Hey Kevin,

Wow, your plants do look quite good for mid-winter! They should indeed take off and give an early bounty of pods if taken out when weather permits.

My two overwintering plants are doing well enough. One's foliage looks a bit more scraggly, but this is normal in winter usually, while the one I trimmed more heavily looks very good, comparable to yours. They've been flowering a lot all winter as yours seem to, but the buds shrivel and fall.

I will probably pot them up to 1 gallon containers in the coming weeks, so as to get a solid root system established before I start hardening-off, which could be in mid-April or so.

I'll try to get some pictures up.

I recall my rocotos stopping flowering all together at full summer heat, July-August, until I put them into partial shade. But we have very different climates so who knows... it is very hot, dry and windy here in summer. Should be fun to see how yours do.

I went to the Jean Talon market in Montreal last October- it was amazing! Definitely my scene. They had tons of peppers, I was amazed at the variety and also surprised to see them displayed in ristras- unusual for Canada I thought. Super impressive. I scoured the displays to see what varieties they had and definitely no rocotos. Most of them seems to be asian hots, or european cayenne and sweet or hot frying italian types. Plus the usual small selection of habs etc. The squash selection was also super impressive. Love that place!

Hey hobbyartisan,

Dry and windy conditions sound like what Rocotos might get in their natural habitat in the Andes. I'm guessing the sun must also be quite strong over there, but air temperatures probably a bit cooler than what we get. Also hot and windy here, but humid.

I guess no one must be trying to grow C.pubescens commercially in Canada - I can imagine the price per kilo that might come out to. Importing them is probably not so viable considering it's a little-known species with not too big a south-american immigrant population that might be familiar with it first-hand to create even a minute demand for it.

Here are the two overwintering Biquinho Amarella.

The one I trimmed somewhat less:

The one I trimmed more heavily:

That blue pot is about half the volume of the red one for scale. This one's grown a lot considering it was only the stem and a few short branches when I took it in. They both want to spread out in typical C.chinense fashion.

isgen - those sure are looking great! You should have quite a head start on them when planted out!

I almost bought some biquinho seeds this year, but didn't pull the trigger. How do you like them? I think I remember you saying you use them for a pepper vinegar.

I like the Biquinhos quite a lot. Awesome C.chinense flavour with hardly a tickle of heat on the tongue. Small pods, but there sure are lots of them on the plant. They would look great on a skewer in cocktails. I conserved a bunch whole in a jar of vinegar in the fridge. They're still quite crisp and the vinegar absorbed a lot of the flavour, which will be great to use by itself afterward.

I like them as a pizza topping, you only need to chop up 4-5 pods on a 14" pizza and still get lots of flavour. I wouldn't mind if they were a bit hotter, but it's good to use for people that don't like too much heat.

Here's a tentative grow list for 2018.

Jwala: 4 plants

Mini-Sweet peppers: 4 plants

HHW: 4 plants

Habanero: 2 plants

Biquinho, yellow: 2 overwintered plants and 4 new plants

Rocoto, yellow: 4 plants

That's a total of 24 plants. I'll mostly be using 5 gallon containers, perhaps 2 plants per container for the C.annuum and somewhat smaller containers for the new Biquinho plants, depending on how much pine-bark potting mix I feel like making.

I'll try to maximize growth for the two overwintered Biquinho by eventually putting them in their own 5 gallon containers and see how they do. Last season, I had 3 plants sharing a single 3 gallon container and they did well enough.

I thought I had leftover seeds of Espelette pepper, but no, so I ordered HHW instead, my only new variety this season. They seem to perform well for most everyone and the fact they are commonly used unripe means an earlier crop. I'll most likely leave a good bunch to ripen to make smoked paprika though.

I'll of course be planting more seeds than wanted plants. I never have the heart to throw away extra seedlings, as they're usually large enough by the time I judge the "wanted" plants to be "safe", lol. If I don't find takers for these, I'll perhaps stick a few in-ground, even though this is usually unproductive over here. I already have 6 Rocotos out of 8 seeds, so am 2 in the green - literally! (ok, figuratively)

I've gone ahead and potted-up my two overwintering plants to 1 gallon containers. They sit by East-facing windows. The extra root-space and increasing daylight should bring about some more growth. They have done quite well in the darkest months, since being trimmed-down in late October.

Cute bonsai peppers Isgen! It's amazing how "just a few pepper plants" turns into 24 right??? I also have major difficulty offing extra seedlings, especially when they look great. I usually try and gift them to someone who eventually kills them in due course anyway. I usually end up with like 40 in ground and in containers- way overkill.

I hear ya! I'm still trying to go for that over-the-top bountiful harvest I was dreaming of when I first started growing peppers, or anything else really. Last year's peppers mostly failed hard, but I'm back with a vengeance! I did rather well in 2016 though.

I won't be starting plants for others specifically this year, already enough to manage my own, but will likely try to pawn-off a few on family and friends when I realize I've got 36+ seedling on my hands!

Last year was pretty crappy for me too though as I had some automatic watering problems in ground that stunted growth. I'm converting my huge in ground garden to planter boxes this year so I hope that will make it easier for me to manage- less weeding for sure.

I keep forgetting to try the "topping method" that has been discussed a lot on the forum. I can see it working for the asian types as those always seem to grow super and rangy and tall with a central top cluster for me. Have you tried that?

I never really topped-off peppers or anything else. I think it'd only delay production unless the plants were started earlier than the zone schedule calls for. I just find there is a lack of hard evidence this practice is actually useful - most of it is anecdotal and too specific to the grower's conditions IMO. OTOH, probably not too much harm trying it on a few plants among the lot.

Yeah I have read the lengthy debates posted before lol. I'm going to remember to try, my asian types always seem to grow to a point with only the top producing the biggest cluster of peppers. So maybe a double header will work out better. We shall see!

In 2016, I had two or three plants grown with seed I saved from store-bought dried guajillo peppers. While I was surprised they germinated at all, I expected to be growing Mirasol peppers, but it was not so - long hanging pod, only got the one too. Anyway, the point is these plants grew over a foot before branching out, under the same conditions all my other plant were and grew normally. Perhaps these could have benefited from a topping-off earlier in the season, but I could not know back then.

Last week I noticed my Rocoto seedlings were looking a bit odd. Their leaves were bent down, some were a bit pale with even a few "burnt" spots. They were 3-4" below my daylight tubes, pretty standard. That was five out of six plants. I had taken one to an east-facing window and it looked much better. I move all of them to that windowsill and now, several days later, they all look much better. The leaves went horizontal again and all seems fine. I'll leave them there for now, but need to watch so they don't become lanky. While they can get several hours of direct sunlight there, the weather has been overcast and may continue to be so in the coming days.

I'll get some pictures up soon enough, including other seedlings that just poked out.

Day 67 Update

Yellow Rocoto seedlings, doing pretty well by that window. Several of them have lots of roots coming out of the drain holes, one especially is starting to look like a hydroponic-grown plant. Perhaps time to pot-up soon.

Newly sprouted Biquinhos and Habs (marked "Field"). I'll soon cull the three Habs down to one in the leftmost cup.

I think I'll start the rest of my planned peppers, the C.annuum batch, in the coming week or two. I've also found I had a couple of seeds left from what I think was a Thai pepper and I'm trying to sprout them in a wet paper towel and Ziploc, just for fun. I'll get an extra plant out of it if it works.

isgen - do you have any guesses as to how the 'field' habs will turn out? Have you grown any cross pollinated species in the past? I have some 'field' habs and also 'field' ghost chili seeds that I am growing this year. Seeds harvested from plants that were directly next to each other so it should be interesting/scary to see what comes of them!

I'm doing the same thing with a Thai ornamental. I have a plant in my office at work and left a couple ripened peppers sit out and dry. On this Monday I put them in paper towel and bagged and sat them on top of my computer to see if they would sprout. Nothing yet but still hoping!

Hey Kevin,

These "field" peppers were originally given to me as "Scotch Bonnet" seedlings in 2015. The person started the plants from store-bought Scotch Bonnets. The fruits they yielded was definitely more of a Hab, so the store pods were most likely already a cross.

Here's a nice cluster from 2016:

I've only kept overwintered plants for two seasons since 2015 and this year is my first starting my own saved seeds from these plants. I don't make any particular effort to avoid crosses, so who knows what I'll be getting! Although, I'm pretty certain my seeds were from an early-season pod when hardly any of my other varieties were flowering much, so it'll probably be quite similar.

Its pretty exciting - maybe you'll discover the new 'it' pepper!

Wow, you are going to have some big plants by the time you can put them out for the year. It will sure give you a longer growing season.

Yeah, I was comparing them with the pictures from my 2016 thread, and they'renow about the same size as they were in early-June, by which time I'm hoping they can start fruiting this time around.

LOL, I am guessing you have some good sunny windows to keep them in? Those suckers will be pretty big by June.

East and West windows. I'll sometimes move them mid-day, but Rocotos seem to do well with somewhat lower light conditions. As noted, they look better by the windows than a few inches under my shoplights. As soon as we get temperatures above 10°C, I'll start to harden them outside because, yeah, they should be large by then!

Isgen: That is precisely why I waited later this year. I was really getting tired of playing checkers with my peppers twice a day. Besides, I couldn't fit them under the lights the last couple weeks before I got them outside for good. I will still get them out on nice days, but at least they won't be so unmanageable.

Good luck this year with yours. I think you will be picking peppers a whole lot sooner than me this time around.

Yeah, taller plants hardly get any light except on top under shop lights, by which point even non-south windows are as good.

Even with this head start on the Rocotos, I'm not holding my breath for a bounty of early pods, I just hope the experience yields some positive results, as detailed in the first post. My other varieties will follow a more typical schedule.

I potted-up the Rocotos, mostly based on the amount of roots starting to come out the drain holes. The rest was starting to wrap around the earth, so good timing I guess. I waited to get a good moisture level for minimal root disturbance.

If I'm lucky, this is their last home until the 5 gallon buckets. This next move will likely have to happen some time before my last frost date though, so I'll probably have to move them in the garage on several colder nights.

Isgen: I have a feeling you are going to find those plants are getting pretty cramped again by the time you get them into the 5 gallon buckets in about six weeks or so. Those are some great looking seedlings.

Yeah, I have that same feeling. They certainly are growing faster than the ones I started in 2016 did.

Exactly. One thing I really like about those grow blogs that I do each year is that I can go back to them for reference.

My first real year of growing peppers from seed was 2011. I planted seed on January 11 that year. Now, I am planting a full 6 weeks later than that. While my plants now wont be as big as my 2011 plants when it is time to go outside, they won't be too far behind....certainly not 6 weeks worth of growth behind.

My methods and equipment have evolved to the point that I can maximize my indoor grow now which allows me a lot less time under the grow lights.

The rocotos are looking great! My long season seeds have popped up too now, Soon will start the regular peppers.

So I made duck flautas last night and finally blended up some of my freezer rocotos to make this sauce- both turned out great!!

https://www.thespruce.com/spicy-pepper-sauce-crema-de-rocoto-3029612

The sauce was scorching but tasty, and the mayo cooled it down nicely. Highly recommended.

That sauce does look good! I sure hope I'm able to whip up a batch sometimes this summer!

The Rocotos are doing good after the seamless potting-up. I think I see tiny buds starting to form among the new leaves on top, so they're finally splitting into a Y.

The Rocoto seedlings have been enjoying some natural sunlight for the last couple of days, as the previously quasi-constant cloud cover has moved, but the cold came with it. Last night dipped to -27°C.

Here my assistant reminded me to rotate the tray because of phototropism.

The plants have definitely split into a Y and all display their first tiny bud.

If I move them from the East to West window to follow the sun, I'd say they can get a solid 8+ hours of direct sunlight. The diffused light from all the snow isn't bad either on overcast days.

First time I get to take my peppers outside this year! And first time this early in the season, it's still March!

I had the poly-tunnel closed over them all morning as it was cooler and overcast, but the cloud cover is now lighter and temperature has climbed to ~10°C. Lots of direct sunlight from windows has somewhat "pre-hardened" them and they haven't flinched all day.

I finally have some Jwala and HHW sprouting after 12 days, nothing picture worthy yet.

Those are looking great, so is your asst! Nice you got to get them outside, I thought I was going to be able to think about my greenhouse soon too... but no, the temps have dropped again and it's super nasty out!

Are they still out?

Very nice. They look great. Mine are about a little behind yours and I have mine all down in the basement now under artificial light. The way the weather reports are sounding, it is going to be a long time before they see any direct sun. Tonight 1-3" and 5-8" tomorrow forecasted and it isn't going to warm up for over a week.

I was able to take the Rocotos out under my poly-tunnel for several days now. I can pretty much do it as long as it's above freezing.

It hasn't been too bad here lately, I hope you guys get some warmer temperature soon.

Here's a picture update.

All six Rocoto and two OW Biquinho getting some morning sun by the deck window.

Here's the rest of this year's roster.

Eight HHW in white cups on the left side, these guys took the longest to sprout. The green and red 4" pot are yellow Biquinho. The other eight white cups are Jwala. The rightmost white cup is a Hab, a bit behind in growth compared to the one in the green 6" pot.

All my mini-sweet pepper seeds failed, so only hots this year! I wasn't planning on so many Jwala and HHW, but am keeping the extra seedlings in the mini-sweet's stead. I will probably grow all or most of them two per 5-gallon bucket.

I'm a bit behind last year's plant as I started them in early March in 2017, but they were getting rather large by the time I could have them outside for good. I'm still a bit ahead of 2016, where I did rather well.

The total comes in a 28 plants.

I've also started my tomatoes. Man do those sprout fast next to peppers!

While I was able to have my Rocoto's outside for several days a while back, this last week has pretty much sucked and we got several inches of snow this weekend - nothing that's not going to melt fast at this point though. I already have some lettuce, spinach, radish seeds and Daikon seedlings outside.

I think you are well off to have started them later. I started last week of February and already am starting to feel pinched for space with 6 or 7 weeks still to go.

They are looking good.

Thanks for the reminder I'll start my peppers today! mostly belle and some chilies. I'll go online get a few new ones. Nice pics!

Looking good isgen! I still have a few more varieties I am a bit late on... need to do them tonight.

Here's where the HHW, Jwala, Hab and Biquinho seedlings are at.

Most exhibit nice growth as of late. One Hab is really behind the other, not a big deal, as I don't mind only one plant worst case. The Biquinhos are just slow growers and will do better once outside if anything like last year. The Jwalas are doing well and the HHW seem to be outpacing them despite sprouting several days later.

I think the Rocotos, started on Jan 1st, are starting to be a bit stressed. Some of the new growth is beige/brown and brittle. I am watering with some 2-7-7 liquid fertilizer added, at somewhat less than full dose, perhaps I should use one with higher Nitrogen content for the next few waterings? They might need potting up and more light than what windows provide, but it's too cool outside and we may still get freezing nights. I'll have no choice but to figure out something in the coming week or two though, I don't want them to "turn bad" just when the season is so close.

Those are some really healthy looking seedlings. I think I will be able to get mine out some starting next week to start hardening them off. I still have a month to plant out date, but I like to get them ready for the real thing as soon as possible.

Plant out is also ideally 4-5 weeks away over here. I hope we can make it without to o much undue stress on our plants.

My weather forecast is fairly grim for now, but daytime temperatures are pretty much above 10°C, wich is OK for peppers IMO and overcast is better initially anyway. In °C, the coming days go 17, 17, 11, 12, 18, 24, 20, 14, 14, but most of theses are cloud and rain. If I pot-up the Rocotos to 5 gallon buckets this weekend, I can perhaps take them out in a sheltered location during day and in the garage at night with a small space heater. I think I've really "sown myself in a corner" with this early January start, but I think it's the only way to get something out of these plants.

Yah, I have already decided I won't start until almost March next year. We are both in 4b growing zone and I usually get my plants out the last week of May. I start watching the longer range forecast around the 20th and as soon as it looks like the forecast shows all nights at least 40F (5C) at night, then I pot them up.

Here the rest of them, the overwinter Biquinhos and the six Rocotos, getting some fresh air. It's currently 8°C, sunny with light clouds and it will go up to 14°C but cloudy.

I'm soaking a bag of pine bark for my pepper potting mix. I'm pretty set on potting up the Rocotos in their final 5/6 gallon containers this weekend. I will select the four best looking plants to go in pots, as it's all I had planned on. Maybe I'll just stick the remaining two plants in the ground behind my garage - come what may. It'd be a burdensome gift to whoever I'd pawn them off on at this point.

I potted-up my Rocotos to 5/6 gallon pails on Saturday. So I technically had peppers planted out in April, sheer madness in 4b! I had little choice at this point, due to their size and other factors.

Daytime temperatures are generally fine, being above 10°C, with no frost in sight for the next several days. I still take them into my garage at night, throw a blanket over them and have an incandescent bulb under there for a bit of warmth. That's four out of six plants. One I'll keep as a house plant in a 3 gallon container.

The sixth plant is probably the unluckiest. I put in in-ground behind my garage. I mulched with a bunch of straw, a large piece of clear plastic and some soil on top of that. I also cover it with an inverted plastic bin at night. It's really just an experiment, no real loss if the plant dies or gets stunted and cool if I can get however little out of it.

I don't know how any of these Rocotos will do truly, but if I start some again next year, it'll be later in early-mid February instead of January 1st.

My indoor pepper seedlings are doing quite well, but are badly outpaced by my tomatoes, which were started a few weeks later. I always seem to forget how fast tomatoes grow.

I feel your pain. I'm in a warmer zone than you... but I'm probably going to start my regulars mid march depending on weather forecast. I might start 1 or 2 of the longer season peppers in late February but definitely not going to do 12+ peppers again... Too much work and space required and now I'm struggling to get them accustomed outdoors.

I have started to harden-off pretty much all my tender crops. If all goes well, I'm just about done with my grow lights for the season.

Here is a Habanero and a Gold Currant tomato. These have been out longer than other seedlings and now get full morning sun and dappled light later in the AM.

Here are the two overwintered Biquinho. I think there may be a couple of pods on them. They still have some scraggly looking foliage from the winter, but should start to look better soon. These are roughly 2 gallon pots and their final summer home.

Here are my four Rocotos in 5/6 gallon pots. I'm not certain how well they're doing. One seems to have normal new growth coming in, while it looks off-colour and brittle on a couple of them. It's kind of the same issue last year's overwintered plants had.

Here is the rest. The leftmost tray has 8 HHW, the next one 8 Jwala, then 10 tomato plants of 4 varieties and the smaller tray on the right has 5 more HHW, later starts, as well as one straggler Hab, two Biquinho, basil and thyme. These are now getting full morning sun for a bit and full shade afterwards.

Night temperatures still drop to ~2-3°C every few days, though we haven't had a real frost in quite a while. It doesn't go below 10°C on a good day, so I'll start leaving everything out when the forecast shows so. I'm in no hurry to get anything out permanently. I'll probably wait about 2 weeks to get these peppers in their 5 gallon containers and 2-3 weeks to put the tomatoes in the ground. The 5 extra HHW seedlings will go in the ground, in a spot where I usually have late-season success with Jwalas, we'll see how these do.

Other than that, my overwintered spinach is bolting early and most of it, as well as the new spinach, lettuce and several radishes were eaten by what I suspect may be mice. I've set out traps, but caught nothing. I've protected a couple of smaller beds with mesh and plastic and have limited further damage. All my beds are essentially full of radishes in different stages right now. I'll be eating lots of them soon.

Lookin' good!

All of my radishes, Alaskan and Daikon, have bolted and gone to pod.

Josh

Isgen, My plants have basically been outside for over a week now. I got 2/3 of my peppers potted up yesterday and hope to finish tomorrow before leaving friday for a camping trip. We have have awesome early May weather this year and the forecast looks good for the next ten days. THis is almost two weeks early for me to pot up.

Yeah, May has been very nice so far. I bet you're glad to finally pot-up your large plants. I think my January-started Rocotos got too large before I could do it and are now in a bit of a rut. My HHW and Jwala will fare better IMO.