C.Flexuosum

[Pepper Boys]

This seems to be an extremely rare pepper, Can you find seeds to these anywhere without making a trip to Paraguay??

 

[Jetchuka]

Interesting wild pepper variety, apparently it's the most cold tolerant of all, and it doesn't self pollinate, needing another C.Flexuosom nearby for fertilization.

Take a look at the bottom picture here: http://www.wildchilli.eu/index.php/c-flexuosum

Reminds me of a mini rocoto when sliced, i wonder what a cross would turn out like, a smaller, more cold tolerant rocoto perhaps?

C.flexuosum can tolerate temperatures far below 0 °C. There is information available that it can take up to -20 °C. Simple tests confirmed that it can tolerate temperatures up to approximately -10°C for short periodes. It's by far the most cold-tolerant Capsicum available

I'm normally not one to waste time crossing varieties but this is one plant i'd definitely experiment with. Hopefully seeds will eventually become available. If only Paraguayans knew the buck they could make by selling them on Ebay...

 

[Jetchuka]

Looks like members of this forum have been growing them for a couple of years now: http://habaneroeddie.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=inthegarden&action=print&thread=448

hmmm

 

[lee]

C.flexuosum is indeed a very unique plant with a even more unique trait. The plant is very cold resistant and last year I was able to leave it outside with temperatures far below 0 degrees C (min. temperature was -12C (10F)) for about a week. The temperature did not exceed +0C (32F) the whole week. 1 plant died eventually because the root ball got totally frozen. I'm sure if you isolate the container the plant will even survive for longer periods. Will have to wait another 6-8 months or so...


More pictures http://wildchilli.eu/index.php/picture-gallery/category/4-cflexuosum

More info http://wildchilli.eu/forum/viewtopic.php?f=26&t=205

 

[millworkman]

So Lee, if it was in the ground do you think it would survive the winter? No frozen rootball.

 

[lee]

So Lee, if it was in the ground do you think it would survive the winter? No frozen rootball.

I'm not sure if it will survive the winter but I'm pretty confident that it can survive longer periods if the root ball doesn't get frozen. I will do some simple tests at the end of the season to see how it will turn out