Guzzis, plants and worms. Oh my!

[redrider]

Some of us Guzzi nuts like hot peppers, me being guilty on both items. Well, last year I had a potted Dragon Chili/Cayenne hybrid plant that I could not bear to loose so I wintered it over in the kitchen. This year, the plant produced a bumper crop with feedings of miracle grow indoor plant food. About six weeks ago I was clearing around the wood pile and uncovered some earthworms. The Southern variety-almost pencil size. Three of them went into the pot just for because I wanted to experiment. Now, six weeks on, the plant has exploded in blooms and the peppers that wifey harvested yesterday are almost caustic. Yummy. Perhaps all potted plants could benefit from them. I can send some samples; peppers not worms.

[Sasquatch Jim]

 Plants like earthworm poop.

[dlapierre]

I'm trying that. Just this very day I slow roasted a basketful of Chile do bor mixed with scotch bonnet peppers I grew in a greenhouse this summer. A basketful renders down to a small mason jar full of ground peppers, perfect for spooning on eggs in the morning.
I'm keeping three of the plants overwinter in the house in pots, to see if they survive. I didn't know till this year that they were perrenials.

[80CX100]

I know worms/worm casting are excellent for plants,,, I'm sure you're already aware that the shorter daylight hrs would be forcing the blooms/fruit,,, the worms, really areate a soil well, I can't eat the real hot peppers anymore,,, my best ever producer was a large sweet/hot Chinese Chili called Yuan #1, haven't seen those seeds locally for a long time.

I'm really impressed that you were able to over winter a pepper plant,,, I'll have to file that away in my bag of gardening tricks,,,,  quite the eclectic knowledge base here,

tks Kelly

[Guzzistajohn]

Interesting this thread came up, I just chopped up some jalapeños I canned and tossed 'em in the chili pot

[redrider]

PM me an address. Care packages while supplies last. CARE package. THAT should date me.

[donn]

The impression I have, probably from reading something 40 years ago, is that earthworms are kind of a menace in a flowerpot.  Too little room to burrow around, so they create excessive channelling or something.  Don't know.  I am guessing that the chili peppers were in rather large pots, and the cautions I remember were about what would happen to your African violets or something.  On the good side, they digest organic matter to help make potential plant nutrients available, and that burrowing around typically improves the mechanical structure of the soil, reducing compaction etc., if it doesn't get out of hand.

A few Scotch Bonnets go a long ways for me, and I in season I can get a variety of them at the Saturday farmers market.  Also various skinny little hot peppers from Peru etc., which I haven't tried.