Black pepper: what's your take?
Feathers11
3 years ago
last modified: 3 years ago
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gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
3 years agoRelated Discussions
What's your plan for early peppers?
Comments (19)My customers don't seem wowed by lots of sweet pepper selection the way they are with tomatoes, so this season I stuck with just 3 varieties (Carmen, Pritavit, Gathers Gold). Two of these varieties are F1 hybrids and one is an OP. Surprisingly, I didn't see any difference in production between the varieties. This is not in any way to negate what Jay said above, he's mostly right. I just want to offer something based on my experience working on a few organic seed farms. I apologize for my long winded response. Based on field trials I've participated in, the belief that F1 hybrids are ALWAYS more productive is not often the case. It takes years and years to select for the many factors that make a great pepper (taste, yield, disease resistance, etc) Being that there's more profit to be made by creating a privatized cultivar that's not easily reproduced (F1 hybrid), the large seed companies can afford to spend the production time it takes to come up with an awesome variety which they can make big bucks on (remember when that white eggplant was $1.50 per seed!). It takes a very altruistic and dedicated seed farmer to put in years of selecting work and then just release their OP variety which anyone can reproduce. Frank Morton from Wild Garden Seeds spent years breeding Gathers Gold sweet pepper and helps to show that even on slow growing pepper plants, well bred OP's can rival the F1 competition. Jimmy Nardello's pepper is another good example. I'm mostly saying this because I think it's important that we don't just write off all OP varieties in favor of hybrids and that breeders like Frank get our financial support whenever possible. -Mark...See MoreYour favorite pepper(s) for chili powder
Comments (15)I sure like Bob's suggestions! The others were good too. Mesquite wood is a great for smoking, but a little really, really goes a long way. Pecan wood from Texas is my favorite. Pellets (not the Traeger brand) can take a lot of the guess work out of smoking. There are quite a few different woods available. I use lump charcoal for the initial fire and dump either pellets or wood chunks on top for the smoke. No petrol flavored briquettes allowed in my grills or smokers. (such as Kingsford) Lemon Drop (C. baccatum) has gotten more favorable responses than any of my other powders. There are similar C. chinense varieties that are just as lemon flavored. Red ripe jalapeño powders are one of my personal favs. Any C. pubescens (rocotos/manzanos etc) make great powders. jt...See MoreWhat;s your LEAST favorite pepper?
Comments (39)I say one could grow 1 cayenne plant every 2 years and have enough powder, especially if you grow other varieties to dry. Anybody that wants to grow a good all-around chile(heat and EXCELLENT flavor) for drying should give chile de arboles a try. Very prolific and you can air dry them. You'll want to use a cage though for trellising. Another must for drying is guajillos. These two are extremely versatile. Kevin...See MoreWhat's wrong with my chili pepper plant leaves? (Black dots)
Comments (10)Thanks for all your responses! I looked closely again at the leaves and I believe I have thrips. UGH!! There are some tiny yellow/orange super slow crawling things on the leaves. So mad! I have no idea where they came from, especially since I live in a high rise in the city and my window is only occasionally open to air out my plant. I made some homemade chili pepper (serano) and garlic spray and sprayed the plant...I hope that solves it? Man...growing a plant is a lot more difficult than I though it would be. ;p Fingers crossed the spray kills the thrips and not my plant....See Morefoodonastump
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