I like to experiment with new vegetable varieties. The results vary from a complete loss to highly successful. I tried watermelons for three years in different soil types and never got an edible product. Norma buys squash at the supermarket, because my plants usually die after producing 3-4 fruit!
Two out of three successful plants have come from Thailand. The regular Thai hot pepper produces 1-2” thin peppers that start out green, change to orange before becoming red when ripe. They’re small but mighty having a rating of 60-100K Scoville units. Interestingly, they grow pointing vertical in groups with each group containg10 or mores peppers. I start them indoors in January to get the longst growing season. Each group will produce a crop, and then grow a new set of peppers. If the season is long enough, the groups can grow three separate sets of peppers. Each plant will produce hundreds of peppers.
The Thai red chili pepper plant resembles a short very dense shrub. Unless you like picking fruit on your Knees, it’s best to have them in pots on a table or in high raised beds. Even in cattle feed pots 21 X 21” sitting on a railroad tie, I’m still looking down at the plant. The fruit is less than half the size of Thai hot above, but produces hundreds more that the larger fruit, and they still have a 60-100K Scoville rating. Pick when red.
A third pepper has a ¼” fruit that is picked when orange. I am unsure of its name or origin, but suspect SE Asia. Those who eat them at the Safety Crisis Center say the fruit is just as hot as the two above! The plant reaches 4’ with a spread of 4-6’, and each plant will produce thousands of fruit.
