#2 looks very much like my Joe Pye weed. I'm not sure about furry stem, but the leaves on my plants are opposite one another as on your plant. I have a volunteer mystery plant of my own (pictured) growing alongside a ditch in the front yard. It looks something like the plant that others helped me identify as Eupatorium, but that plant was blooming in autumn. Can this also be Eupatorium? Might it blossom all summer? I really like it despite the fact that I normally am not a fan of white flowers. It's lacey-looking, like Queen Anne's lace or its relative Yarrow, (both of which I also like) but it is neither. Hmm I could end up with a white garden in spite of myself!

I grew Hungarian hot wax peppers last year (my first year growing peppers). They were definitely warm, rather than hot. I cooked them/ate them in a variety of ways. The warmest I ever got them was when they were bright red - I stuffed them with rice, cheese, and sausage, and then roasted them on the grill. A good spiciness throughout the pepper and stuffing. This year, I'm growing (1) Hungarian hot wax plant; several Pepperoncinis; and multiple Thai hot chilis (from seeds in my brother's girlfriend's mother's garden). Josh

It's never a bad idea to answer questions 2 years late lol.... Because others will read the post and learn and it'll answer other peoples questions like mine. This is like a library, future chili growers will read this to learn how to grow hot peppers. This is my first winter with a chili pepper plant indoors. I had my plant planted in ground outdoors and it still had a bunch of peppers and some flowers on them, so I brought them inside and they peppers seem to be ripening. Some peppers have turned from green to red indoors . I'm using an 11W LED grow light. I also put a germinated Scotch bonnet seed and just transferred from paper towel to pot. Once it grows its first true leaves, I'll put the pot with my outdoor chili pepper and lemon trees which are all under the LED light and a medium window.

Hey, thanks for all the hints, I'll definitely try the vinegar trick to work out how much of this I can use in recipes. It's just that I've got so many of them now! If they wind up being so hot I can only use 1/4 of one in a recipe I'll be fully stocked til 2012 from just what's on the plant now... ah well, can't complain about that really can I? I think you're right that they'll turn red when fully ripe. Now I'm wondering- do hot peppers heat up as they ripen? If so, could harvesting them earlier, at the purple stage, give me a slightly milder chili? Or would that just be sacrificing flavour development? This variety is called "Burke's Backyard Thai Chili" or "Don Burke Thai Chili", named after an Australian gardening show so it might only be available here unless you can order Australian seeds (Yates is the supplier I think). I'm growing it from a nursery seedling and so far it's a very compact, shrubby plant- about as wide as it is tall with very densely packed leaves and upright fruit. Thanks for the advice, I'll let you know how I go, Slashy.