeds---Pequin being oval with tons of seeds. My desire is to have the Tepins.....I like to pop them in my mouth and chomp them. I have twice gotten seeds that were "Tepins" that ended up being Pequins, and they are not as nice to eat with all the seeds. Missing those lil firecrackers as a Texas Ex Pat....my email is txboob@yahoo.com Thanks Joe if you see this and can mail me some for next year---Bob

  • galaxysave
    6 years ago

    Oh, by the way be sure to prune your plants when they are dormant in the winter months for a better produce next spring.

  • galaxysave
    6 years ago

    You can buy seeds at Etsy.com/galaxysave

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