Peder Pepper Fact Sheet
Starting The Seeds
The seeds should be started indoors in or near a bright window. Use a shallow container (about 2 or 3 inches in depth with several drainage holes at the bottom). The container size depends on how many seeds you wish to start at the same time. The seeds should be spaced at least an inch apart, allowing for at least an half inch from the side of the container. You should always start 4 or more seeds at a time--just in case one or two seeds may not sprout.
Use potting soil which is mostly fine grained--a peat moss, sphagnum moss with pearlite mix is the best bet. AVOID potting soils containing large amounts wood chips, bark, or saw dust as these can rob your plants of nutrients, stunting growth or even killing the plants. Here is a good rule of thumb: if the average double-handful of potting soil contains more than 2 or 3 chips of wood or pieces of bark, then that's too much!
Fill your container with potting soil to about an half inch from the top. Firm the soil with your figertips and level the surface. Set the container in a pan of room temperature water and leave it there until the soil becomes saturated with moisture. Check the pan and add more water, if you have to, as the soil soaks up the water through the container's drainage holes.
Once the soil is very moist, you are ready to plant! Now, place your container on a saucer so it can drain. Space your seeds on the surface of the wet soil. Next, cover the seeds with dry potting soil (cover no more than a quarter inch or about 4 times the thickness of the seed). Gently firm the soil with your fingertips. Place the container in or near a bright window. You're done!
The seeds will germinate in 15 to 21 days. Do NOT allow the soil to dry out completely before then. Barely damp is good enough (don't keep it soggy!). Water carefully as needed or spray the surface of the soil with a houseplant sprayer (misting bottle).
Transplanting and Care
Once the seedlings have developed 2 or 3 sets of leaves, its time to transpant! Allow the starting container soil to become fairly dry on top as this makes the whole process easier. Firmly tap the container on all sides and on the bottom several times with your fingers.
Next, place one hand on the top with the small plants between your fingers so they won't break or get damaged. Then, turn the container upside down in your hand; the soil clump and plants should just slip out onto your hand. Just set them down...right-side up of course...and carefully separate the young plants, keeping each plant's roots as much intact as possible; its easy--just use your fingers to gently crumble the soil.
Now all you need to do is replant the pepper seedlings into larger pots or wherever you plan to grow them.
Growing In Pots or Planter Boxes
A single plant will thrive in either a 3 to 5 gallon size pot. Two plants may be grown in the larger 5 gallon pots.
If you are using a planter box then a foot is is plenty deep, allowing one foot between plants.
Use the same type of potting soil that you started your seeds with.
Follow the same procedures. Fill the pot with moist soil, pressed down with your fingers, filling to about an inch and a half from the top of the container. Open the soil (fingers--again) making a place big enough for the plant's roots, add soil around it, gently firm. It should be planted about as deep as it was before. Peppers are pretty hardy. They can handle a mistake or two plus a bit of rough handling (just don't break off the stem or too many roots).Have some faith!
Water the plant into place using a good plant food solution (Miracle Grow is ideal!). Set where the plant will get plenty of sunlight. Avoid the hot afternoon sun until your pepper plants "get over" being transpanted-- 2 or 3 days. Water with Miracle Grow every ten days to two weeks. Easy!
Here is a tip: Mix a double-handful of well rotted manure (cow, sheep or horse) into the bottom few inches of potting soil as you fill your container. Garden Center manure is fine. The manure stimulates fruit production and your plants will sport 40% to 50% more penis-shaped peppers than they would have without the manure boost! BUT don't exceed the recommendations--or you will end up with tons of beautiful green leaves and few peppers!
If you plan to give Peder Pepper Plants as gifts, then you might wish to limit yourself to the 3 gallon sized pots. Otherwise, the work and space requirements can really add up.
Flower Bed & Garden Cultivation
Peder Peppers make colorful conversation pieces in the vegetable garden or flower bed! Sandy soil is best but almost any soil will do. Prepair the soil a month or two in advance by digging it up and working in a couple of inches worth of well-rotted leaves or compost plus about an inch of manure wherever your peppers are to grow.
Start you seeds indoors about 8 to 10 weeks before the last frost. Shift the transplants to 2 inch x 2 inch pots then plant in the flower bed or garden about a week after your area's last frost date.
Water the small plants well and feed with Miracle Grow when you transplant them to the garden or flower bed.
Peder Peppers will do well in either a sunny spot or even where the sun filters through tree branches part or most of the day. Water whenever the soil an inch or two deep becomes dry. Feed every few weeks. Simple!
NOTE: your area needs to have a fairly long growing season to produce a good show of Peder Peppers in the garden or a flower bed--at least 120 warm days. If not--stick to potted plants or start your seeds much earlier indoors to compensate.
Pollination and Pest Control
When your potted plants begin blooming, make sure they spend a few hours outdoors every day so the bees can "do their thing!" If they are outside plants anyway, just let nature take its course.
Plants that stay indoor and cannot be set outside still require pollenation! (no pollenation--no peppers) You have a couple of choices here:
(1) visit each bloom by hand with the same small feather or cotten swab whenever new flowers appear, or
(2) Garden centers sell a natural plant hormone product known as "Tomato Bloom Set" or just as "Blossom Set". You just mix it with water and spray it on as directed. It works equally well on tomatoes, peppers and egg plants. Talk about easy!
Very few pests bother Peder Peppers. Aphids adhering to the leaf underside is the biggest problem. Aphids suck out the juice and rob your plant of vigor. "Sevin dust" insecticide powder works well. An organic alternative is a spray solution of melted ivory bar soap--cut up a bar of soap into a quart of water (then use a quarter cup of dissolved bar soap per gallon of water) along with a quarter cup of "tobacco juice" per gallon of home-mixed insect spray (soak half a tin of snuff or half a package chewing tobacco overnight in a pint of water--strain out the solid). Soap and tobacco juice (nicotine) kill insect pests but will not harm pollenating bees or lady bugs.
Quarter cup melted ivory soap
quarter cup of tobacco juice
mixed into gallon of water.
The only other pests may be snails and slugs. These are easliy kept out of potted plants. Just place a strand of copper wire around the pot (midway) then twist the wire ends to tighten so there are no gaps. Copper collects static electricity from the air: snail and slugs will not cross it to eat your plants!
An alternative is an inch wide band of Vaseline smeared around the pot. A tad messy but it works!
A commercial "snail bait" may be used in flower beds and gardens.
Special Peder Pepper Tips!
The penis-shape becomes more distinct as the fruit grows and develops. Give it some time. About two weeks after the fruit sets, the "penis head" emerges from a sheath of foreskin-like flesh at the end of the pepper. The head becomes so realistic, that on the BEST specimin peppers, a tiny slit shows at its tip and the underside is somewhat divided-- just like the real thing! The pepper continues to enlarge until turning red
Not every pepper will quite be up to snuff, so to speak. A few won't quite become the "dick of your dreams". Pull those off. Keep the ones you like. The plant will continue blooming and making new and better-looking peppers.
Remove peppers that stay on the plant too long and become "leathery" to the touch. These are fully mature and will hormonally signal your plant to stop producing new blooms.
Pickled Peder Peppers
Talk about a converation piece or a WAY out gift! Yes! the peppers are edible. They are slightly hotter than the average Jalapeno-type pepper with a musky flavor all their own.
Is it difficult to pickle them? Do I need any special equipment like a canner or a pressure cooker?
The answer to both questions is: "No." Its quite easy and fun. For details, click the link below.
Enjoy growing and pickling these UNIQUE peppers. Its more than just a "Guy Thing".. they're shaped like a Guy's Thing!".
Thank you for your seed order!
Back to the Main Peder Pepper Page
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Pickling your Peder (peppers) Click Here! :)
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