This is the Aji Amarillo that I think I must have seeded in 2019; just a few peppers right now, but they are perfect!
But look at these Sugar Rush Peach ! Those will be around for awhile!
Still no fruit on the Aji Charapita, but another batch of flowers.
Thanks @bogman and others! I froze in ice cube tray
And made this Aji Amarillo and lime sauce
For this tiradito
Oh Man, that looks good! Please let us know how you like it and the ingredients.
Reporting from the Seattle area. If you’re living in the PNW and have a greenhouse, you can grow aji amarillo! Ripe aji in February/March has been like a bit of sunshine during the gloomy PNW winters.
So glad to find other aji amarillo enthusiasts! I’ve been growing aji in my backyard greenhouse for the past 4 years. I think I have it figured out and I thought I’d share. I initially grew several aji amarillo plants from seed and planted them out in late Spring of 2018. That Fall, they never ripened before the cold set in in November, so I pruned them back and overwintered them in my greenhouse (I keep the greenhouse above freezing at around 40 F). The next Spring I planted them in a raised bed on the North wall of my greenhouse. They grew like crazy (about 8’ tall), fruited prolifically, and ultimately ripened in late February/early March. I harvested around 100 aji from three plants. After the harvest was over in March, I trimmed them back hard to a “Y” shape. The same three plants have been growing in the greenhouse for 4 years now, following the same schedule. This year is looking to be the best harvest yet. Last I counted there were over 100 ajis.
I’ve been freezing aji, making paste, drying aji, making salsa/pico, and enjoying Lomo Saltado and Papa a la Huancaina. I also highly recommend Aji/Mayonesa Verde as a dipping sauce for Pollo a la Brasa and fries. Just throw the following into a blender until it can blend no more:
Wow! Beautiful garden, greenhouse, plants, and recipe! After I got a greenhouse i found it is too hot to use from May through September. Fortunately i can grow outside those months.
I used this recipe
…and really enjoyed it.
Thank you! I’ve got a bunch of freeze dried Aji and some frozen.
Every place will need a different approach to growing these, considering the heat-sensitivity issue. In VA, under heated cover, harvest season is Oct.–Jan. By Feb., it’s too dark for the plants to prosper.
I apologize if I’ve already said this, but arbico.com is a great company that has more organic bad bug killers than I’ve ever seen anywhere else. They’re local to here so not that far from you. They specialize in predatory insects and I’ve seen several that devour whiteflies in their catalog.
Is there a home version of freeze drying?
Yes, but the machine isn’t cheap. I purchased a Harvestright, medium-sized freeze drier in 2018. I’ve freeze dried raw shrimp (shelled), home-ground meats, home made Italian sausage, spiral sliced ham, many stews and chilis, tomato reduction sauce, greens, Ogen melon, peas, blueberries, bananas, lime slices, green beans, collards, baked winter squashes, regular and Thai basil, and a LOT of other stuff! I’ve been making a lot of black garlic lately, but am afraid to freeze dry any type of garlic; the smell may coat the interior and require an extensive cleaning.
It has paid for itself, given the crates of food preserved for 10-20 years at room temperature. Not that I’m a doomsday prepper, but the freezer is full and food typically only lasts for 1-4 years if properly frozen. It’s also nice to have meals ready almost instantly, meals that can travel with no chilling.
I recently wore out the vacuum pump for the unit and had to have it rebuilt-testimony that I worked that machine like a mule. So far, I’m impressed with the quality of manufacture and performance.
I was pretty sure it was something I couldn’t justify purchasing, but I appreciate the reply- sounds like you’ve made good use of it.
I’m so glad I found you all & this wonderful thread! It’s my first time growing aji amarillo, so I’ve enjoyed learning from your expertise. I’m based in the Atlanta area, married to a Peruvian, & love Peruvian cuisine (still don’t understand why it isn’t as well known as Chinese food, but I digress…).
My plant seemed to be doing well, having reached about 3’ tall in a container. There are ~15 ajis growing; the first appeared around the end of August-first of September & is approx. 2" long. Late last week I noticed the leaves starting to wilt. I watered the plant, but that didn’t make much of a difference. The weather got a bit cooler - mid-50s at night - so I’ve been bringing it inside at night. However, the leaves are still wilting (see photo). This is where I need your expert guidance.
Is this normal behavior? Should I prune the leaves, or maybe even the branches that aren’t producing ajis? I do see some holes in a few of the leaves, so maybe I have a pest problem?
I’m sorry to bombard you w/a bunch of questions & a lengthy post. Thanks for reaching the end - & thanks in advance for your help!
Welcome! From my limited experience I’m going to guess too much water sittingon the plantroits! Too little seems easier to fix than too much. Do you a way of monitoring drainage and checking moisture?
PS I spend my share of time in Conyers, where my father in law spends an inordinate amount of time monitoring the weather and moving tropical plants in and out of his garage.
Thanks for the reply, @Shrinkrap. I don’t have a way to monitor the water. I poked around w/a wooden skewer & the top of the soil was a bit firm (maybe even crusty) & the top inch or 2 of the soil was dry. I’ll try to gently dig a bit deeper this evening.
BTW, I may be following in your father-in-law’s footsteps. This brown-thumb just bought some growing lights for the winter. 
Welcome Shawn! Another thing to check is to look for a small hole in the stem. This would indicate a stem borer, which often attack pepper plants in our part of the US. You basically have three main possibilities:
•Too much water leading to root or crown rot.
•Too little water leading to wilt or salt buildup in the soil. Soil should be flushed, leached periodically so plenty of water comes out the drain holes. If there are no drain holes, that’s a big problem.
•Insect damage: most commonly a stem borer; once inside the stem, it’s hard to control. A less common issue is beetle grubs, especially Japanese Beetle grubs munching on the roots. Other root insect pests include root mealybugs, frequently brought in by ants, which “farm” them.
Peruvian cuisine often calls for unusual ingredients, like Aji Amarilla, Aji Panca, Huacatay, etc. That may explain why there aren’t more restaurants. It is slowly spreading in urban areas. Some dishes, like ceviche, are easier to get ingredients for. I used to be married to a Peruvian lady and spent a lot of time in Peru; the food is amazing! Somewhere in this thread is my email, should you want seeds. I grow the plants, which get 7 feet high here (VA), in a heated mini greenhouse, with the main crop coming in from Oct.-Feb. I don’t grow them but every few years, using freeze dried or frozen Aji between grow-outs. A lot of seeds get collected, plenty to share.
Huacatay, a.k.a. “Black Mint”, is a marigold and comes up like a weed here. I get mine from my neighbor, who is also married to a Peruvian.
Gaston Acurio’s cookbook on Peruvian cuisine is a classic, he just doesn’t list the Peruvian dish names (Peruvian) in the English version, so the most famous dishes are hard to locate within the book.
Thanks for the info, @bogman. It seems that my plant is reacting to the fall weather. I brought it inside, checked the soil (needed water) & had it looking better. However, in the process I brought some flying critters into the house, so I was asked to put the plant back outside - & now it’s wilting again. We’re only in the 50s, which I thought it could tolerate.
My wife isn’t convinced that what we have is an actual aji amarillo plant because the peppers are still pretty small, so I may take you up on your offer for the seeds. I appreciate your generosity!
Wilting can have a lot of reasons, from too little water to actually too much!
Make sure the pot has drain holes. Put on a saucer or in a bigger pot without holes and water in that. Leave to stand for a couple hours, then throw the water that remains. The plant should have taken up what it needs.
Over-fertilised can also be an issue. It can make it difficult for the plant to take up water.
Then unrelated 
Are there any alternatives to aji ammarillo that grow like heat?
No problem! Just start the seeds in early Feb.; they take a while to size up. 50 degree nights are no problem. We’ve had them go into the mid 30s F with no issues. The plants are pretty tough, except for going pollen-sterile when it’s hot.
As far as flavor, I’ve not found any pepper that’s the same. There are some similar, (sort of) peppers, all Capsicum baccatum:
•Aji Chinchi Amarillo-smaller, thinner walled, similar color, smaller plants.
•Sugar Rush Peach-A modern breed, low growing, super productive, peach-colored, juicy fruits which are about as close as Aji Amarillo as I’ve tried. Still different, lacking the almost grapefruity component.
•Lemon Drop-Again: Lemon Drop is NOT Aji Limo (a persistent internet lie). Lemon drop is a smaller, hotter yellow pepper with a distinctly fresh, citrusy taste. Low growing bushes. The core tends to have a soapy taste, in addition to being blazingly hot; it’s best to remove it. If you’re careful about removing the core and septa (“veins”), it can almost stand in for Aji Amarillo.
All the above C. baccatum have set copious amounts of peppers in Virginia during periods when months of 90 degree F+ ( 32C) days would have sterilized Aji Amarillo.
It seems entirely possible for a breeder to use heat-tolerant varieties to cross and back-cross Aji Amarillo with, say, Sugar Rush Peach or Chinchi Amarillo, to create a pepper with the same qualities and flavor, yet has tolerance to hot temperatures. With a warming climate; this would be a good project.
Thanks!
I’m going to see if I can get some.
And check my batch of old seeds. Lemon drop sounds familiar…
Sugar Rush Peach has such a tasty name-are they, by chance, heat tolerant? Like 110 degrees for a week or two? Or should I just stick to our jalapenos and serranos?
