The Spring weather out here in California has been near perfect for the last month and the ground has warmed up to above a 55 degrees, so I decided to go ahead and order up my pepper plants and get this year’s pepper strip going. Typically I purchase my pepper plants at local nurseries and growers, but this year I wanted an assortment of super hot and unusual varieties that they don’t carry. So not really knowing where to look, I turned to the internet and found Cross County Nurseries in Rosemont, New Jersey. They sell what they claim to be the world’s largest selection of pepper plants and tomatoes from April thru June, and ship them anywhere in the country via 3-day UPS. I’m not sure exactly how many varieties they actually offer, but their inventory is enormous and took quite a while to browse through. You can search for plants by heat levels, colors, uses, and even flesh types, allowing you to easily narrow down the choices. The ordering process was also easy and their prices reasonable, despite a 12 plant minimum order policy and the UPS charges.
For this season I decided to go with one plant each of 9 different varieties, and three of the Bhut Jolokia. The others include a Red Savinaâ„¢ habanero, chocolate habanero, peter pepper, Bishop’s crown, Brazilian Starfish, Bulgarian carrot, yellow squash, billygoat, and cherry bomb. They arrived the first week of April via UPS and to my surprise, were completely unscathed. They were all packed tightly and neatly into one small cardboard box and were held into place with a custom looking cardboard insert that kept all the soil in place and the plants upright and secure. The soil was moist and they were insect free. Excellent!
I put them in the ground on April 7th and gave them a healthy dose of both granular vegetable fertilizer and liquid kelp and fish fertilizer. Now, with the warm California sun and some TLC, I should have my first peppers sometime in late May. I’ll keep you posted on this year’s pepper strip as it progresses throughout the summer, particularly the Bhut Jolokias. ‘Till then, good luck with your own plantings!
Cross County Nurseries
PO Box 170,
199 Kingwood-Locktown Road
Rosemont, NJ 08556-0170
Phone: 908-996-4646
Fax: 908-996-4638
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.
10 responses to “Gildo’s Paso Robles Pepper Strip”
Keep us posted on how they are doing! We are still in Winter here in the Great White North!
goonienick, im right there with you this summer, i am currently growing 22 chile plants, and i think there are 17 distinct varieties in my garden
lemme get an image up. and ill post a link later
Right on… I like the drip system you have made. I cannot grow out here without one, just too hot and sunny for my small garden, I do plan on hydroponics in my AZ room eventually.
Keep us posted, this is very interesting !!!
Good job Gildo! You’re at least a month ahead of me 🙂 Feels like it will be two months if this cold never leaves!
I talked about “my new chile supplier” in the chile pepper section last week, so I won’t discuss it here. I live in San Diego, and my peppers are doing OK. It’s been colder than normal here, so I wish it would warm up already. Some of my leaves are getting a little burnt around the edges, but I’m not too concerned.
Hey Gildo, Hows it going?
Looks like you have just what those pepper plants need…WARM weather.
I ordered some plants (same place), and they are due to arrive soon. But since its not California here, there probably wont be any peppers till like July. Im curious of those Bhut Jolokias too, to see how they do here.
How much would it cost to ship me some of that California sunshine, and warm weather Gildo?
Nice Plants!!Cross Country is the best for Chilie’s. Have Quite the selection myself. Will be picking mo Orange and Yello Habs next week.
Nice garden ya got there Gildo. The pictures aren’t really clear enough though, I think I”m gonna have to book a trip to nice, sunny Cali to take a closer look for myself.
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I’ve got a pair of mandals you can wear, but my bikini may be a bit big for you. I need to do an update post on the strip. Unfortunately we had some not so nice weather right after planting and my Bhut Jolokias aren’t happy. No peppers as of yet, but some of the plants are beginning to bloom.
Nice garden Gildo!!!!! Thats what you call tight growing area and make the best of it. Ya going to mulch those babbies?