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Gardening tip for peppers. |
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daniel77
Cook's Assistant Joined: 17 February 2010 Location: Cajun Country Status: Offline Points: 45 |
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Posted: 26 February 2010 at 12:11 |
Not sure if this fits with this forum, but I have quite a bit of experience growing peppers and thought I'd share a gardening tip of two. My favorite type of hot pepper is probably the most common. The jalapeno is very easy to grow and in my area at least, will produce for 7-8 months of the year. Different varieties can vary greatly in their "heat" so do pay attention to the variety and it's heat rating.
Now for the tip, the heat in peppers is really a defense mechanism for the plant. Thus, the more stressed the plant becomes, the hotter the peppers on it will be. For example, if you are wanting the hottest peppers possible, then you need to challenge the plants a bit by withholding water and letting it wilt some. Now be careful, I'm not saying let it go over the hill and truly come close to losing the plant, just make it struggle some, and the peppers will be notable hotter if you do. Conversely, if you are growing a milder pepper and don't want much heat, you'd sure better not use the peppers produced during the first Fall cool spell, or a drought time, because they will burn you up. These techniques are not just applicable to peppers. Withholding water from watermelons during ripening will make them sweeter and less apt to split or bust. Same goes for tomatoes. I've been a lifelong gardener, and even had a 2 acre patch in highschool that I sold veggies from. I'm also a landscaper by trade, so if anyone has a gardening or plant question feel free to ask. I will offer the disclaimer that gardening in South LA is a lot different from gardening in Michigan, but I'll do my best. |
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If what you're serving comes on a cracker, you'd better have a lot of it.
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TasunkaWitko
Admin Group Joined: 25 January 2010 Location: Chinook, MT Status: Offline Points: 9356 |
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dan - this is awesome information. we've got a "gardening" forum just a little bit farther down from vegetables, so i moved it there so that it can be part of the permanent archive.
thanks for posting! i plan to try some jalapenos, cayenne and tabasco peppers, as well as a couple of others i can't remember at the moment that were sent by RIVET. i haven't had much luck in the past with any peppers, but will give them a try again and remember this tip!
thanks!
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Montana Maddness
Cook Joined: 24 February 2010 Location: G.F. MT. Status: Offline Points: 99 |
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Great advise Dan I had no idea of this. It does make sence if you think about it.
MM
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Hotter the better bring on the peppers!
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Hoser
Admin Group Joined: 06 February 2010 Location: Cumberland, RI Status: Offline Points: 3454 |
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You're absolutely right Dan...in Sonoma and Napa valleys, which I've had the opportunity to visit extensively, the winerys starve the grapes of moisture all year long. They have it computerized so that the grapes are stressed extensively...the only way they get good grapes for wine. I had a long talk with the guy at one particular vineyard...the name escapes me, but you had to take a gondola to get up there, and he explained it all. He had computer prinouts of exactly how much water each individual vine had received.
Just enough to keep them alive is the way they go too.
Great post!
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Go ahead...play with your food!
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ozzy
Cook's Assistant Joined: 07 February 2010 Location: Las Vegas, Nv. Status: Offline Points: 18 |
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Great tips, thanks!
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I still ain't eating snails!
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Boilermaker
Chef Joined: 23 July 2010 Location: Marietta, GA Status: Offline Points: 685 |
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I'm glad to read this because my habanero plants have been looking pretty stressed and wilted as it's been blazing hot here for weeks with little rain. I will just give them enough water to keep them going. Does the same principle apply to fertilizer?
Andy |
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To a certain degree, Andy. Some peppers do not like overly rich or fertilized soil. I've found that to be true with jalapenos, habaneros and long thin cayennes. This can be counterintuitive, since I always imagined habaneros growing in damp, hot Central America with a rich loamy soil in clearings next to the jungle. But, I get the best results in plain old potting soil and a single miracle grow application at midsummer. That's it. Any more and they get really leafy and tall but seem to cut back on the fruit production. Anyone else with some experience regarding this? Good subject for discussion.....
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Boilermaker
Chef Joined: 23 July 2010 Location: Marietta, GA Status: Offline Points: 685 |
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This all makes good sense as I have grown habaneros that were barely as hot as a jalapeno and others that were thermonuclear. I have suspicioned it had something to do with the growing conditions as I had heard of that in regards to vineyards. Our soil here in Georgia is red clay and very poor.
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Boilermaker
Chef Joined: 23 July 2010 Location: Marietta, GA Status: Offline Points: 685 |
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I till in compost, lime, and a little fertilizer but it's still crummy soil but hopefully the peppers will be fiery hot again this year. This is a good discussion topic.
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