The oyster mushroom gets its name from its cap which, some say, resembles an oyster. The stem of the oyster mushrooms is perhaps more distinct; it unfurls something like one of those old-time paper lady's fans. The oyster mushroom has...

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How to Grow Hot Peppers

Hot peppers are distinguished from sweet peppers simply by their pungency or hotness of flavor. There are thousands of hot pepper varieties in the world. (This is the case because peppers easily cross pollinate to produce new kinds.)

The hotness of a pepper is determined by number of blisterlike sacs of capsaicinoids on the interior wall of the pepper. Capsaicinoids are organic chemicals. The more sacs of capsaicinoids the hotter the pepper.

Hot peppers go by several names. Most commonly hot peppers are called chili peppers in the United States. 'Chile' is Spanish for pepper. In Mexico chile dulce is a sweet pepper, chile jalapeño is a jalapeño pepper. When the name chile first came to the United States it was used to mean different kinds of peppers in different parts of the country. In time, the spelling "chile" was eventually corrupted to "chili" and the term came to be commonly used to describe any pepper that was hot flavored.

Here's how to get growing hot peppers:

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Pepper Growing Problems: Troubleshooting

Peppers--sweet peppers and hot peppers--share nearly all of the cultural and growing requirements of tomatoes. If you can grow tomatoes, you can grow peppers. Choose a site with full sun where the soil is moisture retentive but well-draining. If you are planting sweet peppers and hot peppers in the garden, give them some distance they can cross pollinate.

Here is a troubleshooting list of possible pepper problems with control and cure suggestions: (For a full description of pests and diseases and prevention and controls click over to the Pest Problem Solver or the Disease Problem Solver. For pepper growing details How to Grow Sweet Peppers and How to Grow Hot Peppers. (More pepper growing success tips are at the bottom of this post.)

Seedlings are cut off near the soil surface. Cutworms are gray or brown grubs that hide in the soil by day and feed at night. Handpick grubs from the soil around plants. Keep the garden free of plant debris. Place a 3-inch cardboard collar around the seedlings stem and push it 1 inch into the soil.

Leaves roll downward but there is no yellowing or stunting. Physiological leaf roll, not caused by pathogen; it may be a reaction to temperature or weather. Keep plants evenly watered. No action needed.

Leaves curl then become deformed and discolored; plants may be stunted. Aphids are small soft-bodied insects--green and gray--that cluster on undersides of leaves. Aphids leave behind a sticky excrement called honeydew; black sooty mold may grow on honeydew. Spray away aphids with a blast of water; use insecticidal soap; aluminum mulch will disorient aphids. Aphid predators include lacewing flies, ladybugs, and praying mantis.

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Pepper Varieties: Best Bets and Easy-to-Grow

Peppers demand a warm location from start to finish. For peppers to prosper: sow pepper seed in a warm seed bed and transplant seedlings into a warm planting bed where the air temperature will remain consistently warm until harvest. Cool weather and soil are a pepper's greatest challenge.

Here are best bet, easy-to-grow peppers, both easy eating sweet bell peppers and hot hot peppers.

Keep reading to the bottom of this post and I will give you my tips for sure-fired pepper growing success. (There is also more about pepper growing at How to Grow Sweet Peppers.)

Sweet Bell Peppers:

• Bell Boy. 70 days. Meaty, sweet pepper. Large, blocky fruit, 4½ inches square; thick walled, mostly 4 lobed; fruits turn from green to red. Sturdy compact plant Early yields. All-American selection; resistant to most diseases. Hybrid

• California Wonder. 68-89 days. Tender, juicy sweet with no hint of pungency. Smooth, blocky, 3 to 4 lobed fruit with glossy, 4½ inches long by 4 inches in diameter, dark-green skin; thick walled to ⅜ inches; ripens to bright crimson. Vigorous, upright plant 24 to 30 inches tall. Good leaf cover. Tobacco mosaic virus resistant. Open-pollinated

• Corno di Toro (also called Yellow Bull's Horn). 68-70 days. Spicy flavor, neither hot not very sweet. Fruit 8 inches long, 1½ inches in diameter at the shoulder; tapered to a curved point, resembling the horn of a bull. Ripens to a deep golden yellow or deep red depending upon cultivar. Traditional Italian favorite. Open-pollinated.

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How to Grow Hot or Chili Peppers

Hot peppers are most easily grown from transplants. Start hot pepper seed indoors 6 to 8 weeks before the date you intend to set peppers into the garden. Peppers can be seeded in the garden or transplanted out 2 to 3 weeks after the last frost in spring after the soil temperature has risen to at least 65°F. Hot peppers grow best where the air temperature ranges from 70° to 95°F. Hot peppers mature in 60 to 95 days.

How to prepare and cook hot peppers: click here

Description. Peppers are tender perennials that are grown as annuals. Peppers grow on compact erect bushes 1½ to 2 feet tall. The fruit follows a single flower growing in the angle between the leaf and the stem. Hot peppers can range in length from 1 to 7 inches long and in color from green to red to gold and yellow.

Yield. Hot peppers vary greatly in spiciness. Choose peppers and the number to plant according to how you plan to use them.

Site. Grow peppers in full sun in soil that is rich in organic matter, moisture retentive but well draining. Peppers prefer a soil pH of 5.5 to 6.8. Work aged garden compost into beds prior to planting. The optimal soil temperature for peppers is 65°F or warmer.

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Popular Chile Peppers

There are more than 200 varieties of chilies or hot peppers. Sometimes the names of chilies can get a bit confusing because often the same pepper will be known by two or even three different names.

Here’s a quick users’ guide to about four dozen very popular chilies and how you can used them in the kitchen. All of these peppers are member of the genus Capsicum. The species name is given in parentheses. The Scoville heat unit (SU) or pungency rating is listed for many.

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Chilies

Chilies or hot peppers can be eaten raw, baked, fried, grilled, or stuffed. They are used as a vegetable fresh and as a spice dried.

Chilies, like sweet peppers, are not only aromatic—like celery and onion—but contain natural chemicals that enhance the flavor of other foods during cooking.

Generally, small, hot chilies—such as the jalapeño, Serrano, poblano, Anaheim, and banana--are used fresh. They are often chopped and then simmered or stir-fried with other foods. The longer a chili is cooked, the hotter the flavor.

Large hot peppers more often are dried and then used whole, ground, or crushed for blending with other foods. Dry-roasted chilies are the most intensely flavored. Several varieties of dried and ground chilies combined will add a complexity of flavors to prepared foods.

Peppers boost the tastes of other ingredients. Fresh chilies combine well with fresh tomato-based sauces, onions, avocadoes, beans and lentils, mild cheeses, sausages, meat stews and sautés, corn, poultry, fish, and shellfish. Dried chiles are added to curry powder, chili powder, cayenne, and pizza pepper.

The skin of a chili has its own distinctive flavor and that flavor varies from one variety to the next. To begin to learn more about which chilies you like best, start with the skins. The seeds and ribs of a pepper should be removed to isolate the flavor of the chili skin.

Chilies, like sweet peppers, are widely available fresh during the summer and fall months.

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