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Native chile peppers

16 years ago

Does anyone have experience with any of the following? I'm interested in which ones will make the best tasting powder. Do any have "something special" that the others don't? I already grow Chimayo, and it does fairly well here in Ohio.

Alcalde

Casados Native

Isleta

Isleta Long

Negro

Negro de Valle

Vallero

San Juan "tsile"

Santo Domingo

Velarde

Zia Pueblo

Comments (6)

  • 16 years ago

    Not yet, but my seeds for about half of these varieties arrived a couple weeks ago, so I will have some experience next season.

  • 16 years ago

    Interesting - I've been growing peppers for years and have never heard of any of the peppers you listed as "native".

    I would consider any wild peppers as "native" - but in your list you have listed no native peppers.

    As far as growing peppers, I have found that keeping them semi shaded - they tend to do better than in full sun. It will also depend on what specific species you are growing.
    I have done well with the following:

    c. chacoense
    hawaiian kona's
    labuyo
    chiltepin (crossbred)
    purple maui
    dorset naga (miniaturized intentionally)
    7 pots (miniaturized intentionally)

    my bhut jolokia's and hawaiian kona's didnt produce fruit this year.

  • 16 years ago

    I use the term "native" for two reasons. The first is that they are sold by Native Seeds, and second is that they have been cultivated for an unknown period of time by local farmers, who themselves are descended from Native Americans and Spanish settlers. I view "Heirloom" to be more of something with a history or possible history (brought over by immigrants "as is" or developed by a certain person). I would say that Fatalli is a native African pepper rather than an Africn heirloom. Wild means wild.


    My problem is not with growing pepper plants, but with getting some of them to ripen before frost in large enough quantities to be worthwile. That is why the chilis from higher altitudes should work better for me. Over the past two years I've only gotten about 10% ripening on anchos and pasillas. Guajillos have done better.

  • 16 years ago

    my earliest producing and ripening pod for the last three years has been from a pueblo in new mexico and is called

    cochiti
    give it a try, you might like it

    i live at latitude 48 30 N....and so it will grow with northeren light limits.....good luck with it---bob

  • 15 years ago

    I used to grow a chile named vallero, but it was a little different from the variety described by Native Seeds. The one I grew ripened to a bright red, not the dark brownish color of the variety sold by Native Seeds. More importantly, Native Seeds' variety description says it is fleshy, while the one I grew was very thin-walled and made a nice, crispy dried chile for munching. One distinctive feature of my variety was that every pod had three lobes at the tip.

    My wife misses them and I've been looking for them for years. I'm pretty sure my original seed came from the late, great Flowery Branch Seed Co., which I miss a lot. The few places currently listing vallero seem to have the same variety as Native Seeds. Since my wife has gotten the chile bug again in a big way, maybe we'll get some and see whether they're close to what we used to grow.

    As for getting ancho peppers to ripen, I've had the same problem with open-pollinated varieties, especially the chocolate-brown one I like best. Hybrid varieties can make a big difference when you're battling a short season. An alternative is to grow them in pots and overwinter them indoors. Not only can you gain a week or two the first year, you can gain a lot of time in later years because you're starting the year with mature plants. I don't have indoor space for them anymore and can't do it now.

  • 15 years ago

    Of those, I've grown the Alcalde, Negro de Valle, San Juan "tsile" and Santo Domingo.

    The Negro de Valle had the strongest "red chile" flavor and is my favorite from NativeSeeds/SEARCH.

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