[CH] This & That
Paul Richards (paular@zoo.co.uk)
Sun, 6 Jun 1999 22:28:27 +0000
I seem to have been too busy of late to keep up with the digests, but I
finally have a little time spare to tap out a few lines.
Firstly, many thanks to Jim C. for the surprise package a little over a
week ago - a bottle of Fiery Hot Habanero Sauce. Not as hot as I expected
(which means you can splosh it over your food more liberally!), but the
legendary heat of the Savina is well evident. I went straight out to buy a
portion of wings to test it - yum.
A couple of recent post have mentioned the smell of peppers from the plant
itself. I had to cut out an Aji Yellow (Amarillo?), from a pot with two
seedlings - suddenly the room was full of a Habanero/Scotch Bonnet aroma -
only without the heat and with a hint of berries. If the plant smells this
good, I can't wait to taste the fruits!
This is the first year that I have been a bit more serious about growing
peppers (ie. I have purchased or obtained seeds, rather than just planting
the seeds from a pod tthat I have eaten)
So far things are going well, one Aji is now about 4 feet tall (another two
are only half that). One of the pair of Rocoto's (thanks Cameron) is
flowering & may even produce a pod in a day or two. This plant is inside on
a sunny window cill, the one outside is growing bigger, but not flowering.
I have a pair of purple Serranos, both of which now have fruit, which seem
to going a very dark black (purle?!) on the sunny side. Interestingly, one
plant has completely purple flowers, the other has white flowers with a
purple edge. The latter seems a bit deformed - as it grew, it looked as if
something was eating it's leaves - yet there was no way for anything to get
at it. It's ok now - but still has mutant shaped leaves.
Of the other plants, I have a Sante Fe Grande, which is setting fruit,
Mulato Islenos & Pasilla Bajios which are flowering, while the pair of
Tabascos are growing slowly. Irritatingly, only one of five Cubanelles
germinated.
Of the over-wintered plants, two "Habaneros" are doing well, in different
ways. One is bushing & flowering madly, but setting no fruit, the other has
hardly recovered from it's winter leaf loss & yet has several small pods,
one of which is already red.
My biggest grumble is that my plants tend to be quite scrawny, & don't
branch & bush much. I have tried pinching off the tips, or the first few
flowers, but don't notice much diference. Guess it''s just the lousy UK
climate...
On a positive note, I sam managing to get a few CH converts. With it being
Salsa season, I have been making frequent batches of fruit salsa
(Mango,Pineapple or Papaya with a couple of Scotch Bonnets). Friends
initial reaction is "****! That's ridiculously hot". But the bowl is always
empty by the end of the evening!
Paul