I haven't had a deep dive in chilis (or paprika) yet. I've got a bit of experience, but my knowledge is still lacking.
This is why I'm asking you chili/ pepper nerds out there to fill my knowledge gaps :)
I've noticed that, of course, not only the fruits look and taste different.
The vegetative growth type is different too. The leaves are different sized/ shaped, some plants are compact bushes, some others are tall and leggy.
Just look at those. Thai chili (Capsicum annuum) left, Habañero (C. chinense) right. I topped them both at least once a while ago to initiate more node formation if that information helps.
That doesn't wonder me much at all, since they're different species.
On the plant label, same supplier and same label, it was said that one has a high, and the other a moderate water need for example.
My question is now: do different varieties (species, hybrids and breeds) have different needs in general? Light level, temperature, water usage, pruning, and so on?
Is there something I have to keep in mind when I look at the lineage of each? They probably come from different habitats after all, how does that translate to gardening conditions? Or, do I just treat them all the same?
How about overwintering? At the end of the season, I'd like to put them at an unheated greenhouse. It shouldn't freeze there I guess, but it will be really really cold. Like, just a bit above freezing. Would they survive in there? Pro: very bright, cold temps inhibit growth Con: could sometimes be very cold.
Or would a dark corridor at roughly room temperature be better? Pro: relatively warm Con: warm temperature and lack of light wouldn't stop growth and it might die a slow painful death due to lack of energy.
Should they get pruned before?
I’ve had some success overwintering my peppers — I keep them in my house, heated to around 65F, and I do get a little growth, but no fruit. I wouldn’t expect much success just above freezing — they really are hot weather plants, and I would be surprised if they tolerated the cold in a small container. I did lose my entire crop this winter to bugs, though, so I might just be a little traumatized (I think my mistake was drying herbs in the same room I overwintered the peppers, so when I applied the neem oil, the bugs just waited in the drying herbs until it was safe to come out).
The different varieties do have different needs. My Birds Eye’s and Thai chilies will fruit basically no matter what I do, but the hotter varieties, like my habaneros, require a little more attention to get a good crop — topping your hab was probably much more important for it’s yield than the Thai. Generally speaking, the less you water chilis and the hotter the weather, the hotter your resulting peppers will be. On average, I tend to overwater my peppers because they don’t need it as much as the tomatoes they share a raised bed with.
If you end up with too many peppers at the end of the season (this is very likely), I’d strongly recommend making hot sauce with them. You’ll likely want to cut the habaneros with something cooler to make a more approachable sauce; my favorite is peaches, but cooler peppers like Anaheims work well if you want something more savory. If you’re looking for something really flavorful, fermenting the peppers for a couple months before rendering the sauce brings an incredible tang that’s hard to find in commercial sauces.
Cool! Thanks for the input!
I'll definitely try the fermenting approach if I harvest enough. My last year's harvest turned into an oil infusion :)