Peppers
Aleppo pepper
Pick red and dry for flakes.
- Indoors
- 8 to 10 wk (mid Mar)
- Outside
- Transplant after frost
- Where
- Raised bed or in ground
- Sun
- Full sun
- Water
- Every 3 to 4 days in July; deep soak, let it dry between
- Harvest
- Aug to Oct, red-ripe
Care
- Water
- Every 3 to 4 days in July and August, about weekly in spring and fall. A long soak at the base until the top few inches are wet, then let it dry before the next. Keep it even, or the drying pods crack at the shoulders.
- Sow
- 2 seeds a quarter inch deep per cell, cut the weaker at the soil line when true leaves show. Set plants 18 inches apart in the bed.
- Start inside
- Mat at 80 to 90F, sprouts in 7 to 8 days. Under the lights the moment they break ground, 14 to 16 hours; off the mat at the first true leaves. Outside after mid May, once nights hold 50F.
- Feed
- A shovel of compost or castings worked in at planting carries the bed most of the season. A medium feeder, so side-dress once at fruit set, then ease off the nitrogen.
- Ready
- Let the pods hang until deep crimson and slightly soft at the shoulders, from August; that is the flake stage. Cut, do not pull.
- Trouble
- Sunken dark patch at the tip: blossom end rot from water swings, soak evenly and skip high-nitrogen feed. Cracked shoulders on drying pods: same cause, keep the water even. Aphids on new growth: a hard water spray knocks them back.
In a bag?
- Yes
- Up to a 5–7 gal bag.
- Water
- Daily in July and August; bags dry far faster than a bed. 30 to 40 sec on the shower dial until it runs from the seams.
- Feed
- Top-dress monthly; every watering leaches the bag.
- Sow
- One plant per bag.
A Syrian heirloom chile grown for one purpose: red-ripe pods that dry into a year of Aleppo flakes. Seeds go in under lights in mid March, and the reward comes late, since pods that will dry well need to hang until they color fully, from August on.
Growing
Start seeds 8 to 10 weeks before the mid May frost date; Aleppo is slower out of the gate than jalapeno and appreciates a heat mat. Transplant into the bed, or a 5 to 7 gallon bag, once nights hold above 50F, usually the third week of May. One plant to a bag, a handful of compost at planting, then a low-nitrogen feed when the first flowers set. Let the pods sit through their green stage; they only earn the name once they turn crimson and soften slightly at the shoulders.
Varieties
True Aleppo seed is sold as Aleppo or Halaby pepper. If a packet proves scarce, Marash is the same idea from the Turkish side of the border and dries just as well.
Pests
Aphids cluster on new growth in June; a hard spray of water every few days keeps them below damage level. Slugs will climb the plant after rain and rasp holes in the low leaves, so keep mulch pulled back from the stem.
In the kitchen
Halve, seed, and dry at low heat until leathery, then pulse coarsely with a pinch of salt and a drop of oil for proper Aleppo flakes: moderate heat, raisiny, faintly tangy. One good plant fills the flake jar for the year.