Peppers!

I don't know why, but I am almost an abject failure at germinating peppers. My tomato germinating skills are well above average. This year, I attempted to germinate six each of twelve pepper varieties. I planted three seed of each variety in six grow cells for each variety. One variety didn't germinate a single plant. A few varieties produced three or four plants from eighteen seed. A few varieties germinated every seed and required thinning before up potting. Since all of my seed was either purchased (the variety that produced no plants) or donated this year, I plan on saving all my seed this year which are not hybrid. Maybe that will improve my germination rate.

The following are observations I've made so far on some of the different varieties.

Banarama Normallly, I'm not a fan of banana peppers. I don't like the thin walls and almost absent taste. I cant see much difference between eating normal banana peppers and eating paper. This hybrid was the earliest producer of peppers. It has much thicker walls, it is much larger, and has a pleasant pepper flavor. I'm still not a fan of banana peppers, but for those folks who are; this is a great variety.

Better Bell Hybrid A super producer of large bell peppers. I'm waiting to see if the plant will survive the high summer heat which normally kills my bell pepper plants. If it survives without shade cloth, it will be grown next year.

Giant Marconi This is a fabulous pepper. It produces very large elongated peppers with thick walls and no heat. In my mind, it is the perfect stuffing pepper for everything from simple stuffed peppers to Chili Reaynos (spelling is probably incorrect).
If my bell pepper plant doesn't survive the heat but the Giant Marconi does survive, it will replace my bell pepper selection next year..

Red Trinidad Scorpion I have no idea why I am growing this pepper. I am basically a coward when it comes to eating the really hot peppers. The seed was given to me and it was a pain in the rear to germinate only two plants out of about fifteen seeds. The plants that did germinate produced one large plant and one tiny plant. They are still one large and one tiny in my garden. Neither has produced a pepper yet so I can't comment and if I can't generate some courage, I may not comment.

Fooled You A heat less Jalapeno pepper. My wife likes to make salsa with our garden tomatoes, garden onions, and garden herbs. She only likes mild heat in her salsa while I prefer hotter salsa. She has never been been able to consistently regulate the heat using normal Jalapeno's. With "Fooled You" she can make heatless salsa for her and everyone else and use normal Jalapenos for my salsa. It produces really large peppers abundantly.

Thai Hot Once again, a variety which I will not be eating except possibly in some hot schezwan dishes. It is easily the most beautiful plant in my garden with its almost round shape with the tiny red peppers sticking out through the leaves.

Bishops Hat A uniquely different pepper in large size and pepper shape. I wasn't sure I knew how to visually picture a "Bishops Hat", but if the peppers are an indication; I now know. The plant looks like a large decorative yard plant with these little ornaments hanging all over it.

Trinidad Perfume My anticipation has probably been highest for this pepper. So far, it is a fairly small plant without any peppers. It looks healthy and robust so I should get some highly flavored, heatless, peppers at some point this summer.

Sweet Cayenne Another heatless variety with no heat. The very long, narrow pods appear to be in the catogory of "Hotter Than Heck" peppers, but they have no heat. They do have an intense cayenne flavor.

I like a mixture of hot and mild peppers which allow me to mix and match to acheive the heat intensity and flavor intensity I prefer.

Ted