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Orange Rocoto won't set pods?

DanMcG

DanMcG

I have 4 orange rocotos in the garden, 3 are doing fine, a little on the small side but producing flowers and pods, even have some ripening. I guess what I'd expect.
But the forth plant is the largest of them all, has had nonstop blossoms since planting in mid-May but it's yet to set fruit.
 
Why? 
 
It's probably your temps.  Rocotos don't like blazing hot and/or humidity, and they love a night/day temperature differential.
 
Mine will only set in the winter, when I have 15-20 degrees between day and night temps, and the humidity plummets.  Give it another month.
 
Also, if they're in containers, consider "insulating" the roots.  Bury the pot, or find a way to keep the roots cooler.  I missed the part first time around about 3 other plants doing well.  When a plant gets bigger, and has more root mass, containers can be problematic, in some cases. (with temps)
 
You could even up-pot to a bigger size.  I plant all of my rocotos in containers ranging from 25 true gallons to 50 true gallons.
 
Thanks for the reply solid7. All 4 that I mentioned above are in the ground in the same 20x20 garden although the problem child is on the opposite side of three rows of tomatoes but still the same conditions.
I have a fifth one thats in a 7 gal bag and it's has more pods then all three put together.
I just never seen such a health plant not produce. Not sure if I should tear it out or  think about overwintering it.
 
Well, that's an interesting twist.
 
Anything different about lighting, watering, etc?  Anything at all, other than what you've mentioned?
 
solid7 said:
Well, that's an interesting twist.
 
Anything different about lighting, watering, etc?  Anything at all, other than what you've mentioned?
Click to expand...
 
The trouble maker might get a little less sun, but it can't be a big difference. I've never actually measured it.  
 
No, if anything that might actually be helpful.

I still think I'd give it a chance. Maybe let it lie for a week or so, and update?
 
Well thanks for your responses Solid7 they are appreciated and sometimes hard to come by on here if it's  just a basic question like this .  I'll let it do its thing, but our season in NY will be over in a couple months, so I don't see it really rippining any fruit.
 
I hope you also have a great season!
 
Dan you can also consider putting a trigger spray bottle in the fridge and spraying the leaves with cold water shortly after sunset for a few days in a row. We're just going through a hot stretch locally where our overnight temperatures have been staying fairly high so I did this the last several days to increase the odds of some rocoto crosses and bagged true seed flowers setting.
 
I've heard someone else somewhere suggest watering with ice cold water.
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Couldn't hurt, right?
.
I know your season is short, but if you could get some pods to take now, you'd still have some this season. Plus, those rocotos are more cold tolerant than other varieties, so it's worth a shot.
 
solid7 said:
I've heard someone else somewhere suggest watering with ice cold water.
.
Couldn't hurt, right?
.
I know your season is short, but if you could get some pods to take now, you'd still have some this season. Plus, those rocotos are more cold tolerant than other varieties, so it's worth a shot.
Click to expand...
 
Podz is doing something similar (cold water from the hose, I believe) and said when he visited Fatalii Seeds Jukka had told him about it - it was Podz bringing it up recently that reminded me of it.  I've done it before, but not enough to say it definitely works well or doesn't (I generally prefer not to have plants wet overnight - or at all).  
 
Dan, if you give it a try it would be interesting to hear if pods started setting for you on the big orange or not. It might not prove anything, but it would be good feedback.
 
There is also one more cheap trick available here: put a spoon of epsom salts  i.e. Magnesium Sulfate (MgSO4) into a litre of water and spray the plant. I am at the end of my rope with my Pico Mucho and I will be going this route this evening. Funny shit, though - a 500g container costs 10 EUR whereas you can buy a 25kg bag for 18 EUR :-) There does not seem to be any middle ground...
 
solid7 said:
I've heard someone else somewhere suggest watering with ice cold water.
.
Couldn't hurt, right?
.
I know your season is short, but if you could get some pods to take now, you'd still have some this season. Plus, those rocotos are more cold tolerant than other varieties, so it's worth a shot.
Click to expand...
 
 
Yes, I was suggesting this technique as I use it myself after learning about it from Jukka. I cannot definitively say whether it worked or not as I did not use a control group during the exercise, but my Manzano Rojos are now setting 5 or so fruits per day. In a 6 month season, I consider this cultivar as having a minumum of 30 fruits and up to 100 under optimal conditions. Note that the fruits have an average weight of 70g which is actually quite heavy.
 
I am by no means any sort of expert in the topic of growing C. Pubescens, I just share what works or doesn't work for me. There are a lot of cultivars and it seems to me that they do behave differently, as one might expect. Jukka lists them on his site as "challenging" or "difficult" mainly due to the long growing season required, among other factors.
 
Based on my experience, if you want an easy rocoto then you should maybe think about growing Montufar. For me, it is by far the easiest and most satisfying producer. The average pod weight is 33 grams and a 6 month plant can easily produce 50 pods or so. Additionally, Montufar seems to be the most popular among folks in this area because of the amazing taste.
 
As I understand it, there are three major reasons for flowers dropping (but there are also a myriad of minor reasons and combinations thereof):
 
1. temperature
2. excessive nitrogen
3. high winds
 
Hahaha! One thing I forgot: for those who like the early wins with Annuums, Pubescens will test your patience.
 
I have Annuums now that are ripe in the yard, but as for The Pubes:
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09IYsh1TIng
 
I was able to get pods on 3 different types of C. Pubescens in Florida - a place where they are not really known for being happy to grow (this place definitely puts the "challenging" in most grows, but the C. Pubes were my greatest gardening feat yet).  I did not vary anything in nutrients, but the temperature easily played the biggest factor in pod production for me.  I couldn't get fruit set at all until our "winter", where the daytime temp average about 70F and the nights occasionally drop down to the 40s.  That's when I got mad pod production.  The combination of cooler temps, plus greater difference in night/day temps.
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I'm sure that if you've seen my posts in the past, I have a different threshold for "excessive" when it comes to Nitrogen.  I use the same 3-1-2 feeding ratio in coco coir based (custom) mixes.  Even at that, I am careful about how much of certain types of Nitrogen that I use.  There is definitely a difference in N sources. (obviously the N molecules are all the same, but breakdown products...)
.
I wasn't able to get Montufar, but my easiest was the seed sold simply as "red rocoto".  Aji Oro did well, and mini reds, also.  The Cuzco that planted out were always in small containers, and never did much.  I have them slated for bonsai, at the moment.
 
This year for me its certainly the large temps swings from day to night and overall cooler temps. Swings have been 20F+ most of my season with even more early in the season. Im convinced rocotos love this. Get them outside as early as you can. Start them inside as early as you can. That is the only way i got mini reds to produce. I started my minis for this year at the end of last years season. Grew them inside all winter.
 
Aji Oro i just started inside like any other pepper and it went outside when i was fairly certain the chance of frost was over. Its done great including tolerating heavy early season rain. Im pretty sure this variety is more tolerant of temps and humidity. It sits in almost full sun all day. Its still blooming and setting pods.
 
Last year i didnt get squat for rocotos until 90% of the season was over. By then it was too late to get more than a few ripe pods.
 
ShowMeDaSauce said:
Last year i didnt get squat for rocotos until 90% of the season was over. By then it was too late to get more than a few ripe pods.
Click to expand...
 
I didn't start pulling my Manzano Rojos until the first week in October when they had started to have the first orange spots on the pods. Even then, I had to put them in a basket in the windowsill and it took them a full 3 more weeks to fully ripen.
 
The plants can stay outside and just let them die, don't give them anything. The pods are sturdy and will start to ripen on the plant even after it's "dead". Even a few light frosts aren't going to hurt the super-hard green pods.
 
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