they will turn orange or red. but when they change color they usually get sweeter. i live here in texas so i have to shade mine. i just keep them picked so they will keep producing faster. about three of four inches long.

wow steven your plants are big; they cant be this years plants. Do you over winter? How old are those?

i live here in ft hood area central texas. they are three months old.
the more you pick, the faster they grow. the habs in front and bhuts to the right are loaded down. waiting for them to turn orange.
this will be the first year that i want to over winter, never have tried it before. trying to get a potting soil that will work. looking at the 5-1-1. seems pretty good. just hard to find ingredients.

Steven1032: I am no expert, but what you have growing there is actually a Hot Hungarian Wax IMO. I thought I was growing bananas last year and found out otherwise. The Hungarians have upward pointing fruit just like yours. I planted Sweet Bananas this year, and while the fruits are similar, they hang downward as expected. I am guessing if you inspect the fruits, they will be very smooth skinned. A banana will be less smooth and are usually longer, skinnier and a bit more pointed.

Here is a close up of one of my Banana's from this year:

Here are some of my Hot Hungarian Wax from last year:

It could just be semantics as HHW and Hot Banana Peppers are names used interchangeably.
Bruce

your right. label said hot banana peppers. i bought them for my wife. she likes them and the cabanelle. i grew the sweet banana pepper last year. i got so many bhuts but only two chocolate habaneros. i have never tasted a choc hab. people say they are good, wish i knew.

Yep, Bruce beat me to it ;-)
Those are Hungarian Wax peppers, Steven.
No matter, the flavor and heat are very similar to Hot Bananas...it's just the set and
the shape/texture that are markedly different.

Great Banana pic, Bruce.

Josh

I believe Hot Bananas are actually misnamed, and are actually Hungarian Wax. From all I can tell, they are the same plant, and Hot Banana is just a slang name for them. I think possibly one source of this misnaming is the hot pepper rings you buy at the store use the name Hot Bananas as an ingredient for marketing rather then Hungarian Wax.

But then again, what is in a name? Renaming of items for marketing purposes is a very common practice.

I agree with Capoman. I think the Hot Banana is actually Hot Hungarian Wax.
Bruce

your right. i did not know they put generic names for certain peppers;

I'm confused, guys.

Are you saying that Hungarian Wax and Hot Banana are the same plant?
Or are you saying that the peppers in this particular Thread were mislabeled?

I can assure you, these are two distinct cultivars.

Josh

sounds like a lot of growers call hungarian wax, hot banana peppers. looks like thats what happened in my case.
from what i read from "capoman" the naming is like texans calling a hungarian wax a hot banana pepper
and people up north calling a hungarian wax a hungarian wax.

Just to be perfectly clear: They are different plants. Not the same.

I can understand the confusion for those who haven't grown them before,
but they have distinct pods and pod-setting habits.

Josh

Josh,
for my benefit and seemingly a lot of others, please explain the differences (ie: Scovilles, growing habits, color, size, etc...) that you know of between:

1. Hot Hungarian Wax Pepper
2. Sweet Banana Pepper
3. Hot Banana Pepper

Every time I think I have got a handle on it, someone posts something that completely confuses me again.
Bruce

Sure thing, Bruce!

Hungarian Wax - pods set upright, then hang downward once they have some weight.
The skin of the pod is smooth and waxy; the pod is a more consistent thickness
from the shoulder to the tip, with only a slight curvature and taper towards the tip.

Hot Banana - pods set downward from the start. The skin isn't as waxy, and has a slight
texture. The pods are often widest at the shoulder, with more curvature along the length,
as well as more pronounced "ribs" or lobes, or whatever they're called. The pods tend to
have a more pointy tip, not as blunt as the Hungarian.

Scovilles seem to be in the same ballpark, although I think one of the Hot Bananas
that I ate was hotter than any Hungarian that I've had...so take that for what it's worth.

Sweet Banana...never grown it, no idea what it's like.

Josh

Cool, thanks Josh.

I would like to see some info on the differences between Sweet Banana Peppers and Hot Banana Peppers. Anyone????

I sliced my Hot Hungarians last year and cold canned them for sandwiches. They were just about right in heat by my standards. My father wanted less heat, that is why I am growing the SWEET Banana peppers this year. I am wondering just how hot the sweet ones are and what differences between the sweet and hot bananas there are besides heat.

I purchased some store "SWEET" Banana Pepper slices last year after I ran out thinking they would have little to no heat. They were about the same heat as my Hot Hungarian Wax slices. But they were labeled as Sweet and I think they were.

I suppose I can just wait until my Sweet banana Peppers are ready to pick this year but I am interested in what to expect.
Bruce

thanks for the info. looks like i got duped.

Ouch, my head hurts now.

don555: I am just waiting until someone asks about a Sweet Hungarian Wax???

Josh, that has not been my experience. Every plant I've seen sold as Hot Banana has had upright pods initially, just like any plant call Hot Hungarian Wax.

Capo,
what about the other tell-tale characteristics?
Are you saying that the Hot Banana set upright, then developed all the secondary
pod characteristics that I mentioned above? Or did the pods go on to resemble Hungarians?

I just assume that most folks are actually getting Hungarians sold as Hot Bananas.
If you've seen the two growing side by side, there really should be no confusion (barring a hybrid).

Josh