September update

Hi!

An update. Most of the plants are still out on the balcony. Temperatures are almost summer-like.

Here is the classic - Chile de arbol.

This one is new for me. Yellow chicken heart. It's really hotter than I expected.

The good old rocopica. A cross between Capsicum cardenasii and pubescens.

The bode roxa is a beauty. I will try to keep it inside for the winter.

Aji chinchi amarillo. Haven't tasted this one yet. The shape is different, and I'm sure it's a good one :-) Since it's a baccatum.

Pimenta cambuci. Mild, with a nice taste.

I don't know the name of this one. I call it CA1, being a Capsicum annuum. No heat. Like a bell pepper.

This is a type of aji amarillo, but since I lost the name of it, I call it CB1.

Mareka fana (berbere). Haven't tasted it yet. I don't expect it to be so hot. But I have misjudged the heat before.

Roumanian gallo. A peperoncino. Not very hot. It had a rough start with spider mites, but has somewhat recovered.

More pimenta cambuci.

Another "CA1"

 Roumanian gallo.

This is another noname. I call it CA2. The plant reminds me of goatsweed, but the pods are more like serranos. Here is the flower. Capsicum annuum.

 Another CA2.

My old malagueta. I like the way the flowers come in clusters.

CB1. Beautiful shape. That "typical" pepper shape.

 The yellow chicken heart with plenty of pods.

Malagueta flowers. Capsicum frutescens. A great plant. I guess it likes it a little warmer than here in Stockholm, but it's doing fine.

Another CB1. Nice shape.

And last, but not least, my favorite - dedo de moca.

Wishing you a great week!
   Mats

Forty three

I decided that today was a good day for picking some peppers. Actually I picked forty three. It is definitely not a lot, but considering that Carl and I did our best for lunch, eating four serranos, that leaves me with 39 hot chiles on the plus side.

The serranos were so hot, so I got hickups, and even scared Carl, so he almost dropped the spoon :-) It's interesting. I thought that after eating home grown chile peppers for fifteen years, I should be used to it. But sometimes, that special heat comes, and it's really hard to be prepared for it.

Some other varieties that I picked were rocopica, Patriks chinense and chacoense. A nice bunch of chiles :-)

There are more ripe fruits out on the balcony. But I couldn't pick my peru yellow and dedo de moça. Simply because I think they are so beautiful just as they are!

Here is my peru yellow. I had a hard time to break through the "jungle" in order to take this picture. But it shows some of the beauty.

And here is my dedo de moça. My good old overwintered plant from 2009, delivering lots and lots of nice baccatum fruits.

Have a nice weekend!

Ripe rocopicas

Yesterday's heat was great for the chiles! Resulting in four ripe rocopicas. Also the peru yellow got a boost, and many pods turned yellow.

The rocopica is a special one. It combines the fantastic massive heat of the rocoto, with the more explosive heat of the cardenasii. Many thanks to Joe Carrasco (http://www.rocoto.com) for developing this great chile!

More rocopica pictures here: http://www.petterssononline.com/habanero/peppers.php?action=variety&id=1197

I know what is going to be for lunch already :-) Fresh rocopicas and peru yellows :-)

Have a nice Sunday!

Finally some ripe chiles

After the strong winds this spring, when most of the plants looked half dead, I could not expect to see ripe pods in early July. It's amazing to see how fast the plants recover.

Dedo de moça
My dedo de moça is from last year, so it has thick woody stems, and is probably 1,75 meter tall. I keep it in a big pot, so it's not easy to move it. Therefore I had to take this picture through the kitchen window.

 

Serrano
And my first serrano has turned red. We will probably make nachos tomorrow, and I can't wait tasting this one.

Capsicum chacoense (CAP 1153 / 96)
Also a plant from last year. I really love these tasty hot tiny chiles.

Rocoto manzano grande (red)
This is an interesting plant. It does not grow tall, but it grows sideways. So it occupies more than a meter on the balcony. The flowers are the biggest flowers I've seen on a Capsicum.

Tabasco
Another one from last year. Last year it produced only a couple of pods. But this year it looks more promising.

Rocopica
My rocopica is fantastic! Last year it produced hundreds of pods. And this year looks like it's going to be the same. Superhot small fruits! 

Summer solstice

Capsicum cardenasii
I have tried to grow this species from different seed sources during the years, but I have never really managed to get it to enjoy it on my balcony. Hoping for the best this year.

The flowers don't look like other cardenasii that I have grown, but I think they are beautiful anyway!



If you want to compare with my other cardenasii pictures, you find them here:
http://petterssononline.com/habanero/peppers.php?action=varietiesinspecies&genus=Capsicum&species=cardenasii

Another name for Capsicum cardenasii is ulupica, and it is believed to be the 'mother' of all Capsicum. That leads me to show a flower picture of one of my other varieties that I grow this year.

Rocopica
Rocopica is a cross between a rocoto (Capsicum pubescens) and cardenasii. Also with purple flowers.



This plant is from seeds that I started in 2008, so I have kept it for some years. It seems to enjoy the Stockholm climate a lot, because last year it produced lots and lots of fruits. And it seems to like it even this year. So that's nice :-) Here is a picture from last year. The fruits are very hot, with an intense heat.



More rocopica pictures here: http://petterssononline.com/habanero/peppers.php?action=variety&id=1197

Wishing you all a nice summer solstice!

    Mats