What Is Your FAVORITE Heirloom Pepper?

[jeffinsgf]

I'll join the chorus singing the praises of Fish. Both the plant and the peppers have a unique appearance, and the flavor is distinct, like indubitableness said. The heat is powerful, but not overly so.

If I could grow just 3 hot peppers, they would be Fish, Serrano Tampequino, and Chile de Arbol. There's not much you couldn't spice up with those three.

[Coffee_Break]

For more of a Novelties then eating you have The Aji Starfish pepper and the Aji Orchid
Pepper but both are very good eating

Aji Starfish


Aji Orchid pepper


Charles

[Sherilou]

Everyone's heirloom pepper information is truly inspirational... thank you! Thanks so much for the beautiful photos, Charles.

The Aji Orchid is rare, isn't it? I wonder if it's similar, in flavor, to Roberto's Cuban Seasoning or Rocotillo (I'm growing both of those lovely pepper plants this year).

[Coffee_Break]

Originally Posted by Sherilou

Everyone's heirloom pepper information is truly inspirational... thank you! Thanks so much for the beautiful photos, Charles.

The Aji Orchid is rare, isn't it? I wonder if it's similar, in flavor, to Roberto's Cuban Seasoning or Rocotillo (I'm growing both of those lovely pepper plants this year).

Most Aji Pepper in general are rare depending on the one you want the Aji Orchid is more widely available today Then back in the 1980s when I got my Seeds

Charles

[happyhill]

Red cheese is my favorite. It's sweet, thick walled and productive. I had one grow to almost five ft- honestly!

[pepperhead212]

I never think of peppers as heirloom, though one OP variety I have been growing since the 80's, that is one of my favorites, is Bulgarian Carrot. It ripens orange, thus the name, and has a unique flavor that I have only found one other pepper that tastes the same, despite having tried countless other orange hot peppers. The other, Hanoi Market, is later and smaller, but another favorite now, and it is an indeterminate, while BC is determinate, and gets a bunch of early peppers, all the same size, and all ripen about the same time, then another batch develops. Great ornamentals, but the only problem with both of these is that they are favorites of the pepper maggot fly - a problem of mine, so so I have to cover them much of the summer.

[Sherilou]

You're right, Dave. I realize, now, that most of them are known as OP. I should have said that in my title.

I'm really having a great time researching everyone's favorites!

[pepperhead212]

Originally Posted by Sherilou

You're right, Dave. I realize, now, that most of them are known as OP. I should have said that in my title.

I'm really having a great time researching everyone's favorites!

It's not really wrong, it's just not something I see used with peppers. I have seen a few Eggplants referred to as heirlooms, and probably some others, as well, but it's usually tomatoes.

[Gemini Jim]

Peppers can definitely be "heirloom," by any definition that applies to tomatoes. It usually means an OP variety propagated for more than X number of years, where X can equal anything from 40 to 100 or more, depending on whose definition you're talking about.

[ness]

Originally Posted by happyhill

Red cheese is my favorite. It's sweet, thick walled and productive. I had one grow to almost five ft- honestly!

I had less than 10% germination on Red Cheese and zero made it to transplant. I was planning on pickling them. What do you do with them?