Balık is a popular hot pepper in home gardens in the Balkans and villages of Northwest Turkey. This strain systematically produced longer and skinnier fruits than those of our main seed stock of Balık in our field evaluations.
Bright green fruits of Balık hot pepper turn bright red at full maturity. Delicious and crunchy flesh makes great stir fries and pickles. Prolific plants offer a mid-season harvest. “Balık” means fish in Turkish and the fruits somewhat resemble the silhouette of a fish. Our friend and heirloom gardener Gökhan Erdinç of Istanbul, Turkey, sent the seeds for this specific strain to us.
Our current Balık hot pepper seed crop was grown in 2020 by seed grower Hank Keogh (OR).
Packet has min. 25 seeds
Commercially introduced by us
Phonetically pronounced: ba-look
- Capsicum annuum
- Full sun
- Planting depth: 1/4″
- Sprouts in 10-14 days
- Ideal growing temperature: 75-95F
- Plant spacing: 18″
- Frost hardy: No
- Growth habit: Upright growth with short or long branches that grow away from the stem
- Growing tips: Start seeds indoors in seedling trays or small seedling pots in seed starting soil that has essential nutrients in it 8-10 weeks prior to last frost. Keep the soil moist for quick germination. Make sure to keep the young seedlings under good light to have strong plants with sturdy, healthy stems and leaves. Transplant after last frost in well-drained, fertile soil enrichened with compost and other amendments. Feed your plants with liquid fertilizer once every two weeks. Water regularly especially in flower stage. Mulch and always water at plant base to minimize disease. Some hot pepper varieties are taller than others and may need to be tied to a stake so that fruits don’t touch soil and rot.
Jo (verified owner) –
i love this pepper! fermented some into a hot sauce and dried some for flakes too