Gardening: My Tomatoe and Pepper Progress

[user 211287]

Trinidad Scorpions. Quite a bit different than the CARDI scorpions i usually grow

This ghost seedling i got keeps pumping out the biggest hottest bhuts i ever tried too

 

[user 211287]

Numex Suave reds. A heatless habanero. Best "dulce" variety ive tried yet. Heavy production of larger pods.

 

[jrgtr42]

Numex Suave reds. A heatless habanero. Best "dulce" variety ive tried yet. Heavy production of larger pods.

Heatless habs? That sounds interesting. I do like the flavor of the habs, but as much as I like spicy, they add up real quick on the scoville scale. And the next morning I'm singing Johnny Cash on the can.
Do these still have that taste of the habs?

 

[user 211287]

You can order the seeds directly from them. They have almost no heat at all but a pretty strong hab flavor. Ive grown several "dulce" type peppers. None impressed me as much. My plants are pretty big and loaded with large pods. Last year i grew habanada which is also pretty good. That bag is a gallon ziplock not a quart. Habanada are ok size but these are larger and you can get orange or red.

I wanted reds this year to mix with much smaller amounts of bhuts, scorpions or Madballz for a milder "super hot sauce".
https://chilepepperinstitute.ecwid.com/Seeds-c85441005

 

[Hanglow]

First small harvest of san marzanos. Not exactly earth shattering Does anyone have good recommendations for next year for tomatoes that grow well outside at northern latitudes? Was thinking of sub arctic plenty.

 

[applescrap]

Another season of battling the local rodents for garden supremacy. I now have chicken wire buried up to 3 feet out from my fence and I may have won. In 2 weeks my tomatoe plants have doubled in size and are once again covered in fruit-squirrels burrowing under the fence ate all my green tomatoes while we were out of town for a funeral. The same squirrels and rabbits kept my jalapeno and bell pepper plants from growing, the rat basttards kept eating the leaves, but now I have one ripe jalapeno and dozens of little ones. The cabbage plants that the rodents kept gnawed to ground level are thriving again, but I've had to replant squash, cucumbers, zukes, beets and spinach. The eggplants finally just gave up. We live at the end of a dirt road, surrounded by high desert forest, and the rodents have always had control of this area, but I'm making progress.

Same problem, they make a sprinkle that is safe and I use and I think it works! It's like McCormick seasoning it smells and effs with them. I think it's called repel all and I sprinkle a layer around my house.

 

[applescrap]

View attachment 740355

Lmfao

 

[applescrap]

Effin aphids or whatever, just need to wash those turds off. They are eaten the flowers. Loving the scallions! Lots of herbs, not cooking enough with them!

 

[bobtheUKbrewer2]

Tomato blight here in UK, so picking, cooking and freezing...........

 

[crazyjake19]

First small harvest of san marzanos. Not exactly earth shattering Does anyone have good recommendations for next year for tomatoes that grow well outside at northern latitudes? Was thinking of sub arctic plenty.

Oddly enough, of the five tomato varieties I grew this year (NY, zone 4-5ish) my San Marzano tomatoes did the best, with Romas a close second. They were doing great until July when we had rain 6 days a week almost every week. I didn't prune my tomato plants well enough and I think the lower leaves picked up a soil borne issue from heavy rains. Next year I plan to either mulch or (ideally) build a small hoop house just over my tomatoes and finish my drip irrigation setup to better control the watering levels.

My worst performing tomato this year was sadly Get Stuffed tomatoes from Baker Creek. First time I've grown them and was looking forward to a decent harvest.

 

[crazyjake19]

Not exactly tomatoes, but I grew Ground Cherries (Aunt Molly's variety) for the first time this year and have harvested a bunch so far. They're similar to a tomatillo, but smaller and sweeter with a bit of a mango/pineapple flavor to them. Trying to decide what to make with them..possible either a jam or salsa, or maybe incorporate some into a fermented hot sauce with my peppers.

 

[Miller4]

First time growing “real deal” variety hot peppers. Super happy with them and they will definitely be a staple from now on. They don’t have overpowering heat and have great flavor, and big! Now to figure out what to do with them. Been putting them on pizza and just did a batch of spicy bread and butter pickles.

 

[Miller4]

Picture of pickles for good measure.

 

[Ozarks Mountain Brewery]

I've been thinking about getting back into gardening, I moved so I have a few unknowns here, 2 acers with 3 miniature apple trees and 2 peach trees but I have about 20 trees total and all of the 4 pine trees and 2 large 10 feet tall evergreen bushes are all dying, I'm a little hesitant it could be blight or tree beetles. Before I start back, I need to be sure it’s not spreading, any ideas?

 

[bkboiler]

My new nextdoor neighbor is growing ghost peppers as well as habanero, scotch bonnet and jalapenos.

I share homebrew with him, looking forward to grilling wings in a while after the hot sauce is ready...

 

[Cammanron]

I've been thinking about getting back into gardening, I moved so I have a few unknowns here, 2 acers with 3 miniature apple trees and 2 peach trees but I have about 20 trees total and all of the 4 pine trees and 2 large 10 feet tall evergreen bushes are all dying, I'm a little hesitant it could be blight or tree beetles. Before I start back, I need to be sure it’s not spreading, any ideas?

Could be that they are getting too much water

 

[Ozarks Mountain Brewery]

Could be that they are getting too much water

we had a huge amount of rain this year and the ground around the pine trees are soft, they stand in a row right before my leach field, I'm also suspect of this

 

[user 211287]

Today i pickled 2qts of Golden Greek peppers. 50/50 brine and a hint of Tuscan spend blend. In a week or two they will look just like the store bought.

 

[Hanglow]

What's your recipe out of interest?
wouldn't mind trying another recipe

 

[Staestc]

Probably been discussed here a hundred times before, but I am trying to get a jump on next years plantings and would like to start from seeds. (as opposed to this year where I just threw 3 plants in the ground at the last minute)

Is there a consensus of seed companies that are preferred by the folks here? I am located in the US (duh). I understand that there is some new requirement on seeds shipped from overseas that requires some sort of certification or risk confiscation coming into the US. Anybody experienced that?

Thanks,

 

[user 211287]

Baker Creek aka rareseeds.com
Refining Fire Chiles aka superhotchiles.com
Numex Chile Pepper Institute Seeds
White Hot Peppers has lots of super hots and a great reputation

 

[Deadalus]

Probably been discussed here a hundred times before, but I am trying to get a jump on next years plantings and would like to start from seeds. (as opposed to this year where I just threw 3 plants in the ground at the last minute)

Is there a consensus of seed companies that are preferred by the folks here? I am located in the US (duh). I understand that there is some new requirement on seeds shipped from overseas that requires some sort of certification or risk confiscation coming into the US. Anybody experienced that?

Thanks,

I had very good germination with all the seeds I planted from Park Seeds this year. As far as peppers, I only had one pack from there as I received a seed kit as a gift. Those started out well but their company price is ridiculous.

 

[Deadalus]

First small harvest of san marzanos. Not exactly earth shattering Does anyone have good recommendations for next year for tomatoes that grow well outside at northern latitudes? Was thinking of sub arctic plenty.View attachment 741224

I grew these this year too. Mine are just turning red. Very productive, only somewhat disease resistant, but a very long to harvest growth period. I think 90+ days, so start early! I have Costoluto tomatoes, good producers, well regarded for sauce, ripening first this year. Ugly and gnarly looking though.

 

[Staestc]

Baker Creek aka rareseeds.com
Refining Fire Chiles aka superhotchiles.com
Numex Chile Pepper Institute Seeds
White Hot Peppers has lots of super hots and a great reputation

I had very good germination with all the seeds I planted from Park Seeds this year. As far as peppers, I only had one pack from there as I received a seed kit as a gift. Those started out well but their company price is ridiculous.

Thanks to both of you. Much appreciated. White Hot is one I have not heard of at all, and Park is one I have not looked at for a long time. Refining Fire I just saw yesterday, along with Numex.

 

[Staestc]

Wow, White Hot Peppers is a cool site, and one of the few I have seen that lists if the seeds were isolated or not, and how stable they may be. Of course I just learned what that means a few days ago, so I may have missed that info on other sites before that.

 

[user 211287]

Just a FYI, ive ordered from Rareseeds numerous times and everything grew true. Last year i got Death Spiral seeds. They were spot on. I only had 1 disappointment from Numex. Last year i got the Orange Spice jalapeno. They were CRAZY hot even for a serrano. So this year i tried Jalamundo. Well they have hardly any heat. I was hoping for a large jalapeno with average to a little above average heat.

Everything i ordered from Refining Fire Chiles grew true. Even a hard pepper to find called Antep Aci Dolma. Fords was constantly out and it was a critical pepper for my grow this year. Fords finally came thru so i grew both from seeds. Slightly different shape but all had that wonderful sweet heat flavor.

If you order from Numex you must try the Suave Red. Its a heatless habanero. Mine cranked out really nice sized pods. Much nicer than any aji dulce type ive tried yet. They have just a hint of heat. They look just like a hab and smell like they will melt your face but they are semi sweet and very mild.

 

[user 211287]

What's your recipe out of interest?
wouldn't mind trying another recipe

This is a low sodium version. You will need about 3-4 times the salt for regular.

I had to double this for my 2qt jar. I had some brine left over.
1 Cup Vinegar (rice)
1 Cup Water
1 Teaspoon canning salt
1/2 Teaspoon Tuscan Seasoning (no salt added)
Heat all the above and strain. Inject into peppers when it cools a little.

1 Teaspoon minced garlic (added to bottom of jar)

Place brine filled peppers in the jar
Cover with semi hot brine and seal.
Place in the fridge for a couple weeks as soon as its cooled to room temp


I have a brine injector set. 30ml syringe with a 8gauge needle. You can buy both on Amazon. Its a bit tedious but its a easy way to make sure the peppers get full of brine right away. Make a hole in one side. Inject brine in the other. Stop when brine squirts out of the first hole.

 

[Oldskewl]

I started my entire garden from seeds this year and ordered them all from Baker Creek. Every variety germanated. I need to start a couple weeks earlier though. I started the seeds in early March but especially the pepper plant were very slow to produce. I've got tons of peppers at the moment. Looking for ideas of what to do with them all. I have already made 2 kinds of sauce, dehydrated some & made salsa. Thinking about some relish.

 

[Deadalus]

I started my entire garden from seeds this year and ordered them all from Baker Creek. Every variety germanated. I need to start a couple weeks earlier though. I started the seeds in early March but especially the pepper plant were very slow to produce. I've got tons of peppers at the moment. Looking for ideas of what to do with them all. I have already made 2 kinds of sauce, dehydrated some & made salsa. Thinking about some relish.

I was trying to remember the name of that company. My wife bought the catalog and it is awesome but when I went to order there was some sort of delay I think due to Covid. They have a lot of depth in the varieties available. I complained when she bought it but it is a very nice catalog!

 

[user 211287]

If you like cukes all season...Try the West India Burr Gherkins at Baker Creek. Pick them when they are no larger than a lemon. They dont look much like a cuke but taste nearly the same. Mine do great all season with virtually no bug damage or disease issues. They make great dill chips for burgers.

All they want is plenty of water and lots of sun/heat. Minimal nutrients.
https://www.rareseeds.com/store/vegetables/cucumbers/west-india-burr-gherkin