First Plants of 2017 Chili Season Have Arrived

A little over a week ago, I began my first foray into germinating my first batches of pepper seeds. I don’t have any special set up as you can read in that previous post, so my expectations were fairly low upon starting this endeavor. And yet, a mysterious (and slightly teasing) text message from the wife during the work day yesterday gave me reason for hope.

Upon arriving home late in the evening, I was greeted by, not only the sprouted Tequila Sunrise peppers above, but three other plans, as well! To say my head split in two with a silly smile of both relief and joy would be an understatement. I’ve never eaten one of these peppers before, but now it looks like I’ll have the opportunity to sample from a few plants, providing I don’t do something stupid to destroy them.

And while I was excited to see the above sprouts, I was thrilled to see the two Peach Bhut Jolokias below that had also appeared yesterday. I purchased these seeds from Puckerbutt Pepper Company and are also ones that I had never eaten before.

So far, I’m two out of four when it comes to purchased seeds and while that’s pretty damn cool, the fact that seeds I harvested and stored on my own (also a first time for me as a novice grower) have also sprouted just makes me as giddy as a school girl.

The above seedling is that of a Bhut Jolokia that I had collected last Fall. I believe this particular seed was stored in my cool basement instead of the fridge like a few of the others from last year. I can’t wait for this little guy to turn into a fire producing beast.

And last, but certainly not least… my first Carolina Reaper. This little one was also harvested after the season last Fall. That makes it two out of three for my harvested seeds with some orange habaneros still awaiting their debut to the world.