CaneDog 2019 Hirsute Pursuit – Rocotos, Wilds & Moar

So, here's the new glog for the coming season.  With the indoor grow culled pretty hard now I can focus more on getting ready for what's ahead.  Hoping for a great year, but I’m already a bit behind - the germinators are packed right now and I've still got a round of annuum seeds waiting for their turn.  I guess it wouldn’t feel much like pepper growing though if everything were going perfect.
 
My focus was going to be rocotos with a side of bonnets and some other stuff, but I found I kept planting more and more wilds. Eventually I just kinda went all-in with them and they took on co-main event status. 
 
I’ll start things off with some pics of some of the earlier pube’s.  There’s not too many at this point. Unfortunately, the vast majority just went into germination.
 
First off, Costa Rica Red.  This is the CRR with flattened triangular pods.  I also have an OW CRR that’s a 3-4 lobed “boxy” variety.  I didn't get true seeds off this one last summer, so I have a few of these growing and crossing my fingers they grow true.

 
Rocoto DeSeda.  These guys were from a bush I’d OW’d a few years in a row, but it didn’t make it through this winter

 
 
Rocoto San Camillo

 
 
Gelbe Reisen Variant.  These are from true seeds off a plant I’ve been growing for a few years that was supposed to be Gelbe Riesen, but the pods are more orange vs yellow, rounder/less boxy, and just a touch smaller. I don’t know if it’s a natural variation or it might have crossed with a Costa Rica Orange, but it's a great plant. I have a few of these started and am curious what comes of them.

 
 
Giant Yellow Rocoto.  Suppose I should pinch that bud off.

 
 
Recently hatched Gelbe Riesen sprouts (the parent plant has been a beast for me for a while now) and CAP 217 Hyper-Pube.

 
That’s it for the rocotos for now.  Will try to post up some pics of the early wilds in a little bit. 
 
CD

 

[CaneDog]

 
Here's some of my shrubbery. Can't tell where one ends and another begins without sticking your hand in there. Funny thing is I haven't topped a single one of my plants because I wanted then to grow tall. The four in the center of this picture are like ground cover, sprawling out in every direction.
 
The hoop houses look nice. Are those fitted covers or plain ol' 6 mil plastic sheeting?
 

 
Wow, they totally look like they were topped - was the first thing I was going to ask. Really odd, what varieties are they?  You're going to have one really big, probably impenetrable hedge on your hands pretty soon.
 
Cover is just the plain 'ole plastic, cut to fit and then clipped on.  I forgot that part of what was keeping things so warm last year was 2 or 3 5g buckets full of water I was keeping inside the HH's so I could water with warmer water in the early season. Going to have to get that going now.

 

[CaneDog]

Absolutely amazing reading through this glog. I'm a fan of pubes and most of those I have never heard of - a lot to learn here!

 
Thanks podz.  I have at least a few in the list that are quite a bit different than what I've grown before and I'm looking forward to seeing what they do.

 

[CaneDog]

I have a bit of that leaf twist/curl/tip/wither on my OWs. I attribute it to the 2-3 tablespoons (or more) Alaska Fish 5-1-1 mixed into my repot soil. The leaves on my Turbo Pube are the size of my flattened hand. I was told once that, as impressive as it looks, huge leaves are a sign of misdirected energy distribution.
 
I'll be switching to CNS17 3-1-2 as soon as these ladies meet with the great outdoors, but only after a good sobering up from the Alaska adventure.
 
Super nice grow, 'Dog! How did you get your De Seda to go beyond the first pairs of true leaves? Mine have been the size of a thumbprint for weeks!

 
I'm glad you mentioned your AK Fish mix issue you went through because it had slipped my mind since I read your post.  It makes me feel even more that there might be a combination of factors here and that at least some varieties of rocoto tend toward being lighter feeders.  I've always fed them on the lighter side and this year the combination of soil amendments and feeding fish earlier seemed to affect many of them.  I generally keep the rocotos at the perimeter of the lighting so they get less intense light and better air circulation, so perhaps that's why I didn't get the actual leaf folding  like with the praet's that were under brighter light in a stuffy corner.
 
IDK what to say about the De Seda.  Mine popped fast and had stems like mini tree trunks when they were just an inch high.  They've slowed a bit since, but were probably the fastest growing and sturdiest of this year's pubes - I will say that the Large Red's you sent me, which I almost didn't plant are growing like crazy though. 
 
This year for whatever reason I re-sowed a number of plantings (JZ, Flex PI, etc.) and what I saw a few times was that despite the seed being from the same source, essentially the same age, and subject to similar conditions, seeds/seedlings that performed more poorly the first time did really well the second planting. Makes me think that the conditions they experience early, like during germination, can really have a lasting effect. Maybe they just inexplicably didn't like something at some critical time.  I would have expected the GR's to be finicky, especially the "true" GR, but I thought the De Sedas would blow the doors off for you.  I supposed my go-to with rocotos when they have issues is to reduce their light intensity.  I did with my true GR's because they were slow and they seemed to have sped up a little.  Maybe.

 

[CaneDog]

 
I've got the same thing with a few of mine, growing horizontally. When the time comes to plant them in the ground I'm not sure how much space to give them. hopefully over the next few weeks they'll give me a clue on what to do.

 
My experience has been that the really low wide sprawlers have generally been smaller plants for me, but some of the more moderate spreaders have turned into massive bushes, both tall and wide.  I agree with stetto though, bend them to your will!

 

[Wiriwiri]

Great work with getting the cuttings to root CD...see much progress with you  getting the plants out in the hoop houses,
that lance is huge,should be getting flowers soon on that...con't success.
 

 

[DWB]

 
Wow, they totally look like they were topped - was the first thing I was going to ask. Really odd, what varieties are they?  You're going to have one really big, probably impenetrable hedge on your hands pretty soon.
 
Cover is just the plain 'ole plastic, cut to fit and then clipped on.  I forgot that part of what was keeping things so warm last year was 2 or 3 5g buckets full of water I was keeping inside the HH's so I could water with warmer water in the early season. Going to have to get that going now.

 

Nope, none were ever topped or pinched.
 
The two winging off on the left side are reapers. They both grew up a few nodes and forked. Then grew another node or two and forked again. This seems to be a common theme in this crop of plants. If they don't fork and grow straight up, the internodes are so close you don't really see a main stem.
 
The two plants in the middle of the picture are the chinese wrinkle peps. They have low branches that have shot out way farther than the plants are tall. The away plant owns the low branch coming out at the 8 o'clock position and growing into the reaper. The next two are a reaper away and fatalii near. All of these plants are all over the place. No idea how many forks and stems these have. On the other side of the posts is a fatalii.
 
Strange plants. Maybe it's the high K MasterBlend hydro fertilizer (19.5-18-38) or maybe it was the UFO landing lights. Who knows?
 
I completely removed the row cover today and strung training ropes at 16" to see what I can do about sweet-talking them into growing upwards

 

[DanMcG]

One thing about these plants going out and not up is they sure take up a lot of real estate in my little indoor grow room. I might need to buy morre lights.

 

[saiias]

Things look great CD..

Just a random shout out.. Go hawks..

 

[CaneDog]

One thing about these plants going out and not up is they sure take up a lot of real estate in my little indoor grow room. I might need to buy morre lights.

 
Yep, that's why I haven't ever grown rocotos to maturity indoors; I just figured there'd be issues with their growth habits. Many other varieties are pretty easy to keep quite compact and still get decent harvests. With most varieties of rocoto I think that would be difficult - though I've recently seen people get some pretty good results.  I'm still debating whether I will keep one of the more compact rocotos indoors over summer to try it out. I have an extra CAP 1242, which would probably be a good choice.
 

Things look great CD..

Just a random shout out.. Go hawks..

 
Thanks and yeah, go hawks.  Some big stuff lately with what they're paying Wilson, trading Frank Clark, etc.  Draft starts today, but it's been a long time since they had a pick at the "exciting" level and this year will be no different. Still, 21st and 29th isn't bad. Jusst wish they had a few more picks overall.

 

[saiias]

Thanks and yeah, go hawks.  Some big stuff lately with what they're paying Wilson, trading Frank Clark, etc.  Draft starts today, but it's been a long time since they had a pick at the "exciting" level and this year will be no different. Still, 21st and 29th isn't bad. Jusst wish they had a few more picks overall.

I am sure they will trade down form those 2 first rounders and add more picks.



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[CaneDog]

I am sure they will trade down form those 2 first rounders and add more picks.

 
That makes sense. Getting Clark moved before the draft was huge.  I would have liked to see him stick around, but I can't imagine how they could have afforded it.

 

[saiias]

 
That makes sense. Getting Clark moved before the draft was huge.  I would have liked to see him stick around, but I can't imagine how they could have afforded it.

I love Clark. But a first rounder, I will take it.

BTW how are the tepin and cgn 23258 doing?

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[Devv]

Well done CD!
 
Those plants are looking stellar The Oro does OK here as does the Largo. The rest so far hate this climate. But I sure do love the pods they produce, even if it's just a few in the fall.
 
Keep it green!

 

[CaneDog]

I love Clark. But a first rounder, I will take it.

BTW how are the tepin and cgn 23258 doing?

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The CGN is a powerhouse. Growing fast and strong.  The capp teps slumped briefly after strong germination, but it was very temporary and now they're going strong.  I hope to get some pics up of those and some others, just been super busy.  I really appreciate the seeds. I was bummed that I wouldn't be growing the tepin this season and then at the last minute you came through for me!  Hope things are all good with your grow.
 
Clark is a beast and deserves to get paid, but it stinks when your team has to give up players because of money.

 

[CaneDog]

Well done CD!
 
Those plants are looking stellar The Oro does OK here as does the Largo. The rest so far hate this climate. But I sure do love the pods they produce, even if it's just a few in the fall.
 
Keep it green!

 
Thanks Devv.  Those are a couple good ones so it's great that they cooperate.  My Giant Arequipa did as good as anything and better than most during the hottest part of the summer up here last year if you like big, hot, red pods.  I had mine in little 5 gallon containers but they were still putting out 80 gram pods.  I'd like to get the OW's into bigger containers and or a raised bed this year and see if I can get them consistently over 100 grams.

 

[Ghost Pepper Revolution]

Continued...
 
The Giant Mini Yellow Brown / Yellow?  Brown?  Hell, IDK.  (got seeds mixed up and it's either Giant Yellow or Mini Brown

 
 
Gelbe Riesen "True"  These seeds came from my OW GR I still have, which produces the prototypical big boxy yellow pods. The plant has a very nice upright growth profile for a rocoto too.

 
 
Gelbe Riesen Varient - These are seeds from an OW plant that grew from a seed from my true-form GR, but the the OW plant is a bit different than it's "true" parent plant.  Not sure if I accidentally crossed it or there was already some heterozygosity present, but it produces smaller (only slightly), rounder and more orangish pods. Same very upright growth profile though.

 
Mini Brown

 
Rio Huallago / Yellow

 
San Camillo / Red

 
Tatiana F4

 
That's it for now
CD

Loving the pepper sexiness

 

[CDNmatt]

Very interesting food for thought in the leaf curl talk, glad it has come up again. The one thing I noticed, is that for me it has been only a couple types that show these symptoms, but all 3-4 plants of that type have it. I honestly cannot recall without going outside to look which type it was, but because of that it made me lean to the feeding side of the table as the cause, but still am unable to convince myself I have it figured out thats for sure.
 
 
 
Also - Red dunno if you have passed by this thread or not, but thought of you first when I started to read it. Fella certainly could use abit of help it would seem . LINK - http://thehotpepper.com/topic/71323-whats-wrong-with-my-plants-w-pics/

 

[CaneDog]

Very interesting food for thought in the leaf curl talk, glad it has come up again. The one thing I noticed, is that for me it has been only a couple types that show these symptoms, but all 3-4 plants of that type have it. I honestly cannot recall without going outside to look which type it was, but because of that it made me lean to the feeding side of the table as the cause, but still am unable to convince myself I have it figured out thats for sure.
 
 
 
Also - Red dunno if you have passed by this thread or not, but thought of you first when I started to read it. Fella certainly could use abit of help it would seem . LINK - http://thehotpepper.com/topic/71323-whats-wrong-with-my-plants-w-pics/

 
Hey Matty.  Boy it sounds like the last few days have been rough ones for you.  I wonder sometimes how you manage to survive those winters where you are. What a mess with the greenhouse.  Hopefully you're turning the corner though and things will start to get easier.
 
And yeah, I agree that I tend to see certain leaf responses, canoeing, clawing, folding, anthocyanin accumulation, etc., occur at the variety level rather than to individual plants from different varieties.

 

[BigCedar]

Lookin good CD! Nice hoop house move! What area of Seattle are you in if you don't mind me asking? That community garden looks pretty forested to be anywhere near the concrete city area of Seattle lol. That's really cool tho, community gardens are always fun to visit. Always fun to see everyone's different tastes and gardening techniques. We have one near our neck of the woods we frequent throughout the summer, were out in the Key Peninsula area.  We can see Seattle over the hills and across the sound on one of our "go to" hikes over here once we reach the top.
 
Wait for it... Ah there it is!
 

 
Sadly I don't have the best of outlooks on the hawks season this year. Not trying to be a Debbie just being realistic. We'll see! 
 
 
 

 

[CaneDog]

Lookin good CD! Nice hoop house move! What area of Seattle are you in if you don't mind me asking? That community garden looks pretty forested to be anywhere near the concrete city area of Seattle lol. That's really cool tho, community gardens are always fun to visit. Always fun to see everyone's different tastes and gardening techniques. We have one near our neck of the woods we frequent throughout the summer, were out in the Key Peninsula area.  We can see Seattle over the hills and across the sound on one of our "go to" hikes over here once we reach the top.
 
Wait for it... Ah there it is!
 
 
 
Sadly I don't have the best of outlooks on the hawks season this year. Not trying to be a Debbie just being realistic. We'll see! 

 
I'm actually across 520 on the eastside and so are the gardens.  I grew up on the Seattle side.  Less crowded and much better access to the woods and mountains over this way.  I've spend a lot of time over on the peninsulas though, fishing, biking, and hiking and such. Have some family over that way too.
 
The seahawks, yeah, it's hard to have high expectations for them this season.  They've been a fun team for quite a few years, though. I feel like I've gotten my money's worth recently, even if they struggle for a bit now.  I just heard Doug Baldwin may be retiring due to accumulated injuries. That won't help us any