Getting Ready for 2017 Chili Pepper Season

January 9, 2017 | Article Topics: , , ,

So it’s about that time — at least, that’s what I’m gathering after doing a bunch of reading. You see, I’ve had pepper plants before, but they were all purchased at local garden centers. This is the first year that I have attempted to grow my own from seed, both purchased and those I harvested from plants last Autumn. It’s a big jump for me as a “gardener” so I’m keeping it small.

Seed for 2017 Pepper Season

As seen above, the seeds I’m going to attempt to germinate and hopefully grow into fiery goodness are:

  • Chocolate Bhutlah
  • Carolina Reaper
  • 7 Pot Yellow
  • Bhut Jolokia
  • Peach Bhut Jolokia
  • Orange Habanero
  • Tequila Sunrise

The Reaper, Bhut and Habanero seeds were all harvested from plants I purchased last spring. I have a a few envelopes of each dried at various small harvests. The Bhutlah, 7Pot and Peach Bhut are all, as you can see, from Puckerbutt Pepper Company. I’m pretty darn excited about those. The Tequila Sunrise I know nothing about except my kid picked them up for me on a trip to the hardward store, so we’ll see how that one goes.

Now, I’m a novice a this. I’ve got no grow lights, no tent or anything like that. Next week, I’m going to utilize the “two cup” method for my seedlings and rest them in two south-facing windows that get a ton of sunlight throughout the day. It’s currently 19° outside so this is really the only option I’ve got.

The plan is to try and germinate a variety of about 25 seeds, though I only (I hope) plan on keeping ten-twelve of them plus my two overwintered plants (a Reaper and a Bhut Jolokia). Wish me luck.