Hello, Mid-Ohio Valley farmers and gardeners. Cooler temperatures have arrived this week with some rain. Be scouting for foliar disease such as late blight, early blight and Septoria leaf spot on tomatoes. Good plant spacing, mulching, watering at the root level and staking plants are all good ways to help prevent these issues.

Don’t forget how important pollinators are to our flowers and crops. Although they may look menacing and create a lot of noise, bumblebees are important pollinators of wildflowers and many other crops such as tomatoes.

Bumblebees are needed to pollinate greenhouse grown strawberries, tomatoes, and sweet peppers and (honey bees are ineffective). The bumblebees’ longer tongue and wing vibrating tendencies make them more efficient pollinators for some plant species.

Bumblebees can forage in cool, unfavorable weather better than other bees. They forage for nectar and pollen earlier in the spring, earlier in the day, and during cloudy weather. Bumblebees have also been shown to successfully pollinate muskmelons and are one of the most prominent wild pollinators of field-grown squashes.

This week let’s talk hot peppers (Capsicum spp.). Peppers are another of the Solanaceous crops including tomatoes, potatoes and eggplants. Hot peppers have grown in popularity over the last several years and can be fun to grow. They have many uses including adding to stir fries, curries, and other dished to “increase the heat” or they can be canned or pickled.

Many enthusiasts make their own homemade hot sauce or add hot peppers to salsa. The compound giving hot peppers their heat is capsaicin, which produces the burning sensation, watering eyes and runny nose. Contrary to popular belief, capsaicin is in the membrane (the white part) of the fruit, not in the seeds.

As an added bonus (besides clearing the sinuses) of the capsaicin in hot peppers are the health benefits. There are claims of reduced inflammation in the body, pain relief, preventing chronic sinus infections as well as cancer fighting properties. Researchers at Marshall University say capsaicin (which gives chili peppers their hot and spicy taste) can keep multiple forms of cancer from growing.

The “hotness” or pungency of a hot pepper is measured in Scoville Units, named after Wilbur Scoville who designed a test to measure how hot a pepper is in 1912. For example, my favorite, the jalapeno, measures around 2,500-5,000 depending on variety. The cayenne measures around 30,000-50,000 Scoville Units. By comparison, the habanero pepper registers at over 300,000 Scoville Units. Now that’s hot.

There are many different types of hot peppers to choose from such as jalapenos, chili, habaneros, cayenne, Hungarian Hot Wax, and poblano. For jalapenos, the standard variety is Early Jalapeno, but El Jefe, Mucho Nacho and Biker Billy are varieties to try. Yield may vary with variety, but a 10-foot row of pepper plants may yield 80 pounds of produce.

Peppers have a long growing season. Many cayenne, jalapeno and chili pepper varieties mature in about 70 days, depending on variety.

A few interesting facts about hot peppers. Peppers were first cultivated in India over 6,000 years ago. Chile peppers are an important cash crop for farmers in New Mexico, with approximately 8,000 to 10,000 acres harvested annually.

The Guinness Book of World Record crowned the Carolina Reaper the “‘hottest pepper in the world” in 2013 because it averaged more than 1.5 million Scoville Heat Units. Finally, paprika you purchase as a spice in the grocery stores is made from a no-heat (nonpungent) or low-heat red chile pepper that is usually highly pigmented.

Any “hot” information about chili peppers can be found at The Chile Pepper Institute. It is the only international organization devoted to education, research and information related to chile peppers, established at New Mexico State University in 1992. Research has been ongoing since Dr. Fabi’n Garc began standardizing chile pepper varieties in 1888. Every summer and fall visitors can find more than 150 varieties of chile peppers growing there.

Peppers need high organic matter soils that are well drained. Good compost or a fertilizer blend such as 5-10-10 works well for peppers because too much nitrogen will encourage more leaf growth and less fruit production.

You can apply a supplemental fertilizer (side-dressing) after the first flush of peppers is set. Some folks enjoy growing peppers in containers. If you grow peppers in containers make sure to provide a large enough container to keep plants from becoming root bound and provide full sun. Container plants will need a little extra fertilizer and require more water.

Even if you don’t want to eat them, hot peppers can still be fun to grow. Their colorful fruits can be red, purple, yellow, or orange, and they easily add interest to landscape beds and containers. In fact, some pepper varieties like “Black Pearl,” “Calico,” “Purple Flash” and “Sangria” are grown almost exclusively for their ornamental value.

Many hot peppers originated in tropical climates, so they love the heat of summer. The plants cannot tolerate frost and do not grow well in cold, wet soils, so you can’t plant too early. Night temperatures need to be around 60 degrees F.

They can be somewhat drought tolerant, but water at least twice a week. It is critical to keep plants watered when they are blooming or they may fail to produce fruit (called blossom drop). Blossom drop can also occur if temperature soar above 90 degrees F.

Bacterial wilt and bacterial leaf spot are the two most common diseases in peppers. To reduce disease problems, choose disease-resistant varieties and always use certified disease-free seeds and transplants.

Blossom-end rot is usually associated with tomatoes but can also affect peppers. It is caused by uneven water availability that affects calcium mobility in the plant. Adding calcium to the soil seldom alters the condition. Blossom-end rot may be more severe on some varieties of peppers than others. Remove infected fruits and throw them away. Mulching may help to prevent this problem.

The best option for hot peppers is to use transplants. If you cannot find the type or variety you are looking for locally, you may need to plan in advance and order seeds and start them indoors. Set transplants 18 to 24 inches apart in the row, or 14 to 18 inches apart in all directions in beds. When cultivating around peppers, be careful not to get too close to the root system, which will affect yield.

Jalapenos are mature when they become a deep, dark green, but most other hot peppers should be picked after a color change from green to red (there are exceptions to every rule and many colors of peppers).

Watch out when harvesting hot peppers! You may need to wear gloves to prevent skin irritation or heaven forbid, you rub your eyes! Wash your hands thoroughly with soap and water before touching your face.

Many home gardeners will pickle hot peppers or use them to make spicy salsa or even add heat to spaghetti sauce. Small, very hot peppers provide a distinct taste to salsas. Jalapeno is the most popular but Serrano, Cayenne, and Tabasco can be used.

It is not recommended to pressure can pickled peppers. This high-heat treatment causes peppers to become too soft and mushy. Water bath canning is the best processing method for pickled peppers. A great recipe for pickled peppers is at the National Center for Home Food Preservation https://nchfp.uga.edu/how/can–06/pickled–hot–peppers.html.

In general, peppers have short storage life of only one to two weeks. Cayenne, chili and habaneros can be dried for winter storage. You can spread the peppers on a wire mesh screen or rack and dry for several weeks or hang and dry the peppers in a warm, dry, well-ventilated location.

Looking for more information? Contact me at the WVU Extension Office at 304-424-1960 or email me at jj.barrett@mail.wvu.edu with your gardening questions. Good Luck and Happy Gardening!

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