Pepper lovers - need your advice

10 years ago

I love cayenne pepper, so I'm growing a bunch of them to crush and make powder, but I also was given some pequin pepper seeds. I don't know anything about it, except that it's twice as hot as cayenne (yikes) and I plan to use it in chilis and such, and to grow as a bonchi (bonsai peppers). I have become fascinated with this bonchi technique, since I have so little room and want to grow some small ornamental peppers.

So how hard is pequin to grow in zone 9? How much does it fruit? Are the fruits better used green or red? Fresh or dried?

Here is some more info on bonchi if you're interested. I want to do a few of the multi-colored peppers too.

Bonchi Peppers

Featured Answer

plantsman56

10 years ago

last modified: 10 years ago

The Pequins and Chilpetins make great bonsai plants because of the small leaves. They take almost two years to get a decent size. If you grow it without the root restrictions you will probably be using, a big plant can have 2000 peppers at one time. People usually make flakes or powder out of those after they turn red. You will love having a grinder, it makes the powder very fine, which speeds up the taste of the heat because you absorb it easier. I got one about 3 years ago and have made several pounds of powder over the years.

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Comments (8)

whgille
10 years ago
Wow! Dirtygardener, please keep us up dated if you decide to do the bonsai with the peppers. It looks like it requires a lot of time and patience and I am sure trial and error till you learn the technique. I don't think that I am going to sign for that.:)

Growing hot peppers any other way is very easy, they always do better than the sweet ones for me. As far as cooking, if it is too hot I just use less, a good and inexpensive way to try a variety of hot peppers is to buy them dry in the ethnic markets in your area, they last forever that way, I keep them in glass containers. Collecting herb and spices is my hobby.:)

Silvia
User
Original Author
10 years ago
Hi Silvia! I love all the new, beautiful ornamental peppers. I've seen people who have whole borders of them, and keep them trimmed back, so I don't know if bonsai would be that hard or not. I have more trouble with the sweet peppers than the hot peppers down here. They grow well, but they don't bear well and never live past one season. I want to get some of the mini-bell seeds and try to bonsai those. I know, crazy, but when you don't have much space, you'll try anything. LOL
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garden_gal_fl (z10)
10 years ago
The bonchi peppers look amazing in the link. It might be nice for the hotter peppers.
writersblock (9b/10a)
10 years ago
I've always thought that the bonchi peppers are just beautiful. Be sure to post photos if you try it.

For pequin, I don't know anything about growing it, but I assume that it's pretty much like any other pepper that way. The fruits are very tiny but there should be a lot of them if it's happy.

The only way I've ever seen it used is ripened all the way and dried, then either whole or flakes, depending on the recipe.
User
Original Author
10 years ago
I'm looking for a coffee grinder to use exclusively to make pepper powder. I usually just chop up dried cayennes and put them into things whole, but this pequin sounds like one bite would send you running for the milk and bread!
User
Original Author
10 years ago
last modified: 10 years ago
plantsman56, Thanks so much for that info. I heard they get pretty big and scraggly if you plant them in the ground. The peppers are just so cute, I think they will be a very pretty bonsai, and one I will use the peppers from. I'm trying to grow as many peppers to store as I can. I really love cayenne, but the pequin has a nice, smoky flavor that is great in chili also.

The ones growing for bonsai will be in a 2-gallon pot until they are put into their little bonsai trays. I was figuring on about 2 years.
plantsman56
10 years ago
last modified: 10 years ago
I'm growing about 300 pepper plants right now and about 24 different types, but I'm afraid most if them are hotter than you may be interested in. If you are making powder, what does it hurt to have something hotter? Just use less powder. I have reds, yellows, chocolates, and peaches, and they all have a different flavor profile that you would use for different kinds of foods. Then, if you are making powder, you can mix it up and smoke the fresh peppers in a smoker for about 4 hours, and then finish drying them in the dehydrator. Your smoked powders will have totally different flavors when you use hickory, pecan, peach, or apple wood. Apple wood smoked powder is just to die for!

It takes 2-3 years for the stems to get woody looking, so when the plant is in the first year, you can wire the stem to shape it like if you are going for the wind swept shaping, or something like that.