How Many Peppers will Habanero and Ghost Pepper Produce?

[stella1751]

"I got the ugliest black mold or fungus growing on the inside: thick, black, and fuzzy. Gross."


Alternaria fungus travels into the seed cavity through the flower stigma. It hits a lot of my C chinensis peppers, but leaves most of the others alone. It doesn't bother the more solid ones like Peruvian white or cumari, but the puffy habs are often full of it.

That's interesting. The spores had to be in the house. None of my live peppers had it. They only developed it when I brought them indoors and prepped them for drying. I looked alternaria fungus up, and it is a common indoor fungi. I definitely must dry them outside this year!

To Spicey Chicken and your 3,000 pepper plants: Wow. I will plant perhaps three dozen this year. It depends on how well the Super Chile seedlings fare.

[TZ -OH6]

It might be something else then. It enters during flowering and will be developed in the pepper by the time you harvest (I cut up my peppers for dehydrating). Many of the peppers will be deformed, and seeds will often be discolored even if there isn't a lot of black mold.

[garden5]

SpicyChicken............I just saw your pictures and must say that they are incredible! I'd love to be able to plant so many peppers and have them all produce so well for me.

You're in WI, so your summer time temps should be close to mine. I planted 3 bhut jolokia's last year and only got 3 peppers and that was in October. I understand that they require a long growing period, but I'd expect them to do a little better than that.

Anyway, you seem to get a TON of production from your pepper plants, something I've been struggling with. So....if you don't mind my asking.....what's your secret? Do you fertilize?

Also, in your picks, the plants seemed pretty close together in their rows, how far apart are they?

How big are your transplants when you put them out? I'm thinking that mine were maybe too small. They were about 3 in. tall, had 2-3 sets of true-leaves.

How do you start your seedlings?

I'm sorry about all of the questions, and if I'm taking this thread way off-topic. Thanks for any answers.

Oh, and these questions are open to everyone .

[stella1751]

It might be something else then. It enters during flowering and will be developed in the pepper by the time you harvest (I cut up my peppers for dehydrating). Many of the peppers will be deformed, and seeds will often be discolored even if there isn't a lot of black mold.

No, I think you are on to something here, TZ. I know you have mentioned this fungus before, including the "discolored seeds" as a symptom. On occasion, I will have a pepper with discolored seeds, but I decided I didn't have this fungus, because I never had the thick, black, fuzzy, gross stuff. As for deformity, well, yeah, I do get some deformed peppers on occasion, but generally the cause can be attributed to the environment: early hail damage, spiders, positioning, and so on.

I think it's interesting that I moved my peppers into the house to play with them, and all of a sudden the crud manifested itself. I'm betting the fungus was somehow prevented from thriving outdoors, and its rapid, unchecked growth has something to do with a lack ventilation or the indoor temperatures. I could have had this fungus all along, but the conditions just weren't conducive for it to fully develop.

You are making me think. Thanks!

[Spicy Chicken]

SpicyChicken............I just saw your pictures and must say that they are incredible! I'd love to be able to plant so many peppers and have them all produce so well for me.

You're in WI, so your summer time temps should be close to mine. I planted 3 bhut jolokia's last year and only got 3 peppers and that was in October. I understand that they require a long growing period, but I'd expect them to do a little better than that.

Anyway, you seem to get a TON of production from your pepper plants, something I've been struggling with. So....if you don't mind my asking.....what's your secret? Do you fertilize?

Also, in your picks, the plants seemed pretty close together in their rows, how far apart are they?

How big are your transplants when you put them out? I'm thinking that mine were maybe too small. They were about 3 in. tall, had 2-3 sets of true-leaves.

How do you start your seedlings?

I'm sorry about all of the questions, and if I'm taking this thread way off-topic. Thanks for any answers.

Oh, and these questions are open to everyone .

G5, Thanks
Sorry it took so long to reply, really busy right now!
The spacing on the plants is 20 inches, they look close; but those plants are almost 3 ft across already and its only half way through the season.

I see that you are a very experienced gardener, so I doubt that I could tell you anything you don't already know but will tell you how I do it and what's important in my opinion and for the beginners here will try to put it in layman’s terms, so don't be offended when I point out the obvious. LOL
The things that help me: for what it's worth!

Black plastic to heat the soil 2 to 3 weeks before planting.

2 table spoons of bone meal and one Epsom salt at planting.

I Plant no larger than 6 inch plants to keep transplant shock to a minimum.

Pinch as many buds off as possible for the first 4 to 6 weeks allowing the plant to grow.

Deluded liquid fish emulsion to feed every time not feast or famine.

Cutting Nitrogen intake half way through the season and pour the potassium to em.

I use a hedge trimmer to prune of 25 % of the leaves 3 weeks before harvest.

Water with 70 + degree water to eliminate shock value.

Stake them for fruit load, cutting down on stem stress.

Tenting the long gestation period peppers to extend their growing season.

Picking the ripe, when ripe; transferring the energy into the ones that are not. Once thru the garden can yield 10 to 20 thousand peppers for me, so it tends to be a chore really! Usually 4 to 5 times before ripping and lynching.

I welcome any ?’s on the above tips, if you want to call them that!
Here is a link to the pics for those who may have not seen them.
[url]https://www.helpfulgardener.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=34682&sid=6ad18ce31a1ee8a340a048b6e9a83b96[/url]

How do I start my seedlings?
This Pic was taken this morning, in 3 days I will transplant into 3X3’s; than 4 weeks till garden planting, they should be around 3 to 5 inches tall. I do it this way at this time every year.

Cheers, Spicy Chicken

[img]https://driedhotpeppers.com/images/Pics_for_The_Hot_Pepper/7pod_with_Lady_bugs.jpg[/img]

[garden5]

Thanks a lot for your reply SP!

You gave me a lot of good tips. I watered with well water, so cold shock may not have been too good for them. Also, you said that you gave them fish emulsion with every watering. Also, you gave them bone meal at planting.

Hmmm...these are things I never do. My soil isn't all that rich yet, either. Perhaps they aren't getting enough nutrients?

I also tend to plant them wayyyy too close.

You've given me a lot of ideas as to what may be the cause of my lower yields.

When are your last/first frost dates? Mine are Mid May/Mid Oct.

[Spicy Chicken]

G5
Frost;
Subtract 2 weeks in both directions, the important one is spring! I keep a real close eye on the 10 day forecast hoping I can jump the gun, very costly mistake if I miscalculate!

One more thing I did not mention is that I aerate the water just prior to watering, very important especially if your soil is denser. (The importance of root oxygen) is widely over looked by even highly experienced gardeners, you should Google it!

link and hundreds more like it.

[url]https://hydroponics-gardening-information.com/Oxygen.html[/url]

Cheer, Jeff

[garden5]

Spicy, really interesting info about aerating the water..I never heard of that .

You start a massive amount of seedlings. Do you grow them under lights or in a greenhouse?

How do you sow them. It looks like you just scatter them over the soil and mix them in.

[bg]

Curious, since I don't know, what would grow from the seeds of a bhut jolokia pepper? They cross to get this type of plant right, so would it revert or still be a bhut jolokia?

[garden5]

Curious, since I don't know, what would grow from the seeds of a bhut jolokia pepper? They cross to get this type of plant right, so would it revert or still be a bhut jolokia?

The bhut jolokia is what's called a naturalized hybrid. Which basically means that it is a cross, but it's been grow out so many times in nature that it acts like a standard OP variety.

So, if it did not cross with another pepper, the seeds should produce more jolokias.

[bg]

Curious, since I don't know, what would grow from the seeds of a bhut jolokia pepper? They cross to get this type of plant right, so would it revert or still be a bhut jolokia?

The bhut jolokia is what's called a naturalized hybrid. Which basically means that it is a cross, but it's been grow out so many times in nature that it acts like a standard OP variety.

So, if it did not cross with another pepper, the seeds should produce more jolokias.

Ok, thanks. I was hoping it would be so.