Habañeros

I planted five habañero plants this weekend. I added them to the cabbage flat, since there was room in there and the existing warmth (from the mini-greenhouse) will aid germination of the habañero peppers. The flats I have hold 18 peat pots, so it seemed a little silly to give the five plants their own flat! It would take longer for the humidity and heat to rise in an almost empty flat as well and hot peppers need high temperatures to germinate. Luckily the sun has decided to stick around for the next few days, which will also help!

This particular variety of habañero is a hybrid called "Burning Bush". It has all the heat of normal habañeros, but has been bred to have a 'pleasant' after taste. I was confused when I first saw on the package: "Hot Chichen Itza" listed under "Burning Bush", but I think I have figured it out. Chichen Itza is a popular early habañero hybrid that mostly has been taken a step further to create the "Burning Bush" variety. It is also most likely named for the ancient Mayan city of Chichen Itza found in Mexico. I am much less confused now!

I will be planting four other types of hot peppers, but they don't need as much start-up time. The habañeros called for 8-10 weeks, where the other varieties only need 6-8 weeks.