CaneDog 2019 Hirsute Pursuit – Rocotos, Wilds & Moar

So, here's the new glog for the coming season.  With the indoor grow culled pretty hard now I can focus more on getting ready for what's ahead.  Hoping for a great year, but I’m already a bit behind - the germinators are packed right now and I've still got a round of annuum seeds waiting for their turn.  I guess it wouldn’t feel much like pepper growing though if everything were going perfect.
 
My focus was going to be rocotos with a side of bonnets and some other stuff, but I found I kept planting more and more wilds. Eventually I just kinda went all-in with them and they took on co-main event status. 
 
I’ll start things off with some pics of some of the earlier pube’s.  There’s not too many at this point. Unfortunately, the vast majority just went into germination.
 
First off, Costa Rica Red.  This is the CRR with flattened triangular pods.  I also have an OW CRR that’s a 3-4 lobed “boxy” variety.  I didn't get true seeds off this one last summer, so I have a few of these growing and crossing my fingers they grow true.

 
Rocoto DeSeda.  These guys were from a bush I’d OW’d a few years in a row, but it didn’t make it through this winter

 
 
Rocoto San Camillo

 
 
Gelbe Reisen Variant.  These are from true seeds off a plant I’ve been growing for a few years that was supposed to be Gelbe Riesen, but the pods are more orange vs yellow, rounder/less boxy, and just a touch smaller. I don’t know if it’s a natural variation or it might have crossed with a Costa Rica Orange, but it's a great plant. I have a few of these started and am curious what comes of them.

 
 
Giant Yellow Rocoto.  Suppose I should pinch that bud off.

 
 
Recently hatched Gelbe Riesen sprouts (the parent plant has been a beast for me for a while now) and CAP 217 Hyper-Pube.

 
That’s it for the rocotos for now.  Will try to post up some pics of the early wilds in a little bit. 
 
CD

 

[CraftyFox]

Wait!! You are gluing the corolla shut to pollinate them? What are you using for that? I'm having a ton of trouble with some of them taking. Then I've got a lot that seem to not want to grow with the straw attached to the pedicel. 
Finally seeing some flowers..

 

 

[CaneDog]

Wait!! You are gluing the corolla shut to pollinate them? What are you using for that? I'm having a ton of trouble with some of them taking. Then I've got a lot that seem to not want to grow with the straw attached to the pedicel. 
Finally seeing some flowers..

 
I'm having a tough time with most methods right now CF, the most effective being physical (a couple plants under a small netted structure) and distance (front yard isolation from backyard) isolation. Unfortunately, those methods are limited to a few plants at a time. The little organza bags are killing everything right now. It's not usually my preferred method, but yeah, I broke out the glue.
 
I'm currently using a Popsicle stick to dip into a bottle of Elmer's wood glue I had around. I just mark each pedicel then I smear a small glob on the front of the flower before it opens being sure (or failing as seen above) to get every pedal covered where they meet in the center. I see a few of them swelling up trying to open and hopefully I'll get some sets. If I get good results I'm going to do this at my community garden plots where I have a ton of species I want to isolated and the little bags simply haven't been cutting it this season.
 
I like the look of your rocoto in the pic. The leaves look really healthy.  What variety is it?

 

[CraftyFox]

That would be one of the De Seda you gave me.. Also my only healthy Pube right now. The rest are indoors where I'm dealing with an aphid outbreak.
I'm going to have to try that glue method too.. Is that the best glue to use? I've never heard of that before.  

 

[CaneDog]

That would be one of the De Seda you gave me.. Also my only healthy Pube right now. The rest are indoors where I'm dealing with an aphid outbreak.
I'm going to have to try that glue method too.. Is that the best glue to use? I've never heard of that before.  

 
I think regular Elmer's glue would probably work just fine, I just don't have any ATM. 

 

[DWB]

Glues and straws never worked well for me but dangit, one of these days I'm gonna dig out my magnifying glass and try to take a picture of something really small using your high tech macro photo system. As always, excellent pics CD

 

[PaulG]

Good luck getting some iso pods to set. I agree
about the little bags, not the most effective way
to isolate. The large mesh bags seem to work
the best in this first try at isolating for me.

 

[Mr.joe]

Great glog. Pictures are great. Although I'm not sure I've ever heard of any variety you are growing and the isolation stuff is beyond me as well. I'm just trying to make plants grow. You are without a doubt way ahead of me.

 

[CaneDog]

Glues and straws never worked well for me but dangit, one of these days I'm gonna dig out my magnifying glass and try to take a picture of something really small using your high tech macro photo system. As always, excellent pics CD

 
Yep, both are kinda a pain and I'm not counting on high %'s.  Just keeping busy for now and getting a few here and there. Most of the work where I'm trying to collect volume is being done with physical/distance isolation or in the little net house I threw together.  Ha, thanks, but I don't think you have a need to make anything at your grow look any bigger than it already is!
 

Good luck getting some iso pods to set. I agree
about the little bags, not the most effective way
to isolate. The large mesh bags seem to work
the best in this first try at isolating for me.

 
Thanks Paul.  In prior years I've done more physical isolation in multiple locations and had fewer varieties. Add in the poorer set this year and it's been a bit of a pain. Plus I've never seen the little bags work this poorly before.  I was getting some early in the season, but they are dropping almost every last flower while flowers just outside the bags are setting.  Definitely seems the more airspace within the netting the better. 
 

Great glog. Pictures are great. Although I'm not sure I've ever heard of any variety you are growing and the isolation stuff is beyond me as well. I'm just trying to make plants grow. You are without a doubt way ahead of me.

 
Thanks Joe. I was fortunate to have several people share some cool varieties with me recently that I'm enjoying growing for the first time. This year's been a bit of a curve ball with the odd/unpredictable weather and combined with new varieties it's been a lot about just getting many of them to grow and produce well. I suppose it doesn't hurt to get thrown a curve every now and again to keep you honest   Throw in trying to get enough true seed to share from so many varieties and this season's certainly keeping me hopping more than usual!

 

[Mr.joe]

I think you will make it thru this season well. Hopefully you end up with more than enough seeds.

 

[DWB]

 
 Ha, thanks, but I don't think you have a need to make anything at your grow look any bigger than it already is!
 
 

 

Haha. Good one CD. So you're saying you don't want to see any pepper plant porn pictures of jungle species that appear to be 80' tall?

 

[CaneDog]

Yeah, I'm just sayin I think they look impressive enough without any augmentation. 

 

[CaneDog]

Couple of the little guys from the deck.
 
This is a Gelbe Riesen started late and now in a 4" pot.  I like the pods this variety kicks out and I really like the very upright growth style. I have a couple bigger GR plants at the garden plots for pods, but this guy's for seeds and OW.  I'm growing a different Giant Yellow that also is an upright style, but seems a bit bushier and the pods are more rounded.  That little price tag in the upper left reads GR x GY, one of the few crosses that's set recently.

 
This is one of 2 mini brown I have growing, also in a 4" pot and being kept small.  This is the phenotype I was expecting. The other mini brown has a bit larger pods and leaves and less branching. Kinda regret not putting this guy in a bigger pot because it looks like it could really crank out some numbers.

 
And Bonchi Yellow 7 pot is starting to show some roots - and a good few ripe mini-pods too!

 

[karoo]

Thank you for an excellent glog to follow . Great pics and plants. This got me through our winter.

 

[CaneDog]

Thank you for an excellent glog to follow . Great pics and plants. This got me through our winter.

 
Well, I certainly owed you that karoo after being a regular visitor of yours during our down-season. Come to think of it, it's been quite a while since I've heard/seen how your OW rocotos are doing.  They were looking great last I saw at the end of your season.

 

[CaneDog]

A few "lift and shoots" from the garden plots today.  From the scotch bonnet raised bed which is mostly bonnets or bonnet-x's.
 
The chinense season kicked into gear late for me and while none of the plants in this bed are very big (except maybe the BOC) they're growing fast and showing some production.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[lespaulde]

Looking great CD, going to be a monster harvest in a month or so!

Sent from my LYA-L29 using Tapatalk

 

[PaulG]

Hey, CD, Good to see your chinense plants
finally kicking into gear. Our seasons have
pretty much been mirror images weather-wise.
I am really counting on a nice Fall season.

 

[CaneDog]

I have two mini brown rocotos I've been keeping small and growing for seeds, but one of them has suspiciously not grown to look like what I expected.  Today it flashed red and removed any doubt it's been hybridized.  Fortunately, the other looks just as expected, so I think it's going to be ok.
 
This one is somewhat interesting now as I have no idea what it might have crossed with.  The F2's should have the "ch" phenotype at a 1:3 ratio, but the pods could be a color other than red (since the brown contributes a "D" red), so combined with the "ch" they could throw brown again or even green mature pods. I doubt I'll want to dedicate limited space to chase recessives on a "what if" hybrid, but it's kinda cool to think about the possibilities. 
 
Picture of the turn-coat.  There's a pic of the on-pheno mini brown in this post - http://thehotpepper.com/topic/71003-canedog-2019-hirsute-pursuit-rocotos-wilds-moar/?p=1649648

 

[karoo]

 
Well, I certainly owed you that karoo after being a regular visitor of yours during our down-season. Come to think of it, it's been quite a while since I've heard/seen how your OW rocotos are doing.  They were looking great last I saw at the end of your season.

 
 
Just started up my new glog. Roccotos did just fine in the winter.

 

[CaneDog]

A few pod shots from watering at the plots today. Was disappointed to see that someone stole my jalapenos I was expecting to find fully ripe this visit. This season the community garden has been bad for produce theft, Go figure.
 
 
Baha goat which was throwing prototypical pod shapes indoors, came up with this somewhat gnarly look on it's first ripening outdoor pod.

 
Yaki blue

 
The first of my NOT Alan Boatmans to ripen.  Hope this means the stacks of green Scotch Bonnet pods I have waiting are about  ready to flip the switch.  Hope this pod taste tests well, because this plant is a beast and throws lots of good sized pods.  If it passes that test it's getting a few F2's grown next season.

 
Lastly, this Trilops Ucburen Biber is throwing some nice looking pods in a very deep red. This one's going to be a seed saver.