Peppers
Padron
5–7 galBlistering pepper, pick young and often.
- Indoors
- 8 wk (mid Mar)
- Outside
- Transplant after frost
- Where
- Grow bag or raised bed
- Sun
- Full sun
- Water
- Even; steady moisture keeps the flushes coming
- Harvest
- Jul to frost, small green
Galicia's tapas pepper, picked at thumb size from July to frost and blistered by the plateful. The draw is the roulette: a padron plate carries genuinely hot pods more often than shishito, especially late in the season.
Growing
The schedule is standard pepper: seeds in mid March, transplant to a 5 to 7 gallon bag after mid May. Pick relentlessly at one to two inches, since pods left past three build real heat and slow the plant down. It shrugs off cool nights better than most chiles, which suits a Beacon June. By September one plant produces faster than two people can politely eat. Regular water drives the flush cycle; a bag left to swing dry trades picking weeks for recovery weeks.
Varieties
Pimiento de Padron is the original Spanish strain; most US seed just says Padron and behaves the same.
In the kitchen
Hot oil, blister, flaky salt, and a bowl for the stems. September pods run noticeably hotter, which is either a warning or the appeal.