misc Bhut Pollen Production

Hello everyone, I'm looking some insight on bhut jolokia pollen production. I am well aware that they do not produce much pollen and can be difficult to get to set fruit, especially in my situation growing indoor hydro. I am trying to pollinate by hand with a very fine brush and the last couple rounds have seen very little pollen. Last year I didn't spend much time pollinating and only got about 25 peppers on 4 healthy plants, this year I want to do all I can to maximize my yield!

First question, is it true pollen production picks up after the first couple weeks of flowering?

Second, is there anything that promotes or discourages pollen production?

Third, is it true that mid afternoon is peak for pollen quantity?

Forth, I have a fan on the floor blowing up into the foliage, could this be blowing it away?

Fifth, does anyone have a photo of a flower that is at the ideal stage for pollination?

Sixth, when I change the nutrient solution (every 2-3 weeks) can this cause some sort of shock to the plant that makes it cease producing pollen? Its always the same concentration, temp, ect.

You worry to much my friend! Just use a good bloom fertilizer. As far as pollen I dont even check! As long as your plants are getting good light. Hps (indoor) or sun (outdoor)
You will be fine! You said you have a fan on them, well thats what you need. The stamens will become more noticeable and start to stick out more, when the flower is about to produce, you can see the tiny start of a pepper inside the flower at this time

check about 1/4 of the way down on my glog of a flower that is ready to fruit http://thehotpepper....2/page__st__220

Seen this?
Mezo.

Very creative!

love the smooth baby making music the video above!

I think morning is the peak time for pollen. However, I'm doing crosses outside. I also found that if you catch a flower at a certain time, it has much more pollen to it. This varies on the type of chile though! I'm doing some crosses tomorrow morning, so I will check my bhuts to see what the flowers look like that have pollen on them.

Edit: Oh yeah, the pollen will get blown away by wind and probably fans! The pollen on my plants is blown away by afternoon time.

Edit again: Now that I think about it, the fans probably do the pollination for you. If it's strong enough to blow pollen around, then it's strong enough to aid in the bhut's self-pollination process. Just tapping the flower might help too. When I want to do crosses, I have to do them before the flowers open up because they will self-pollinate before the flowers open completely. The low production is probably due to the bhut jolokias self-incompatibility problem. Have you thought about growing similar chiles such as bih jolokias and naga morichs. Both of those are good producers.

Thats some great info, thanks. I didn't get many peppers last year by leaving it to the fan. I did some pollinating by hand but will do much more this year. I think I'll leave the fan off for a few days and see how that goes. I can't get pollinating until the evening when I get home from work so maybe I'll see more pollen. I did see I have a few peppers on my plant tonight! Also this weekend I'll try pollinating in the morning as well, thanks again.

Possibly I'll try mixing plants next year. I clone my Bhuts so I want to keep them pure strain for now

megahot said:

You worry to much my friend! Just use a good bloom fertilizer. As far as pollen I dont even check! As long as your plants are getting good light. Hps (indoor) or sun (outdoor)
You will be fine! You said you have a fan on them, well thats what you need. The stamens will become more noticeable and start to stick out more, when the flower is about to produce, you can see the tiny start of a pepper inside the flower at this time

check about 1/4 of the way down on my glog of a flower that is ready to fruit http://thehotpepper....2/page__st__220

Click to expand...

Ya, patience. I did see a few peppers tonight, I'm committed to pollinate every other day, should work out. Thanks