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Aji Panca?

The seeds I got from peppermania last year are labeled as chinense. Will grow the
rest out next year and take pics of the flower and fruit.
 
"Aji Panca" is indeed a common name given to several different peppers(and species)! There really is no "one" true Panca unfortunately for those of us who really like things to be concise. Generally, the commercially grown Aji Panca in Peru is a C. chinense that is dark brown/black when dried according to the book (in Spanish) Ajies Peruanos:Sazon para el Mundo. 2009. Good book by the way if you can read Spanish!

My friend from Santa Cruz, Bolivia tells me that they call several different peppers "Aji Panca", some are red, some are brown, some are hot, and some are mild! He tells me that despite the fact they have MANY different ajies, they are all grouped together (in Bolivia) as either amarillo, colorado, locoto, or panca!
 
The seeds I got from peppermania last year are labeled as chinense. Will grow the
rest out next year and take pics of the flower and fruit.

I wrote Beth to see if she had any additional stock. As of now, they are no longer listed on the site. Hoping she has some extras tucked away somewhere...
 
"Aji Panca" is indeed a common name given to several different peppers(and species)! There really is no "one" true Panca unfortunately for those of us who really like things to be concise. Generally, the commercially grown Aji Panca in Peru is a C. chinense that is dark brown/black when dried according to the book (in Spanish) Ajies Peruanos:Sazon para el Mundo. 2009. Good book by the way if you can read Spanish!

My friend from Santa Cruz, Bolivia tells me that they call several different peppers "Aji Panca", some are red, some are brown, some are hot, and some are mild! He tells me that despite the fact they have MANY different ajies, they are all grouped together (in Bolivia) as either amarillo, colorado, locoto, or panca!
The plot thickens. Now i'm really scratching my head. Only one way to find out what i have but the 2012 grow season won't get here quick enough...
 
According to my friend who is from Peru...

Aji Amarillo and Aji Panca can be several different kinds of peppers.

It's used loosely for several similar colored or looking peppers.

As I said,I have Aji Panca seeds that were separately labled as Annuum , Baccatum and Chinense.
I don't think they are crosses.
They were commercial seeds.

I didn't keep the packs from the Annuum or baccatum.They weren't that cool looking. :)

I only kept the packs pictured above from Peru.

I put a couple of each seed in the sprouter a few days ago.
If I get plants I'll eventually post pics of each when they bud and put out pods.
 
This is my Aji Panca plant, with its sole pod of my 2011 Grow, photo taken today, 6 December 2011. I, too, bought my seeds from Peppermania. The germination rate was very low—I got this one plant out of 12 attempted starts. (Peppermania's products and services are unparalleled—Do not hesitate to order from them.) I wrote Beth, the owner, about it back in April—She told me at the time she had the same experience and pulled the stock from availability, and offered to replace the seeds with something else.

Anyway, I'm praying to get some viable seeds from this pod—With all my attention focused on the harvest, I let the poor little guy get frostbit, and he dropped several flowers as a result. I feel silly for not inspecting the blossoms to identify its species—This plant really looks very similar to C. baccatum to me, specifically, Aji Amarillo, but the pod is definitely not of that variety. Although the pod may appear ripe in the photo, the dark coloration is from the sun; the left side is still green:

PC060041.jpg


This plant is 4 feet tall:

PC060044.jpg
 
Cool. Thanks, Gary. I brought mine in with four pods on it. Gonna spend the next 2-3 nights indoors. I'm gonna get a ripe pod off of my plant, dammit!

I already wrote Beth to see if she has any leftover seed I can use next year. I may save what I've got, but it was OP.

I'm still waiting on this one and an Aji Angelo to ripen. They're wearing me out!
 
So as an update, my AP pods STILL aren't ripe. In fact, they still aren't even turning. I've had this plant since April 7th, per the CCN FedEx waybill. Almost nine months! I'll be if I couldn't have fathered another child by now! And despite the fact that my pods didn't come in until the fall due to the heat, it has still been ~3-3.5 months since fruit set. Man oh man is this a long season plant.
 
So as an update, my AP pods STILL aren't ripe. In fact, they still aren't even turning. I've had this plant since April 7th, per the CCN FedEx waybill. Almost nine months! I'll be if I couldn't have fathered another child by now! And despite the fact that my pods didn't come in until the fall due to the heat, it has still been ~3-3.5 months since fruit set. Man oh man is this a long season plant.
Is the plant growing at all?
 
Is the plant growing at all?

Well...it's not dead yet [cue Monty Python jokes], but it is no longer producing due to the cold-ish weather. It looks to be warmer this week (hitting the 70s(F) again), so maybe I'll get some color in these things. Dunno. I swear I'm gonna get some damn ripe fruit off of this thing before I never grow it again! It'll change my mind if it blows my mind.
 
:think:

Sounds (and looks) very similar to Aji Amarillo.

It took forever for my Aji Amarillo pods to mature... like, literally a couple months.
 
I have some Baccatums outside that have had green pods on the plants since late Aug. that are just ripening now-Guyana and a Tree hab. X Aji Rojo X yellow Scorpion.

None of the Aji Pancas sprouted.I'll try again with all 3,Annuum,Chinense,Baccatum.
Aji Panca always are a pain to get going for me.
Low germination rates and stuck seeds most of the time.
I'll put more in the sprouter in a day or so.
 
Aji Panca always are a pain to get going for me.

Yeah, I've always had a bitch of a time getting them going also. Only ever managed to get one going to a decent size and it ended up carking it on me before I had a chance to see any pods. :(

A couple of months is a short time to maturity here.

Yeah, now that I think about it, it was more likely closer to three months (or more!). I don't time exactly how long my pods take to ripen but I remember it being a helluva long time!
 
I planted 10 seeds from a dried "Zocalo" brand panca again a month ago. This time I got 9/10 to germinate after 3+ weeks. I had to remove 7/9 seed caps myself, which was pretty easy for most of them this time. The lone survivor of the first batch is now 6" tall and is starting to look pretty good. It doesn't look much like any other chile I have grown before at this point. most seedlings I can say pretty confidently whether or not they are chinense, frutescens, annuum or baccatum, but this one looks like a mix of all of the above! I think I can rule out annuum for sure, and I am leaning toward chinense right now. I just know the powder made from these pods is amazing in my and my wife's opinion, so I really want to get some of my own plants going so we don't have to buy the powder/pods anymore.
 
So as an update, my AP pods STILL aren't ripe. In fact, they still aren't even turning. I've had this plant since April 7th, per the CCN FedEx waybill. Almost nine months! I'll be if I couldn't have fathered another child by now! And despite the fact that my pods didn't come in until the fall due to the heat, it has still been ~3-3.5 months since fruit set. Man oh man is this a long season plant.
I grew it this year too, and it was just starting to form buds when the first frost hit. I probably wouldn't have grown it if I had known it was such a long season pepper. Guess I should have tried to overwinter it but wasn't sure if it was worth the space indoors.
 
I grew it this year too, and it was just starting to form buds when the first frost hit. I probably wouldn't have grown it if I had known it was such a long season pepper. Guess I should have tried to overwinter it but wasn't sure if it was worth the space indoors.

I'll let you know if I find out! Based on the forecast, I'm bringing it in one more night this week, but it should have at least 10 more days of unmolested, unfreezing outdoor time. Seriously, we're going on four months with green peppers now. Crazy. Hope they're great!
 
Same here, Eric. I've still got that same green pod of Aji Panca which appears in the photo up the page there. Also, a 6-foot tall Aji Amarillo with several honking massive green pods on it that have been hanging there for what seems like months. As you said, something that takes that long to ripen must be pretty special...
 
I'm afraid mine may be starting to wither on the vine. It hasn't frozen again, but I have been leaving them out in 40F temps. I thought they were fine that way, but perhaps not. Ironically, they appear to be turning brown now. I'll update on whether they are usable later this week. Bringing them in one more time tonight and tomorrow night with freezes and then it's done for the year. My new peppers are started! My giant hibiscus is my only remaining "pet" that I'll treat like my dogs for the winter.
 
It may be my imagination, but mine might be shriveling a bit, too. It's certainly not grown any in the last 30 days, and it also seems to have lost its suntan.

Aji Panca, Peppermania, 5 December 2011:

5Dec2011.jpg


Below is the very same pod, from the very same angle, taken today, 4 January, 2012. I don't think it's going to get any larger. I reckon it's time to harvest the seeds and see if they will sprout:

4Jan2012.jpg


I don't know why my hand is a different color. I think I may have inadvertently changed a camera setting...
 
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