webgrunt
Full Member
Posts: 14
Joined: Thu Jul 17, 2008 6:14 pm
Location: Minnesota, USA

My indoor Habanero pepper story

Years ago, habanero peppers were a rarity in the states and I was only able to find them prepackaged in small amounts at high prices. I decided to try to grow my own. I was successful beyond what I could have imagined.

I planted some seeds from one of the orange habanero peppers I bought in a 1.5 gallon (give or take) pot.

It took a month for the seeds to sprout! I let the sprouts alone for a few days, then cut out all but the tallest, sturdiest-looking one. I placed the pot in a south-facing window in my apartment.

I used water and miracle-grow liquid to feed it. It grew into a small bush about 3 feet high, and was constantly shedding leaves. There were always leaves piling up around the plant. But when it started to produce, it just went nuts! I harvested hundreds of habanero peppers off that plant every year.

One summer I transplanted it into my friend's garden. It continued to produce. In the fall, I dug it up and put it back into the pot. I wasn't sure it would survive that, but it did. It looked a little sickly for a while but then bounced right back.

The plant continued to produce peppers year-round until I eventually got sick of picking up all the dead leaves (and had enough dried habaneros to last years, in spite of giving bushels of them away.)

I don't know if that type of pepper is normally that productive or if I lucked onto a sort of super-plant, but it definitely involved some luck because I had never grown a plant before and didn't really know what I was doing!

petalfuzz
Green Thumb
Posts: 632
Joined: Sat May 31, 2008 3:37 pm

Neat story! How long did you have the plant then? Several years?

I'm growing habanero for the first time this year. I planted the two strongest seedlings, and the stronger of the two is now the weaker plant (go figure)! They are both tiny though, the bigger is still only about 12' high but they are finally getting some blossoms.

Did you have yours in full sun all the time?

What are your favorite recipes using habaneros?

webgrunt
Full Member
Posts: 14
Joined: Thu Jul 17, 2008 6:14 pm
Location: Minnesota, USA

Yes, I had the plant for around five years. I had the plant very close to a south-facing window, but it wasn't a corner or bay window, so I'd say it got around 8 to 10 hours of good sunlight per day (except that one summer I had it in my friend's garden.)

I don't really have any recipes--I just put them in stuff like salsa or hot dishes (casseroles) or whatever...

petalfuzz
Green Thumb
Posts: 632
Joined: Sat May 31, 2008 3:37 pm

I think I'll dig up my habanero before the frost and bring it inside. Worth a shot, right?



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