Might be watering them inadequately, missed the peak growing season, which is summer (most likely, though some are still growing) impatient or all of the above but I feel like that's the size they grow, apparently I've read somewhere that they're of the "ornamental" variety which means they're that size when they've matured, but the picture shows a bigger size. They're Thai Dragon Chilies. Unless I wait until next year to see if they grow bigger or to move them to a bigger pot.
Not sure if this one is the same variety but this looks like bird eye's chilli, which is usually around that size. Small, but pack a punch.
Edit: searched around and the picture below is only a bit bigger?
I think yours is fine.
Those are super easy to turn into hot sauce.
Just cut the tops & stems off, and stuff them in a jar.
Boil some vinegar in a pot on the stove, mix in a bit of salt, and pour over the peppers.
Let it cool down & then throw the jar full of vinegar and peppers into your refrigerator for 2 weeks.
Done.
Use the salty, hot pepper infused vinegar like you would any other hot sauce.
Oh my goodness! Those are perfect! You must have a green thumb!
My grandparents call them “sili” and would occasionally place them in a bottle of coconut vinegar. They look exactly like the ones I purchased from Longwood Gardens, PA years ago (sold as Thai Dragon Pepper). These plants (dwarf) only grow about 2 feet (60 cm?) and the ornamental kind will stay small BUT do not underestimate their spicy power! I ended up having to go to my PCP’s (GP) office to get my eyes flushed. My fingers were stingy for almost a day – worse than jalapeños.
Whatever you’re doing, keep doing it! I ended up giving mine away to my aunt and they did thrive by her kitchen window for a couple of years (morning sun). They may get slightly bigger but don’t expect much. Maybe they will grow differently with compost?
My grandmother used to water her plants with rice water, lol. She calls it “hugas bigas”, which is the water used to wash rice but instead of throwing it out, she saves it in a huge bucket and uses it to water her plants. They stink – consider yourself warned.
IMO, it doesn’t look like you need help; I think you should start giving us lessons. Good luck and enjoy! They are beautiful!
EDIT: We are talking about the same thing; my aunt said it’s “siling labuyo”. I didn’t know what “labuyo” was so I had to ask.
Much like a McDonald's burger, they always look much better in the ad photo. But yours look perfectly healthy, if small, so I don't think you did anything necessarily wrong, but if you started late that could certainly be a factor.
I think you just have massive hands. Just compare to your scissors for reference.
Container peppers can be tricky. The only thing I've found that works is constant fertilization with compost tea or fish fertilizer from seedlings to fruiting, but don't overdo it with the water. Let the soil in the container completely dry out before watering, give it a bit of water then, but one big gulp once a week. That seems to work for me.
Lots of people keep the soil hydrated which isn't what all pepper varieties want. These small chilies are also used to hotter climates.
I had similar results with my potted thai chilis. I got picture perfect results when I had them in the ground, so I figure they just need more soil.
Bad if watermelons.
They don’t get a ton bigger but they look immature to me. Particularly the one in your hand.
They need heat and light and have a relatively long growing season in non-tropical climates. My chilis flower in may and I harvest end of September.
Probably too many fruiting sites, if you’ve got a smaller plant or small pot, it’s sometimes advantageous to force the plant to put energy into a few fruits than a lot of fruits. As it’s going to put out the same energy regardless, you can force what you want to an extent.
Luckily you didn’t get the same results are this guy over on Reddit a while back:
https://www.reddit.com/r/PepperLovers/comments/xegwh9/mini_thai_dragon_pepper/
Those are ornamental (decorative) peppers. They're grown for looks not consumption that's as big as they get. Next growing season you need regular sized cayane, bannana peppers, habenero.
Ah yes, home grown Mike & Ikes
I've had a few ornamental peppers that were exactly that size. And you're right, the package pic does not match. That may be down to the marketing people getting the wrong pic off the internet, your seeds being a slightly different cultivar, 🤷🏻♂️. Even us pepper nuts get stuff mixed up and crossbred.
That plant just screams healthy. My first thought was to feed it more, but you must be doing that to get those results. For next year I'd get the seeds from another outfit. I almost always use eBay.
It looks so cute! Like it just grew the right size for that pot. That is a lot of peppers for one plant.
I just now planted peppers for our dry season, always thought of them as slow growing but one of the bell pepper plants was already flowering so into the ground they go.
They might be totally normal and they certainly look healthy.
I remember being given some just like those with food once in Thailand.
I’ve grown Thai ornamental Chilis in pots and in the ground, and they have always turned out small like that. Probably 1” to 1.5” long at the most if I recall correctly. This year we did a purple/black ornamental and they came in about the 1” long but more bulbous.
I have a tiny red chili keychain that looks exactly like that.
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