Pepper Garden – Fall 2014 Redoux

For my homegrown peppers garden a la Fall 2014, there have already been changes.  It’s amazing how fast plans can go out the door and vanish!  But, I have new pepper plants in place, so here’s the (new) lineup.

Before I list the peppers, I’ll note that my plans changed because of two things.  The first is my greenhouse and the second is the Fall/Winter weather predictions for South Florida.  It’s supposed to get rather chilly early on, and a cooler Fall/Winter overall, compared to 2013.

Fall 2014 Pepper Lineup, Take 2

Given the above, my plans changed to buy some starter plants and not grow as many of the seeds (waiting until Thanksgiving to plant those).  So here goes for what’s now on deck.

Purple Flash:  This is a pepper with purple foliage.  The new leaves are green, kind of variegated.  As they get older, they turn a lovely dusky purple.  Peppers start as purple, then turn red as they mature.  Since I bought it as a starter, I picked off all the peppers after I transplanted so as to de-stress the plant.  I have it planted in a 5-gallon container.

Cayenne Yellow:  A cayenne pepper, only with peppers that mature to a lemon-color, instead of red.  It’s supposed to be just as hot as a regular cayenne.  I have it cohabiting with a pepper called Cajun Bell in a 12-gallon grow bag / smart pot.

Cajun Belle:  This is interesting; it’s a hybrid bell peppers that supposedly is a little on the spicy side.  Who could resist — not me, for sure!  So I planted it with Cayenne Yellow, as well as an Italian basil plant.

Dragon Cayenne:  The name drew me in, so I figured I’d grow it and compare to the Yellow Cayenne plant.  It’s sharing a 20-gallon smart pot with a Tabasco pepper and some cinnamon basil.

Tabasco:  I don’t recall if this one had a specific variety name, but I picked it to grow for two reasons.  First, if I’ve ever grown Tabasco peppers, it’s been years and years, so why not try them?  Second, the plant was so pretty!  So, in the grow bag with the Dragon Cayenne and basil.

Habanero:  No variety listed.  I almost didn’t get this starter plant, because habanero peppers typically take a long time to fruit, and it’s already the middle of September.  But, I have a greenhouse, so what the heck — live a little!  (And hopefully the plant will live more than a little, LOL.)  I haven’t decided on where to put this one yet.

Red Bell Pepper:  No specific variety name.  I didn’t have any regular bells as a starter plant so thought I’d add this one in.  It’s also waiting doe its home….which I suspect will be with the habanero.  And more basil, or perhaps oregano.

For seedlings that have already popped their heads up, I have:

Fooled You Jalepeno:  A no-heat jalapeno pepper, which I have  never  grown before.  It’s a hybrid, and I’ll see how “no heat” it turns out to be.  I am growing this mostly for my husband David, who prefers the no-heat.

Trinidad Perfume:  This was in my original lineup, and it’s a no-heat habanero.  This one is really for me, since I have no idea what a habanero really tastes like — it’s usually all I can do to fan my mouth and look around for ice cream to cool the burn when I eat the regular ones.  😉

Flamingo:  A pretty bell pepper that changes colors as the pepper matures.  This one is sweet (unlike Cajun Belle).  Looking forward to trying it.

Tri-Fetti:  This is one of my old (5+ years) seeds.  I planted quite a few, not knowing how many would germinate (if any).  I see at least one of them coming up, and I think a second one as well.  The plants are gorgeous, and I have a hard time finding the seeds, so I am glad that I’ll have some plants and be able to save some new seeds.  These are mostly ornamental, but the peppers are edible – and hot!

Orange Thai Hot:  These are also from the 5+ year old seed batch, but they aren’t showing any signs of germination yet.  Still early days, though, so I’ll wait another couple of weeks to see if I get anything from them.

That’s it for now, but I’ll keep you posted on their progress.