Struggling with the heat...

I was having dinner with my friend Mikael yesterday. He made a fantastic chili! And just for the fun of it we sampled one of my 7 pot primo for dessert. Once again, this chinense knocked my socks off.

It smells fantastic. Typical chinense flavor. But I can't say I enjoy the taste. First, the taste is OK, but very quickly the heat takes over, killing my taste buds...

And - I got a gift :-) A box with naga jolokia. Phew. It's going to be a hot coming week :-)

Hot regards,
  Mats

7 pot primo vs. Mats: 1 - 0

OK, I'm laughing now, and usually I say that it's hard to be serious when eating hot chiles, and that they make you smile. Either because of the endorphins, or because they simply are so hot, so you have to laugh!

But this little fellow knocked me down comletely. It's not very big as you can see.

I took a tiny tiny tiny piece of it. And my tongue was on fire for at least 20 minutes. No mercy! The heat reminded me of Bhut Jolokia, but I enjoyed that one more than this. This one had a fantastic tropical chinense smell, but it was really really hard to distinguish a flavour. And I thought that I was used to chinense and eating hot peppers :-) This one was like nothing else I've tried!

Weird, no seeds in this one either... Exactly like the Douglah we had yesterday.

Patricia also took a tiny piece, but she spat it out immediately. Clever. I still have mine in my stomach...

I think I will make a mash with the remainings of this one. Vinegar, salt and maybe some oil.

Anyone who has any recipe recommendations for these super hot varieties? What do you do with them?

Phew. Why on Earth did I decide to grow so many super hot ones....

Hot regards,
   Mats

Lunch peppers

Good morning!

It is with nervous delight that I am already wondering which of these two "darlings" we will have for lunch... I don't think we will need any other spices :-)

You can click on the links, either on the heading or the picture, if you want to see more pictures.

7 pot brain strain red

7 pot primo

Have a great hot Sunday!
   Mats

Summer update

Hi!

There is still hope :-) Despite of temperatures colder than on Christmas, strong winds and never ending rain... There are a few pods out there on the balcony.

Team chinense is way ahead of team baccatum... Also my canario looks promising, but no flowers yet. Hoping for a warm autumn!

Black naga
A new variety for me. Looks very hot....

Douglah
 A new variety for me. Looking good!

Orange cheiro
 An old favorite, and it was my last chance to get some fresh seeds. So these pods are very welcome!

7 pot brain strain red
 A new variety for me. Judging from the texture, it could be very hot.... :-)

7 pot primo
 Another one that looks very promising!

Bode roxa
 This one has been different from the very beginning. The plant got beaten early in the summer, but does its best to recover...

Please check out my homepage for more pictures. The latest updates are here:
http://petterssononline.com/habanero/peppers.php?action=dates

Take care,
   Mats

Happy Midsummer

Today we celebrate Midsummer!

I went out on the balcony to check the plants, and found out that even though they are severly beaten, there are some pods. Unexpected, but a very nice surprise!

Here is my 7 pot brain strain red. (http://petterssononline.com/habanero/peppers.php?action=variety&id=1248)

And here is my 7 pot primo. (http://petterssononline.com/habanero/peppers.php?action=variety&id=1249)

What surpises me is that the pod shapes are so different. But maybe that will be sorted out later during the summer.

Wishing you all a great midsummer!

    Mats

Excursion on the balcony

 Hi!

I got restless... Eurovision song contest is nothing for me anymore :-) So I started harvesting pictures from my little photo excursion on the balcony today.

This is my overwintered chiltepin, reaching for the sky. It's quite tall. At least 1,8m. But still no flowers.

7 pot primo
First flowers

Bode roxa

I think that these flowers are absolutely great. Pointing in all directions. Looking good.

Very nice flowers.

I love the shape of this one.

7 pot brain strain red
I really hope that these flowers set fruit!

Black Cayman
These two flowers here are turning away from each other...

While these two are hugging.

Aren't they cute?

Douglah
A promising battery of flowers...

7 pod brown
 First flowers

Have a great weeked everyone! And may the best entry in the contest win :-)

    Mats

Major repotting Friday

Hi!

It's been some really nice days lately, so the plants have been enjoying themselves a lot in the window... Therefore it was time to repot this happy bunch :-)

Sometimes they don't get enough light, and stretch too much towards the window. That makes them tall and weak. When I repot them, I plant them "deep" in the pots, so they can develop roots, and get stronger and more robust. Here is an example of that.
Before: Here is my 7 pot brain strain red before I put soil in the pot.

After: As you can see, I have planted it quite deep in the soil. That's OK, and new roots will develop.

Here are the first three. From left to right. 7 pot brain strain red, 7 pot primo, 7 pod brown.

And the second batch. Bode roxa, bode roxa and black naga.

It's hard work! So we decided to go out for an ice cream. We sang - I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream :-) A beautiful day!

Coming back home, I repotted two more. In front - Douglah, and behind it is Black Cayman.

Phew. Time for an espresso!

Wishing you all a great weekend!
   Mats

7 pot primo and "Plan B"

Good morning!

Just a short note. One more variety has germinated. It's the 7 pot primo that I got from Patrik the other week.

Last night I activated Plan B and put some newer dedo de moca seeds in soil. Together with more "Patricia" seeds.

One of the benefits of starting early is to have the possibility to start new varieties and still be able to enjoy an early harvest.

I expect that the remaining varieties might take some time to germinate. Or, that most of them will not be successful at all. Actually, I can't remember that I have been successful with seeds that are 10 years old. But, we'll see.

More later!
   Mats