I love these mild but still tasty chili peppers. They are easy to grow with some sun, heat, water and a good deep soil. Like a lot of the peppers they seem to like having the soil surface heat up and reflect heat on to them. When they ripen they usually go red and get a bit more flavour and heat to them – but while unripe and green they work well as crunchy textural fill in many dishes like salsa or, as I prefer, even better grilled and used like a more tasty version of a grilled capsicum.
They do have along growing season and take some time to build up production, but often will last a few years as a bush and also often produce better the second year if you can keep them growing through the winter.
I have tried them in pots and they grow pretty well that way too – as long as the pot is fairly large and you allow it to almost completely dry out between waterings when not flowering. As soon as they flower you need to feed and water them regularly to get the best results of fruit.
I use organic manures and liquid seaweed dosing to boost them during flowering periods.
When they are fully ripe and then dried they become ‘Ancho’ and add great flavour to dishes just sprinkled on at the last minute or processed into a sauce like the classic Mexican Moles.