Back on April 15th I posted a little piece and some photos about my new pepper strip that I grow in a small area of our backyard each year. Being that we live in the Southern California/Central Coast growing region, I’m able to put plants in the ground in the early Spring without having to worry about late season snow and/or frost. Things looked good for the first two weeks until I noticed that our cat had decided to start using an area of the strip as his new toilet. Although I caught the problem early on, he did manage to wreak havoc on one of the Bhut Jolokias and it lost all of it’s leaves and was reduced to nothing more than a withered little one-inch stem. Fortunately, with some careful nursing and TLC, I managed to save it and it’s now doing quite well and just started to flower.
This year we planted an assortment of peppers including Bhut Jolokia, Red Savinaâ„¢ habanero, chocolate habanero, peter pepper, Bishop’s crown, Brazilian starfish, Bulgarian carrot, yellow squash, billygoat, and cherry bomb. So far we’ve had fruit from the cherry bomb, Bulgarian carrot and the yellow squash plants. As far as yield and taste is concerned, the cherry bomb has been amazing, so far producing about two pounds of really tasty peppers. The Brazilian Starfish is in a close second and is completely loaded with immature fruit that should be ripe and ready to be picked in about two weeks. The chocolate habanero is third and the peter pepper a solid fourth in upcoming yield and should also be ready to pick in about two weeks. The Bhut Jolokias however have just recently flowered as they are late Summer producers, so by September/October we should have a mess of them as well. The rest of the peppers are in various stages of flowering with some young fruit and should be ready to pick in another few weeks.
Anyone who grows their own peppers knows how exciting it is to finally see a little tiny pepper appear in amongst the leaves and how fun it is to finally get to pick and eat what you grew. I’ll post a wrap-up at the end of the growing season and let you know how it all went in the end.
Written by Gildo
Nick Lindauer founded Hot Sauce Blog in 2004, making it one of the internet's very first hot sauce review sites. After 20+ years of tasting, reviewing, and attending every major fiery foods event in the country, he's back behind the keyboard covering the hot sauce world he helped build.
34 responses to “Gildo’s Paso Robles Pepper Strip: Midseason Update”
my scotch bonnets are just starting to rippen and i cant wait to pick some, i want to try jolokie’s but have heard they are very difficult to grow in michigan and i would have to probably start them indoors with a lamp or something.
[Comment ID #108616 Quote]
I’ve got a plant here in KY that is growing well with no issues. Of course, this isn’t Michigan 🙂 Can’t hurt to try though, right? Worst case scenario you’re out a few bucks for the plant or seeds…
Gildo: looks like you’ve got a pretty nice backyard! How tall are the plants? Unless that’s a huge wall, they look kind of short.
EACH OF THOSE BLOCKS IS TYPICALLY 8 INCHES TALL. I AM A LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT 🙂
[Comment ID #108619 Quote]
That’s a 35″ wall. These photos were taken two and a half weeks ago. I should have snapped a few new ones before posting. Add about 8 to 10 inches to each plant for their current height.
[Comment ID #108628 Quote]
i have some dried pods left that have seeds in them, but with the seeds i read somewhere you have to soak them in something that helps them germinate before planting them, i dont know anything about that but i might just try to plant them like i did the scotch bonnetts and habaneros. i also thought about buying some plants from cross country nurserys, already started they are about 3 dollers a plant, but you have to buy i think 12 or else they dont ship them. it wont hurt nothing to at least try the seeds i already have though.
i accidently queted the wrong person on that last one sorry
Gildo….1st post in a while…your plants look great…but how many peppers and buds do you have on them…..looks like tooooo much nitrogen in the fertilizer….mabe i’m wrong….I already picked 5 # of red savinas off of 10 plants…..they don’t look that good as yours…but they produce
[Comment ID #108652 Quote]
I couldn’t honestly tell you about the nitrogen levels. I don’t test the soil, I just grow the peppers. In fact, I haven’t fertilized in a while. Good to see you back Wes!
Gildo do you have any peppers or flowers on them yet ??
[Comment ID #108709 Quote]
Wes. Did you read this post? I said all of this.
This year we planted an assortment of peppers including Bhut Jolokia, Red Savina™ habanero, chocolate habanero, peter pepper, Bishop’s crown, Brazilian starfish, Bulgarian carrot, yellow squash, billygoat, and cherry bomb. So far we’ve had fruit from the cherry bomb, Bulgarian carrot and the yellow squash plants. As far as yield and taste is concerned, the cherry bomb has been amazing, so far producing about two pounds of really tasty peppers. The Brazilian Starfish is in a close second and is completely loaded with immature fruit that should be ripe and ready to be picked in about two weeks. The chocolate habanero is third and the peter pepper a solid fourth in upcoming yield and should also be ready to pick in about two weeks. The Bhut Jolokias however have just recently flowered as they are late Summer producers, so by September/October we should have a mess of them as well. The rest of the peppers are in various stages of flowering with some young fruit and should be ready to pick in another few weeks.
Gildo…actually I skimed through it ….sorry….I am a chef and farmer…
your plants look real healthy….since you haven’t fertilized in a while….
……you must have a lot of stray dogs in the area…LOL..hahahhaha
[Comment ID #108730 Quote]
No, actually I pee on them myself.
What about # 2?
lol….. 😉
Gildo….I only post on Food or Plants……don’t need the BS any more…
…..lol
[Comment ID #108762 Quote]
What about bacon?
I read your post. Wish my plants looked like that!
Do you have a Bacon plant?
Who uses bacon when you have Pancetta the good Italian stuff
[Comment ID #108764 Quote]
No, but BLANE does.
lol
Justin, you could try the chilewoman.com next year if you wanted to buy them (naga’s) already germinated. She’s a very nice lady with a huge assortment of plants at fair prices.
If it’s against the rules posting that link, feel free to delete it. Just trying to pass some info along of a very nice woman I’ve gotten plants from and met at the Indiana Fiery Foods.
[Comment ID #108764 Quote]
I read your post too Gildo. 🙂 I thought your plants would be much further along than ours though. We planted ours a couple weeks after you and they seem to be at around te same stages of growth. We don’t have near the amount of sun that you California mandal wearing hippie freaks have though. 😉 Maybe its the toxins in the Jersey soil! 🙂 Looks great though.
Gee Kristie…Its Not N.J. soil…its` the fertilizer I sent you …..Fish and Kelp…….
[Comment ID #108814 Quote]
HAHA, yes I know! I still don’t have any nose hairs from the smell of that stuff!!!
[Comment ID #108811 Quote]
California… OK
Hippe…A Little
Freak…Sometimes
mandal wearing……NEVER EVER~ just give ma a pair of flip flops 🙂
[Comment ID #108871 Quote]
What the hell is a mandel? I tried to google it, but my redneck google search said “Bubba, you don’t evern wanna know.” 😉
[Comment ID #108892 Quote]
They are those Jesus type man sandals SF! Come on now! Damn rednecks! lol
[Comment ID #108894 Quote]
redneck google was right as always! 😉
They are freakin’ flip-flops. Mandals are Birkenstocks, or “Jerusalem Cruisers” or “Jesus Joggers,” depending on your faith.
[Comment ID #108982 Quote]
They sound kinda gay to me Gildo. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. Least that’s what my redneck Google says.
Wait, I forgot the 😉
🙂
Flip-flops DK. Freakin’ flip-flops. How are those gay? WTF?
[Comment ID #108650 Quote]
I was wondering about more information on your seeds. Can I replant seeds from the peppers I got this year for plants next year?
OF COURSE YOU CAN..BUT USE THE SEEDS FROM THE FIRST PEPPERS YOU GET !!!!THEY ARE THE “BUFFALO” SEEDS… (Strong seeds)