Peppers 2023

[Branching Out]

Yesterday I tasted both Lesya and Omarsko Kambe, and while they are both good I found the Omarsko that I grew to be blemish-free with a very crisp fresh texture. My Lesyas are a bit chewy, perhaps due to the hot dry weather. Several Lesya's also had dark blemishes on the bottom, similar to blossom end rot on a tomato. I did not realize that peppers get BER too! Go figure. So for our climate, Omar may just be the better choice.

 

[FrannyNZooey]

Hey all! New to the site and thought I'd crash this thread . I'm loving all of your pictures. I've only ever grown standard Wonder Bells and banana peppers, so I'm really in awe. I really want to expand our garden in this direction with some fun varieties, so already looking to next year! I'm considering trying overwintering a few pepper plants this year. Have any of you ever done that? I'm hoping it will help get a jump on the season at least with the varieties I've got.

This afternoon I cleared out the rest of our banana peppers. We have some rain coming next week, but I left the red bells (still green) on there hoping to let them ripen as long as possible.

 

[Branching Out]

I am curious about overwintering peppers as well. Some of my plants are starting to drop their leaves.

 

[flowerbug]

i asked my pepper sprouting garden friend to put a few Beaver Dam plants down for me. hope i can get them and they do well.

i was happy with them this year as the first time i've grown them. we get such variable weather here that Jalapenos have never been reliable and i want something with both the pepper flavor and some heat. they had just the right amount of heat for me.

i hope they do well for you next year.

oh, and while i'm thinking of it, i really like the pointed shape of them as then it means there is less bugs and dirt hiding in the ends. for the regular bell peppers we grow i often have to clean and cut the ends and there's a spider that wants to be right down in there or some dirt and also those weird ends of the bell peppers also sometimes have holes through them where water can get in. i've found worms that have crawled up in them and made them home for a while.

mulching would help me a lot with less dirt on the peppers but i've yet to really get that done. i'd need a lot less gardens for that i think...

p.s. welcome to TEG.

 

[Zeedman]

i asked my pepper sprouting garden friend to put a few Beaver Dam plants down for me. hope i can get them and they do well.

"Beaver Dam" is early, has large peppers, and is incredibly productive - especially given the relatively small size of the plants. Like @flowerbug , the rich flavor & moderate heat suit my tastes; it is one of the few peppers I grow every year. The only drawback I've observed is that those long peppers tend to be more susceptible to sun scald, as they often protrude beyond the leaf cover. They benefit greatly from a suspended row cover or screen to provide light shade... or growing them in the shadow of taller vegetables (such as pole beans).

mulching would help me a lot with less dirt on the peppers but i've yet to really get that done. i'd need a lot less gardens for that i think...

In my experience, peppers benefit greatly from being mulched, because it keeps the peppers from direct contact with the soil, and stabilizes soil moisture. It also makes the peppers much easier to clean. I see similar (and even better) results in the peppers grown under cover.

It's important to note that although most peppers self-pollinate quite well under cover (without bees) the cover should only remain completely closed for a short time. Otherwise aphids, protected from predators by the cover, can multiply exponentially & severely damage the plants (spoken from experience ). When saving seed, I close the cover (supported by a PVC cage) completely for 2-4 week, until peppers have formed & grown to moderate size. I then open the downwind side to allow insect predators. That side of the cover will remain open until harvest, or until frosty threatens. My native predator population (mostly wasps) will quickly attack the aphids once given access.

 

[Dirtmechanic]

Tell me about the scoville unit. I understand it is how much sugar water that has to be used to offset heat. What in the blue alien does that mean? What is the weight of the sugar water? The volume? How much sweet? Sugar to water ratio? Are we feeding hummingbirds with the leftovers?

 

[Zeedman]

Tell me about the scoville unit. I understand it is how much sugar water that has to be used to offset heat. What in the blue alien does that mean? What is the weight of the sugar water? The volume? How much sweet? Sugar to water ratio? Are we feeding hummingbirds with the leftovers?

Don't know about the specifics, but the process starts with an extract of the dried pepper in question. The production of that extract alone is enough to discourage me from trying the process... that, and most common peppers have already been tested (including "Beaver Dam", at about 1000 scovilles). IMO the measurement process is only important to pepper breeders.

To me, anything above 1,000,000 (or even 500,000) is only good for bragging rights, since a scalded tongue can't tell the difference. The consumption of those super-hots is probably about as close as many of us would come to a right of passage... and to judge by some online videos, a pseudo-religious experience. That, and a top-to-bottom cleanse.

 

[Zeedman]

All peppers are at least partially ripe now, so I've begun to harvest & process seed. The pepper below is "Pelso", which ripens from cream, to orange, to red. In size, yield, habit, and DTM it is very similar to "Feyer Ozon", but a little hotter. It is my favorite pepper for making paprika powder, with just a pleasant amount of mild heat.

All of the "white" peppers I've grown (including "Alma" and "Djuric Tomato Pepper", also grown this year) have been incredibly productive. After an initial weeding, the weeds bounced back, and I never found time to weed them again. "Pelso" didn't care... I think it just did a belly flop & used the weeds as a living mulch.

"Pelso" paprika pepper

The peppers are thick & take a couple days to dehydrate; but this year's paprika should last family, friends, and me for several years. Three other hot peppers to follow soon. I closed all of their cages for our first frost, they should be able to continue ripening for at least another 7-10 days.

 

[flowerbug]

...
To me, anything above 1,000,000 (or even 500,000) is only good for bragging rights, since a scalded tongue can't tell the difference. The consumption of those super-hots is probably about as close as many of us would come to a right of passage... and to judge by some online videos, a pseudo-religious experience. That, and a top-to-bottom cleanse.

i think anything about 10,000 - 20,000 is overkill if you stop eating the hot stuff then you lose your acclimation to it and a measly 1,000 is plenty enough to set things right again.

500,000 would probably kill me and i have no plans to mess with anything in the superhots. those are way beyond what i want to even think about let along grow or touch.

in cleaning the Beaver Dams i found they were hot on my hands as it was. the Hatch Green Chilis roll in 1,000 - 8,000 and those are plenty hot enough and about all the flavor i like too like the Beaver Dams, but when cleaning those i have to be really careful or wear gloves. what i found was that if i'm careful i can use a wash cloth instead of gloves and avoid having my hands feel toasty for a while.

as for the other end i prefer it to not feel like i'm being lit up like a rocket...

 

[Neen5MI]

Lurker here. My Boldog Paprika plant set beautiful fruit, but two consecutive nights of frost sent me scurrying to harvest, even though they weren't ripe. In 3 days, I've seen little change in color. Should I go ahead and dehydrate them? Will they make any flavor contribution to my paprikash and goulash recipes in the green form? Also pictured are Habanada and Csceiscei 2074, hopefully moving toward complete ripeness.