Cardenasii, Albertos, Patriks and serrano

Time flies, and hopefully spring is getting closer. Today it's snowing and -6C. So what can be better than repotting some chile peppers :-)

CAP 1530 /97 - Capsicum cardenasii

This one is doing fine, and has developed nice strong roots. I have tried to grow this specific variety before, without realy succeeding. So I hope it works this time.

Another cardenasii that I grew some years ago was a very nice plant. Different to many other Capsicum.

Alberto's

Alberto's is another old C. baccatum favorite of mine. Here is a picture from previous years.

"Patrik's chinense"

I didn't expect all the seeds to germinate. So now I have six plants of this one. It's a wild chinense, and I love these small hot fruits. Even when repotting, it truly smells like a chinense. Fantastic!

Serrano

And, last but not least the serrano. I underestimated the viability of the seeds. So now I have six plants of these too :-) But that's nice. I love serranos!

The whole bunch

So, this is how this year's chiles look so far. Still waiting for some tiny tiny ones to grow up. Maybe the seeds are too old. But I'm waiting patiently.

 

Regards,
  Mats

First repot!

y chile plants this year are for sure of various sizes. It's really not unexpected, because some seeds are over 12 years old. Some germinate, and then die, while others strugge, and at least now seem to make it. The one in the middle of the front row on the picture below is from fresh seeds. Prik dae Luang. It's the first time I grow it, and it seems to be a fast grower.

Here is a tips how to do when the small plants have grown too tall. You simply plant them deeper in the new pot, and let just a little bit of the plant stay over the soil. The stem under the soil will develop roots, and it will get strong and good looking :-) On the left picture below you see that they are quite tall and will probably need support in order to grow OK. On the right picture, you can see how deep I have planted them.

Prik dae Luang

Olho de pombo

And even more obvious with this one.

And a few more
I really want to have some Peru yellow this year, so I decided to start some more seeds. And while I was at it, I dug deep in my seed box, and found some very old favorites. Not sure at all if they will germinate, but I give it a try.

• Cumari Enio
  
• Cumari
  
• White habanero
  
• Cheiro de Para Recife 2001
  
• Peru Yellow '02
  

Two more! Serrano and Peru Yellow

After sampling the "Hot-Headz! Pepper Sauce Classics Serrano" yesterday, I felt an urge to grow serrano this year. I have a special relationship with the serrano. It's definitely one of my favourite Capsicum annuum.

My chile pepper passion started in Austin, Texas in 1992. At that time, "Spanish pepper" was more or less the only fresh alternative in the food stores here in Stockholm. It's a hot variety, without any real taste.

So when I came to Austin, and tasted my first jalapeño, the passion was awakened. I was sweating through more or less every lunch and dinner. Wanting to learn and experience more every day :-) Jalapeño, serrano, habanero, poblano and so on. That's when it all started. Though it took 3 years before I started to grow my own chiles.

And while I browsed through my seed list, my eyes were attracted by the line saying "Peru Yellow". It's a good Capsicum baccatum, that could be a nice colour complement to the red serrano.

I think that's going to be about it for what I will grow this year. I'm planning to give the plants a lot of space, and nice pots this year.

Status of the ones growing this year can be found here: chiles2010.

In addition, I'm overwintering my galapagoense, tovarii, tabasco, habanero, dedo de moca, chilipiquin, chacoense and rocopica. I feel that this is a good mix!

Regards,

  Mats

Welcome to four new varieties

Today, four more varieties have germinated!

It's one of my old favorites that I call "Alberto's". A Capsicum baccatum. I don't know the name of it. I got it from Patricia's uncle, who at that time was living on a farm outside Rio de Janeiro. Some old pictures can be found here.

Another one is "Cheiro de Para". Seeds that I took from fresh chiles that I bought on the market in Recife. A Capsicum chinense.

And another Capsicum chinense. A mild variety. Cheiro. Also from the market in Recife.

And also, my Capsicum cardenasii - CAP 1530. I tried to grow it some years ago. Without success. So I'm hoping for good luck this time!

Hopefully more to come! I'm waiting for a few other favorites to germinate.

Regards,
  Mats

chinense, rocoto and olho de pombo

Three more varieties have showed up!

It's the wild chinense from Patrik, one rocoto and the olho de pombo. Most of the other seeds are quite old. I've had them for more than 10 years, so maybe they will have a problem to germinate. We'll see.

That's the good thing with starting the seeds early. You have a second chance, and have plenty of time to start a second round :-)

//Mats

And the fastest one to germinate this year is...

... Prik dae luang. Which I suppose is a Capsicum annuum.

So tomorrow I will need to get my lamps and my second "mini green house" set up. How nice!

I keep a list of the chiles I grow this year in a spreadsheet, which can be found here.

Regards
   Mats

The 2010 Chile Year has started!

Happy New Year!

Usually I start the chile pepper year on January the 1st. But this year it took a few days to get started. So today is the day!

I'm looking at the thermometer. It's -16C right now and it's going to get colder the coming days. Everything outside is deep frozen. But it's a beautiful landscape.

It took me some days to decide on the varieties. Too many to choose from. As always. But anyway, here is the list :-)

Maraba. A favorite C. chinense from Brazil.
Alberto. From Patricia's uncle Alberto's farm outside Rio de Janeiro. A very nice C. baccatum.
Aji Norteño. Another C. baccatum favorite!
Cheiro de Para. C. chinense. Bought on the market in Recife 2001.
Cheiro. Also bought in Recife 2001. A mild chinense with wonderful flavour.
CAP 1530 /97. Capsicum cardenasii.
Manzano orange (rocoto). Capsicum pubescens.
Rocoto manzano grande (red). Capsicum pubescens.
Patriks chinense. I need to look up the name of this one :-) It's a wild C. chinense.
Prik dae luang. One of the first Thai peppers that I grow.
Olho de pombo. Funny name. Eye of a pidgeon. Couldn't resist to grow this one.
Cheiro '02. Another favorite C. chinense that I grew in 2002. Carl loves them on crisp bread.

Besides these, I keep several from last year, and the year before that.

• Dedo de moca
• Capsicum galapagoense
• Long chocolate habanero. But it's a red one. Anyway. Nice flavour.
  
• Tabasco '02
• CGN 22876 / PI606708 tovarii
• CAP 1153 / 96
• Chilipiquin - Manor
• Rocopica
  

So, I believe this is going to be a good chile pepper year. Lots of favorites! And a few new ones.

Back to today. Here are the photos :-)

Here Carl and I are getting ready to put the seeds in soil.

Carl is the chief seed-in-soil-putter, so here he gets them from me...

More varieties coming on.

The team!

Carl is happy with the work we've done.

Finished!

A closer look

The list, and my box with seeds. I used to have over 1000 seeds, but they have been decreased to less than 200 :-) Does that make me a minimalist?

More to come!

Regards,
  Mats