2013 Super Hot pepper grow

[capehog]

Hi boys and girls haven't been posting much lately just reading but wanted to take a moment to remind you that it is never too early to start your 2013 home garden. I ordered 8 different varieties of the 1 million plus super hot peppers to grow this year. Received another 6 varieties for free from the vender so I'll have to really have to plan out my space.

Put about 80 seeds into starter pots today with another 80 or so going in tomorrow and trying to double that by next week. The egg shells came from my 85 year old mom Sensei Master gardener who scoffs at these new fangeled jiffy pots and the like. I did use regular starter pots as well.  Some of these seeds are notorious for long germination times so I am getting a month head start at least to be ready for April planting in Craighead county.







I have several other sweets and Nu Mex that I'll be planting as well. If everything grows to normal I'll have enough to supply half the state. 

Good luck to you all. Nothing like be able to walk 40 feet to pick a fresh veggie and cook for your friends and family.

[Buff]

I bet your bowels hate you.

[jacobp]

I'm taking a year off from superhots because I just moved, but had a pretty successful 2012 grow. Got a late start last year and actually only got two harvests out of my plants. But they yielded over 25 pounds of pods. Picked these 2 days before Christmas, when I went down to finalize the sale of my house. the buyers liked the plants and are going to keep them.

[capehog]

That looks like a pretty good haul. Last year was just bad all around. Hoping for good things coming up. Did you make sauce powder or just use them all when cooking?

[DeltaBoy]

Some one gonna need some Pepto.

[jacobp]

That looks like a pretty good haul. Last year was just bad all around. Hoping for good things coming up. Did you make sauce powder or just use them all when cooking?

I froze some whole pods for use when cooking, dried some and made powder, and had enough left over to make about a quart of sauce. That quart will last awhile though, its blistering hot.

[capehog]

Some one gonna need some Pepto.

Hot peppers help to ward off sickness all year round. Unless it is some Commie bred bacteria no regular American bacteria can withstand the power of the hot pepper in the stomach. Plus the endorphin release is quite the rush when you are eating something this hot.

[capehog]

I froze some whole pods for use when cooking, dried some and made powder, and had enough left over to make about a quart of sauce. That quart will last awhile though, its blistering hot.

I found a gallon of red savina/orange habs in the freezer. Have to either dry them or make a small batch sauce mix. Need to find a use for all the jalapenos each year. Tried making jelly but I didnt like the taste sweet/hot didn't work for me. Dont know what I'm going to do with 100 pepper plants if they all make this summer. Guess I'll be giving it away at the farmers mkt.

[VBRazorback]

Got my seeds on order from pepper joe. Love that site. I am going to go with the Carolina Reaper, Yellow Devils Tongue, Chocolate Habanero, Scotch Bonnet, and a Cayenne Blend. Ill get others later im sure but thats what im going with for now. The Carloina Reaper has me very excited since its the new worlds hottest pepper.

[Tim Harris]

I would spent a week on the pot if I ate some of these peppers.  I will just stick my girly choices of the Jalapeno, Cayenne, etc...

[VBRazorback]

I froze some whole pods for use when cooking, dried some and made powder, and had enough left over to make about a quart of sauce. That quart will last awhile though, its blistering hot.

What is your sauce recipe??

[jacobp]

I found a gallon of red savina/orange habs in the freezer. Have to either dry them or make a small batch sauce mix. Need to find a use for all the jalapenos each year. Tried making jelly but I didnt like the taste sweet/hot didn't work for me. Dont know what I'm going to do with 100 pepper plants if they all make this summer. Guess I'll be giving it away at the farmers mkt.

sell them. don't give anything away. I made enough money selling pods and plants at the local farmer's market and a pepper forum to cover all my growing expenses a couple years ago.
thehotpepper.com , if you haven't heard of it. There's a wealth of knowledge on that board, along with the marketplace.

[jacobp]

What is your sauce recipe??

I use several different recipes. The one i just used I got off of thehotpepper.com
from a poster named AlabamaJack. more of a puree/concentrate than a sauce, but its awesome. I'll see if I can find the link for you

[capehog]

sell them. don't give anything away. I made enough money selling pods and plants at the local farmer's market and a pepper forum to cover all my growing expenses a couple years ago.
thehotpepper.com , if you haven't heard of it. There's a wealth of knowledge on that board, along with the marketplace.

I'm on the hot pepper site as capehog. It is the best free online university I've ever seen. I have traded seeds and have about 200 coming in the next week or so. You are right about selling the stuff my intention is to have 150 - 200 in red solo for the ASU farmers mkt in April. Even at a few dollars per it would pay for all the new stuff I'm buying.

[capehog]

I would spent a week on the pot if I ate some of these peppers.  I will just stick my girly choices of the Jalapeno, Cayenne, etc...

You have to work your way up it is quite the rush. Get a bottle of Daves insanity sauce or something similar drop a few drops on a burger. You will be hooked soon enough.

[capehog]

Got my seeds on order from pepper joe. Love that site. I am going to go with the Carolina Reaper, Yellow Devils Tongue, Chocolate Habanero, Scotch Bonnet, and a Cayenne Blend. Ill get others later im sure but thats what im going with for now. The Carloina Reaper has me very excited since its the new worlds hottest pepper.

The Reaper talk just seems to be way out there to the point of not being able to enjoy it. Course it is all a matter of what you can stand. I've grown Red Savinas for a long time which was the previous record holder for many years. I actually think some of the other super hots have been there all along just never measured by a real testing facility. I grew the chocolate habs 2 years ago good flavor but I like a red peppers for the sauce. I have some yellows in seed starts as well. Probably make smoked powders.

I've bought from Joe before he sends free stuff with the order. I ordered from peperlover.com and New Mexico State University for the Bhuts/ghost pepper.

Good luck with your grow. Post some pics as you go.

Go back to the hot pepper forum and get some free seeds from the members. There are always people offering for a bsase. It will be open pollination plants but at this heat level and price from Joe or pepperlover it was worth the few dollars in postage to me to trade with some folks. 

[DeltaBoy]

They are very hot and I love most of them but My tolerance is not as great as it was 10 years ago.

[capehog]

Delta if I get a good crop and all I'll dry some and send you a bag or two of powder. Then you can use it lightly.

[VBRazorback]

Still waiting on my seeds however I got an itch to make som sauce so I bought my peppers at the store. 10 habeneros and 5 jalapeños. Made it this morning. My four year old was choking from the smell.

[VBRazorback]

I'm thinking of going to my local farmers market with all my extra peppers. Show my young kids how to garden and sell food for money. Make them help me so they can learn. Does anyone make pepper jelly or hot sauce to sell at the farmers market?

[jacobp]

Not a bad idea.  For a strong young plant you could probably get $5-7 a plant, for the more exotic varieties.

[capehog]

I'm thinking of going to my local farmers market with all my extra peppers. Show my young kids how to garden and sell food for money. Make them help me so they can learn. Does anyone make pepper jelly or hot sauce to sell at the farmers market?

I make sauce every year and use it several times a week. Some of it I give away but have never tried to sell it. I wonder about the legality of the USDA or other federal/state agency swooping in to say it was not produced in an approved (cash for permit to said agency) manner.  I pressure can it for my own/family/friends use so it will last for several months. I made the pepper jelly but the sweet just did not appeal to me after it was done so I gave it all away.

My plan is to have trays and trays of red solo cups full of pepper seedlings at the farmers mkt like back in the day when I was selling cokes at the old Indian stadium in Jonesboro as a kid. I have several trays of seeds planted with another 50 stated yesterday and another 200 plus free seeds coming from hot pepper forum members this week.

Got the seeds from New Mexico State University today and they had 2 inserts saying how hard it was to start the seeds and they were not meant for beginning gardeners. I not scare though I'll make them grow one way or another.

I'll be happy to share some of the free seeds with you if you would like. It will only cost you the price of postage bout $3 there and back plus the envelopes. Just let me know if you are interested. I'll have more than I can use this year and I'm always willing to share with anyone.

[Tim Harris]

I make sauce every year and use it several times a week. Some of it I give away but have never tried to sell it. I wonder about the legality of the USDA or other federal/state agency swooping in to say it was not produced in an approved (cash for permit to said agency) manner.  I pressure can it for my own/family/friends use so it will last for several months. I made the pepper jelly but the sweet just did not appeal to me after it was done so I gave it all away.

My plan is to have trays and trays of red solo cups full of pepper seedlings at the farmers mkt like back in the day when I was selling cokes at the old Indian stadium in Jonesboro as a kid. I have several trays of seeds planted with another 50 stated yesterday and another 200 plus free seeds coming from hot pepper forum members this week.

Got the seeds from New Mexico State University today and they had 2 inserts saying how hard it was to start the seeds and they were not meant for beginning gardeners. I not scare though I'll make them grow one way or another.

I'll be happy to share some of the free seeds with you if you would like. It will only cost you the price of postage bout $3 there and back plus the envelopes. Just let me know if you are interested. I'll have more than I can use this year and I'm always willing to share with anyone.

Each state is different and different products have different rules.  I know in Arkansas you can do jams & jellies but last time I checked pickles and salsa were a no no unless you purchased a specific permit.  Just producing it in a commerical kitchen wasn't enough.

[jacobp]

Got the seeds from New Mexico State University today and they had 2 inserts saying how hard it was to start the seeds and they were not meant for beginning gardeners. I not scare though I'll make them grow one way or another.

use a heating tray underneath your seeds. they like to be warm! I went with the jiffy pods last year, with a plastic dome and a heating element underneath and probably hit about 90% germination on the superhots. If you dome them though, pull the cover back a little periodically so there's not too much moisture buildup that would cause your sprouts to dampen off and die.

Good luck!

[DeltaBoy]

I found a gallon of red savina/orange habs in the freezer. Have to either dry them or make a small batch sauce mix. Need to find a use for all the jalapenos each year. Tried making jelly but I didnt like the taste sweet/hot didn't work for me. Dont know what I'm going to do with 100 pepper plants if they all make this summer. Guess I'll be giving it away at the farmers mkt.

Look on the Food Network site their Jalapeno Jelly one works.  IT is GOOD!

[VBRazorback]

Look on the Food Network site their Jalapeno Jelly one works.  IT is GOOD!

ill give that one a try. i am going to make some jelly with some of my super hots and give it away. its hard to beat pepper jelly over cream cheese and crackers.

[VBRazorback]

use a heating tray underneath your seeds. they like to be warm! I went with the jiffy pods last year, with a plastic dome and a heating element underneath and probably hit about 90% germination on the superhots. If you dome them though, pull the cover back a little periodically so there's not too much moisture buildup that would cause your sprouts to dampen off and die.

Good luck!

where did you get your heating elements? havent thought of that before.

[jacobp]

Go to Lowe's or Home Depot. They sell them as kits. Or you can get fancy and buy more expensive units online that have more accurate temperature controls.
definitely check out thehotpepper. there's a plethora of growing tips on there.

the heating pads underneath your trays definitely speeds up germination.

[DeltaBoy]

Delta if I get a good crop and all I'll dry some and send you a bag or two of powder. Then you can use it lightly.

Thanks Cape

[VBRazorback]

Cape that sounds really good on sharing. Im sure that I will have some seeds left over. Ill let you know what I have and I can send you some also. Another thing what do you sell your super hot plants for at the farmers market? I have no idea of what to charge. The carolina reaper should bring in a good price if people will buy it.

[jacobp]

Superhots like the reaper, scorpions, bhuts (especially bhuts, people still are into the "ghost" pepper), for really strong, small plants you could probably get $7-10 a plant.
that's what I got for mine last year in ruston, LA, and I think VB would probably support that price.

[capehog]

Well folks in the few weeks since my last posting much has happened. I have learned from my mistakes and as time goes on hopefully I will not repeat some of the errors from January.

First of all if you plant seeds in a 72 cell tray be sure to not only make your spread sheet of what you planted but also label the tray on the corners so you will know where the starting point is. It will be picking time before I am really sure of what each plant actually is.

I lost several plants to damp off conditions. When the seedlings were transferred to the cups I used the soil starter mix instead of regular potting mix so several died as that material will not hold water well. This is what it is for so it was again my mistake.


I lost several to the piece of crap bag of miracle grow seed starting mix. This stuff sucks donkey balls. Next year I will be making my own grow mix but that is for a later post.

The only place in this house to put up my little green house stands are in the living room and it gets down in the 60's at night so my growth seems to be quite slow and this also seems to be stunting the other seed growth.

I have over 70 plants in the coffee cups that have survived my lack of knowledge in the growing of super hots and with more reading, researching and speaking with other growers I hope to make it til April when I can put them in the ground and let nature take its course.

Here are some pics so far:

[DeltaBoy]

Looking good

[jacobp]

cape, if you want to protect your starts from cooler temps in the house, you can also put up a barrier of styrofoam and/or aluminum foil. Helps radiate the heat from your grow lights.

Either way, if it does get a little too cool in your house you're plants will still be fine. Just may grow a little more slowly.

be sure to start putting a fan on them soon. Get those stems nice and strong.

[bigstyx]

Haven't gotten anymore adventuresome than growing Jalapenos, but this is the year I'm going to branch out. I've saved a bunch of Hatch chile seeds from the 2012 Hatch season and have kept them in the freezer. Will these grow if I plant them? Thanks in advance for any advice.

[jacobp]

Haven't gotten anymore adventuresome than growing Jalapenos, but this is the year I'm going to branch out. I've saved a bunch of Hatch chile seeds from the 2012 Hatch season and have kept them in the freezer. Will these grow if I plant them? Thanks in advance for any advice.

Hard to say, really. I've never stored seeds in the freezer and I've never saved hatch seeds. I usually just order a couple crates of hatch peppers from new mexico every year.

May as well try though; just get them planted and hope you get a few to germinate.

[bigstyx]

Where do you generally store your seeds?

[jacobp]

When I've saved them in the past I just dried them out really well, put them into small plastic bags, put them in an envelope and stuck them up in the top of the pantry.

the freezer may work though; I just have to experience with it.

[DeltaBoy]

Y'all doing a great job.

[Boll Hawg]

Good thread going here.  I loves me some hot peppers!  I'm pretty much a novice at the growing aspect, but I do pick me up a few Bonnie's jalapeno plants every year from Wally World & stick them in 5 gallon black pots.  It does the job pretty well.  I've tried growing my own bhut jolokias & such, but have never had much success.  They take forever to germinate & I'm not that patient.  I did buy some bhut & giant jalapeno seeds cheap off eBay recently & will experiment again this year with them.  I use the cheap jiffy pots & greenhouse. 

[capehog]

Progress my friends progress. Looks like I'll end up with around 110 plants to put into the garden/pots this April. Here are the latest photos including my ghetto greenhouse/light setup. Once we get warmer the entire unit will be outside with the covers to harden off the peppers. I also have some clear pvc umbrellas that I can not sell so they will make great row covers. Next month I'm going to set up a larger greenhouse type structure made from a 10x10 popup tent frame with plastic from Lowes. (true Hogs dont shop at Home Depot)


Some of the plants pictured are the hottest in the free or oppressed world:
Red & Yellow Moruga Pepper
Trinidad scorpion-original strain
Large Red 7 Pod
Naga Morich
Trinidad Scorpion Moruga blend/ Moruga Scorpion.
Datil
Bih jolokia
Aji Limon
Beni Highland
CGN 21500
Scotch bonnet Trinidad Large
Chocolate Big Bang Naga
7 Pot Brain Strain Red
Chocolate Naga Morich
7 Pot Douglah
Scorpion Green Jr
Jamaican Squash Red
7 Pot Brain Strain Yellow

I have one more 72 cell seed starting greenhouse on the heat mat. There are over 100 seeds as a last attempt for starts this year. Lord only knows how much time this will take if all of the plants that make it to the garden actually start making. I have a hell of a time just making picante sauce with the jalapenos each summer but it will be lots of fun to get the dehydrator and smoker going 24/7 come August.

Next year I have plans on doing a massive grow so this has been a very good learning experience:

Haven't gotten anymore adventuresome than growing Jalapenos, but this is the year I'm going to branch out. I've saved a bunch of Hatch chile seeds from the 2012 Hatch season and have kept them in the freezer. Will these grow if I plant them? Thanks in advance for any advice.

We have been storing seeds in the freezer for decades. As long as the seeds are dry and in a secure container where no moisture can get inside they will last for a long time. Of course the same goes for storing dry just keep in a dark place away from moisture.

If the hatch seeds are hybrids they may grow but may not be the same pepper. They may or may not produce any peppers either. Throw them in some jiffy mix and see what happens. Dont use regular potting soil to start the seeds as I made that mistake this year the soil is too dense with sticks and the like. I grow the Hatch type peppers here in Jonesboro but there is a great difference in climate here and the dry NM region so even if you do get the plants up they may not taste the same. Good luck.

[bigstyx]

Thanks Cape, I really appreciate the advice. I'll give it a shot and see what happens. Looks like you have a quite an operation going. Keep us posted as things progress. You are an inspiration to getting this figured out. Next year I'll get it right.

[DeltaBoy]

It is all looking good so far.

[tiber]

I have about 2000 pepper plants getting shifted from plug trays to 6" pots this week.  A few different varieties, including habanero.

These are a trial for us (work for a large nursery).  If we're happy with the grow, I'll probably be taking a closer look at this program and ramping production up for 2014 #s.  We produce a lot of edibles, and this seems like a natural expansion of our product line.

I'll try to take some pictures as these things get bigger. 

[bigstyx]

I have about 2000 pepper plants getting shifted from plug trays to 6" pots this week.  A few different varieties, including habanero.

These are a trial for us (work for a large nursery).  If we're happy with the grow, I'll probably be taking a closer look at this program and ramping production up for 2014 #s.  We produce a lot of edibles, and this seems like a natural expansion of our product line.

I'll try to take some pictures as these things get bigger. 

Are you and the large nursery in NWA?

[tiber]

Are you and the large nursery in NWA?

No, we're in CA.  I shipped to 43 states including AR last year though. 

[DeltaBoy]

We need a Hot Pepper update. 

[capehog]

I apologize for my neglect in the updates but it is the start of my sales season so I've been getting stuff arranged. On to the pictures:

Went to Lowes (where all true Hog Fans shop as we continue to boycott Home Depot and E-Spin) and picked up 2 more T-12 dual lamp shop lights. Bought the daylight lamps as they are the brightest. I have 2 of the eco-grow full spectrum lamps in the 2500K for the kitchen shop light over the tomatoes. Curious to see the difference in the plants between the two light setups.

I now have 4 2-lamp 48" shop lights and 3 walmart 24" grow lights in my Tractor Supply 4 shelf mini greenhouses. Now that I have an idea of what to do I will arrange the setup in a much different way next January.

I will find directions/plans to build a shelving unit out of wood where I can move the light fixtures up and down as the plants grow. With the current setup there is very little room to move the lights as you can see in the photos.

I got caught a few years back by a late freeze planting in late March. Since I hope to use these as a cash crop this fall I really hope to resist the temptation to set these out when the temps get in the 70's in the next few weeks.

I pruned my absent neighbors apple trees and have saved the wood for smoking the dried peppers this summer. Just as our Colorado friends are able to sell pot in a vending machine I hope to be able to sell dried super hot smoked pepper powder on my sports umbrella website, twitter, facebook, classifieds and standing on the street corners.

As of today there are 165 plants that have made it to various stages from 4 leaves to some that are blooming in the pots. I started Jan 4th not sure if it is too early or too late but this has been a learning year. The larger plants will be off to a good start as they are way bigger and stronger than nursery or store 4packs.




Blooms on unknown plant at this time. Even though I made an excel sheet I neglected to mark the seed cells on the first set. Lesson learned.



As you can see these are too tall to fit on a shelf so I had to put on bottom rack with nothing between the lamps and plants. The shop lights are perfect size for the 2 greenhouses.



This size are the $2.49 at Midsouth Nursery and would be higher for the Bonnies. I wish I had a case of the box in the background. Off to Missouri again someday.

Total spent so far under $150.00 on seeds greenhouses potting soil solo/coffee cups lamps shop lights

[capehog]

The rest of the plants are on the shelves above but the photos were too big and messed up the thread so you will just have to imagine that they are there.

[jacobp]

Right after New Year's is a perfect time to start superhots. They need a lot of time to grow.


Good work man!