1st pepper of 2018 ... Zone 5A

[rhines81]

Indoor Jalapeno growing (3 plants in a 15 gallon pot).



... and 3 more are forming, each plant has at least 1 pepper so far. First harvest by the end of May maybe?

[Worth1]

Disqualified, no indoor peppers allowed.

Worth

[rhines81]

Originally Posted by Worth1

Disqualified, no indoor peppers allowed.

Worth

[ako1974]

Wow, very nice. Are they overwintered? What kind of light are you putting on them?

[rhines81]

Originally Posted by ako1974

Wow, very nice. Are they overwintered? What kind of light are you putting on them?

Seed started on Jan 1st. They have been under T5 lights in 3-1/2 square x 6" deep pots until yesterday. 2 of the plants were topped and pruned once, one just left to grow as-is. The 2 topped plants have much thicker stems and are bushier, but all have peppers growing. The earliest pepper is on one the topped plants (maybe coincidence). The 1st flush of flowers were plucked, so these are peppers from the 2nd flush of flowers. Plant height is only 8-12". Nice root system.

[jillian]

Congrats, looks great. Last year I grew 3 padron plants in a 20 gallon container and they seemed to love it, plants got huge and were very productive. I am going to do more of the 3 of a kind per 20 gallon this year. A 15/20 gallon also stands up much better to thunderstorms, it's a win win!

[Goodloe]

I'm with Worth, you cheater! Really, it's just jealousy....

[Worth1]

Not only is it indoors it is last years double cheat.

Worth

[GoDawgs]

Nice goin'! I've got a few little babies starting on the bucket-grown Gypsy I've overwintered. She goes outside on nice days. Lots of flowers I've hand pollinated when she's had to stay inside during cold spells. This year she goes out into the garden. Woo hoo! Freedom!

[clkeiper]

good for you! anyway you can get one as long as you grew it is fair. for the first time ever I wintered over a pepper intentionally. a bhut jolokia. it has little flowers buds just getting ready to open.

[rhines81]

Here it is over 3 years later since I started growing the Biker Billy Jalapenos indoors in a 15 gallon pot.... 1 of the the 3 plants died last year, but the other two are still growing strong. They look scraggly and I am very neglectful of them. They are lucky to get watered weekly. Sunlight by the window is all they have have.
Let me tell you something... these gosh darnoodley peppers, in the past 6 months, are the hottest jalepenos I've ever eaten (I'd estimate 50K scovilles)... going into year 4 with indoor plants and I am amazed. The yield is low when I don't pay attention to them (about a dozen peppers/month). When I coddle them, I can double that, but I really don't need to for my daily use.
I've never had to wipe my eyes after eating a jalapeno before, but going into year 4 with the same plants, these are putting out some serious heat.

[Goodloe]

Any ideas about the increased heat level in the last 6 months...? Seems odd, but I notice that all my peppers seem hotter with less watering.

[rhines81]

It could very well be the lack of water. All I know is that one day I chopped a couple up to add to my salad and my mouth was seriously in flames, they never were like that before. I still get a mild one here and there, but for the most part the plants are producing consistent scorches now. I let them all turn a deep red before harvesting them. I've learned now to test each one before adding them to recipes to avoid ruining a batch of whatever by over-spicing.

[JRinPA]

I'll bet it's the water but plant maturity...maybe?



I bought Jalafuego F1 seed from johnny's a few years back, and they were consistently very hot, much hotter than the normal "early jalapeno" I had grown before. Hot and prolific and big. I ran out of F1 seed and have been growing from saved Jalafuego seed, I guess a pseudo F2. I do think they are more varied in both heat and size, now, but still better than early jalapeno and very prolific.


We stuffed and froze a bunch this year, but they were about the first frozen bags to run out. I should have buried some deep down in the freezer I guess.

[rhines81]

I remember a few years back I was swearing off 'hybrid' plants that I could not save seed from to reproduce. I planted the final seeds from the biker billy jalapenos that I had and committed to find out how long I could sustain them as an indoor plant. I am amazed at the results, but even more-so amazed at the recent switch in their production to 'very hot'. Maturity or lack of care/water, I am not certain of. It really seemed to happen all of a sudden and has been the same since.