Jalapeno Growing.

[Bonz]

Jalapenos do best if you can get some well rotted cow or horse manure to work into the soil.

My father used manure one year for his jalapeños and they were so hot you couldn't eat them...

[wnmGng]

I grow several types of pepper, this year its bell pepper, jalapeno, habanero, and cayenne. Next year I want to grow some big jim green chiles.

[220]

Mine have just started to bare fruit, didn't think they were going to as they took so long, plants are about 3 feet high. Getting close to our first frosts for the year although I hope we should be good for another month.
Might dig a couple up and put them into pots and see if I can get them through the winter.

[Col4570]

I started some peppers last tuesday.
The first 9 rows are Peppers, many varieties, including 2 jalapenos...one of them is an early one. The last 3 rows are herbs.

It looks like you are in for a good crop mine are barely visible but they are under Glass so they should start to grow.I still have pickled cayenne peppers from last year.They are horrendously hot but add some nice heat to food if used sensibly.

[Hickory]

My father used manure one year for his jalapeños and they were so hot you couldn't eat them...

If it was fairly fresh manure I can see why.
"Well rotted" 1+ years old, manure works very well.
And like strong medicine, it should be used in small doses.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

My father used manure one year for his jalapeños and they were so hot you couldn't eat them...

while I can't confirm or deny your statement, I've found that in Minnesota, the weather is the key figure in Pepper hotness. If we get a Hot summer (including warm nights) and I'll get Hot Peppers. I recall one cool summer, back in my motorcycing days. My rule of thumb was if the temperature was over 50º in the morning, I'd drive my Bike to work...well that cool summer, I think I drove my Bike to work a half dozen times. The Jalapenos were sorry excuses for hot peppers that year.
that's my 2¢

[DougGuy]

Col4570, I don't know how jalapeno seeds are to germinate, but a LOT of hot pepper seeds are a real PITA to get them to germinate. You can usually find jalapeno seedlings or bedding plants in the garden/outdoor sections at Lowe's and Home Depot, even Ace Hardware has them in their garden section. These are more expensive, but MUCH easier to grow than seeds!

Pepper seeds usually have to be germinated over a seed warmer, or a makeshift heating pad, or over some heated thing like a motor or back of the fridge where constant heat/warm air comes up, etc. You have to keep them at a constant 70° to 85° for days or even weeks for some varieties. They often take a long time to germinate, then you gotta put them in starter cups, then you gotta harden them off before transplanting to the outdoors, they can be more trouble than they are worth!

I am doing Hatch green Chiles, Purple Bell, Orange yummy sweet peppers, and Aleppo (a sweet pepper from northern Syria that is very hard to get now because of the war) all from seeds. I have resigned myself to setting up the heating pad, grow lamp, and babysitting these dang things until they grow. Not really looking forward to this but you can't buy these as plants anywhere so...

Edit: My bud who grows tons of super super hot pepper varieties tells me 3 tricks to get good results with pepper seeds, soak the seeds in water overnight, in the fridge! Then you use liquid kelp, that would be seaweed, mixed 1/4 strength with water, use this when they are sprouted, and can go to full strength kelp mix when they have 2 sets of leaves on them, then feed them with Jobe's Organics plant food (part number 08200) while they are in the starter pots and until you get them in the ground or the soil in the pot they will grow in. He swears by soaking in the fridge, and by the liquid kelp solution.

[Col4570]

DougGuy,as you may know here in the U K growing conditions for subjects like peppers can be a PITA.At this time I am using a Kerosene Heater in my Greenhouse,your scientific approach is interesting and may be the solution I need.
Yesterday I had a session planting Onion and Garlic sets after digging and spreading own made compost.I was successful last year with Cayenne Peppers both in the greenhouse and a few outside that I planted when the air temp improved.I have noticed that Peppers have a longer growing season than Tomatoes.I fed both Cayenne and Tomatoes once a week when flowers came.A bit creaky this morning due to the digging.

[DougGuy]

I got some Aleppo pepper seeds in the mail just now, this is the instruction sheet they sent with them. I scanned it and will post it here for reference..

[Col4570]

DougGuy,Thanks for the valuable info,I was surprised to see Blackstrap molasses as a feed.My peppers are starting to show as tiny seedlings.I have them in trays of compost.The days here have been sunny but the nights are around zero so I am using my heater and covering everything in the Greenhouse.

[jaysouth]

I am not sure where you are located, but my daughter lives in Belgium at the same latitude as London, except the weather is worse. She starts them them in side in containers on a "sun" porch. It seems to me that they have sunshine for about 14 1/2 days per year, but hers do OK growing inside. I sent her some seed for the TAM variety which is very mild, and the M variety which is the standard 5,000 Scoville unit jalapeno pepper. Both will last for a couple of years growing inside.

In my experience here, tomatoes, eggplants and jalapenos all share the same sun requirements, soil, planting dates and they mature at about the same time.

With a couple of cold beers, I can enjoy many pickled jalapenos. When they are raw, just one wears me out.

In my experience

[Old School Big Bore]

@Doug - Bonnie has Yummies and mini Purple bells, as well as Tams, Chiltipins etc as starter plants. If your wally world or super grocery doesn't have racks of Bonnie plants out front or in their garden areas then hit em up online.

[DougGuy]

I like the Bonnie bedding plants. That's what I usually start with but I haven't seen any of the Yummies, or the Hatch Green or Aleppo. Sometimes here nobody will order habaneros so they can be hard to find. There is 4 or 5 places within a few miles that carries the Bonnie stuff every year. I am early enough that if mine won't germinate, I can still get the Bonnies..

[Changeling]

Hi DougGuy, What can you tell me about the "Hatch peppers" I understand they are supposed to be famous, but is about all I know.

Are the Hot/tasty/how do you use them, can they be grown in pots/plastic buckets? Very interested.

[DougGuy]

Hmm should start another thread maybe? Hatch peppers, are Anaheim peppers. They are sweet and mild, and from what I have seen have a nice pulpy shell that you can use in a lot of ways like stewing them and making chicken and hatch chile enchiladas, or you skin them, slice and remove seeds, then stuff with an index finger sized piece of string cheese and whatever ground meat you like, then batter and fry. Now you have chile relleno.

They are about half as hot as a jalapeno, very tasty. Melt some queso and mix in some peeled and chopped hatch chiles, dip chips into this or heat and serve over poached eggs or eggs overeasy for a Southwest eggs benedict twist. I can SO see me using them this way..

I think they got their name "Hatch" from Hatch, NM where they have the Hatch Chile Festival every year. It's a big thing there. There's a TON of recipes for these things online.

You can grow them in pots, pots is a good way to keep an eye on the soil composition by measuring the leachate that comes out of the pots.

There are quite a few varieties that are lumped in the "Hatch" chile name because they are similar. I got seeds here:

http://www.sandiaseed.com/mildmed.html

Hatch Green Chile Capsicum annuum This variety is Agco Fire Green. (75 days) It is improved through selection for uniform set, flavor and easy machine harvesting. It is field grown near Hatch, NM and sold as ‘Hot’. Peppers are 7" long on productive 30” plants. Easy to Grow.

"Hatch Chile" is not an actual variety, but is a term used to describe peppers of several different varieties grown in the area.

~ Actual variety names might include "Big Jim", "Joe Parker", "Sandia Hot", and others.
~ The Hatch Chile Festival occurs every Labor Day. This event attracts people world-wide to “The chile capital of the world”, in New Mexico.

Start seeds indoors 6 weeks prior to soil warming to 55°F. Transplant seedlings into rich well-draining soil 24” apart. Harvest chiles when they are deep green and firm or wait until they fully mature to red.

Heat Level: Medium ~ Scoville 2000 - 4000 units.

[DougGuy]

I put up an idea to start a gardening sub forum, if y'all want to support it, click on this link and come and post your support for it:

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...rum-Here-s-How

[DougGuy]

I started some peppers today. Soaked the seeds in a weak tea solution in the fridge overnite, then put them in the peat pellets of the Jiffy Greenhouse. I got a heating pad with some metal racks separating things and so far it's holding a steady 80° which is excellent.

We have Aleppo, Yummy Orange, Purple Bell, and Hatch Green Chiles starting:

[DougGuy]

March 31 I made the above post. Jeez these peppers can take FOREVER to germinate! In 3 1/2 weeks, I have gotten a slow start (imo) but a fair percentage of seeds germinated. It just takes time, and the right amount of moisture.



Babies poking their heads up:



I think they're going to make it!

[DxieLandMan]

we grow bell and other types of peppers but mom grows the jalapeño kind. I made the mistake only once of picking them without wearing gloves.

[Changeling]

I grow chili pequins (Turkey Peppers)here in Tx. They grow wild and I decided to grow peppers all year long. Much better than Jalapenos. Shoot me a pm with your address if you want some seeds. They are very small and very hot, but very delicious. I make salsa with them and enjoy them with other stuff as well. It makes the best vinegar pepper sauce in the world. Peppers heat depends on the acidity of the soil. You can make them hotter or milder by making acidic or alkaline soil properties.
Stacy

Hello Bob/Stacy, PM sent. I (probably others) would really appreciate your recipes for salsa and the the vinegar pepper sause.