FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

My VFT's are doing well. Haven't had much cause to post anything for a little while, but I've been reading and keeping up with everyone else's posts. Thought I'd show you guys my first Creole Tomatoes and some jalapeno peppers. I got lots more peppers growing but seems the milder the pepper, the faster it grows, so I have jalapenos and hotter peppers so the jalapenos are growing faster.
Creole Tomato is not a cultivar, but any tomato grown in South Louisiana heat and high humidity in alluvial soil (deposited by flooding water from the river). Good Creoles are grown big on the plant with plenty of flavor and a distinctive taste. as they are kept on the plant so long, they have a delicate fruit and are not expected to be transported long distances. Scientifically, tomatoes are fruits but by Louisiana law, they are vegetables so they can be taxed as vegetables. You gotta love politics. Big festivals around here when the creoles are picked. Restaurants plan their menus around the creoles. Everything from high price dining to B L Creole Ts.

LSU Kid wrote:My VFT's are doing well. Haven't had much cause to post anything for a little while, but I've been reading and keeping up with everyone else's posts. Thought I'd show you guys my first Creole Tomatoes and some jalapeno peppers. I got lots more peppers growing but seems the milder the pepper, the faster it grows, so I have jalapenos and hotter peppers so the jalapenos are growing faster.

creole tomato.jpg

Creole Tomato is not a cultivar, but any tomato grown in South Louisiana heat and high humidity in alluvial soil (deposited by flooding water from the river). Good Creoles are grown big on the plant with plenty of flavor and a distinctive taste. as they are kept on the plant so long, they have a delicate fruit and are not expected to be transported long distances. Scientifically, tomatoes are fruits but by Louisiana law, they are vegetables so they can be taxed as vegetables. You gotta love politics. Big festivals around here when the creoles are picked. Restaurants plan their menus around the creoles. Everything from high price dining to B L Creole Ts.

jalapeno peppers 5 25.jpg

The peppers look great! What kind are you growing? I just got a habanero plant and can't wait for it to take off. Any recommendations for soil and a watering schedule?

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Thanks! Besides jalapenos, I have peter peppers... for aesthetic appeal... lol. For spice, I'm growing tabascos, habaneros, scotch bonnets, moruga trinidad scorpions, jolokia ghost chiles, and the premier... Carolina Reapers. Newly designated as the hottest pepper in the world. 2 million plus scoville units.

For soil, you want it to drain well. This year, I've added silica sand to the standard mix to help drain. Seems to be working well. (Thanks flytrapcare dot com). Standard soil mix being either miracle gro garden or potting soil. The fastest growing get spots in the garden, the rest wind up in containers. And I was surprised to see how much room the roots want. The final containers are 5 gallon trade pots. Not actually 5 gallons but closer to 4 gallons. And staking helps support the branches. I use tomato cages for some. I'd use chain link fence if I had any with enough sun. The peppers want full sun, lots of heat and humidity and just enough water to live. Morning sun seems important. It dries the dew quick and helps the plant stay healthy. I don't water often. It rains more than enough, but I wouldn't water more than once a week if we were in a dry period. Water and let it drain. The leaves will droop if they need water. And i use a mixture of organic and chemical fertilizer. I compost equal amounts of horse manure with brown grass cuttings and fallen leaves and use a standard fruit and vegetable miracle gro fertilizer when I need a spurt of growth or see a lot of blooms.

Hope that helps. I've been growing peppers for a long time. This is the first year I am trying tomatoes. I would be happy to post my standard recipe for hot sauce if anyone is interested and I simply freeze any extra peppers. I probably have more peppers from last year than meat in the freezer.

Wow that's quite the collection! I have heard of the new Carolina Reaper but am weary to try it, that is one hot pepper. A friend of mine is growing some ghost peppers, however he is a novice grower and doesn't know a whole lot about them. He is growing them more so just to do it, not a hobby.

I have had the plant for about a week and a half and am going to take it out of its baby pot it is in right now and put it into something bigger. A 4 gallon with some packing peanuts at the bottom to help drainage sound good?

For soil, I was going to grab a bag of miracle-gro potting soil. Will this work well or should I mix it with something else? I have it on the south side of my house so it will get a good amount of sun, and my plan is to use some rain water. Is it okay with these peppers to water with tap water? I know VFT are temperamental when it comes to soil and water, and that's my only growing experience so far, so just looking for as much advice and knowledge as possible.

How often do you use fertilizer and is there a brand you recommend?

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We were laughing the other day about the carolina reapers and the ghost peppers. We figured once you hit 1.5 to 2 million scoville units, we weren't sure if it made any difference. This is the first year for me for the hotter carolina reapers. I'm hoping for great flavor as well as way too much spicy heat.

When you repot, you may see a lot of roots. Give them roots some room to grow.

I've never tried packing peanuts in the bottom of the pot, but as long as the pot has drain holes, it seems like it would be fine. I've added sand to the potting soil this year and they are draining nicely. I will use sand in the mix next year also. I used miracle gro brand potting soil. I'd think any common brand potting soil would be fine. Along with the sand, i added some composted mix as described above. 1/3 horse manure, 1/3 brown grass clippings (put green grass clippings in the sun until they turn brown) and 1/3 leaves. Let it compost. It'll be done "cooking" when the center is cool and the manure loses the smell. I'm lucky enough to have a compost tumbler so it only takes a few weeks if I spin it a couple of times a week. You could substitute cow for horse manure, but no waste from any animal that eats meat, such as dog or cat etc.

I use rain water to irrigate when I can and use tap water when I don't have enough rain water on all my plants and flowers except my newish vft's, without any problems. I use fruit and vegetable miracle gro fertilizer with good results. The instructions state it can be used weekly, but I don't use it that often. No more than every other or every third week. You can burn the plants if you fertilize too often or with too much. I try to get a sense of what the plants need rather than stick to a schedule. I'll add some fertilizer if I see a lot of blooms or if a plant is producing a lot of fruit or if the plant looks like it needs it. Same with watering. Right now we are at the end of a five or six day rain, so I'm hoping the sun shows up tomorrow and starts to dry things out. I won't be watering anything for a while.

Good luck with your harvest.