# Growing peppers?



## jelly_shrimp (Apr 17, 2009)

I know this is my third thread in 3 days, but bear with me. At this moment I have 6 ghost chili peppers that I got from thinkgeek (a nerdy website) growing in the pot they came in. Now, these are tropical plants that like warmth, and humidity. Two things I can't provide from a windowsill in Colorado.... 6 have sprouted (why I said I have 6) more might be on the way, I have no clue. I feel they would flourish in a terrarium environment, and since I'm not keeping frogs, JUST plants, do you think it's worth giving a shot? I'd love to try it, and what could go wrong?

And I tried searching for this thinking I can't be the first one to think of growing peppers, and I only found 2 pages of results, and none of them seemed to relate to this at all.


----------



## WeeNe858 (Sep 13, 2010)

since those plants are just starting out, placing them in a viv would be like placing plantlets in greenhouses or grow out systems. The high humidity and warm substrate will foster good growth. Not sure about the plants overall tolerance to humidity though. You should check that out.


----------



## Judy S (Aug 29, 2010)

it might make for an interesting way to carry the plants along for a while...but they like intense heat and sunlight...and will outgrow a terrarium pretty quickly. They will not produce peppers unless you hand pollinate the blossoms...unless the variety is self-pollinating. Just have fun with them...but don't mix up any salsa yet...


----------



## jelly_shrimp (Apr 17, 2009)

Judy S said:


> it might make for an interesting way to carry the plants along for a while...but they like intense heat and sunlight...and will outgrow a terrarium pretty quickly. They will not produce peppers unless you hand pollinate the blossoms...unless the variety is self-pollinating. Just have fun with them...but don't mix up any salsa yet...


They do grow peppers, no pollination required. I do have to trim it down first before it does though, per included instructions. They like 100% sunlight and I can't provide that otherwise without freezing them, so a viv is my best bet.


----------



## Dizzle21 (Aug 11, 2009)

My biggest question.... Are you going to eat these?


----------



## jelly_shrimp (Apr 17, 2009)

Dizzle21 said:


> My biggest question.... Are you going to eat these?


Yes I will


----------



## tclipse (Sep 19, 2009)

jelly_shrimp said:


> Yes I will


Translation - "They will end up in my friends' cheeseburgers"


----------



## frogparty (Dec 27, 2007)

peppers like it much hotter than a frog viv. If you want good indoor production Id set them up hydroponically under HPS lighting


----------



## Rhesus Feist (Jan 20, 2011)

Frogparty, he is actually doing an animal-less terrarium.

The problem that you will run into: if you want lush moss and jungle and such, it wont do very well under the intense light and higher heat the pepper plants will need. You might be able to grow them out in pots in the viv for awhile until it gets warm enough for you to move them outside where they can get the full sun they need. If you do this you will need to move them outside gradually, the change in light and humidity could hurt them.


----------



## Art A (Nov 6, 2007)

I grow many different types of super hots and growing seedlings in a vivarium will work for a short period of time. It will be much like my set up for starting from seed. Seed starting tray, rapid rooter plugs, dome and heat pad set at ~85f. You have to be carful with prolonged humidity as the starts could have a problem with dampening off. The constant humidity will cause fungus growth which can kill the young plant. You should be fine in a window sill until the weather begins to warm. Another problem you will run into is these plants can get pretty big. I have seen ghost chili plants over 6'. My biggest plants last year only got to 4' as the weather was really wacky during late spring into summer. 

Here are some of my plants from last season.


----------



## Rhesus Feist (Jan 20, 2011)

If you're worried about humidity for the seedlings in a windowsill in dry Colorado, you can take a bowl or high sided dish larger than the plant pot, fill it with gravel or something to keep the plant pot off the bottom of the dish and put a small amount of water in the dish under the plant. You dont want the plant pot touching the water or it will get water logged. Leave at least a 1/4 inch or so between the water surface and the plant pot. As the water evaporates from the dish, it will slightly raise the humidity around the plant.


----------



## Judy S (Aug 29, 2010)

The damping off problem is usually avoided by having a top dressing of milled spagnum moss which is generally sterile...and if damping off does occur- can be resolved fairly easily by using the appropriate chemical against fungus...


----------



## sampson1269 (May 4, 2010)

check out a site called pepper joes, they have tons of info on growing all types of hot peppers


----------



## Brotherly Monkey (Jul 20, 2010)

Art A said:


> I grow many different types of super hots and growing seedlings in a vivarium will work for a short period of time. It will be much like my set up for starting from seed. Seed starting tray, rapid rooter plugs, dome and heat pad set at ~85f. You have to be carful with prolonged humidity as the starts could have a problem with dampening off. The constant humidity will cause fungus growth which can kill the young plant. You should be fine in a window sill until the weather begins to warm. Another problem you will run into is these plants can get pretty big. I have seen ghost chili plants over 6'. My biggest plants last year only got to 4' as the weather was really wacky during late spring into summer.
> 
> Here are some of my plants from last season.


How big was your harvest and how do you normally go about preserving them?


----------



## FrogNub (Aug 5, 2009)

I have always wondered....why does anyone possibly need a pepper that hot? 

One pepper could make a years supply of hot sauce - you could supply an army with pepper spray!


----------



## froggymike (Jan 11, 2010)

Do I see chocolate habaneros, and devils tongue in there.
I will be trying my green thumb this summer with 5 varieties of super-hots.
Dorset-Naga, Ghost, Devil's Tongue, Chocolate Habanero, and Butch-T Trinidad Scorpions.


----------



## Art A (Nov 6, 2007)

Judy S said:


> The damping off problem is usually avoided by having a top dressing of milled spagnum moss which is generally sterile...and if damping off does occur- can be resolved fairly easily by using the appropriate chemical against fungus...


Judy, I found that if I had anything that held too much moisture around the stock it would cause cause problems. The weather this past season was a bit off and had many cool days most likely attributing to the the occasional dampening off.





sampson1269 said:


> check out a site called pepper joes, they have tons of info on growing all types of hot peppers


Another good site is thehotpepper.com



Brotherly Monkey said:


> How big was your harvest and how do you normally go about preserving them?


The harvest was more than I was able to keep up with. I had over 100 plants and it was only my son and I that were consuming them. I think I was pulling 30-40 pods per plant every couple of weeks. I shared a lot with family and friends and I didn't preserve any last season but will this year.



froggymike said:


> Do I see chocolate habaneros, and devils tongue in there.
> I will be trying my green thumb this summer with 5 varieties of super-hots.
> Dorset-Naga, Ghost, Devil's Tongue, Chocolate Habanero, and Butch-T Trinidad Scorpions.


Yes, chocolate habs, but no devil's tongue. They were yellow bhuts. Good luck with your super hots this year.


----------

