Feeling Pepper challenged?

[oakley]

I still am to some degree. I gave up a while ago but still would
pick up a nursery six-pack every year and they would fail and
produce just a few in September. Too cold in the evenings I think.
Especially in the Catskills. Never worth the garden Realestate.
So many other crops love the temps.

I cracked the code a bit last Spring by starting way early.
8 varieties. Healthy seedlings but grew tall and lanky. I learned
from pot growers about topping. Making a canopy. I had six
AjiAmarilloSmall from Artisan. I topped one, then a week later
another, then a third plant week three.

The pic shows the three plants after three weeks. Into two gallon
pots on the deck they all did excellent. I have had nice medium
hot to hot peppers since mid June. Could be the variety but so
satisfying I'm going to add the lager Aji next year. Not staking
needed.

My other 4 plants, other varieties just started forming peppers
early Sept and still none harvested now October 5th.

The last lower pic is a few days ago one of the Aji just pumping
out more flowers and fruit.

Those in warmer climates just seem to plant and walk away.
In a challenging climate this worked for me. Worth a try for those
challenged. I have enough with 2-3 dozen a week for cooking and
the rest I toss in a on-going freezer zip-lock for the winter.
Not enough to make a good hot sauce but maybe next year with
more plants.

[bower]

That looks great, Oakley, really nice branching after the snip.
The last time I grew Guajillo (indoors pot in window) we had a cloudy spring and they got super tall before flowering. Same problem with other large chili plants. So I would definitely try this technique.

I remember seeing some wonderful pics of pepper bonsai. The plants were so clipped and loaded with peppers. Beautiful. My biggest challenge has been pests on indoor plants. Really hoping to break that cycle next year.

[HudsonValley]

Those do look nice! I'm south of the Catskills, and also find that certain varieties do well when started early, while others are big bummers. My best pepper for 2017 is a Turkish hot red pepper called Balik (translates as "Fish"; my seeds came from Mehmet at Two Seeds in a Pod - http://twoseedsinapod.com/product/balik/). I started seeds around Feb. 20. When the plants went out in containers around May 20, they were quite large (18" or so) and already blossoming, but I had my first ripe pepper on July 4. They are still bearing, and the peppers are beautiful. Balik seemed not to mind this year's cool weather as much as habaneros, poblanos, etc. I'll definitely grow it again. Leutschauer paprika and Shish!to also did fairly well, and early jalapeno did better than other jalapenos...

[Father'sDaughter]

I grow New Mex, paprika, hots and some super hots and my pepper season does not really kick into high gear until September/October. This is despite an early indoor start.

This still surprises me since I keep hearing peppers love hot weather. All the varieties I have grown to date just put out a lot of healthy greenery during the hotter months, but don’t go into major production mode until temps start dropping.

Aleppo and was this year’s prime example. I had three healthy plants that only had one pepper between them until about three weeks ago. Now all three plants are loaded with peppers, but I don’t know if the weather will hold long enough for them to mature to red.

[PaulF]

For years it was a struggle to harvest ripened or even ripening peppers. Southeast Nebraska is also considered somewhere between zones 5 and 6 but without the altitude. Nonetheless, it took years to figure out which peppers do well here and ripen before frost.

Pepper seeds get started at least a month before tomatoes and then they don't get put into the garden for a week or so after tomatoes. That helped with production, but the most important discovery was to search for early varieties that matched the colors and shapes I was looking for.

Hot peppers always did well but all I want are sweet peppers in red, orange and yellow. Again with research and Tatiana's website I was able to have an outstanding pepper season. Success will occur if this can be repeated next year and the year after...

[oakley]

This pic is from a couple weeks ago. They still look about the
same. Only three or four peppers on each plant. Big plants. Lots
of flowering but just happening now. Had to stake these. Not
topped like the Aji.

It is encouraging for next year. Nice to hear others with short
seasons are having success.

The one growing straight up on the right is from a local roadside
farmstand. Saved seed last year. It was half the size as a grocery
red pepper but heavier. Delicious. Very meaty with thick walls.
I'll just up the pot size, start early again and maybe top them.

In pots I can bring them inside if the weather gets chilly.

[dmforcier]

How early do you start yours?

[oakley]

Originally Posted by dmforcier

How early do you start yours?

I don't have my seed maps handy, but a pic from Feb 16th shows
a full 1020 tray about 2inches tall with good leaf spread.
So probably end of January, early Feb. Maybe earlier.

[oakley]

If anyone did not get the pepper harvest they expected, an option
is to order.

I just ordered 10lbs from Hatch NM. It is 40bucks at checkout
not 55. No code needed but I think it is a harvest sale through
Monday the 9th.
https://www.hatch-green-chile.com/sh...en-chile/mild/

I saved seed from an order a couple yrs ago and they grew true
but I need/want more than 3 peppers. A few lbs for a friends
b-day gift who grew up in NM.

[chadandpia]

question about pepper plants ... I didn't "top" the two Shi Sh ito plants I grew this year (first time trying to grow peppers) and so far I've gotten 2 harvest off of them with another harvest ready to cut but I think after that the plants will be done for the season as it's getting cooler.

I was curious, is it still ok to top the plants if I want to try to keep them alive over winter in the garage or should I have done that before letting them produce peppers? I would like to try to get them more "bushy" before next season.

[oakley]

I think a post exists for overwintering somewhere.
I remember to expect not all will survive. None of mine did that
I tried to overwinter last year.
I need to study up.

[Salaam]

I don't know how these things work, but I get great production from most of my hot peppers, especially those in fabric pots, but also those in the ground. Whereas my tomatoes always seem to get sick. I noticed that in the same soil, some do well and others not, and I don't think it's the variety, but the health of the seedling I'm buying. I think things would be better if I grew from seed.

I've never topped a plant. But I overwintered four last year - one survived but I can't say it's production is much better than that of some of the seedlings I bought. I'll try again next year.

I agree that locally ubiquitous varieties do well. The mildly spicy Hungarian such and such that I buy is always very productive compared to some of the rarer varieties.

My goal next year is to get decent production from sweet peppers - these don't do so well for me.

[bower]

I too end up with more hot peppers than I can eat, but never enough sweet peppers. I freeze the extra hots which is great, but too many sweets is harder to manage.

Earliness is important for us, too. Jimmy Nardello, Franks, Petit Marseillais, and Sweet Banana are some of the best I think, that we found so far in sweet peppers, for earliness and production. It's a shame the Sweet Banana are not actually 'sweet', I'd love to see them crossed to something tastier, but they do pump out the fruit and make great pickles if you throw in a few hots.

[jmsieglaff]

Do you grow your peppers in ground?

A few years back I did some in ground and some in buckets and the bucket peppers far out did the in ground ones. Since then I've gone to solely buckets for my peppers and couldn't have been happier! I grow hot (Aji Amarillo and Serrano), sweet snacking peppers (mix of yellow, red, and orange), a couple sweet bells, and Poblanos. All do great in the buckets.

YMMV, but might be worth giving a shot. Heat is important, but this year only had 2 days in the 90s June-August--but my peppers are full sun, which I think peppers like.

I start my peppers early--Jan/Feb, growing under lights in a cool basement (upper 50s), topped as needed for fitting under the lights, until they go into the cold frame in late April for a mid May plant out.

[clkeiper]

I plant my peppers in black plastic mulch. it is the end of Oct and we have had a couple light frosts and I am still picking peppers. hot and sweet. I have 4 rows of about 50 in each row. I have probably picked 3 bushels this week alone. Calcium is a huge issue with growing peppers too. lack of calcium will result in moldy interiors and blossom end rot, too.