Late August 2020 Pepper Season Update

We’re well into nearing the peak of the 2020 season and a majority of my plants have been producing (and continue to produce) a good number of ripe fruit for enjoyment each day for the past couple of weeks. Those plants that haven’t offered up their tasty/fiery treats yet are close however. The Chocolate Reaper, Devil’s Brain, Ghostly Jalapeno and Mini Olive Rocoto all have green pods loaded on their branches – it’s just a matter of time now.

Self-Watering Buckets

Let’s start off this short update with the self-watering buckets. This grouping of plants haven’t really grown all that much more since the last time we checked in on them, but man, have they really started cranking out the peppers. I’ve gotten to enjoy plenty of Yellow Nagabrain, Apocalypse and, based on the first photo below, I’ll be making my first batch of sauce using the White Ghost very soon.

The Moruga Satan, CGN 21500 and, more recently, Ghorpion have also been gracious enough to share ripe peppers on a fairly continuous basis the past couple of weeks.

The only plants left in this section of the garden to produce ripened fruit are the Devil’s Brain and Ghostly Jalapeno. The brain is the closest of the two at the time of this writing, sporting a few pods with some color starting to show.

Raised Beds and Pots

While the self-watering bucket plants are doing great, the 24 plants resting in the raised beds continue to grow. Looking at the photos below, the bed height is 29 inches, but they are only about half full of soil. Some of these plants, like the Chocolate Bhutlah, are pushing five and a half feet tall. They are absolutely massive and in need of some pruning so I can successfully navigate amongst them in order to harvest peppers.

All but the Chocolate Reaper in the beds above have produced ripe fruit to enjoy. The Mini Olive Rocoto in one of the green pots is very close as well. The mild pepper plants in this area have been picked down in the hopes that they are able to start up another round of blossoms for the second half of the season.

As of yesterday, I had picked over 600 fresh peppers from my plants. I’m not sure, giving the rough start to the 2020 season, that I will reach the numbers I have harvested the past few seasons at this rate. Regardless, I have had the opportunity to taste and suffer the consequences of many new-to-me varieties and the ability to stock up the freezer on perennial favorites. Hopefully, the season continues to be so – forgive me – fruitful.