I’m not bogman, obvs ( I wanted to use that!) but I think @bogman says they are heat tolerant. I don’t know about 110 for two weeks here, but easily 90 + f for months, almost always cooling to 60’s at night, and they prospered.
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Ooops! The first picture might include something other than Sugar Rush Peach; probably Aji Amarillo.
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Thanks for the fotos- I’ll need to grow some Sugar Rush Peaches next year if I can find seeds, or better yet, seedlings (but I’m not counting on finding a six-pack of seedlings).
The seed bank database shows a vial of seeds. Drop me an email and I’ll send you some.
110 is pretty scorching! Some shade might be indicated! The maximum temperatures here were 98 with 70 degree nights and those peppers did ok. If you can either start early or harvest late, sidestepping the hottest season, that should help. If you grow these, it’d be good to know the plats’ limits.
Today I powdered some Aji Amarillo I have had for at least a year. Looks promising, but I broke my grinder in the process.
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Argh! That must be frustrating.
If the grinders are plastic, that’s a design flaw. Some coffee grinders can work well, if dedicated to spices. I use a very old Vitamix with a grinding blade, or a hand-crank grain mill, made by Victorio. You have to break up the pepper into bits for the latter, so it’ll get picked up by the “worm gear”. The Vitamix, however, is very strong. It’ll make bread flour out of whole grain wheat in about 40 seconds.
Dried Aji Amarillo are called “Mirasol” in Peru. There’s also a variety of Aji Amarillo bred for sun drying, VERY tall with widespread branches.
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Hi bogman and shrinkrap (and other Aji growers)! I have six Aji amarillo plants growing this year - some from my saved seeds and some of Robert’s seeds. The plants in the raised bed have produced enormous fruit, which is just showing the first signs of ripening. Unfortunately, through the process of planting seedlings to potting up to going in the ground, I’m afraid my labels got swapped around, so I can’t say for sure which plants are from which source! I’m going to have a huge haul, in any case.
Robert, did you say before that C. baccatum only crosses with other C. baccatums? If so, then perhaps my plants will all remain Aji amarillos from whatever seed I save. But I have a couple C. chinense and various annuum types in the yard, so if they can all cross, I have no idea what my Aji seeds will produce next year.
I’ll let you guys know how this year’s crop turns out once I get some fully ripe peppers.
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Thank you! Will that work for small volumes? I have a good blender but I haven’t tried it with spices.
I’ve had this Cuisinart coffee grinder I’ve been using for as long as I remember, but these peppers took more than the usual.
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Your first recipe “Old-fashioned” seems very close to the “Huancaina” Salsa that I am familiar with making. I think that the addition of Peanuts for thickening may be a Bolivian style. I often use it if I am feeding folks with dietary Restrictions, dropping the Dairy and Crackers.
We can get whole Aji Amarillo here frozen, they are of surprisingly good quality.
Thanks for all the detailed Info.
I’m pretty sure C. baccatum can hybridize with C. chinense. Though, I’ve not had hybrids appear from my gardens. The two species are usually separated by 30–60 feet or more. Neither aforementioned species can cross with C. annuum. Hybrids are most likely when the potential parents are close together. So, if you have C. baccatum very close to C. chinense, hybrids may form.
BTW: that hybrids forms a “genetic bridge” and can cross with C. annuum, whereas the original species cannot.
The Vitamix is for larger volumes. Another coffee grinder with metal blades would be the easiest option, dedicated to spices. It’d be hard to get capsaicin out of the grinder! The hand crank mill works for small amounts, but is slower and you need to pre-crush the peppers and use a chopstick to push the peppers into the worm gear, towards the grinding plates. A crank mill may not work as easily for air-dried peppers; I used it mostly on freeze dried Aji.
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Thanks for that…interesting. So I can be fairly sure my large aji amarillos are not a result of crossing between them and my bells or jalapenos…that’s good to know. The first ripe peppers in my raised bed are 4.5 inches long x 1.25 inches wide - bigger than ever. The peppers are smooth and uniform and turning bright orange. The plants clearly enjoy being in the raised bed more than being grown in pots. The plants in pots still have no ripe fruit, and those peppers are more convoluted in their surface features.
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Great thread! Came back to my phone and somehow this thread was open. Have some reading to do.
