Pepper Varieties- First Time Grower

[Aida]

Hey all!
I'm in 9b FL, and I'm planning my spring/summer garden now, hopefully what I will start in February/January. I'm looking into melons, eggplants, and peppers.

I'm especially excited about the peppers. I would like one or two "normal", bell pepper type plants. I would also, however, enjoy a couple of the small, spicy, more ornamental peppers that can be ground up into spices or dried. I was thinking cayenne or paprika peppers, but anything else that looks fun and has an interesting taste is welcome. In fact, I'd be happy to buy a bunch of different types and seeing what I end up being able to produce.
Nothing too spicy to the point of being inedible, though...

What varieties would you all recommend?
What sources(online) would you recommend for buying these seeds?
Would it be a possibility to, instead of buying a whole packet, only buy a few seeds- since I am mostly looking into a plant or two of different kinds?
What type of soil do most peppers prefer, or does is vary greatly depending on pepper?
Should I start indoors? When?

Thanks as always
Aida

[Meatburner]

Aida, the only person that can determine how much heat is good is you. Mild to one person is hot to another so you will have to determine that. Peppers like warmer weather like tomatoes. The same pepper grown in your area will be different than mine just do to soil and climate. Look for local growers and extention service for the best information. IMO Do a search at the top of the forum and enter "peppers". Good luck.

[imafan26]

Hi Aida
Peppers can be hot or not. How hot depends on how hot you like it

I like it a little hot but not painfully hot

Pepperocini (100-1000 scoville) not very hot but have a good crunch and are often pickled
Anaheim (100-500 scoville) some have a little spice, some not at all but good for stuffing and chile relleno and as a frying pepper.
Hungarian Wax peppers also a good crunch. We used to put 3 of them in a soup or stew to add a little spice
Tabasco and superchili (50000-100000 scoville)pretty hot but not incendiary. This is a long lived pepper and can produce for years. Birds love them too. This is the most popular pepper here for hot sauces and chili pepper water.
Serrano (5000-15000 scoville) similar to Jalapeno but the heat is more consistent and the pepper has narrower shoulders but like the jalapeno it is great in salsa.
Cayenne (50000-100000 scovilles) this is as hot as I can take it and still have taste buds. I like these to be dried and used as pepper flakes.

Thai hot very small pepper but packs a lot of heat

Thai chili a type of bird chili, it is hot but not as hot as a tabasco. Chilies are essential for most Thai recipes ( I do substitute tabasco but I use a lot fewer than the recipe calls for).

I have habanero and Caribbean red peppers. I do not eat these, they are too hot, but my chili head friend doesn't care for them either she said they taste like gasoline

Bhut Jolokia and Trinidad Scorpion. Ghost peppers have poor germination and some peppers are hot and others not. I would only use these to make pepper spray to kill insects. You really need to use gloves to handle these peppers and seeds.

I don't get really great production on sweet peppers because of diseases but these work in my climate although they are not great producers here

California wonder, Yolo wonder, Orange bell, Chocolate bell, Chinese Giant (heirloom). Sweet banana peppers produce more and I am going to try Cubanelle and Corno di Toro which was recommended to me in 2014.

Right now I have super chili, Thai, Jalapeno (Wailua), and tabasco peppers that are still producing. There is also a thin long pepper that I bought that was supposed to be sweet but it is actually hot. I have seedlings of super chili and Trinidad scorpion but no peppers yet. The Bhut Jolokia put out some peppers and produced 6 seedlings but the plant looks sickly and I may have to pull it.

[rainbowgardener]

I grow California Wonder for bell peppers and Anaheim chilis for a mild hot pepper.

To get a few seeds of some different peppers, try posting a request for varieties you would like to try in our SEED EXCHANGE section. It helps if you have seeds to trade, but even without, if you just say you are a newbie trying to get started, there may well be members who would be willing to give you a few seeds if you send a SASE.

I think it helps to start pepper seeds indoors, even though you have a long growing season and might be able to start them in the ground (unlike most of us who wouldn't have a long enough frost free time to get much pepper production that way). Pepper seedlings are slow growing and they are tender and vulnerable until they get to be plant sized. For me, it is easier to protect them and and give them the care they need indoors. But it does take a little bit of equipment - check out the seed starting basics thread in the Seed Starting section. Basically you would need lights and a heat mat. Peppers need warm soil, around 80 degrees. Indoors, I start them 10 -12 weeks before I want to put them in the ground.

To plant pepper seeds in the ground, you need to wait until your soil is that warm or close, at least above 70. From planting the pepper seed to having peppers that are a size to pick is probably five months. If you wanted red, ripe peppers it would be longer.

[Aida]

Thanks guys. I was thinking about this for a while, reading about the peppers, hence the late reply.

I've decided on cayenne for sure, serrano, tabasco(maybe), and california wonder for the bell peppers.
I might also try the banana peppers, though it depends on what seeds I can get.

As for how hot I like it, that's kind of difficult to describe. I love hot sauce and buffalo wing hot sauce. I could eat horse radish and wasabi everyday, I think it's delicious! Just a general idea, I haven't tried many peppers, though.

I'm also going to buy a heating mat that I saw recommended in another thread on here, to give my seeds a head start inside. Yay so fun!!!
With the addition of these pepper plants, I'm actually thinking of expanding my growing space with another raised bed.

[Aida]

WooHooo!
I ordered tabasco, serrano, cayanne, banana peppers and casper and florida market eggplants on christmas day evening-- they were already in my mailbox on Saturday morning!
I got them from seedsnow.com, and everything came as ordered and nicely packaged. I even got hand-written new year's wishes, and a free gift: variety pack of lettuce greans+peat moss pellet to start them.
I'm very happy with this company, and how speedy they are with shipping and service.

I'm still waiting for the heat pad to arrive, however, it's scheduled for Tuesday.

In the mean time, I definitely have room to start all of my peppers AND my eggplants indoors.
Should I start the eggplant indoors, or directly outside when it gets a bit warmer/my raised bed is empty?
Are eggplants like melons- in that starting indoors and transplanting makes them lanky/weak?

[imafan26]

Eggplant are like peppers they like the heat. However you only need one or two plants for yourself. If you start them indoors you will need the heat mat and they should not get lanky if they are given space and enough light. Usually, since I only need two plants, I buy the start instead of grow them from seed, otherwise I will have too many.

[Aida]

Hmm, well, I already bought the seeds-- they will keep for 3 years, the packaging says, and I only bought the sample packs; so I don't think they will go to waste.

Thank you for the advice, I will start them indoors as well, then!

[imafan26]

Eggplant and pepper seeds keep awhile. Fresh seeds have 90% germination rates so just start a few.

[gixxerific]

Aida sounds like you have in all under wraps now.

Don't forget to save your own seed and keep your plants going that way rather than buying seeds ever year or so.

If you are in need of any other seeds pm me I am happy to get people started. If I saw this earlier I could have hooked you up with peppers.

[evtubbergh]

Next year plant peppadew

Awesome peppers

@rainbowgardener SASE?

[Aida]

Aida sounds like you have in all under wraps now.

Don't forget to save your own seed and keep your plants going that way rather than buying seeds ever year or so.

If you are in need of any other seeds pm me I am happy to get people started. If I saw this earlier I could have hooked you up with peppers.

Thank you that's very nice of you!
And yes, I will remember to save the seeds.

@evtubbergh, I'll look into that variety, I have too much for this season, though.

[rainbowgardener]

@rainbowgardener SASE?

Self Addressed Stamped Envelope

[evtubbergh]

Oh good idea. And I saw once that someone can prepay postage on the USPS website too. I would totally do that if someone were willing to send me seeds in SA.

[PunkRotten]

If you want an interesting pepper try Chimayo. It has the heat of about a jalapeno. What I like about it is the plant is pretty productive, the peppers are a good size, crunchy, watery, initially sweet, followed by a little heat. They are great for just about anything. I eat them fresh, in sauces, salads, salsas and more. If you send a SASE I can send you some seeds. I have another called Puya, which is really productive, and great for spice or sauce, however, I didn't like them too much. If you'd like them I can include some in the SASE.

Other recommendations: Poblano, Aji Limon, Cayenne, Tequila Sunrise, and Bulgarian Carrot Pepper.

[PunkRotten]

evtubbergh -

I can hook you up with some seeds for an SASE as well. But make sure to have the right postage if you send since it is a big increase when shipping international.

[MB3]

If you want an interesting pepper try Chimayo. It has the heat of about a jalapeno. What I like about it is the plant is pretty productive, the peppers are a good size, crunchy, watery, initially sweet, followed by a little heat. They are great for just about anything. I eat them fresh, in sauces, salads, salsas and more. If you send a SASE I can send you some seeds. I have another called Puya, which is really productive, and great for spice or sauce, however, I didn't like them too much. If you'd like them I can include some in the SASE.

Other recommendations: Poblano, Aji Limon, Cayenne, Tequila Sunrise, and Bulgarian Carrot Pepper.

I had to look up several of these chilis
Chimayo -- Didn't know it as this but I do know the dried form, Molido
https://www.chilipeppermadness.com/chima ... epper.html

aji limon and tequila sunrise are both new to me, and never had the bulgarian carrot though I have heard of it.

[imafan26]

I get some of my pepper seeds from

Tomato Growers Supply
https://www.tomatogrowers.com/

Pepper Gal
https://www.peppergal.com/

Pepper Joe
pepperjoe.com


Kitazawa seed for Asian peppers
https://www.kitazawaseed.com/seeds_pepper.html


If the peppers do well, then I save seed. It is really easy. Just remember to use gloves when handling the hot ones.

[MB3]

If the peppers do well, then I save seed. It is really easy. Just remember to use gloves when handling the hot ones.

I have stupidly handled hot pepper seeds I saved and later gone and rubbed my eyes and nose and other parts of my face. Even from 7 years ago, all these years later, they still retain oils to do some damage. Not like handling a fresh super hot and then rubbing the eyes or going to the bathroom , but still uncomfortable.