Foods of the World Forum Homepage
Forum Home Forum Home > The Best Foods You Can Get - Your Own > Gardening
  New Posts New Posts RSS Feed - Gardening tip for peppers.
  FAQ FAQ  Forum Search   Events   Register Register  Login Login

This site is completely supported by donations; there are no corporate sponsors. We would be honoured if you would consider a small donation, to be used exclusively for forum expenses.



Thank you, from the Foods of the World Forums!

Gardening tip for peppers.

 Post Reply Post Reply
Author
Message
daniel77 View Drop Down
Cook's Assistant
Cook's Assistant
Avatar

Joined: 17 February 2010
Location: Cajun Country
Status: Offline
Points: 45
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote daniel77 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Topic: Gardening tip for peppers.
    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.
If what you're serving comes on a cracker, you'd better have a lot of it.
Back to Top
Sponsored Links


Back to Top
TasunkaWitko View Drop Down
Admin Group
Admin Group
Avatar

Joined: 25 January 2010
Location: Chinook, MT
Status: Offline
Points: 9356
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote TasunkaWitko Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 26 February 2010 at 12:58
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!
Back to Top
Montana Maddness View Drop Down
Cook
Cook
Avatar

Joined: 24 February 2010
Location: G.F. MT.
Status: Offline
Points: 99
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Montana Maddness Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 26 February 2010 at 14:22
Great advise Dan I had no idea of this. It does make sence if you think about it.
MM
Hotter the better bring on the peppers!
Back to Top
Hoser View Drop Down
Admin Group
Admin Group
Avatar

Joined: 06 February 2010
Location: Cumberland, RI
Status: Offline
Points: 3454
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Hoser Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 26 February 2010 at 16:31
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!Thumbs Up
Go ahead...play with your food!
Back to Top
ozzy View Drop Down
Cook's Assistant
Cook's Assistant
Avatar

Joined: 07 February 2010
Location: Las Vegas, Nv.
Status: Offline
Points: 18
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote ozzy Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 26 February 2010 at 16:48
Great tips, thanks!
I still ain't eating snails!
Back to Top
Boilermaker View Drop Down
Chef
Chef
Avatar

Joined: 23 July 2010
Location: Marietta, GA
Status: Offline
Points: 685
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Boilermaker Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 25 July 2010 at 11:52
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
Back to Top
Guests View Drop Down
Guest Group
Guest Group
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Guests Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 25 July 2010 at 12:27
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..... 
Back to Top
Boilermaker View Drop Down
Chef
Chef
Avatar

Joined: 23 July 2010
Location: Marietta, GA
Status: Offline
Points: 685
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Boilermaker Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 25 July 2010 at 12:32
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.   
Back to Top
Guests View Drop Down
Guest Group
Guest Group
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Guests Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 25 July 2010 at 13:04
Originally posted by Boilermaker Boilermaker wrote:

....  Our soil here in Georgia is red clay and very poor.   
Yep, so true. But all you got to do is mix in some cotton-burr and maybe a bit of composted manure to break up the clay and you should be fine for peppers. The hottest habaneros I ever grew were in North Carolina, in some sandy, tough dry soil. They flourished and even the ants would not crawl on the plants.
Back to Top
Boilermaker View Drop Down
Chef
Chef
Avatar

Joined: 23 July 2010
Location: Marietta, GA
Status: Offline
Points: 685
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Boilermaker Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 25 July 2010 at 13:17
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.

Back to Top
 Post Reply Post Reply
  Share Topic   

Forum Jump Forum Permissions View Drop Down



This page was generated in 0.172 seconds.