My Favorite Pepper Varieties 2021 | Pepper Growing Tips

[@hughjass1835]

Nothing Italian about Ajvarski peppers, they're Eastern European, mostly known in Hungary and Poland, Serbia and Croatia grow them too.

[@juliekooiker3408]

I’m watching again! I like this content for your growing zone

[@rootsanddirt]

Wonderful! I just launched a few courses that will be from the northern gardeners perspective if you pop on over to the website. I also have some blog posts over there you may find helpful. Thanks for watching!

[@mongjedi244]

Baker Creek Heirloom is one of my favorite places for seeds. I always have amazing results

[@musthavemoxie]

So glad I came across your video! Its my first year trying Ajvarski, Lesya, and Habanada. I started mine mid-Jan because all my starts last year (hots) failed miserably when I started mid-March. Now I’m faced with really big plants as of March 5!

[@rootsanddirt]

Yes! Those are the trials and errors of starting out. You could prune them back to force them to branch if you find they are getting too large too soon. And make sure you pot them up so they don't become root bound. Sounds like you're doing a great job!

[@useriusphantom]

@@rootsanddirt "Lesia(Леся)" Is one of ukrainian peppers, this word mean a woman name. I also growing habanada and trinidad perfume first year, i never taste such flavours what they have before.

[@coolmantoole]

I love this very practical video on pepper varieties. I grow peppers in an urban hobby farm in SE Georgia and sell my peppers at a local farmers market. Generally, Capsicum chininse (habanero & ghost pepper types) do better in my hot wet climate. I've been looking for a good Italian type pepper that ripens better in our climate than the Giant Marconi which you typically see here. Our issue is not a short season of course but the peppers rotting before they ripen due to high moisture and lots of heat and disease pressure. This year I will be trialing the Ajvarski pepper for the first time and see if it does better than Giant Marconi. My advice for people growing sweet C. annum type peppers in South Georgia is forget ripening them in before September. You are better off using them green, and the plants will more likely survive our terrible July and August conditions that way. Once September rolls around things cool and become a bit less humid, and your plants will be a lot happier and will ripen peppers better. You can get decent ripe peppers until frost gets them towards the end of November. I give my peppers a good shot of calcium nitrate in early July to temporarily suppress pod production and stimulate a flush of leaves which helps the plants survive the stressful late summer conditions. The calcium in the calcium nitrate also helps prevent blossom end rot in fall months when you want to ripen peppers. But yes, I totally agree, pick that first flush of oversized peppers while they are green. This is just especially important here in SE Georgia.

[@rootsanddirt]

Wonderful! We can have the same problem with rot occasionally as we tend to be very humid here in the summer, although last year we were in a drought. I will often pick my large peppers when they are about half ripe. They will continue to ripen inside and then I don't loose them to pest and rot if that is a problem that season. Best to you and your gardening this season!

[@commandererwin2846]

Thank you for a very informative video. I’ve been planning to buy Lesya pepper and so far there are few videos about it. Glad you discussed it. ☺️

[@rootsanddirt]

I think you'll be happen with the variety! I've grow for three years now and every season it produces better than the last.

[@chadburke1938]

Growing sugar rush peach and puma for the first time this year. Growing lemon drop, a longtime fave, and padron (similar to shishitos) and a couple of others.

[@coolmantoole]

Seeing your 2021 publishing date, I'm guessing that you have discovered by now that Habanada is a very late ripening pepper even by habanero standards. I very much like it, and many of my costumers like it, but I don't get very many ripe habanadas until mid to late Aughust if I start the plants in February. This year I'm trialing four additional very low heat habanero varieties. All four of these are heirlooms from the tropics, but I got my seed from companies in the NE USA. Maybe one or more of them will be faster ripening and therefore work better in your climate. The first is the Grenada Seasoning pepper which is a large pod yellow habanero supposedly with no heat to barely detectable heat. The second is Zavory Habanero which is an average size red habanero with supposedly barely detectable heat. The third is Trinidad perfume which is a yellow almost Scotch bonnet looking pepper with low heat. Fourth is the Frontiera pepper from the Canary Islands which is a nearly heatless Scotch bonnet with a Scotch bonnet flavor profile. Two other C. chininse varieties that I'm trialing for jalapeno level heat are the Coffee Pepper which is a brown habanero and the Naga Smoky Rainbow which is a ghost pepper hybrid. I for one am most excited about the Naga Smoky Rainbow because I'm hoping it will win over costumers who like heat but are scared to try ghost peppers.

[@musthavemoxie]

Very helpful to know about Habanada. Its my first try growing them and I started the seeds mid-January.

[@rootsanddirt]

Yes! I don't know that I will grow the Habanada this coming season. Although we did still get a large crop from them and they were very easy to rinse and chuck in a pickling brine for the fridge. We grow a chocolate habanero last year and it was beautiful. Most of our chilis are quite hot. I've really come to love Apocalypse Scorpion and Death Spiral. Another favorite was is Puma which isn't as hot but has beautiful flavor. This season I'm trying a number of different heirloom seasoning peppers. I'm pretty sure one is Trinidad perfume. We definitely gravitate toward hotter varieties though. I keep testing low heat ones for selling to customers as most Minnesotans are not keen on heat. I'd be interested to hear what you find your customers like the most!

[@coolmantoole]

@@rootsanddirt favorite superhot is the mustard ghost pepper variety from Towns-End Chilli and Spice. I'm partial to the mustard varieties anyway. They have almost a spinach like earthiness to the flavor and very little bitterness for a superhot pepper.

[@juliekooiker3408]

I don’t understand why you don’t have more suscribers! Good content! Very good lighting and can hear you very clearly

[@rootsanddirt]

Hahaha you're too kind! I just started adding more videos on here this year at the request of some customers of mine. Glad you are enjoying them! Hoping to keep making more throughout the season.

[@David-ei1fs]

Fully ripe Black Hungarians taste fantastic when pickled with brine made from 1/1 cup vinegar water, 2 tbsp salt a small bit of sugar and place one allspice berry and one clove in each 16 oz jar. They ripen to an amazing ruby red.

[@C3Voyage]

Is your video backwards? Wondering if it's your upload/program or something with my player.

[@TheChristinaJo]

Fresno peppers are GOOD!

[@mysuburbanadventures9241]

Lots of great info I’m growing leysa this year can’t wait to try it after seeing your thanks for sharing

[@rootsanddirt]

We really enjoyed it! Enjoy your garden!

[@lindak3030]

I grew the Leysa peppers for the first time last year. They smell so good. I don't even like peppers and I'm growing them to dry and grind and to just smell in the garden. I would wear them as perfume.

[@rootsanddirt]

I have a bad sniffer and wish I could smell the fragrance as well as you! I will have to dry some this year. I bet they are wonderful ground into seasoning mixes!

[@Klingonmastr]

Fresno Peppers are good peppers for making into sauces or drying to make into chili powder. Another one worth trying is cowhorn peppers and they run no hotter than 5,000 Scoville units. Both of these peppers work as good substitutes for Jalapenos and provide more flavor.

[@alexgorron6470]

You give Drew Barrymore vibes. Hehe. Anyhow, I am growing Less this yr, Baker Creek was out of the first type you showed and I really wanted that.

[@alexgorron6470]

Err, not growing less, I typed Lesya peppers. Autocorrect hehe.

[@juliekooiker3408]

Your face is so expressive and beautiful I can’t stop watching your videos!! Great info! I live in mn

[@rootsanddirt]

Happy to meet another Minnesota gardener!

[@heatherfoley4945]

Hello, Do the sugar rush peach have a thicker or thinner wall? You made them sound yummy =)

[@rootsanddirt]

The Sugar Rush peach is a thinner walled pepper. Thin enough you could probably hang them in ristras for drying.

[@SlippyDude]

Small correction. Ajvarski are not Italian. They are a Macedonian variety. Bakers Creek has the backstory on its description. They are specifically used to make Ajvar, which is a Macedonian roasted red pepper spread usually mixed with eggplant, vinegar and salt.

[@rootsanddirt]

Yes! We made Ajvar this year. It was delicious!

[@meachster4316]

@@rootsanddirtand for clarity, it’s pronounced I-var-ski. The J is silent. The dish is called I-var.

[@cangel201]

Just a little hint. Anything with a -Ski suffix is always going to be of Slavic origin😉 never Italian

[@Mrjrd22]

I also love the Ajvarski peppers, just a little note: The J in the word is pronounced like a Y. More like Aye-Var-Ski. They're the peppers traditionally used to make Ajvar (Aye-Var) which is like a Serbian roasted red pepper sauce.

[@rootsanddirt]

Good to know! And that sounds delicious. I will have to look a recipe up for that this summer.

[@ollie54able]

Good information... thank you. Were you aware the all of the packages were like looking at them in a mirror... backwards. I grow several of the same varieties out here in CA.

[@rootsanddirt]

Hey there! Curious which of these do well for you out there so I can recommend them to others out your direction? And yes hahaha I was mostly just showing them for the picture so I wasn't concerned about the backward words, but I'll have to think about that for the future. Thanks for reaching out!

[@ollie54able]

@@rootsanddirt Good Evening,I let you know which of the new peppers I enjoy the most. Many seeds are slowly showing up... Blessings

[@AtlantaTerry]

Please, before you make another video, check your camera settings to see if there is an option to make any text in your video "right reading". (Why cell phone manufacturers can't have this option as their default is beyond me.) Terry Thomas Director of Photography Atlanta, Georgia USA

[@rootsanddirt]

Hahaha, yes, bothers me too. I took these videos knowing they were going to be backwards and was mainly showing for the pictures. Totally get it though, my main profession is in photography/website development. I will make sure they are properly set when making a video one needs to read! Thanks for watching!

[@buriruos8592]

your not in rochester are ya?

[@rootsanddirt]

I am not. I'm a few hours away from there!

[@mikej9062]

Someone get this girl a webcam that reads left to right.

[@rootsanddirt]

Hahaha I hear ya! I wasn't really planning on using the video for the wording and hadn't thought about it when publishing. Next time! Thanks for watching.

[@captainsalmonslayer]

i like video but why do Americans talk about picking off the vine with chilli/pepper. its in no way a vine.

[@johndurantos1480]

Reverse your camera picture. It show ne how inexpensive people are and how inconsiderate people are when this is done!!!!!!