Caspsicum annuum • F1 • Organic

JOY MAX SCALE ✦✦✦✦✦

Shishitos are having a moment. You’ll see the mild, slender Japanese peppers on menus at all the coolest restaurants. But you can easily grow these peppers and eat them every day. Buckets of them. They are so so easy. A joy max pepper all the way.

✦ One of the easiest peppers to grow, with the most prolific harvests. DELICIOUS, buttery, mild flavor. Every once in a while you’ll get one that’s got some spice to it.

✦ Very early to produce, only 60 days until the wrinkled, bright green peppers reach 3” long, the perfect size to harvest.

✦ Because they produce so quickly and so bountifully, it doesn’t matter if you get a late start with them. Start indoors whenever you can and if it’s already very warm outside, plant them out where they will get some shade in the afternoon.

✦ I planted four plants one year and pretty much brought a giant bag of peppers with me any time I went to anyone’s house. Fry some up mid-party or bring as a hostess gift, they will be appreciated.

✦ Other than some harmless leaf miners, I’ve never had any pests trouble my shishitos. They are so easy, you really don’t have to do much to grow them.

Basic Growing Information

STARTING INDOORS (recommended): Start indoors under bright light 8-10 weeks before last frost. Sow seeds 1/4” deep. Sow 2-3 seeds per cell or pot and then thin to the healthiest seedling once they are an inch tall. Use a heat mat to speed germination. It’s best to start peppers indoors because, unlike tomatoes, you shouldn’t plant them outside until nighttime temps are above 60°F (15°C). You need a soil temp of 65°-80°F for best results.

Harden them off for a long time outside by slowly increasing the amount of sun they are exposed to over 7-10 days. Stake shishito peppers if needed. They are more sturdy than other peppers given their size, but if they are in windy areas support will be appreciated.

HARVEST: Shishitos are best harvested green, although they can still be eaten when fully ripe and red. Fresh you can add them to salads or coleslaw. The most popular and easiest method is to serve them as you see here, either sauteed in a hot pan or air fried for 3-5 minutes just until they are collapsed and starting to char. Keep it simple with just a sprinkle of kosher salt or season however you like.

Tips for Growing Peppers

• Peppers are not the easiest plants to grow from seed but can be the most rewarding. Once they start producing, smaller peppers just go bonkers with more harvests than you can keep up with. The larger the pepper, the longer the wait. Bell peppers require patience but it’s nice to suddenly have those harvests when everything else is slowing down.

• Peppers grow best in full sun but in Texas, afternoon shade will do just fine.

• Plant them closer together than other plants. You want their leaves to be touching. Bell peppers should be 18” apart, smaller peppers 12”. If you want to save seeds plant different varieties 150 feet apart to avoid cross-pollination.

• It is recommended that you do a soil test prior to any gardening, but peppers can be especially sensitive to deficiencies in the soil. My usual advice would be to prep soil prior to planting with lots of compost. They need good drainage. But there can be such a thing as too much organic material in the soil with peppers. It causes an overabundance of phosphorus which in turn, causes a deficiency in zinc uptake by the pepper. If you notice the pepper seems stunted and the leaves are curled, this could be the issue and compost will just make it worse.

• So just keep an eye on your peppers. Note the colors the leaves turn. Interveinal chlorosis is common with an iron deficiency. Spraying them with seaweed water alternating with fish fertilizer will let them get those vital nutrients directly through the leaves. They even make a seaweed product with iron that is especially good for pepper plants.

• Don’t add too much nitrogen to the soil in your fertilizer products as this will result in more leaves than peppers. Use a formula like 5-10-10 and some bonemeal for calcium when you transplant out and then again halfway through the season.

• Keep the soil evenly moist, not too wet, not too dry. A deep watering once a week will equal about 1 inch of rainfall. The critical time for watering is from flowering through harvest. Water stress can cause buds and blossoms to drop (so can cold temperatures).

• Temps over 95°F may make blossoms drop and slow fruit production. That’s normal. Peppers with afternoon shade will benefit and may not slow at all. You can always use shade cloth as well if you have no shade or plant on the east side of taller plants like okra.

• Peppers can be attacked by flea beetles, leaf miners, aphids, and tomato hornworms. Use applications of homemade soap spray or bt for hornworms.

Companion Planting for peppers

Peppers love interplanting with herbs like basil, dill, and chives. They also love other nightshades with similar water habits like eggplant. Beans, peas, corn, and okra can be planted on the west side of peppers to provide a natural screen from wind and the hottest summer sun. Nasturtiums, marigolds, pansies, violas, and alyssum are all gorgeous with peppers and also deter pests. Avoid planting near fennel. Peppers will compete with brassicas for nutrients. They do well with tomatoes but you should really rotate them separately to avoid nematodes and other diseases.