Peppers
Shishito
Prolific, pick young for blistering.
- Indoors
- 8 wk (mid Mar)
- Outside
- Transplant after frost
- Where
- Raised bed or in ground
- Sun
- Full sun; give it the sunniest corner
- Water
- Every 3 to 4 days in July; never let it bake dry
- Harvest
- Jul to frost, small green
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. Never leave it parched, though; one dry afternoon costs a whole flush.
- 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 a light side-dress at fruit set keeps the flushes coming without pushing leaf.
- Ready
- Pick small at 2 to 3 inches while the walls are thin and tender; steady picking drives the next flush. Any that hide and redden stay usable, only past their prime.
- Trouble
- Brown spots spreading on leaves and pods: bacterial leaf spot, remove affected leaves and keep the foliage dry. Aphids on new growth: a hard water spray. Let it bake dry and the flush stalls: water on a schedule the plant cannot argue with.
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 one-plant appetizer program: shishitos picked small from July to frost and blistered in a hot pan the same evening. One plant keeps pace with most kitchens; two is a party habit.
Growing
Start seeds at 8 weeks in mid March and transplant into the bed, or a 5 to 7 gallon bag, after the frost date passes in mid May. Give it the sunniest corner and pick at two to three inches; steady harvest is what drives the next flush. Pods that hide long enough to turn red are still good, just no longer the point.
Varieties
Straight shishito seed from Kitazawa or Johnny's is the standard; Mellow Star is a tidy, heavy-setting selection of the same thing.
In the kitchen
Dry pan or a slick of oil, high heat, flaky salt when the skins char and collapse. The famous one-in-ten hot pod is real, but in a cool summer here it is a gentle lottery.