Bubblegum example: What do you refine for?

AJ Drew

AJ Drew

With a month or two to go before first frost, our red bubblegum are about five feet tall.  The stalks are thick enough that the pods are fairly well supported despite being plentiful. I have been pondering the differences between CARDI yellow scorpions and a line of yellow scorpions I have been working on for a bit.  Like the bubblegum (in the photo) I have been refining for the look of the pepper as well as thick side walls.  But more than that.  I have been refining for how well they grow and produce for my area and methodology.  I am not fond of staking, will do it, do it often, but would rather have nice thick plants capable of supporting the pods during that whole pre ripen state where the green pods get thick due to lack of harvest.

If you seed save, what do you focus on?  Is it just shape and taste, or do you consider the plant itself?

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In the bigger picture its all about flavor,short term as it is
It will/still/always boil down to flavor
You can cross X strain bad ass to another X strain badass and if flavor traits arent picked up and improved,its just another crappy tasting super hot pheno.
Understandably tuff to pull off flavor of any truly notable difference per the average consumer.
Last season and this 2016 has offered nothing but back yard fence jumper cross's(Label X Label)
NO ONE has improved a single cross for anything but label stroking (badass X badass)
Ive had(eaten) 27 newer cross's tween the two seasons of madness,Bubblegum isnt any better more or less then Brainstrain.
True strain Primo is still the top super in my opinion,yes reapers are good as well,but flavor goes to Primo IMO

Absolutely there "appear" to be "hotter" offerings,but thats stupid subjectivity stats from limited pools of data.No?
 
Will always consider the plant for growth and resistance to heat, ability to set flowers and fruit in hot weather.

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TNKS said:
True strain Primo is still the top super in my opinion,yes reapers are good as well,but flavor goes to Primo IMO
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In my opinion the Reaper tastes slightly better but they are so similar in taste it's almost negligible. What really sells me on the Primo though is the lack of that distinctive Reaper sourness. Why would I want that in a pepper?

Plant features are important but ultimately, my priorities will usually be flavour and heat, in that order. Only a really pretty pepper will make me reconsider.
 
hottoddy said:
Those are either great looking plants, or I saw you in the Hobbit movies!   :P
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I am a bit over six feet tall.  The plants got a head start in one gallon containers in a high tunnel.  Only had room for so many, so lots of other plants are much smaller.  I am sold on high tunnels now.
 
spicefreak said:
In my opinion the Reaper tastes slightly better but they are so similar in taste it's almost negligible. What really sells me on the Primo though is the lack of that distinctive Reaper sourness. Why would I want that in a pepper?

Plant features are important but ultimately, my priorities will usually be flavour and heat, in that order. Only a really pretty pepper will make me reconsider.
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That is an interesting comment about reapers. I never found sourness in the reapers I grew or purchased from others. In fact I found them to have a sweetness and are more sweet than the primo. I do like the flavor of primo better though. I have had reapers and primos fresh and in powders the past 4 seasons... primo has a slight edge in flavor and heat... at least in my growing environment.
 
AJ - I think refining for growing robustness is a good thing... a sturdy plant that is productive and can support its fruit is certainly desirable. I personally select first for flavor, then for heat, and finally for looks... but flavor trumps other characteristics. For flavor, I consider not only how they taste fresh, but what they are like in powder form because most of the year powders take front stage... it is only the few months of harvest season do I get to enjoy fresh.
 
cloudhand said:
That is an interesting comment about reapers. I never found sourness in the reapers I grew or purchased from others. In fact I found them to have a sweetness and are more sweet than the primo. I do like the flavor of primo better though. I have had reapers and primos fresh and in powders the past 4 seasons... primo has a slight edge in flavor and heat... at least in my growing environment.
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That is interesting indeed. I know it's not just one batch because it's been present to some degree in every Reaper product I've tried besides sweets and one jam.
 
Reapers are good ripe and fresh,not so good/fresh powdered
Legit Primo are both good fresh as well as powdered(actually better powdered)
But back on the crossing crap,its serves no purpose,Not even in the "little picture"
Growing strong true strains is where its at.
Im dumping all of my freak show seeds on seed trains this season and let the kids play on the interstate LOL!!
Ill call it "Retro Grow" LOL!
 
spicefreak said:
 
That is interesting indeed. I know it's not just one batch because it's been present to some degree in every Reaper product I've tried besides sweets and one jam.
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You said 'reaper product'.  Since you didnt notice it in the sweets or jam, I wonder if maybe the reaper sauces you have tried were high in vinegar like a traditional hot sauce.  When reaper madness first hit, I noticed a lot of new hot sauces were little more than vinegar and reapers.  Its like people rushed to market because there was so much in the press.
 
Yeah, a lot of Reaper stuff does feel a bit hastily thrown out there and the unfermented Tabasco-style sauces are definitely the worst offenders for sour but the powder and dried pods have it too. Even the jams taste less sweet than their non-Reaper counterparts. I'm pretty sure it's just the sugar counteracting it.
 
Never eaten fresh. I can't really handle free-flowing chilli juices as well as the rest of you and still struggle to finish the strongest Habs and Bonnets in that form. I can take my Caramel Bhuts in little doses but fresh Reapers are still way out of my league.
 
Eating whole super pods in USA is clinically retarded as a general rule
Very few can handle the task in a respectable manner and offer legit feedback
Always best to do a 1/4 pod if your ballsy and live another day
Never follow plastic people
 
Vigor, yield and earliest maturing plants are as important as pods shape and flavor to me. Find your balance and you'll have both plants adapted to your environment and nice looking pods.

Nice shot!

Datil
 
spicefreak said:
Yeah, a lot of Reaper stuff does feel a bit hastily thrown out there and the unfermented Tabasco-style sauces are definitely the worst offenders for sour but the powder and dried pods have it too.
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Have not noticed except in sauces, but I am still trying to find that citrus taste so many people talk about.  I get a hint of liquid smoke.  Thing is, my sense of taste is probably altered by a prescription called lyrica.  It slows down nerves, so I am fairly sure it changes the way things taste.
 
Datil said:
Vigor, yield and earliest maturing plants are as important as pods shape and flavor to me. Find your balance and you'll have both plants adapted to your environment and nice looking pods.
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I agree.  Shape, taste, and color are all important but kind of pointless if the thing wont grow worth a damn where you plant it.  I grow things from CARDI and MOA here in KY, but it always kind of baffles me that people seem to think seeds from either will perform better than others in climate so different from where they were developed.
 
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