Growing Habaneros, Bhuts, Nagas, And Fataliis

[Grower]

I'm growing many varieties of C. chinense here, as well as Jalapenos and Tepins. It seems there are not many other growers of these capsicums here in Thailand. The few threads I've found don't seem to last long.

I've devoted the last year to finding out how to get these chilies to grow and thrive here in the LOS. It seems I'm enjoying a modest success;

This was yesterday. Below is my new project of drying ripe pods. I only used a third of my harvested pods because I haven't tried drying them before and don't want to screw up the whole harvest in case this fails;

Is there anybody else out there who is interested in this or doing this?

My plants are producing more than 30 pods a week and will likely increase as more plants come on line.

Cheers.

Edited September 13, 2010 by Grower

[IsaanAussie]

Yeah, we dry chilli much the same way, usually by putting the baskets on thr iron roof. The issue is is takes a long time and is labour intensive in having to load and unload every day, apart from monitoring weather and even birds.

I am thinking of constructing a simple solar convection drier from a few sheets of corrugated iron painted black and a glass plate over the top. That would ramp upwards to and into the base of a box with several layers of trays of fruit in racks. The fruit box also having a glass top. On the opposite side is an exit port. or chimney, this could have a small fan inside it to force the airflow. I figure it should speed up the drying process considerably.

Isaan Aussie

[Grower]

Yeah, we dry chilli much the same way, usually by putting the baskets on thr iron roof. The issue is is takes a long time and is labour intensive in having to load and unload every day, apart from monitoring weather and even birds.

I am thinking of constructing a simple solar convection drier from a few sheets of corrugated iron painted black and a glass plate over the top. That would ramp upwards to and into the base of a box with several layers of trays of fruit in racks. The fruit box also having a glass top. On the opposite side is an exit port. or chimney, this could have a small fan inside it to force the airflow. I figure it should speed up the drying process considerably.

Isaan Aussie

I sat down yesterday and drew up exactly the same idea. Putting the fan at the bottom of the inclined heating unit would avoid any dripping from clogging it up. I should think one wouldn't want a huge airflow to avoid cooling the solar unit too much. Might want a rheostat on that fan motor. Cheers.

[teletiger]

Is there much demand for this type of chilli in Thailand? I'm a big chilli fan, but find this type too hot generally. My favourite is the perfumed small birds-eye type.

Would putting foil on the wicker tray help dry them faster?

Regards.

[Grower]

Is there much demand for this type of chilli in Thailand? I'm a big chilli fan, but find this type too hot generally. My favourite is the perfumed small birds-eye type.

Would putting foil on the wicker tray help dry them faster?

Regards.

I think for the few people growing the superhots here there is a market. It may well be restaurants and farang oriented markets. We'll see.

I didn't do the foil because I'm concerned about air flow, especially during the rainy season and the Habaneros do sweat. They've got a fair amount of oil in them.

Edited September 14, 2010 by Grower

[PoorSucker]

Where are you located?

I tried to grow here on Samui but failed.

Thinking about trying at my house in Chiang mai.

[Grower]

Where are you located?

I tried to grow here on Samui but failed.

Thinking about trying at my house in Chiang mai.

Central, Ratchaburi. Shouldn't be a problem in Chiang Mai. The biggest problem in most of Thailand is soil and ph.

Water can be a problem also; my village water is ph 7.68. Very bad for peppers. The majority of people I've had contact with who tried to grow Habaneros and Jalapenos gave up. Too many problems in their words. I think that's why hydroponics is popular here, but it has it's problems too.

From my 1st years experience I understand why they gave up. In the states I grew various things for 40 years and growing here can be daunting, but doable. Cheers.

[thescot]

Where are you located?

I tried to grow here on Samui but failed.

Thinking about trying at my house in Chiang mai.

Central, Ratchaburi. Shouldn't be a problem in Chiang Mai. The biggest problem in most of Thailand is soil and ph.

Water can be a problem also; my village water is ph 7.68. Very bad for peppers. The majority of people I've had contact with who tried to grow Habaneros and Jalapenos gave up. Too many problems in their words. I think that's why hydroponics is popular here, but it has it's problems too.

From my 1st years experience I understand why they gave up. In the states I grew various things for 40 years and growing here can be daunting, but doable. Cheers.

I grow and sell various mexican chilis here in thailand. Hydro is the way to go for me because of the poor soil here in Pattaya. It takes a few years of practise to get everything right from the nutrient mix, shading, good seeds, bug killing etc etc. My wife dries all different types of peppers mostly what we have left over and when she wants to use the seeds from OP peppers. She simply puts them on a wooden tray, covers with newspaper and leaves out in the sun. Got to be careful or the rain will bugger them up but it is labour intensive. We grew loads of pascilla bajio peppers for the purpose of drying to sell for making mole sauce bit too much work involved.

It's a small marked if you grow to sell and a few more growers and it wont be worth the bother and expense!!

[Grower]

Where are you located?

I tried to grow here on Samui but failed.

Thinking about trying at my house in Chiang mai.

Central, Ratchaburi. Shouldn't be a problem in Chiang Mai. The biggest problem in most of Thailand is soil and ph.

Water can be a problem also; my village water is ph 7.68. Very bad for peppers. The majority of people I've had contact with who tried to grow Habaneros and Jalapenos gave up. Too many problems in their words. I think that's why hydroponics is popular here, but it has it's problems too.

From my 1st years experience I understand why they gave up. In the states I grew various things for 40 years and growing here can be daunting, but doable. Cheers.

I grow and sell various mexican chilis here in thailand. Hydro is the way to go for me because of the poor soil here in Pattaya. It takes a few years of practise to get everything right from the nutrient mix, shading, good seeds, bug killing etc etc. My wife dries all different types of peppers mostly what we have left over and when she wants to use the seeds from OP peppers. She simply puts them on a wooden tray, covers with newspaper and leaves out in the sun. Got to be careful or the rain will bugger them up but it is labour intensive. We grew loads of pascilla bajio peppers for the purpose of drying to sell for making mole sauce bit too much work involved.

It's a small marked if you grow to sell and a few more growers and it wont be worth the bother and expense!!

Besides you and myself, I only know of one other grower of Habs who sells them and he doesn't sell the pods; just sauces.

Personally, I'm not concerned about "competition" because I think it's a boutique market at best anyway. In the near future there should be room for the few willing to deal with the many problems, IMHO. Cheers.

P.S. And it's great fun!

[soidog2]

I grow every imaginable habanero color, all year long.

My favorite , the “Mustard Habanero”, in my opinion has the most exquisite fruity favor combined with unforgiving hotness.

I grow them for my personal enjoyment, whatever they can be sold for; it’s a pittance against their incredible beauty and taste.

Thai people always ask for them and I do give seeds away, but they never make it.

Most days ; at lunch with a very cold beer, we have a fiery “somtam” followed by more mellow offerings.

To successfully dry them in the sun, you need to slice them in ½, than hope for 8 hour of sunshine, three to four days.

I just pop them in the oven for thirty minutes and they done,

Pictures ,

Yesterday’s pick.

Mustard Habanero

Oven Dried Habanero, not as pretty as sun-dried one, the taste is exactly the same!

Best regards.

[Grower]

^ Soidog, what temp in the oven? Looks like you figured it out as well. I've got a bowl of 50+ pods right now so they're getting dried.

How long you been growing? Cheers.

[soidog2]

Keep the temperature on the low side, 275-300 F.

Stir them a couple of times to avoid burning.

Growing habanero peppers for about 7-8 years.

Best regards.

[Grower]

Keep the temperature on the low side, 275-300 F.

Stir them a couple of times to avoid burning.

Growing habanero peppers for about 7-8 years.

Best regards.

Thanks, my oven goes down to 100c., so I may start there. It's a convection oven so it blows hot air all the time. The only advantage to sun drying that I can see is, it doesn't kill the seeds. But I'm not worried about that.

8 years is a good long time to be growing here, are you growing in the dirt?

Thanks for the reply, cheers.

[soidog2]

Only in dirt.

Over the years I found out a very simple rule.

Take really good care of your garden dirt, than you can just about grow anything with minimum loses to disease or funguses.

Best

[Grower]

Only in dirt.

Over the years I found out a very simple rule.

Take really good care of your garden dirt, than you can just about grow anything with minimum loses to disease or funguses.

Best

+1 on that! I prepared my raised bed for months before I planted. I didn't build a box; I just use the angle of repose of the dirt.

So far so good.

Cheers.

[Grower]

I dried a dozen orange Habanero pods and this morning I ground them up in my coffee grinder.

I then added 1/2 tsp. to some salsa I made yesterday (I had already put in a couple of tbsp's of my Habanero/garlic sauce) and just that little bit heated things noticeably.

Habanero powder is a good thing to have around.

[soidog2]

I dried a dozen orange Habanero pods and this morning I ground them up in my coffee grinder.

I then added 1/2 tsp. to some salsa I made yesterday (I had already put in a couple of tbsp's of my Habanero/garlic sauce) and just that little bit heated things noticeably.

Habanero powder is a good thing to have around.

What we have here is : roasted potatoes with rosemary, garlic and habanero.

Four good size potatoes , quartered.

Bunch of fresh rosemary from the garden.

A handful of garlic cloves slightly crushed.

One or two roasted dry habaneros, crushed and sprinkled on the potatoes.

Mix and drench everything in extra virgin olive oil than let it sit for a couple of hours.

Preheat oven # 450 F , than bake ( convection if possible ) for 30 minutes.

See the finished picture.

We had it today for lunch with some grills, gone in ten minutes.

Wrote this to keep the thread alive but it's doomed anyway !!!

Enjoy

[Grower]

I dried a dozen orange Habanero pods and this morning I ground them up in my coffee grinder.

I then added 1/2 tsp. to some salsa I made yesterday (I had already put in a couple of tbsp's of my Habanero/garlic sauce) and just that little bit heated things noticeably.

Habanero powder is a good thing to have around.

What we have here is : roasted potatoes with rosemary, garlic and habanero.

Four good size potatoes , quartered.

Bunch of fresh rosemary from the garden.

A handful of garlic cloves slightly crushed.

One or two roasted dry habaneros, crushed and sprinkled on the potatoes.

Mix and drench everything in extra virgin olive oil than let it sit for a couple of hours.

Preheat oven # 450 F , than bake ( convection if possible ) for 30 minutes.

See the finished picture.

We had it today for lunch with some grills, gone in ten minutes.

Wrote this to keep the thread alive but it's doomed anyway !!!

Enjoy

Yeah; what is with the threads here? I've noticed they are very short and quick to die.

Those potatoes look delicious. Unfortunately my wife cannot handle Habaneros at all, so I'll spit it between Habanero and no Habanero. Cheers.