What you can learnA strong single-pepper diary documenting compact growth, height limitations, multiple harvests, late whitefly concerns, extensive pruning, and a clear 225-day ending.
Actions:3 Harvest2 Pruning1 Planting1 Pests
Useful practices
pruning burned and damaged foliage
harvesting peppers after colour change
using harvested peppers in cooked meals
aggressively purging imperfect leaves when whiteflies were suspected
ending the plant after a long productive cycle
Problems encountered
plant reached the Harvest's maximum light height
leaves and two peppers were burned near the light
leaf spots and curl developed late
whiteflies were found after an earlier tomato infestation
fruiting stems drooped under pepper weight
production slowed late in the 225-day grow
*The days were calculated automatically and approximately.
Day 125
UPDATE#10
Grower update
Update #10
🔧Actions taken
✂️PruningRemoved every imperfect spotted or curled leaf in a major pruning.
🐞PestsRemoved and discarded leaves and visible whiteflies during the pruning.
149 days planted and I had many leaves with spots or curls. I was also worried about white flies as I knew some hopped on this plant after I terminated my tomatoes. A massive trimming of leaves was in order. Any leaf that was less than perfect was purged. Before:After:I did come across some white flies but hopefully they are now in the trash. I was looking for any leaves with eggs or larva but did not find any. These peppers are so prolific! Tons of flowers and buds. My favorite planting so far.
Chedda, I often trim out any older darker leaves when I see them. I find it not only gives the plant room to breath but also gives energy to the peppers and buds forming. This is by far a favorite in our house. I always have at least one Sweet Heat growing at all times. I am happy you are liking htis one
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I am amazed at the yield of this project. Thunderous Applause!!
There are several vendors that sell Sweet Heats. Park seed and Burpee are two. AG sells a grow anything kit for custom seeds. (As a side note, I reuse my cages unless ruined. For example from a pepper project). I personally like Park seed 60 cell bio sponges.
I noticed the current Burpee seeds are a hybrid. I'm not sure if that was always the case. Most sites selling them list them as hybrids, not all though. www.burpee.com/vegetables/peppers/pepper-hot-sweet-heat-hybrid-prod002735.html
How is the plant doing now since the prune? I encountered trouble with mine as well and gave it a prune, R and R and thoroughly sprayed it upside down with the sink sprayer for little pests that arrived.
Mary,I'm so sorry I missed your comment! More than a month later (lol), the plant is looking like it's slowing down. Once again I had to trim a lot of leaves but only a few new blooms have come in. There are about 10 peppers on the plant in various stages of ripeness. Also, new peppers are coming in on stems that cannot fully support their weight so they're drooping. Seriously thinking of terminating.
Yesterday I decided to terminate the plant. It was still productive but slowed down a lot. It gave me plenty of tasty peppers during its 225 day life span so I’m happy with how my first time using the grow anything kit turned out. I will be planting this one again!
My first harvested peppers! I’m not exactly a pepper lover but enjoyed growing these. They may not be that high on the scale but they are hot enough for me! These two are pretty small, about 2.5” and 1.5” respectively. Now to figure out what to do with them!
These look so good Like Mike, these are great in chicken salad. Sauteing them alone or with other veggies is also very good. I have used them in dishes I cook whether it be chili, sausage and peppers, with my Rosemary Potatoes ... I cut them up and add.
This is what I buy: www.meijer.com/product/grocery/dairy/cheese/cream-cheese/kraft-philly-soft-crm-chs-pineapple-75-oz/t1/t1-865/t2/t2-9974/t3/t3-210/t4/t4-516/2100000733.uts
I’m back! I had some phone issues: I use Tapatalk to post here and had to wait for them update their app so I could post photos. We are at day 92 and I just gave the plant a well deserved trim. Too many leaves were getting burned and I even lost two peppers that were too close to the lights. I have about twenty peppers growing and a few of them are finally starting to ripen. Such a beautiful red!
Day 48. The plant is doing well but the Harvest is at its maximum height. Tons of clusters at the top too. Not sure what to do about it. The good thing is that we have fruit! I’m such a proud papa. 😂
About three weeks ago I planted two of Burpee’s Sweet Heat pepper seeds in my harvest. Here we are at 21 days in:The package says the plant will grow to 10” - 12” so I don’t think I will top it.I’m curious to see if there will be any difference compared to the Park seeds that Shawn is growing.
There's going to be a lot of Sweet Heats growing soon! It will be educational and fun to watch yours growing before I start mine. I'm thinking I'll just do one in the Harvest, as it's so small. I want to keep my Extra open after I terminate my tomatoes for bigger peppers.
I only ever grew this outside along with a lot of other peppers, so I didn’t remember the size. I didn’t realize it was such a petite plant and could grow in a Harvest. That’s wonderful.