OK. 1) it says 6 weeks before frost indoors. It's not as simple as that -- generally, one needs help with warmth just to get pepper seeds to germinate. Heat mats are commonly used, but something as simple as a the top of a dvr or refrigerator can be used. You want the temp to be somewhere between about 75-88F, with 88 being the sweet spot. Also, 6 weeks would be bare minimum for annuums. I'd go 8 minimum and at least 12 for chinense varieties. If frost happens to stick around longer than expected, one can always pot up. Having a nice mature seedling is paramount, especially for those in colder climates who only have a small window to work with. There's much more to starting indoors though. I suggest a visit to growing under lights forum and/or hot pepper forum. 2) it says 16" pot. Well, that may be fine for THAT pot, but I have 16" containers that are only 8" deep. That won't work. You need some depth also Container size is debatable depending on variety and length of season and the amount of potting mix one wants to buy. Many people(not me) grow their chinenses in as small as 2 gallon. I, myself, have had success with 5 gal buckets. But much better with 10-15 because of my longer growing season. With large fruited annuums like bells and others the video shows, I've done the 5 gal. But... the harvests past the 1st one suffer with misshapen and smaller fruit. For those varieties, I recommend 10 gal or bigger. I'm not saying you can't get a decent harvest in a smallish container, but the bigger the better, imho. 3) it says the Ancho Poblano is also known as the Pasilla. Not true. Here, in SoCal, Poblanos are sold with the name Pasilla in the grocery stores. It's a misnomer though. Pasillas are actually Chilacas --- a totally different peppers variety. 4) drip irrigation. This one really bothers me. Although it may be efficient, it's not the best way to water pepper plants. Pepper plants hate "wet feet." The soil like to be dried out between waterings.. almost to the point of wilting. So, if you go outside one morn or evening and your plants are still wilting from the hot summer, it's time to give them a good soak. One gets a feel for this the more they grow them. You actually don't want to get them to wilt stage, but right before it. But, better wilt than overwater. And with drip, I see too constant of a moisture level. So, here's how I do it. Water thoroughly, let get almost wilt, deep soak. Let get almost wilt, deep soak... and so on. 5) mulch. Love it! But, the chances of it breaking down and becoming useful to your plant is pretty small in one season. Still, always a good idea to mulch. SO, no true complaint here. Although, those leaves being used is garden "litter." Many pests "hibernate" in leaf litter, so one may be better off using bark or something else and saving the leaves for the compost pile. 6) Organic fertilizers. I have no problem with them whatsoever and in the beginning may give a boost to growth. But, maintaining a microherd in smallish containers is difficult because of temperature fluctuations. The only time i do organic in a container is with large containers like barrels. Anything smaller, and I go synthetic. 1 TB of CRF per gallon of soil and half doses weekly with an All Purpose water soluble fert--- Miracle Gro 24-8-16 or Foliage Pro 9-3-6 are 2 very common ones. If using MG, you'll need to supplement with Ca and Mg. Dolomite lime is used a lot or CalMag. Check the ingredients on your soil mix for lime since too much lime will raise ph too high. 7) Fish ferts for BLOOMS? Not too sure on that statement, but if the person in the video feels it works for them, then who am I to argue? The general rule is phosphorus for flowering, but a well balanced fertilizer is generally all that's needed for peppers. Fish ferts are a good way to keep the microherd going though, but like i said, organic ferts I tend to keep for in ground plants and LARGE containers. Not too sure on the foliar spraying also. There are some veggies that like to get their leaves wet. Like most though, peppers do not. JMO 8) Fetilizing -- all depends. Like i said, a well balanced 3-1-2 ratio with micronutes is best with containers every week at half doses. Epsom salts -- again with the foliar -- i say no. I also say no to epsoms unless my plants are showing they need some Mg. Then, I just add 1/2 tsp to my regular ferts for soil drench. 9) Cutworms and hornworms. Neem oil is used for soft bodied insects like aphids, mites, and whiteflies. Also fungal issues. For cutworms, diatomaceous earth can help, but it can also kill beneficials. Beneficial nematodes can help also, but I found that just a couple toothpicks inserted into the soil at the base of the seedling will prevent cutworms from wrapping around the stalk and nipping it at soil level. Hornworms -- hand picking helps, but i found that an IPM program and bi-weekly sprayings of BT (K variant) keeps them at bay. 10) Blossom end rot. A lot of people think that it's fixable. It may be in future harvests, but you want the ca to be present from the get go because most forms of it need time to break down and be used by the plants. If you're looking to get instant Ca to a plant, one may want to google "smokemaster witch's brew." But the best is to have it present in the beginning. Lime, bone meal, etc should be applied several months in advance. 11) When harvesting the peppers, I notice a lot of falling leaves and yellowing. This goes back to overwatering issues. 12) Not just the Thai pepper is PERENNIAL -- ALL varieties are. For people in Northern climates, overwintering is very popular. Google it. btw, I have found Thai varieties to do pretty well in smallish containers. Goes back to my theory of large fruited varieties needing LARGER containers. Was that YOUR video djkj? If it was, I'm sorry for ripping it apart. But if you're happy with the way things are going, then who am I to try to change your mind? That's the beauty of gardening.. what works for one may not work for the other. Wow! That is one long a** post! Kevin

Perhaps the clearest delineation I come across between gardeners can be found in the variation between how eager growers are to accept anecdote over science; or said in reverse, how diligent growers are in determining whether something can or should be taken at face value. How much we learn or how much we actually know about plants and gardening isn't necessarily related directly to the effort we expend to learn, or even to the effort we expend to gain what passes for experience. Experience is only valuable if we are learning from our errors and changing patterns so we don't make the same errors a second, third, fourth ..... time; and being bitten continually by the error half of 'trial and error' is actually one of the slowest ways to learn. It's not experience that has learning value if we are doing the same thing over and over again without improvement. I think experience is extremely overrated unless it's being used to validate previously acquired knowledge. IOW, learning by error and then changing 'something' in the hope of making things better is far less efficient than learning something from a reliable source and using our practical experience to validate that knowledge, or in some cases refute it as impractical for our application. Limiting our opportunities to learn to only those sources that are in accord with our personal views may increase the enjoyment we get from the affirmations we seek, but learning from a source that is concerned to the greatest degree possible with disseminating information w/o bias, puts us on the fast track when it comes to acquiring valuable experience, penultimately, and user-friendly knowledge, ultimately. I think it's pretty easy to take the measure of a gardener, at least on these forums, by considering how his observations and statements are qualified. The casual gardener is more likely to make broad statements and assumptions with little in the way of qualification; while the more analytical gardener understands that everything isn't always black and white, and illustrates the analytical side by thinking through his offerings to see if it holds water as a broad statement in all cases or if it needs qualification. As an example - the casual gardener might say, or accept on its face, the idea that because Mg is a critical part of the photosynthetic process, and that because banana peels or Epsom salts contain Mg, that adding either to your soil can only be a good thing. The analytic gardener understands it's not that black & white & qualifies the statement by saying it can be a good thing if the soil is deficient of Mg because they are both sources of Mg. Or, he might note that in the case of the banana peel, if there is no Mg deficiency, the excess may be (in the tiniest of degrees) a potential limiting factor that could be offset in other ways because of the addition of the OM. I don't think that analytic gardeners are necessarily better gardeners, but I think they have the potential to be better gardeners because they want to know 'why'. I also think that ambition has a LOT to do with how successful a gardener is. The diligent casual gardener will probably fare much better at harvest than the lazy analyst, illustrating that gardening requires lots of water - most of it in the form of perspiration; and the best fertilizer is the gardener's shadow. Al

Chris, I am interested in both the Golden Cayenne and the White Bullet Habaneros. I would only need/want 6 seeds from each. I have seeds for; Red Savina Habaneros Red Rocotos (can only spare @ 5 seeds) Ground Cherries Yellow Pear Tomatoes Super Hot Chiles (not sure of purity) White Currant Cherry Tomatoes Red Okra seeds I also have many other seeds for flowers if you are interested. I will also have seeds from my Black Czech Hot Pepper, which I bagged(2 peppers for seeds), to prevent crossing. These are just now ripening. I also have seeds ordered from Tough Love Chile Co. (which I could spare a few [5 to 15]) for; Caribbean Red Habanero Charleston Cayenne Scotch Bonnet Orange Habanero Piquin Tabasco Tepin Thai Hot I only need to start maybe 5 seeds from each, from a pkg of 20 ... I only have room for a couple of each plant. I will grow them in the ground and in 5 gallon bucket pots. I plan to over winter any chiles I like in 5 gallon buckets. I should receive my ordered seeds in the mail very soon. Michael

Hello Toronto Sal, IÂve grown Habs the past two summers. IÂve had good success and IÂm a little further north of you. IÂm not sure why someone would discourage you from growing hot peppers in your region? IÂm no veteran by any stretch, but here is what I have learned so far: 1) start with fresh seed (my one year old seed did not do well at all last year); 2) start seedlings indoors in early January and give them plenty of light after first leaves appear; 3) a heated mat is highly recommended for hot pepper germination (first year my seeds took forever to germinate and were pretty small when put outdoors; 4) before planting in the garden, harden off the plants gradually (first year my plants went from sunroom to garden lost half within the week); 5) pick a garden area that has good drainage and is in full sun all day; 6) be patient, peppers take longer to produce than other vegetables. Up north here (LOL) thereÂs a farm that grows all variety of peppers in their fields, both hot and sweet. Anything I do not grow I can pick up at their "Pepper Fest" each year. Good luck, Bill (ottawapepper)