Might be watering them inadequately, missed the peak growing season, which is summer (most likely, though some are still growing) impatient or all of the above but I feel like that’s the size they grow, apparently I’ve read somewhere that they’re of the “ornamental” variety which means they’re that size when they’ve matured, but the picture shows a bigger size. They’re Thai Dragon Chilies. Unless I wait until next year to see if they grow bigger or to move them to a bigger pot.
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Those are super easy to turn into hot sauce.
Just cut the tops & stems off, and stuff them in a jar.
Boil some vinegar in a pot on the stove, mix in a bit of salt, and pour over the peppers.
Let it cool down & then throw the jar full of vinegar and peppers into your refrigerator for 2 weeks.
Done.
Use the salty, hot pepper infused vinegar like you would any other hot sauce.
Nice one, sounds like a great idea tbh, maybe also add red onions to it 🤔 always wanted to make pickled stuff so I might as well try with this one 💯 Maybe half parts white vinegar and half parts apple cider, what do you think?
I’ve tried with both kinds of vinegar, and both are good with different dishes.
Personally, I liked the apple cider vinegar version on salads, and the white vinegar base paired well with heavier foods like tacos or fried potatoes.
Maybe start with 2 smaller batches, one of each, and combine them later if the mix is what works best for you?
I find pickled red onions are good on their own - like, the onion itself makes a good condiment. However, if you roast some yellow onions & garlic in a light vegetable oil until they start to caramelize, and throw a spoonful of it in the jar with the peppers, it will infuse the vinegar with a nice flavor.
Bad if watermelons.
Bad if watermelons what? Sorry I don’t get your comment 😅
Oh my goodness! Those are perfect! You must have a green thumb!
My grandparents call them “sili” and would occasionally place them in a bottle of coconut vinegar. They look exactly like the ones I purchased from Longwood Gardens, PA years ago (sold as Thai Dragon Pepper). These plants (dwarf) only grow about 2 feet (60 cm?) and the ornamental kind will stay small BUT do not underestimate their spicy power! I ended up having to go to my PCP’s (GP) office to get my eyes flushed. My fingers were stingy for almost a day – worse than jalapeños.
Whatever you’re doing, keep doing it! I ended up giving mine away to my aunt and they did thrive by her kitchen window for a couple of years (morning sun). They may get slightly bigger but don’t expect much. Maybe they will grow differently with compost?
My grandmother used to water her plants with rice water, lol. She calls it “hugas bigas”, which is the water used to wash rice but instead of throwing it out, she saves it in a huge bucket and uses it to water her plants. They stink – consider yourself warned.
IMO, it doesn’t look like you need help; I think you should start giving us lessons. Good luck and enjoy! They are beautiful!
EDIT: We are talking about the same thing; my aunt said it’s “siling labuyo”. I didn’t know what “labuyo” was so I had to ask.
Kabayan? Nice seeing one here on Lemmy lol.
Yeah, it is siling labuyo what I was talking about but I just shortened it but yeah you mentioned the same thing 😅 are you talking about turning it into Pinakurat? I love Pinakurat, it’s just sort of hard to get coconut vinegar here in the UK, unless I haven’t been looking hard enough even though there’s an abundance of Asian shops here, probably just lazy on my part hehe. I will definitely moved them to a bigger pot to get their full growing potential next year, can’t wait for that! I can handle most spices to be honest siling labuyo for me could be more spicier imo but people have different spice tolerances that’s true.
The info on the back of the card says to feed it once every two weeks and also to water them regularly when it’s dry and that’s what I’ve been doing most of the time, I was just curious if they were gonna grow any bigger and I was rest assured by your comment and the others that also helped with their comments, that these were of the tiny sized variety. I’ve got a big jug full of the rice water also, it’s nice that you’ve mentioned that also, how has that worked for your plants? I’ve never really used it often to the point that it stunk like you’ve said but come next year I’ll try to use some of that and see what’s up 👍🏽
Thank you for your kind words haha, I’m only just a beginner at this moment but nonetheless I appreciate your support 😅 better late than never! Good luck also with your plants and gardening 😊
Oo, Kabayan. Nice to meet you, too.
My aunt wanted me to tell you that if you and your sister ended up liking the ornamental variety, you should consider the dwarf kind especially if you’re looking for a bountiful harvest. The ornamental peppers are more for decorative purposes, will not get bigger and likely not as spicy.
Her peppers died when she went away one weekend and the temperature dropped to 32°F/0°C (all her plants were still outside) and never recovered. The directions on caring for your peppers (or any plant) are more of a guide until your plant is stable, after that it’s up to you to troubleshoot and fortunately you don’t need to.
Is Pinakurat the seafood dish with gata and veggies? Yum, but not as spicy for me, lol. My family is split between spicy and don’t do it.
I’m not a good farmer or gardener but successfully grew okra, spinach, beets, beans and even corn (albeit very small) in the past. Flowers seem to grow well in my crappy dirt. Haven’t done anything in three years because life happens! I really think it’s the stinky rice water that helps them grow – at least that’s what the elders in my family keep saying. It’s fine when your plants are outside but inside the house ?! That’s on you, lol. They do linger…
Keep us posted on your progress. Congrats on your Thai peppers! Best of luck to you as well.
FWIW, if you’re nana is saving rice wash in a bucket over the course of days plural, that stink is literally the rot activity in the bucket. 🤢 Could be good for plants, if it’s mycological, but bacterial isn’t as wise… 🥲
I used to think it was a myth but apparently Rice Water can be good for plants.
The smell though… ugh. 😩 Two days isn’t bad more than that and you might pass out! She would say: “That’s the aroma of fermentation…” LOL
She’s not wrong. 😅🤪🫠
This comment is so cute.
Not sure if this one is the same variety but this looks like bird eye’s chilli, which is usually around that size. Small, but pack a punch.
Edit: searched around and the picture below is only a bit bigger?
I think yours is fine.
Yeah that’s what I was thinking too, because we have the same similar variety back in my home country, we call them “labuyo” small but packs quite a punch like you said. Thank you for your reassurance!
I think you just have massive hands. Just compare to your scissors for reference.
Just fat hands on my part, you know what they say “the camera adds 10 pounds”, I AM the ten pounds 🤣 the scissors are small since they’re specifically for pruning I guess? That’s what my sister told me lol
Much like a McDonald’s burger, they always look much better in the ad photo. But yours look perfectly healthy, if small, so I don’t think you did anything necessarily wrong, but if you started late that could certainly be a factor.
Iirc we bought these around June July-ish? So probably on the late side, could try to repot them in a bigger pot next year and see if they grow any bigger.
I’ve had a few ornamental peppers that were exactly that size. And you’re right, the package pic does not match. That may be down to the marketing people getting the wrong pic off the internet, your seeds being a slightly different cultivar, 🤷🏻♂️. Even us pepper nuts get stuff mixed up and crossbred.
That plant just screams healthy. My first thought was to feed it more, but you must be doing that to get those results. For next year I’d get the seeds from another outfit. I almost always use eBay.
Yeah, I’ve made sure to research every nook and cranny of this chili plant of mine and they did say (forums) that they are of the small, ornamental variety so you’re absolutely right on that part. I guess I’ve just been thrown off by the misleading picture that I needed y’all’s reassurance lol.
Yeah, it said to feed it once every two weeks whilst watering them regularly in between, I’ll keep working on this one and probably buy seeds of the same variety and see if there’s any difference, if not, more Chilies for us!
Probably too many fruiting sites, if you’ve got a smaller plant or small pot, it’s sometimes advantageous to force the plant to put energy into a few fruits than a lot of fruits. As it’s going to put out the same energy regardless, you can force what you want to an extent.
So I’m guessing I need to prune a few leaves off? It is a small pot since we haven’t repotted them since buying them from the garden center. But as the other comments have already said, these are ornamental so they’re that size I guess, but I’m willing to try anything and see if they grow somewhat bigger, if not, then I’ll still be happy with it, just would need more chili varieties in the future 👍🏽
At this point, nothing you can do, and the leaves are what you leave. When the plant starts to flower, you chose what you want and trim it up.
Container peppers can be tricky. The only thing I’ve found that works is constant fertilization with compost tea or fish fertilizer from seedlings to fruiting, but don’t overdo it with the water. Let the soil in the container completely dry out before watering, give it a bit of water then, but one big gulp once a week. That seems to work for me.
Lots of people keep the soil hydrated which isn’t what all pepper varieties want. These small chilies are also used to hotter climates.
Tbh we haven’t reported them ever since we bought them from the garden center, maybe that’s why but who knows lol, we’ll make sure to repot them and change the soil come next year.
I had similar results with my potted thai chilis. I got picture perfect results when I had them in the ground, so I figure they just need more soil.
Yeah that’s what I was worried about, but I could always try next year, just gotta overwinter these and see what’s up next year 👍🏽
Mine still tasted great, for what it’s worth! Chopped em up into noodle soup in the morning, sliced some into some quick pickles or blended em into sauces.
Yeah me think the picture on the card is grown from the originating region and in a farm, so it would be larger.
So kinda like click bait? 😅 All jokes aside though, we tried one and it was really spicy for such a small thing. Read on the back of the card it’s around 100,000 scoville? Whatever that means, but I’m guessing it’s in the middle of the spice chart which means it “does what it says on the tin”.
I love it for the quick spice, unlike cayenne which come slow and only creep in a bit later, so it’s harder to adjust the spiciness. And it also fade quickly too.
Tbh I could opt for a bit more spice, probably could try growing scotch bonnet next year.
Ah yes, home grown Mike & Ikes
Haha yummy
I’ve grown Thai ornamental Chilis in pots and in the ground, and they have always turned out small like that. Probably 1” to 1.5” long at the most if I recall correctly. This year we did a purple/black ornamental and they came in about the 1” long but more bulbous.
Ahh okay! That makes sense then, I’m just wondering why the hell is the picture in the card bigger lol, clickbaited in real life for me 😅 either way they were spicy as heck. Purple and black variant huh, sounds cool! What were they called? Might put that on the list to grow next year…
Those purple/black ones I used to grow a lot. A version called Gusto purple. They might be small and folks think they’re pretty but they’re also quite tasty. And if you give the roots some room they’re prolific.
Those are ornamental (decorative) peppers. They’re grown for looks not consumption that’s as big as they get. Next growing season you need regular sized cayane, bannana peppers, habenero.
Did you mean “ornamental”?
There are ornamental Thai peppers, but also similarly sized Thai peppers used for cooking.
Yes, typo! Also good info to know about Thai peppers.
Tried the Chilies with Pad Kra Pao, was so spicy for such little things.
Guess my research was right then, just needed someone to reassure me hehe, they were spicy when we tried them one time so I guess it’s okay. Yeah, I’ve got scotch bonnets on the list to try next year, I’ll definitely keep your recommends to try too!
They don’t get a ton bigger but they look immature to me. Particularly the one in your hand.
They need heat and light and have a relatively long growing season in non-tropical climates. My chilis flower in may and I harvest end of September.
Yeah I guess that would make sense also, just need to invest in a greenhouse then maybe 😅
