Author Topic: pepper confusionI  (Read 1819 times)

sleepymrsp

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pepper confusionI
« on: August 07, 2013, 20:35:33 »
I bought some plants from b&q. there was a mixture of bell peppers, jalepenos and birds eye chillies. I put the tags in the ground by the plants but somewhere along the line things have got muddled up - 2 identical birdseye chilli plants are supposedly a bell pepper and a jalapeno!

I have a large number of plants with what look like jalapenos but they are pointing upwards and all the pictures ive seen of them online have the chillis growing downwards. The birds eye chillis are pretty obvious and then the others have very little growing on them but have some little blunt green things pointing downwards so i presume these are the bell peppers.

Will post some pictures if needs be but if anyone has any ideas whats what it would really help!

galina

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Re: pepper confusionI
« Reply #1 on: August 09, 2013, 19:56:35 »
Bird's eyes are pointing upwards, Jalapenos and bell peppers downwards.

sleepymrsp

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Re: pepper confusionI
« Reply #2 on: August 11, 2013, 10:42:27 »
http://ourlottieproject.wordpress.com/2013/08/11/pepper-confusion/

There's some pictures. The ones growing upwards are too big to be birdseye chillis I think. I'm more confused now than ever!

galina

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Re: pepper confusionI
« Reply #3 on: August 11, 2013, 14:23:03 »
http://suburbantomato.com/2011/04/growing-chillies-in-melbourne/

This is what I know as Bird's eye pepper, however Wikipedia has this picture:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bird's_eye_chili

They are pointing downwards!!!

No wonder you are confused.  So am I  :wave:  Perhaps bird's eye pepper is one of those generic terms for small, pointed chillis rather than for a specific definite variety. 

Another difference is that Jalapeno is thicker fleshed than Bird's eye.  Does that determine it?


sleepymrsp

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Re: pepper confusionI
« Reply #4 on: August 11, 2013, 17:31:02 »
i presume a birdseye pepper and a birdseye chilli are 2 different things. Im all confuddled

ed dibbles

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Re: pepper confusionI
« Reply #5 on: August 11, 2013, 19:14:38 »
Out of the tree types of chillies you describe they are going to be pretty easy to distinguish once they begin fruiting. Bells squarish and blocky, Jalapenos, torpedo like and birds the smallest of the three. Whether the Jalapenos grow upwards or down they will still be recognizable. There are many different varieties of Jalapeno.

Bird pepper is a generic term for a number of small fruited types similar to their wild ancestors (Tepin, Bird Aji and Pequin are some of the names these types go by).

But there is a variety of chilli pepper called "birdseye pepper" (Nickys Seeds has them) with longer fruits than the Tepins and bird  Ajis. Since your plants came from B&Q I would think they are a variety of some kind.

In the wild bird chillies seeds are distributed by birds, Only mammals can taste the heat in the fruit but not birds. This is because mammalian digestive systems destroy chilli seeds whereas birds don't.

So if you don't want to eat the chilli seeds when preparing them put them out for the birds! :happy7:

ed dibbles

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Re: pepper confusionI
« Reply #6 on: August 11, 2013, 19:27:24 »
Having looked at the photos in your blog it's no wonder you are confused - you don't have what you thought you did!

The top pic, believe it or not is your sweet pepper. Definitely not a bell pepper but a so called banana pepper. There are hot kinds of banana pepper to so be careful when taking the first bite. :happy7:

The second pic is your so called "birds eye pepper" which is nothing of the sort - looks like a pretty standard Cayenne or Indian pepper type to me.

The third pic is definitely, absolutely, certainly a Jalapeno. :icon_cheers:

So one out of three is as described. Well done B&Q! :happy7:

sleepymrsp

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Re: pepper confusionI
« Reply #7 on: August 12, 2013, 06:06:00 »
lol, shame because they are good plants which are doing well!

ed dibbles

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Re: pepper confusionI
« Reply #8 on: August 13, 2013, 08:09:50 »
Don't forget your Jalapenos are not ready until you see the typical "skin cracking" on the ripening pod.

Purists always pick Jalapenos green although I like them better red. They are such a tasty chilli. One of the best. :happy7:

 

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