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Caribbean Red color

It looks like my caribbean reds ripen to a bright red-orange. By red-orange I mean mostly red with an orangish tint. The stem end and the very tip are all the way red. No confusing this color with orange habs.

Doesnt matter how long I leave em on the plant. Thats as red as they get.

I was expecting a more even cherry red.

The initial few I harvested didnt seem to be as hot as I was expecting, either.

At first I was thinking I got the wrong seeds or something.

I bought them on www.seedrack.com (Whatcom Seed Company) which seems to be a reputable supplier so I had a hard time believing they were bogus.

Anyway, the pods I harvested last week were so blisteringly hot they blew my head off. Left just a charred stump on top of my neck.
They are definitely WAY hotter than regular orange habs, so now in spite of the slightly off color I do believe they are what they claim.

Anyone ever see any variations in color for Caribbean Red Habs?
 
I see the exact same thing. I have 4 plants in the ground and they ripen to the same color as you described. Ironically, I wonder if there has been some mutation in this variety as it was the first one I ever grew many years ago. Then, they were in a 8" (yes I was stupid) pot and they ripened deep red. I probably stressed the #### out of them! OMG were they ridiculously hot.

Come to think of it, I may heve saved seed, but it's getting old now. lol.

Whatcom is not super reliable....I was about to give them a mouthful about their Yellow Scotch Bonnet. You wouldn't believe what it looks like vs the beautiful C. Chinense stock picture shown. it's total misrepresentation.

Chris
 
I've grown Caribbean Reds every year, with varying results, but I remember them always being a very deep red...and hot as hell! I have two plants this year that are loaded with pods but no sign of ripening yet. Here's what they look like now:

DSCN3058.jpg


I'll be interested to see if I experience the same colour anomaly that you are both describing. Maybe the day of the pure pepper is completely dead and the lightening of the pods is a result of endless cross breeding. As long as the heat level doesn't lessen, then I guess it's all good, but the colour is such an important part of the overall enjoyment of the growing experience...at least in my opinion.

Once my pods start changing colour, I'll report back on this thread.
 
The other day I was picking off ripe pods on one of my plants and I accidentally picked off a green one the size of a quarter, it was almost full size and I decided to leave it under some lights...

4 days later it was fully red, and it had gone through a orange stage.

Some of my pods first get a few patches of dark brown (Like they were dipped in chocolate), others turn completly orange first while most turn light red then dark red a few days later.

Overall, they all eventually end up dark red and I find they have the same aroma and flavor in the light red stage as the dark red, so I now pick them in the light red stage and let them sit under my lights for a few days (which makes them darker) before I freeze them.
 
This made me determined to grow out my old seed next year to see how those Caribbean Reds really turn out. There will be no crosses as it was the only pepper I grew that year!!

Chris
 
Mine isn't carribean red that's off color but jamaican red...they get to a pumpkin colored orange and never seem to go on to red. Is this normal? The pics I've seen show a red pepper. This was one I bought and the rest of the peppers I got at same time are fine. I just was expecting a red pepper.
 
pepperfever said:
Mine isn't carribean red that's off color but jamaican red...they get to a pumpkin colored orange and never seem to go on to red. Is this normal? The pics I've seen show a red pepper. This was one I bought and the rest of the peppers I got at same time are fine. I just was expecting a red pepper.

There seem to be some poorer strains about Jackie..Think its just a case of trying a few differnt ones :)
 
They are starting to really come on strong. I planted four nursery grown plants each 6" next to each other. Talk about intensive planting! I am loaded with fresh pods off these plants. :)

Chris

P1070296.jpg
 
We have a whole lot of the red carr. in the freezer..they did great last year. We isolate a different variety each year or as many as we have room for.
 
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