I’ve been trying to grow these for a few years now with mixed success. Trying to learn from mistakes, this year I started like this:
Beginning of March – Received seeds from PuckerButt Pepper Company. Planted in Jiffy pellets, and put on a seed warming mat. After a day I took the temp of the soil and it seemed a bit warm, so I put some thin wood scraps between Jiffy container and seed mat. It got it down to the 85* range that I was looking for.
Middle of March – As each seedling started coming up I pulled each pellet out to transplant. In years past, I have left them in the Jiffy pellets too long and the roots started pushing the mesh holding them together. They’re designed to be replanted in the mesh, but I like to pull them out when they are still small enough to gently rip the mesh off. Also a change that I added this year was the size of the containers I used. I have previously planted the Jiffy pellets into little 4” pots, then into quart size, then into their final place (either a raised bed or a 3 gallon pot). I really think this was one of my problems before, because they were root bound before every replanting and it is also a shock to them. This year, I went straight from Jiffy pellets to quart size pots. It’s a little ridiculous looking to have this little blade of grass coming out of a quart size pot, but they quickly grow into it. I took 21 quart size pots and put under three 4’ fluorescent lights on frames you can raise and lower (Amazon) and gave them 16 hours a day of light with the bulbs only a few inches from the seedlings. I haven’t fertilized at all, just kept them watered. Most places I read have said to only water when completely dry, so that’s how I’ve been doing it.
Current (Beginning of May) – As they started getting bigger, I had to adopt some out to give them a little more room. Just my experience, but the ones I have done in pots (not in the raised beds) have consistently done better. The soil in the raised beds is really good, so my guess it’s the heat factor that make the results better in pots. I’m in Oregon by the way, so I’m sure the results would be different for folks in warmer climates. Tomorrow, I’m going to gradually start bringing them outside to start acclimating them to the outside. This is a really important step and I spend about a week doing it. I start with a couple hours in the shade, to a few hours under a tree with a little filtered sunshine (if you can muster that up in Oregon), to only bringing inside at night. After about a week, find a night when it’s mild and the their ready to replant to their permanent home.
The plan for this year is to get some black 5 gallon buckets, drill some holes in the bottom, put a couple inches of rocks for good drainage, then figure out what to do for a soil mix. Not exactly sure what I’m going to try this year yet, but thinking some bagged garden soil, perlite, and a little cow manure to start with.
A couple picture of the process:
3/30/19
5/3/19
5/3/19
One of these years, I’m going to get this right and have peppers coming out my ears. These things have some serious, serious heat and should be used in small portions. I give a bunch away and dehydrate the rest and grind up in a spice grinder that I never want to use for anything else ever. One note on dehydrating these, you have to get the completely bone dry. Any moisture at all and it will eventually turn into a big clump in the jar.
A couple uses I have come up with:
A fresh one with a slit in it into a pot of chili for the last hour
Cut in half and added to a jar of summer pickle canning (insanely hot when you open then following winter)
A dash or two of the dehydrated and powdered into salsa, taco meat, wing sauce, meat rub, a tiny bit in spinach dip, Pizza, etc.
Great to add to smoked sausage. I have my first Umai experiment going with 5# of Pepperoni, half with a healthy dose of reaper. It’s dropped 18% weight so far, so about half way there.
I’ll post some more pictures as the summer progresses, thanks for looking.
Beginning of March – Received seeds from PuckerButt Pepper Company. Planted in Jiffy pellets, and put on a seed warming mat. After a day I took the temp of the soil and it seemed a bit warm, so I put some thin wood scraps between Jiffy container and seed mat. It got it down to the 85* range that I was looking for.
Middle of March – As each seedling started coming up I pulled each pellet out to transplant. In years past, I have left them in the Jiffy pellets too long and the roots started pushing the mesh holding them together. They’re designed to be replanted in the mesh, but I like to pull them out when they are still small enough to gently rip the mesh off. Also a change that I added this year was the size of the containers I used. I have previously planted the Jiffy pellets into little 4” pots, then into quart size, then into their final place (either a raised bed or a 3 gallon pot). I really think this was one of my problems before, because they were root bound before every replanting and it is also a shock to them. This year, I went straight from Jiffy pellets to quart size pots. It’s a little ridiculous looking to have this little blade of grass coming out of a quart size pot, but they quickly grow into it. I took 21 quart size pots and put under three 4’ fluorescent lights on frames you can raise and lower (Amazon) and gave them 16 hours a day of light with the bulbs only a few inches from the seedlings. I haven’t fertilized at all, just kept them watered. Most places I read have said to only water when completely dry, so that’s how I’ve been doing it.
Current (Beginning of May) – As they started getting bigger, I had to adopt some out to give them a little more room. Just my experience, but the ones I have done in pots (not in the raised beds) have consistently done better. The soil in the raised beds is really good, so my guess it’s the heat factor that make the results better in pots. I’m in Oregon by the way, so I’m sure the results would be different for folks in warmer climates. Tomorrow, I’m going to gradually start bringing them outside to start acclimating them to the outside. This is a really important step and I spend about a week doing it. I start with a couple hours in the shade, to a few hours under a tree with a little filtered sunshine (if you can muster that up in Oregon), to only bringing inside at night. After about a week, find a night when it’s mild and the their ready to replant to their permanent home.
The plan for this year is to get some black 5 gallon buckets, drill some holes in the bottom, put a couple inches of rocks for good drainage, then figure out what to do for a soil mix. Not exactly sure what I’m going to try this year yet, but thinking some bagged garden soil, perlite, and a little cow manure to start with.
A couple picture of the process:
3/30/19
5/3/19
5/3/19
One of these years, I’m going to get this right and have peppers coming out my ears. These things have some serious, serious heat and should be used in small portions. I give a bunch away and dehydrate the rest and grind up in a spice grinder that I never want to use for anything else ever. One note on dehydrating these, you have to get the completely bone dry. Any moisture at all and it will eventually turn into a big clump in the jar.
A couple uses I have come up with:
A fresh one with a slit in it into a pot of chili for the last hour
Cut in half and added to a jar of summer pickle canning (insanely hot when you open then following winter)
A dash or two of the dehydrated and powdered into salsa, taco meat, wing sauce, meat rub, a tiny bit in spinach dip, Pizza, etc.
Great to add to smoked sausage. I have my first Umai experiment going with 5# of Pepperoni, half with a healthy dose of reaper. It’s dropped 18% weight so far, so about half way there.
I’ll post some more pictures as the summer progresses, thanks for looking.
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