Habaneros Won’t Turn Red

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Hi Dave,We have 6 habanero plants in our garden. When they ripen the fruit only turns orange. I was wanting to know why they will not turn red, all the other habaneo plants I have seen have red fruit. Thank you.Melanie Hello Melanie:Habaneros have two mature colors, orange or red, depending on variety. Obviously, you are growing the orange variety …

Chiles with No Heat

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Dave, I’ve been growing hot chilies for over 20 years now. This year, three varieties, ’Thai Dragon", ’Super Cayenne II’, and serrano, all have a good number of peppers coming on. The only problem is that there is NO HEAT!! None, nada, zip. What in the world is going on? The cayenne and serrano are in the ground and the …

Black Plastic Mulch

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Hello Dave,I enjoy your books, and website very much, as I am becoming a chilehead. I grew about 175 hot pepper plants in the garden last year- this year will be more! I have a couple questions for you. One is about growing through black plastic. I use raised rows in my garden- this seemed to work very well last …

Transplanting Too Soon

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Hi Dave,Transplanting seed germinants (4 leaf stage): How low do you bury them and what extra care? I tend to lose a lot at this stage. Hope you can help, nowhere seems to provide this little detail.Jean Hello Jean:You are transplanting too early. Let them get at least twice this size. The problem is that the roots have not developed …

Growlights for Indoor Chile Gardening

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Dave, This will be my first year to start up from seeds indoors. My question is I have a four-bulb fluorescent light fixture. Should I use four lights, should I use grow lights, and how high from the starting plants should the lights be. Let me know thanks and I love your web page. Jim  Hello Jim:You need to use …