Sunday 9 August 2009

an identity crisis... help!

A couple of months ago I bought 2 little chilli plants from a new local market stall run by start-up company, Inner Green. Their stall looked cool, and the guys who ran it were friendly and engaging, so - like the sucker I am - I picked out the plants and bought them on the spot. I was told they 'should be producing by around mid-July'.

Fine.

And with the labels in the pots each declaring 'hot red conical chillis', that's exactly what I was looking forward to.Mid-July came around. We had signs of a chilli, but it was green.

No matter, thought the optimist in me. A bit of sun, continuing TLC, and we can look forward to hot days and chilli nights.

Except that now, heading into the second week of August, this is what we've got:



Now, this chilli may be many things, but red and conical it ain't.

So we have a little identity crisis on our hands. Can you solve the mystery?*

*I know you don't have much to go on, but the plant itself is about 8 inches high, and the chilli itself, about an inch or so in all dimensions. Since I have no idea at all, you are bound to have a better guess than me. All suggestions gratefully received. Who knows, I may even send you the chilli itself as a prize.

16 comments:

maybelle's mom said...

we have some that were hungarian peppers (can't remember the name) but they are the same shape as yours right now.

aforkfulofspaghetti said...

maybelle's mom - interesting. The Hungarian peppers I've had have all been longer and more conical in shape...

Caitlin (Roaming Tales) said...

The fact that it's a different shape suggests it might be a different plant.

The fact it's a different colour does not. All peppers, both sweet peppers and chilli peppers, are green when they are unripe. The difference between a green, yellow and red bell pepper is simply ripeness. Chillis are the same - some species stay green, but all the red ones start off green.

Manggy said...

Yikes, mislabeled, it appears :( Well, I hope it is at least hot! That's the most important thing, right? ;)

Janice said...

I have grown chillies before and they always seem to got red eventually.

Pity said...

hi, about te chilli plant, i gave up, i had some plants and just go ONE! chilli after weeks of pampering the plant, it never turn red, though. i just found your blog and i like it very much, visit mine if you have the time:
www.pityinthekitchen.blogspot.com

cheers,

pity

aforkfulofspaghetti said...

Caitlin - yep, I agree... Not sure this one will ever turn red, given the 'summer' we've had!

Mark - definitely mislabelled! Not sure how to plan to use it if I don't know how hot it is, though

Janice - I'm still waiting!

Pity - hallo, and welcome! Good to see you here, and thank you for your kind words.

Helen said...

Well they look exactly like my padron peppers so...

Valerie Harrison (bellini) said...

An identity crisis for sure:D

aforkfulofspaghetti said...

Helen - really? ALl the padron peppers I've had have had a pointy bottom. This one verges on being completely flat.

Val - I know! I think I'm going to have to track down the stallholder and interrogate him.

Nic said...

I'm not sure what kind they are, maybe bell peppers which look like that. They should go red if we get the sunshine.

Wahaca said...

It's very hard to tell what type of chillies these are... but this site might help a bit:
http://www.g6csy.net/chile/var-a.html

Your plant looks in great shape. Would you be interested in entering Tommi's Mexican Recipe competition using your chilli plant as inspiration?

http://tinyurl.com/kwt5hm

We'd love it if you did and it could land up in Tommi's book.

aforkfulofspaghetti said...

Nic - that's looking like a pretty big 'if' at the moment...!

Wahaca - would love to, but I know nothing about Mexican food, unfortunately. One of my foodie blindspots.

RecipeGirl said...

I wish I could help... I'm unfortunately a miserable mess when it comes to gardening!! I kill everything I plant, except for a few measly cherry tomatoes that are still growing on my gangly-looking tomato plants! Good luck w/ it!

aforkfulofspaghetti said...

Recipe Girl - aw, thanks for the thought, anyway. Hope your luck with gardening improves. Positive thoughts, positive thoughts...

Gigi said...

It's a poblano pepper. It has medium heat. If it grows on the large side you can stuff it cheese.