I like Serranos and they are the most widely used pepper for salsa.
I wouldn't call them wimpy at all as they are actually pretty hot.

Among my favorite peppers.I have grown several hundred varieties of peppers but for eating use mostly serrano or jalapeno.

Serrano,Stuard

Serrano,Purple

Serrano,Tampequino

Serrano,Hidalgo

My frig is full of serranos. I cook with them all the time. They are a nice temp for soups and salsas. Easy to grow and prolific.

Nice looking plant!

john

Thanks for the great pictures. Yes, it is a beautiful pepper and very tasty. The intent of this post was to generate some talk of this pepper. Not to belittle it. This pepper is an all around good eating pepper for many occasions. We are truly lucky to have so many little fruits to tantilize our, sometimes flat, tastebuds.
Viva Serrano.

Al

Serrano and Jalapeno give about the same yield per acre. Very high. Serrano are a little hotter.

However, I strongly advise to stay away from the new modern Serrano hybrids. they are not really serrano and are less hot then Jalapeno. some kind of fake pepper in my book. Blah. The seed companies push them on the growers because the yield per acre is higher. And the farmer is paid per ton of peppers. So the quality goes down the drain for profits.

Actually back about 1980 serrano and jalapeno used to give about 20 tons per acre which was high for a veggie. Now they have pushed them to about 50 tons per acre with the hybrids. So the originals are in danger of extinction. Even the Mexican regions are switching to the high yield hybrids. The seed companies are taking over slow but sure.

SAVE THOSE SEEDS.

So does anyone have a few seeds, non-hybrid, I can SASE.
Just email me.

Thanks

Al

I don't know what kind of serranos you have been eating, but I've had serranos in Mexico that would lock your ankles up.

Chiles for the Gringo market will be milder.

They're on their way.

Willard3 posted "Chiles for the Gringo market will be milder."

The American Heritage Dictionary classify gringo as "offensive slang," "usually disparaging," and "often disparaging."

Al

>The American Heritage Dictionary classify gringo as >"offensive slang," "usually disparaging," and "often >disparaging."

....Correct........

The Wikipedia entry for gringo includes the words "Anglophones may consider the word pejorative, and dictionaries such as the American Heritage Dictionary classify gringo as "offensive slang," "usually disparaging," and "often disparaging."[2] However, Hispanophones disagree on whether or not gringo is derogatory; it is not considered as such by the authoritative Diccionario de la lengua española de la Real Academia Española."
Like a lot of such descriptions I think it depends on the intention of the user.
Brien

So I can use any offensive slang, as long I have the "right" intention. Sorry, that doesn't wash for me. I took it as offensive. So laugh it off.

I know Willard was not intending to offend anyone. Lighten up. I lived in Hawaii for three months and the term 'Haole' can be derogatory or simply mean foreigner.

john

In Mexico and SA, gringo is used exactly as we use latino....it is descriptive.

It is pejorative only in the eye of the beholder.

I wouldn't use an English dictionary for Spanish language definitions................

Thanks Willard for clarifying where you were coming from with this. I was a little confused myself by your first comeback, but I'm cool with it now. Some gringos seem a little uptight when dealing with racial and cultural issues, have you noticed.

I have found that gringos are not well thought of in some parts of the world, can't imagine why.... But I don't have any problem with the word itself.

Well when I go to Mexico, I will choose not to be ignorant of their culture and language. When you come here, or onto a forum where most are from the USA, you should respect their language and culture. I can go on and on about this, but I choose not to.

You knew what you were doing, implying that white people need wimpier peppers, and you knew you were going to get a reaction about using the word Gringo. So please don't lecture us about your culture when you're obviously trolling. And I'm sorry my dictionary doesn't have the definition of Trolling in Mexican Spanish.

I don't have a problem with the word itself, it's just the hypocrisy and the fact he wanted the reaction. To sit there and say you're surprised about it and we're ignorant is just going to reinforce a bad reaction.

Hotpepper--lighten up and get off that high horse. Talk about judgemental. Where do you think Willard is from?

I'm not on any high horse, Where willard is from is irrelevant. Everyone's entitled to be offended except white people and Americans I guess.

So, uh...

Does anyone around here grow peppers?

Actually I am growing Serranos this year for the first time. I got some seeds as a surprise in a trade and they are doing well as seedlings thus far. I really enjoyed Rick's picture of his plant and hope that my Serrano plants are as lovely as his.

You know, it amazes me that something as tiny as a seed can sprout and turn into a 'fruit' bearing plant... basically before our eyes. I look at my plants and think, they will never be ready by early April (I hope) but of course they will!!!

...thanks Steve.. ;)

Serranos are a great pepper to have around. I've had four plants (all serrano tampiquenos) in the ground overwinter while still producing pods this year. So it's definitely been my most used pepper over the past couple of months. They always seem mellower whenever they've ripened to red in my garden, and when grown near the coast.

I have some Serrano's in the ground and they are 5 ft. high and covered in flowers and small fruit, but I can see that I am going to have trouble ripening them before the frosts (it is late summer here in New Zealand). So I am going to try digging one plant out and putting it in a pot so that I can shift it to a frost sheltered spot. Can I get away with this without having to prune off all of the fruit and flowers? What is the minimum pruning that I should do?
Brien

fiedlermeister, How prolific is that purple serrano? I may have to grow that just to see such a huge, beautiful pepper.

What serrano would be best for a farmers market?

I didn't note productivity so probably not out of the ordinary. My notes say mild heat with a nice sweet taste.

john

I have a couple of serrano pepper plants myself but I find that they aren't turning red AT ALL. I live in Indiana and I am tired of waiting until God knows when to see a color change. Can the peppers turn red after being picked green off the plant?

whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa fellas

lemme just say as a first time gardener this year i grew some serranos and they have become..as far as taste my favorite...so i just want to say viva la serrano

and on the whole gringo thing...eh...im a gringo...and i dont care either way

viva la gringo!

(Wouldn't that be "Viva la gring[a]!" / "Viva [el] gringo!"?) ;)

These are NOT wimpy peppers. Pretty damn hot!

heck if i know i never took spanish

VIVA LA NEVER TOOK SPANISH!

Be patient on them turning red. They seem to be a late turner. I've grown them for several years and they are always last to turn.
Yes they can still turn red after picking them. I wouldn't recommend it tho.
Serrano peppers are on the hot side. They can light up a salsa pretty good. They have alot of production and continue to bloom and germinate into the late fall.
I'm in central Illinois and they grow great here.

lol...you're crackin me up, juicyj. =) On the subject of the post, this is my first year growing Serrano's. They do seem easy to grow. My plant has probably 30-40 that i'll pick within the next week or two and many many more close behind them. Here's a pic of just a small section of the top.

My Serrano Peppers are bright red. I left them on the vine for a few weeks after they turned red. They are not at all hot. Can anyone help?

Serranos are about my favorite for cooking. Like Cayenne in heat, approaching Thai, and great flavor.

Maybe yours cross-pollinated with a sweet variety? I had some Thai peppers do that this year...they were worthless and I threw them out.

Rick