My Weird Luck with Habanero Gardening
A year or two ago, I planted habaneros for the first time. They tear me up, but I love the things and, used correctly in a recipe, they're not nearly as painful as you'd think.
Now, habaneros are supposed to have a sluggish flowering and production at first. Then, as the first round matures, they just explode to the point you can pull off 100 per plant. I planted 6 and had 1 survive. I suck at gardening.
That batch, the first round came out great, but there was an unexpected cold snap and the second half of the buds stunted to about the size of peas. I made chili paste out of them and called it a day.
I planted my second batch last summer. Mind you, these are supposed to have a cycle of around 12-16 weeks. Of course, this time of the 6 I planted 4 survived. Also, of course, given my suckitude at gardening, they took closer to 6 months to flower and bud into peppers. By that time, it was turning cold on the desert, and there were many nights I brought them inside once they flowered rather than have them chill overnight.
I had about 20 on the plants that flowered in the first phase and was tending them along nicely after the flowers fell and they started to form into peppers. Then Nat and I went to Quebec for xmas. Of the extensive laundry list of things I left for the house/dog sitter, one thing I didn't mention was to bring the pepper planter in if it were going to be colder than 40 at night.
Sure enough, there was a cold snap and the growing peppers stunted. Once again, they were about the size of peas. Now, mind you, this is a plant that has one continued flowering. It's NOT a perennial. It doesn't flower twice.
Despite the stunting, I didn't bother to rip out the plants because, hey, living plants are good, right?
Well, here it is, April 3, and I'll be dipped in shit if >4 months after the first flowering, I don't have half a dozen bloomed flowers and more than 200 buds showing promise on the 4 plants in the box.
I told my buddy Mario at work, who is a fucking maestro with anything having to do with chilies, that if they all come in he'll have about 120 habaneros to work with, seriously - 50 is about all I'll be able to use - and that I want 25 percent of whatever product he comes up with.
What I don't fucking get is... This is NOT the way habaneros are supposed to function. One flowering! That's it! How in the hell are my peppers lying dormant for 4 months then picking the slack back up?
Don't get me wrong, I'll take it, but this is outside the standard rules of botany, and it has me befuddled.
Now, habaneros are supposed to have a sluggish flowering and production at first. Then, as the first round matures, they just explode to the point you can pull off 100 per plant. I planted 6 and had 1 survive. I suck at gardening.
That batch, the first round came out great, but there was an unexpected cold snap and the second half of the buds stunted to about the size of peas. I made chili paste out of them and called it a day.
I planted my second batch last summer. Mind you, these are supposed to have a cycle of around 12-16 weeks. Of course, this time of the 6 I planted 4 survived. Also, of course, given my suckitude at gardening, they took closer to 6 months to flower and bud into peppers. By that time, it was turning cold on the desert, and there were many nights I brought them inside once they flowered rather than have them chill overnight.
I had about 20 on the plants that flowered in the first phase and was tending them along nicely after the flowers fell and they started to form into peppers. Then Nat and I went to Quebec for xmas. Of the extensive laundry list of things I left for the house/dog sitter, one thing I didn't mention was to bring the pepper planter in if it were going to be colder than 40 at night.
Sure enough, there was a cold snap and the growing peppers stunted. Once again, they were about the size of peas. Now, mind you, this is a plant that has one continued flowering. It's NOT a perennial. It doesn't flower twice.
Despite the stunting, I didn't bother to rip out the plants because, hey, living plants are good, right?
Well, here it is, April 3, and I'll be dipped in shit if >4 months after the first flowering, I don't have half a dozen bloomed flowers and more than 200 buds showing promise on the 4 plants in the box.
I told my buddy Mario at work, who is a fucking maestro with anything having to do with chilies, that if they all come in he'll have about 120 habaneros to work with, seriously - 50 is about all I'll be able to use - and that I want 25 percent of whatever product he comes up with.
What I don't fucking get is... This is NOT the way habaneros are supposed to function. One flowering! That's it! How in the hell are my peppers lying dormant for 4 months then picking the slack back up?
Don't get me wrong, I'll take it, but this is outside the standard rules of botany, and it has me befuddled.