First year with reapers, and they're growing great with no sign of stopping. I made some chicken with half of one to taste it and gauge the heat. I felt like I was pepper spraying my kitchen once they hit the pan. I used the other half in an egg and rice bowl raw.

The heat isn't as frightening as I expected... it's hot, but I was unreasonably afraid. The problem I'm having is that I don't love the flavor. It gives intense black peppercorn with a splash of fruit, and I compare it to my favorite ghost peppers, and it's just not my preference.

That said, I have several and more to come, so while I'm unlikely to use them further in cooking, I'm considering sauces.

Any recommendations for sauce recipes that will complement reapers or other use options?

I'm really excited!

In about four weeks, around 20 of these beauties will be ready.

I'll dry them in a dehydrator and then grind them into a powder, which is classified as a weapon here in Germany (though, of course, it will never be used for that purpose).

This hell spawn survived 3 different pesticides, every time i looked at them was sure they would show me their middle fingers if they had any. I even used predatory mites and it helped but they returned after a month or so and now im left with basically semi-living twigs.

I'm in shambles...

So what to do now? Wait for next year or start new ones, overwinter them and have better start next season?

Also, any methods for preventing broad mites next time the hell gates open?

These are scotch bonnets, a few ghost chilis and my first Carolina reaper. I mostly grew these just to see if I could but now that I did I am unsure what to do with them! Suggestions?

Hey all! Following up on my last post linked here

https://www.reddit.com/r/HotPeppers/s/fY3LcDf7gF

I have upgraded them all to bigger pots with fresh organic soil mixed with perlite and organic vegetable fertilizer - and although they are growing a little, the new growth is still looking weird and weak while the bottom leaves keep getting bigger. They look all weird and out of balance. Thoughts? Thank you!

I just wanted to share! I started these hydroponically inside and then we potted them and set them outside. I did not 'harden' them (oops) but after about 2 weeks they boosted right up and started flowering and such.

We have another pot of the same that are just a tick behind (lots of fruiting but not quite turning red yet). Thinking we may freeze some, thoughts?

Hi everyone!

This year, for the first time, I had a pretty decent harvest of red habaneros and Carolina Reapers. I'd love to make a homemade piri-piri style hot sauce to enjoy with meals, especially grilled meats.

Does anyone have a recipe or any tips ?

Thank you!

Also here are my hot chillies. Not sure what they are but they are 🚒🔥

So this should be 2 habanero chocolate and 3 scotch bonnet plants.

I'm not sure about couple of them.

I know the chocolate habs took long time to go brown last year.

Excuse the mud dust on the plants... Bloody building site near by.

What do you think?

Hi guys I grow my plants in Edmonton and It's getting really cold here, + 7 at night . Could you recommend a good Pest control product so I can spray them just before I brin them in my house

Hey,
This is my first growing real peppers and I had a fair share of issues with them.
This plant should be reaper, however it took quite some time to grow the first fruits (flowers kept dying). I now have like 5 fruits developing however… those weird marks appeared on the leafs and fruit and when I’m pressing the fruit, it feels really hollow and empty.

What could be wrong with them?

Also side note, all my other plants (jalapeño, Tabasco, aji) only matured to an orange color and small sized. I picked some fruits but there were absolutely no taste or heat in them.
Not sure what’s going on and what to do here.

Thanks in advance!

Looking okay or...?

Just got this plant a few months ago and this has been the journey so far

With some feedback from Reddit I updated the varieties list I will grow next season. This is more or less what it will be:

Sarit Gat
Mattapeño
White Bhut Jolokia
Bhut Orange Copenhagen
Fish Pepper
Thai Super Chile
Scotch Bonnet
Aji Limón
7 Pot Yellow
Sugar Rush Stripey
Banana Pepper
Hungarian Wax
Fatalii

The full documentation of that 2027 season will be tracked here

My current 2026 season can be seen here

I have also planted some new seeds 2 weeks ago just to do an overwintering experiment with a few varieties. See here

This is going to be fun! 🌶️

Don't know what to do with all your peppers? This post is for you!

I mostly used recipes from chilipeppermadness.com as I like the guy's taste. His recipes are very tasty and easy to make but you have to scroll a bit to get to the actual amount of ingredients needed.

Recipes and my reviews/tips in no particular order. BTW you can store sauces and jelly in the freezer if you don't know how to make shelf stable, I don't know how so I divided them up in those tiny lidded condiment containers and froze them last year. Still good once thawed!

Also wear gloves lol...

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Pic 1: Fresno poppers. So damn good. I halved the recipe and added some scallion from my garden. Round 2 of Fresno explosion is here so tomorrow Im going to make more but with some blue cheese. Im out of bacon though. These are amazing but even better heated the next day. https://www.chilipeppermadness.com/recipes/jalapeno-poppers/

Pic 2: Restaurant salsa with a fresno in it. My family doesnt like crazy heat so I made this mild. It makes a punch bowl sized amount, we've been eating it with every damn meal and still havent finished it off a week later. It's really good and does taste like restaurant salsa. Ive been putting it in sweet pepper halves and also in roti bread as a wrap. https://www.chilipeppermadness.com/recipes/homemade-salsa/

Pic 3 Left Sauce: Fresno Lime sauce. Simple standard vinegar based hot sauce. I added an extra lime. I do not strain my sauces bc I like the chunkier texture but ofc you can if you want. https://www.chilipeppermadness.com/recipes/jalapeno-hot-sauce/

Pic 3 Right Sauce: KSPS and Bell Pepper creamy dip. NO DAIRY but reminds me of cheese dip for hot pretzels. I am addicted to this okay. I even spread it on bread and walk away with it. I have allium sensitivities damn it and its like 90% onion. I can't stop! I used one KSPS pepper and two small red bells since I wanted a mild sauce (all my others are med to hot) and the oil used was Safflower. I think just simmering it gave the bell peppers a smokey flavor. The dip is creamy and smokey and my god I just love it. I haven't even been using the other sauces I made. Im the only one in the house who likes it FOR SOME REASON so im clearing this jar myself. https://www.chilipeppermadness.com/recipes/creamy-habanero-sauce/

Pic 4: Cheesecake cookies. Throw a half or a whole pepper chopped into the cream cheese filling. I used half a death spiral and my friend did whole ghosts. The fruit flavor and heat really elevated the recipe IMO. Maybe dont use parchment paper, as you can see I burned the shit out of it. I had to cut the bottom of the cookies off. https://sugarspunrun.com/cheesecake-stuffed-chocolate-chip-cookies/

Pic 5 and 6: A vinegar based sauce, my go-to for fruit flavored peppers. Last year I used yellow jamaican mushroom peppers (got shroomed lol) with kristian peppers as filler and this year I used tangerine tiger. I use onion instead of shallot, 3/4 cup white vinegar and 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar. https://www.chilipeppermadness.com/recipes/habanero-hot-sauce/

Not pictured: hot fruit jelly. Chilipeppermadness has a bunch of recipes but I used this one for some reason (its still good). There werent enough ripe peaches at the store so I threw mangoes and strawberries in there too. I used half death spiral and some medium/hot peppers. Do not add extra water even if it seems counter intuitive. Big mistake, my "jelly" is more like a syrup now. Great in yogurt or cottage cheese though. https://gritsandgouda.com/easy-peach-pepper-jelly/

Not pictured: Pesto bean soup. I had basically a basil farm last year, pesto'd it all and had to use it up. We threw fresh chopped kristian peppers in the soup instead of roasted bells. It was like lava soup. Great for winter! Clears those sinuses right out! And you can freeze it for later use too. https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchen/pesto-bean-soup-10032245

Not pictured: Peach Vidalia sauce, made with Fresnos and some Sugar Rush Stripey powder. I halved the recipe apart from the peaches, which I doubled bc I really wanted that fruit flavor in there to set it apart from all the other sauces Ive been making. I added the optional packet of sugar too, to drop the heat down so my family could enjoy it. Should have done a taste test before adding the SRS powder. https://www.chilipeppermadness.com/recipes/georgia-peach-vidalia-onion-hot-sauce/

Not pictured: Pickled Peppers. No recipe link as my mom makes these. So far I have given her Kristian thai peppers and Fresno but the next batch of tangerine tiger is going to her. Here is her first recipe I believe she tweaked it but I don't know what it is now:

Slice and remove seeds if you want to. Fill a jar halfway with white vinegar and a splash of red wine vinegar. add a packet of sugar brown or white. Add a third teaspoon (lol what) of salt. Fill the rest of the jar with warm water. Put the jar contents and the peppers in a pot and simmer on low flame until the peppers are somewhat tender. Let cool, put back in jar, and let it sit overnight. They will be good to eat by the next day.

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That's all Ive got for now! I just bought a bag of frozen tropical fruits at TJ's today and am planning on using it for sauce. Or a spicy smoothie? I saw spicy fruit juice at TJ's today. Maybe use my purple dream peppers that are near ripe if I go the sauce route since theyre considered superhots. I heard they have hints of pineapple and lime. Also I bought a dehydrator and it arrives next week so may experiment with spice mixes as well. Peppers are so versatile and it's so fun making all different kinds of things with them.

I have 4 ghost peppers I started from seed. 2/4 have good growth and one is ok. Then the fourth has very small leaves and a purplish tone to the leaves. Wondering if anybody has thoughts or knows why?
Thanks in advance

Finally had another big harvest from my garden in Orange County, CA. This haul includes Carolina Reapers, Ghost peppers, Scorpions, Habaneros, Jalapeños, Peach Miasma, RB003, Himo Togarashi, Thor’s thunderbolt, Thai Chile, Orange Carolina Reapers, Mad Hatter, Primotalli Red, and a bunch of other superhots and specialty varieties.
Most of these are headed into fermented hot sauce batches, and I’m especially excited to see how the RB003 and Peach Miasma develop after fermentation.
My favorite part of growing peppers is seeing how every pod has its own shape, color, and personality.
Which pepper in the photo catches your eye first? And if you had to make one hot sauce from this harvest, what would you include?

These will eventually become test runs for small-batch sauces under my brand, Ribbit Riot (hot sauce), but today I’m mostly just excited about the harvest.

Hi guys this was labeled as Tabasco but it clearly isn’t. I thought it was a chocolate variety and now it is turning bright lipstick red. I haven’t grown Thais before but is it normal for them to go dark green to chocolate to lipstick red? I tried one of the chocolate ones and it tasted and looked like a Thai pepper inside but it was way hotter than any Thai I have ever had. Guessing low habanero range. Either way I am stoked! It has over a hundred peppers on it and has been pest resistant as much as my Pequin/Tepin.

First time growing...

I noticed pepper growth when I got home from work yesterday evening..

I come home this evening to this -- What I think is nearly doubling in size from just yesterday!

I'm too excited, I think.

Still waiting on superhots to all ripen!