CaneDog 2020

2020 is underway, so it's time to start the new season's glog!  Odd times though, as I'm still harvesting stragglers from last season while the earliest of my 2020 starts are already up.  Grow areas are a bit disorganized as a result 
 
This season's grow should be a little more balanced than last season, though I'll still have a ridiculous number of rocotos - many OW's plus a bunch of new varieties - and quite a few carry-over OW wilds, too.
 
A big "thanks" to all who shared seeds with me for this season.  I'm appreciative and excited to have lots of cool varieties in the mix, many of which I got to watch you grow last season and can now try myself.  I think I'm current with everyone, but if by any chance you were expecting seeds from me that may have slipped through the cracks just shoot me a PM.
 
As I mentioned, things aren't super organized right now, but here's a few pics anyway.
 
I planted a few seeds early, just because I couldn't hold off the extra few weeks without planting something.
 
Amarillo de Arequipa Rocoto just popped- Thanks CTB!

 
Ecuador Sweet Rocoto twins - and a big shout out to the two peeps who sent me seeds for these. Both sources germinated and I'm really happy to have them growing.  Disclaimer: they may look overly wet, but these just got sprayed (to avoid HH's) and it's a very porous medium.

 
Put another few rocotos in to soak today.

 
This is a galapagoense that popped a few days back, exactly 100 days after sowing.

 
And this pod contains Jalapeno Zapotec x Purple Jalapeno F1, one of a couple F1 JZ crosses I'll be growing out this season. The other is Tekne Dolmasi x JZ.

 
Finally, I got a solid recommendation on a new media mix I'll be trying out this season in a few variations. The mix is heavy in partially composted bark fines, a fir/hemlock mix as pine's hard to get locally. It's proving to be a veritable mycelium factory.  Bodes well for good symbiosis with the appropriate fungal species this year.

 

 
Heck, they're even fruiting out the drainage holes... 

 
 
That's it for now.  Good luck to all in 2020!
CD

 

[CaneDog]

I couldn't get that bee to stay still for a photo even if I offered to allow it to sting me after the photo shoot!
Nice photos CD.  Really liking that rhomboideum.  Are they typically difficult to get to bloom?  

 
From what I've heard, rhomboideum is supposed to be an easier wild variety to grow and get to flower and produce.  It just didn't go that way for me.  The 2 I have growing just sat around most of the season looking healthy, but not growing much.  Then once they started to put on growth, they didn't want to flower.  Now that they've finally started to flower I hope they're quicker about producing.
 
Rhomboideum is one of the pepper varieties with 26 chromosomes, versus the more common 24.  I'm also growing a couple Lanceolatum, which are another with 26 chromosomes.  I was planning to attempt a cross of the two varieties, but the Rhomboideum didn't flower earlier when the Lance's did.  I don't know whether they're at all compatible, but given they each have 26 chromosomes I figured I'd at least try.  One of the Lance's appears to be starting to flower again, so I might still get the chance.

 

[dragonsfire]

 

[Tybo]

"I've identified this as the front-runner plant from the Chile Rayado seeds macmex sent me.  I started a few of these well into the season, so I'll need to bring this plant inside once it sets in order to ripen pods.  These things are super fuzzy."
 
They are VERY fuzzy!  I only have the lemon spice jalas to compare mine too but there really isn't any comparison!  

 

[DontPanic]

I've identified this as the front-runner plant from the Chile Rayado seeds macmex sent me.  I started a few of these well into the season, so I'll need to bring this plant inside once it sets in order to ripen pods.  These things are super fuzzy.

Are they a pubescen?

 

[CaneDog]

Are they a pubescen?

 
Shoot, they're hairy enough to be rocotos, but they're actually a jalapeno-type variety.
 
Here's a link to macmex's recent thread - http://thehotpepper.com/topic/73601-chile-rayado-species/?hl=rayado
 
And a little older thread about them - http://thehotpepper.com/topic/65490-chili-rayado-from-la-mision-in-the-state-of-hidalgo/?hl=rayado
 
In addition to the hairiness, which looks pretty cool, the pods check-up and look great and are supposed to have decent heat to them.

 

[PaulG]

I wondered about that myself.

 

[CaneDog]

I took a few pics today while out checking on things.
 
I've been wanting to get a picture of the Rocoto Giant Yellow x Rocopica F1, but it was stuck in a corner of the deck behind other plants and not too accessible.  I decided to move it down to the backyard today so I tried to get some pics.  It still didn't turn out great, but the branches on this guy are actually over 7 feet from one side to the other and it's putting out good numbers of pods.  It'll be interesting to see what comes from the F2 seeds.

 

 
Eximium Flower & Bud

 
Wild Cumari Dark

 
Wild Cumari Lite

 
Purple Flower Baccatum

 
PFB Pods - all the baccatum seem super happy with the recent/current weather and are setting heavily.

 
My first ripe reaper this year.  The phenos aren't nearly as "on" as they usually are (probably shouldn't be a surprise, given the weather while they were forming) - but some of the later pods are looking closer to normal. 

 

 

 

[CaneDog]

I've started to organize for the indoor grow and OW setups for this winter and decided - probably against better judgement - to hatch a few more seeds.  I have a good few plants growing already, but decided to add a few more wilds to the mix.  So, after having the summer off, the germinator is back in action.  Feels good. I like germinating seeds just about as much as I hate the initial waiting!
 
The germinator set up is much the same as it has been. I just sandwich 2 towels around a heating pad connected to an Inkbird temperature controller then put something level on top - in this case, a small cutting board - and everything goes in the Coleman.  This time I'm sowing only one seed per container and they're going into Dixie cups of peat-based starter mix with poly port lids on top.  The lids don't seal, but they hold in the humidity and it's easy to lift the board with all the cups out of the germinator to check them quickly for hooks.  Temps are set at 82F on the Inkbird, which is reading as about 77F-78F in the soil.
 
Germinator

 

 
I haven't previously grown a rocoto to maturity indoors, so I thought I'd give it a try.  This is a young Rocoto Rio Huallago.  It's in a 9oz Solo cup and about 4-5 inches tall and maybe a foot across.  It just recently started to flower.

 
The first flower dropped, but the second one set and it appears the flower is extruding from the calyx on some others, so I'm hopeful they'll continue to take.

 
I have 4 F2 of my Jalapeno Zapotec x Purple Jalapeno cross growing, which recently started flowering.  Two of them are showing no anthocyanin and two are showing fairly light anthocyanin on the flowers and foliage.  The purple rimmed flowers are one of the things a liked about this cross in F1 and they're back in 2 of the F2's.  It leaves me wondering, though, as A is incompletely dominant, are the 2 with Antho A/-, resulting in a purple rimmed flower like the F1 - which was definitely A/-?  If so, that suggests that a darker A/A might be achievable, perhaps with a more solid purple flower like the Purple Jalapeno father, but it would also suggest I couldn't stabilize to the purple rimmed flower because the required A/- would always be unstable.
 
JZ x PJ F2 (A/- or possibly A/A) - the first flower just set on this, so that's positive.

 

 
JZ x PJ F2 (-/-) - the no-Antho pheno is setting pods just fine.

 
On a total non-sequitur, the raspberries keep on cranking out berries at the community garden.  I like them, but I've decided to pull them out and just have a small batch at home.  They take up a lot of prime real estate at the plots and they can get out of control fairly quickly as well.

 

[ahayastani]

Feels surreal to me... We've had a few days of 28/29°C and that almost felt chilly
 
I can't grow raspberries anymore, but I had them before. Uncomplicated plants, delicious fruit, but it indeed is necessary to "tame" them. It was difficult to beat the birds though... I grew some plants on a South-facing fence (saving space).

 

[CaneDog]

Also, I want to make an offer as a small give-back to people who've contributed to my glog this season.  I just finished harvesting and drying a bunch of Galapagoense pods.  They're definitely isolated, as the plant was in a tent indoors with no other flowering peppers.  And being that they're fresh, they should probably germinate well, too.
 
Anyhow, if you've posted in my glog previously this season and you're interested, drop me a PM.  Three packs available - first PM's, first served. 
 
EDIT:  Offer is open world-wide.
2 Gone.  1 pack left.
 
Here's a couple pictures of the plant from earlier this season.

 

 
Cheers
CD   

 

[PaulG]

Looks like some interesting things going on there, CD.
 
The purple-rimmed flower on the jalapeño cross is a
very delicate beauty.  
 
And, good on ya for offering some galapagoense seeds.
That is a beautiful plant. I love the soft gray foliage. What
sized pot is that one in?

 

[CaneDog]

Looks like some interesting things going on there, CD.
 
The purple-rimmed flower on the jalapeño cross is a
very delicate beauty.  
 
And, good on ya for offering some galapagoense seeds.
That is a beautiful plant. I love the soft gray foliage. What
sized pot is that one in?

 
Hey Paul.  Trying to prepare for fall here.  Seems like it landed on us kinda suddenly.
 
I kept the galapagoense in a 5.5" square nursery pot  - this one https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07CKW6K34/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1  I would have potted it up again except that it was inside and I wanted to keep it small.  Tybo has a really nice bigger one he grew outside in a 5g bucket he posted in his glog.
 
For whatever reason mine's been particularly sensitive to wet feet and seems happy in the small container with good drainage.

 

[CaneDog]

This year hasn't been my strongest for production - certainly not at the community gardens - but many of the plants at home are getting the job done. Some have really surprised me with how fast they've ripened after a late/slow start.  I've had some OK smaller harvests so far, but this is my biggest and with the most different varieties. Crossing my fingers that more of the pods hanging will ripen soon.
 
Starting at top left:
1.  Mr. Spezzano's Thai and Giant Yellow Rocoto x Rocopica F1.
2.  Ecuador Sweet Rocoto (BF); Hyperpube-X; and Ecuador Sweet Rocoto (APS).
3.  Scotch Bonnet Jamaican Long; Carolina Reaper; Aji Lucento Rocoto; 7Pot Burgundy Pecan; and BJh-2.
4.  Aji Guyana; San Pedro Amarillo Rocoto; Chocolate Hab (Gurdy); and Rocoto Puno Amarillo.
5.  Rocoto Puna Pica Orange; Rocoto Montufar; and Sugar Rush Peach.
 

 

[ahayastani]

Nice haul
 
What is Scotch Bonnet Jamaican Long? An off-type SB? Does it taste similarly like other SBs?
 
Also the Aji Guyana and Chocolate Habanero catch my attention - well, more than the rest, that is.

 

[Downriver]

Nice pickin's CD. Did you try the PC-1 yet?

 

[PtMD989]

That’s a nice haul [emoji106][emoji16].


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[dragonsfire]

Great Selection

 

[Tybo]

Hey CD.  I was reading thru your glog to get caught up and see that you started some more seeds.  I know you said more wilds but didnt say which ones.  It'll be good to watch your new grow while waiting a few months to start my seeds.  
Too bad about now being able to cross the Rhomb and Lance yet.  Hopefully you get the chance.
 
I see you mentioned my galapagoense.  It has really put on some size.  I was unable to get any isolated pods from it though.  Every bud I isolated, whether by bagging or gluing ended up falling off!  
 
Good luck with your new wild grow.  

 

[CaneDog]

Nice haul
 
What is Scotch Bonnet Jamaican Long? An off-type SB? Does it taste similarly like other SBs?
 
Also the Aji Guyana and Chocolate Habanero catch my attention - well, more than the rest, that is.

 
Thanks, man.  I like them a lot. I'd say they have a slightly less intense flavor, but it's a nice clean taste.  They have good heat, too.  Beyond that, I think they're cool-looking pods for both the shape and the color. 
 
The Aji Guyana is a winner (thanks Wiri Wiri!).  I did some hot plate with them last night (baked pepper slices on crackers with cheeses, etc.) and they were outstanding.  The Chocolate Hab's are from seeds CraftyFox sent me of his "Gurdy" choc hab.  I'd intended to try those last night too, but forget them.  I'll probably try them tonight, though, as I've been really looking forward to growing a Chocolate Hab again after several years without.
 
Here's a pod pic from last year better showing what the SB Jamaican Long look like.

 
 

Nice pickin's CD. Did you try the PC-1 yet?

 
Thanks DR.  So I goofed up and those in the pic aren't the PC-1's; they're actually Mr. Spezzano's Thai.  I've harvested some of the PC-1, though, and after tasting them unprocessed I have high hopes for them.  I'm drying and collecting them bit by bit until I have enough for a batch of powder, then I'll try that based on the feedback you gave.

 

[CaneDog]

That’s a nice haul [emoji106][emoji16].

 
Thanks, man.  I have a couple plants loaded with Haskorea at the community garden and I'm impatiently waiting for them to turn.
 

Great Selection

 
I appreciate your contributions to my cause DF.  The pumpkin Habanero in particular has been a star performer.