I have a long series of articles about the Guam boonie pepper, a small hot pequin style pepper native to the island of Guam. This pepper is not (despite unverified claims in the Wikipedia) the same as the Thai ornamental pepper, but is instead a separate species, closely related to the tepin of Mexico. The pepper is used in Chamorro dishes, most notably the ubiquitous finadene sauce.
To update the status of my plants: I recently posted that one of my four peppers was flowering. This year, all four flowered and it looked like I was going to have a record crop. Then pests started taking bites of my peppers, and I’d lose all but a few seeds.
In mid September we took a trip, and I had to bring my boonie peppers inside. Outside, they could easily have dried out in two days, and the trip was longer than that. The results?
Being inside allows for a more relaxed watering schedule.
Not only has the crop grown larger, they’re not subject to predation and can stay on the bush longer, turning a full red instead of orange. It’s been successful so far. The question now is, will all 4 plants winter well?
Footnote: a video of people eating Guam Boonies is here. The man shown stopped at 11 peppers.
Food Near Snellville 
December 14, 2012 at 5:32 pm
Hafa Adai! I just moved to Atlanta & wanted to know if there’s a Chamorro community out here. Let me know:) By the way, great job on growing the donne out here.
December 17, 2012 at 9:06 am
Carmen,
I don’t know of any. Your best bet may be to check meetup.com, and see if there are any Chamorro meetups in Atlanta.
I am sure that if Chamorros would get together to hold a miniature version of a Guam fiesta, there would be plenty interest among
a certain set of Atlanta foodies.
September 25, 2013 at 4:02 pm
There is a Chamorro community in Huntsville, AL.
E-mail me if you want more info! markpack@hotmail.com
May 26, 2013 at 6:39 pm
I live in San Antonio Texas and have been growing boonie’s for years. This is what I have learned. If you are growing them in pots, they need to be very large pots (at least 3-4 feet across the top). Do not use a watering pan underneath. If they are happy in the location you have put them, the roots will grow out of the bottom of the planter and produce sucklings. They love “tomato miracle grow” and iron. They like morning sun but get too hot in the afternoon sun once temperatures go over 90. They must be watered every day once the temp’s go up. Mine are somewhat shaded by a larger tree outdoors. I harvested well over 500 peppers last year from my “mother” plant, she is 5 years old. Mama gets well over 6′ by the end of Summer. My younger plants only produce a few peppers. My plants are protected by my house so I leave them out during the Winter and they have thrived. I cut them back in the Spring just after the night temperatures stay above 45. Mama plant and babies have already flowered and are producing peppers. This cycle will be repeated at least 4-5 times this Summer. You must pick the red peppers every day during the season or the birds will start eating them. I have a mocking bird that hangs out near the plant, so I have starting feeding him other things to keep him away from my plant. We seem to have reached an agreement.
August 7, 2013 at 11:16 pm
Definitely a Mocking Bird. I have watched the bird each morning enjoying the red boonies only. Also the same bird loves my Cherry Tomatoes called Matts Cherry Tomatoes. They are smaller than “regular” cherry tomatoes and as soon as they get red the bird is there eating away. I share with him!
May 24, 2015 at 4:23 pm
Where can I find instructions and tips on growing the donne in california?
May 25, 2016 at 1:07 pm
Hi! I am looking for some boonie pepper seeds, but I can’t find anyone who sells them that the seeds are legitimately from boonie peppers. Any tips on where to find some?
May 26, 2016 at 4:55 pm
search Ebay for vendors whose mailing address is from Guam. I searched recently and found a seller from Yigo.