[CH] Ok, virigin post here...

Jeff James (jeffj@poboxes.com)
Thu, 11 Jun 1998 09:52:31 -0700 

Howdy all -

Been lurking for a few weeks just to get the flavor of the list (decidedly
spicy!)  Now the gloves are off, and I have a couple of Chile-pepper
gardening questions.

First, some history.  Love chile-peppers.  Love HOT chile-peppers.  First
time I found Dave's I thought I was in heaven (There's a tavern in Bellevue,
WA called Daman's, not the chain, that tipped me and a buddy off about
Dave's.  It was the first time in my life I had buffalo wings that I
considered hot enough.)  Never thought about growing chilies.  I'll blame
that on the deficient gene structure passed through my mother's side.  Flash
to about two months ago - my sister gives me a pot with three super-chile
seedlings in it.

I am now a pepper farmer.  My wife hates the catalogs and seed shipments I'm
getting now, by the basketful.  But I decided to wait on starting any more
plants until I prove I can raise these damn super-chilies.  I started by
putting them in my office (lots of sun - well, Seattle sun....) and watered
them moderately.  They never grew.  In fact, the three little leaves on each
seedling started to turn yellow, and I thought my black thumb was coming
out.  So I bought some fertilizer (one of the gardener ladies that lives
near us was raving about phosphorous, so I bought some with lots of that in
it.)  And I decided to water them a little more heavily.  In fact, I was
very worried about a week ago 'cause I had to leave them alone for a couple
of days so I watered them so much there was this little lake on top of the
soil - I figured I was toast, having probably drowned the poor suckers.
Well, they're thriving.  I have new big leaves that are spreading out all
over the place, they've doubled their height in about a week - I am the
master farmer now.

But here's my question - I got great success by accident.  How much should I
water seedlings?  When they get bigger, should I cut back the water?  How
big?  Was April a stupid time to start these? (they'll probably stay pot
grown - not much of a garden at our house.)  Was it probably sunburn that I
was seeing with the yellow leaves, since this was their first exposure to
full time sunlight?  Realistically, especially with out 8 hours of daylight
in the winter, can I grow chilies all year round in the Seattle area?  How
hot are super-chilies - am I going to be disappointed after all this toil
and tribulation?

OK, I figure that's about enough questions for one post.  Thanks in advance
for the information - I've already learned more by lurking for a couple
weeks than I ever knew about this subject (this whole bread thing
though....wow.  As a newby I obviously don't understand the whole process,
but from what I've seen so far its worth it to hang around as long as it
takes.)

Thanks again for obliging,

JJ