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ChilliCrosser Crosses

I've opted to keep details of my crossing projects in this dedicated thread rather than include it in my 2021 Glog

Edited this post to summarise what crosses I've got and where they are at, I will try and keep it current. Dates in status column reflect when I've updated the information not when the cross was actually made. I've not included every historic cross I've ever made and ignores anything where I haven't got at least F1 seeds unless I thought it was useful to record. Information might be useful to someone at some point.
ChilliCrosser CrossCurrent Status
X001 : Bolivian Rainbow x Cheiro Roxa (C.Annuum x C.Chinense)๐Ÿ…ฟ๏ธ16/8/21: F1 seeds, not grown on yet.
X002 : Fijian Bongo x Cheiro Roxa (C.Chinense x C.Chinense)โŒ16/8/21: Only had a single F1 seed even though this was an intraspecific, strange result and the seed didn't germinate. End of cross project.
X003 : Brazilian Starfish Red x [CGN21500 x 7 Pot Barrackpore] (C.Baccatum x C.Chinense)๐Ÿคž ๐ŸŒฑ 16/8/21: Had plenty of F1 seeds from the original F0 pods. First attempt to grow an F1 was ended when weather finished off the plant before any fruiting. Currently growing four F1 plants outdoors in the 2021 season. All looking healthy but concerned I've not seen any fruit setting yet. Possibly sterile but reserving judgement until the end of the season.
X004 : Tasmanian Habanero x Giant White Habanero (C.Chinense x C.Chinense)๐ŸŒฑ๐ŸŒถ๏ธ16/8/21: Growing F2 plants, some initial pods setting.
X005 : Fidalgo Roxa x Giant White Habanero (C.Chinense x C.Chinense)๐ŸŒฑ16/8/21: Growing F2 plants, no pods set yet.
X006 : Fidalgo Roxa x Fijian Bongo (C.Chinense x C.Chinense)๐ŸŒฑ๐ŸŒถ๏ธ16/8/21: Growing F2 plants, some initial pods setting.
X007 : Fijian Bongo x Aji Jobito (C.Chinense x C.Chinense)๐ŸŒฑ๐ŸŒถ๏ธ16/8/21: Growing F2 plants, some initial pods setting.
X008 : Fijian Bongo x Brazilian Starfish Yellow (C.Chinense x C.Baccatum)๐Ÿ…ฟ๏ธ16/8/21: F1 seeds.
X009 : Brazilian Starfish Yellow x C.Flexuosum (C.Baccatum x C.Flexuosum)โŒ16/8/21: Very small F0 pod set but zero F1 seeds. Inside of pod looked healthy. Lack of F1 seeds could have been due to pod size. One for me to try again at some point I think.
X010 : Brazilian Starfish Yellow x [CGN21500 x Grao De Bode] (C.Baccatum x C.Chinense)โŒ16/8/21: Had 4 F1 seeds from a single F0 pod, only 1 germinated. F1 plant taken out by a storm. End of cross project.
X011 : Giant White Habanero x Fijian Bongo (C.Chinense x C.Chinense) ๐Ÿคฉ๐ŸŒฑ๐ŸŒถ๏ธ16/8/21: Summary of wide range of phenotypes from F2 here. Currently have F3 seeds for all phenotypes and have been growing a batch of F3 plants for the red phenotypes outdoors this season, waiting on F3 pods from these so hope to have F4 seeds this year. Most likely to also grow forward the Apricot Peach phenos to stabilise.
X012 : Brazilian Starfish Yellow x Tasmanian Habanero (C.Baccatum x C.Chinense)โŒ16/8/21: Had an F0 pod but no F1 seeds. End of cross project.
X013 : White Bhut Jolokia JW x Variegated Jalapeno (C.Chinense x C.Annuum)๐Ÿ…ฟ๏ธ16/8/21: F1 seeds, not grown on yet.
X014 : White Bhut Jolokia JW x Sweet Apple Kambe (C.Chinense x C.Annuum)๐Ÿ…ฟ๏ธ16/8/21: Single F1 seed, not grown on yet.
X015 : White Bhut Jolokia JW x Scotch Brains XCP Chocolate (C.Chinense x C.Chinense) ๐Ÿ…ฟ๏ธ16/8/21: F1 seeds, not grown on yet.
X016 : White Bhut Jolokia JW x Brazilian Starfish Red (C.Chinense x C.Baccatum)โŒ16/8/21: Had 2 F1 seeds from a small F0 pod, both failed to germinate. End of cross project.
X017 : White Bhut Jolokia JW x Sugar Rush Stripey (C.Chinense x C.Baccatum)โŒ16/8/21: Had 2 F1 seeds from a small F0 pod, both failed to germinate. End of cross project.
X018 : Brazilian Starfish Red x Peppacream (C.Baccatum x C.Baccatum)โญ๐ŸŒฑ๐ŸŒถ๏ธ16/8/21: Started as an accidental cross. Starting to get ripe F1 pods with F2 seeds. Super tasty!
X019 : Clavo Peach x Sugar Rush Stripey (C.Chinense x C.Baccatum)๐Ÿคž16/8/21: Had 3 F0 pods, each with healthy looking F1 seeds. Started germination for some F1 seeds from each of the F0 pods on 14/8/21, waiting to see if viable.
X020 : Scarlett's Chilli x Indian Chilli Bullet (C.Annuum x C.Annuum)๐Ÿ…ฟ๏ธ16/8/21: F1 seeds, not grown on yet.
X021 : Sugar Rush Stripey x White Bhut Jolokia JW (C.Baccatum x C.Chinense)๐Ÿคž16/8/21: First F0 pod was unhealthy inside, only 1 F1 seed formed which still looked non-viable, tried to germinate it anyway but no surprises when it failed. Have another F0 pod ripening, waiting to see if that's any better.
X022 : Clavo Peach x Brazilian Starfish Yellow (C.Chinense x C.Baccatum)๐Ÿ…ฟ๏ธ16/8/21: F1 seeds, not grown on yet.
X023 : [BOC x Aji Pineapple] x Sugar Rush Stripey ([C.Chinense x C.Baccatum] x C.Baccatum)๐Ÿ…ฟ๏ธ16/8/21: F1 seeds, not grown on yet.

FAQs
- Why so many crosses? Please check my username.

- Seriously, why so many crosses? I like to have plenty of F1 seeds available to pick from at the start of a growing cycle. For me personally it stops me wishing I'd made some more crosses 6 months ago and when a particular cross project hits a dead end or doesn't look interesting I have something else I can quickly switch to. You'll see quite a few interspecific crosses in my list, they are often doomed to failure so having a Plan B helps.

- Are you attempting to stabilise all of these? No, only ones which head in a direction I like.

- How many plants do you grow? 90% of my crosses are started on indoor plants grown in mini-hydro kratky jars, 240ml/8oz. Plants are kept really small and I typically only get one or two F0 pods to get F1 seeds from. So far I've normally grown two F1 plants if possible, plant numbers in subsequent generations depend on how much space I have available in each growing cycle.

- Isn't it better to just focus on a single cross? If you like all your eggs in one basket and you're not concerned with sequentially growing projects over a very long time period then yes. This is just a hobby for me so I like to keep it varied and fun whilst still attempting to stabilise my favourites.

- Why haven't you given your crosses silly names? That time will come as is traditional in the chilli pepper world. I likely won't bother until I have something vaguely stable and predictable, possibly F4 onwards.



A summary of my live projects where I'm growing plants as of June 2021 are:
  • X003 : Brazilian Starfish Red x [CGN21500 x 7 Pot Barrackpore] (C.Baccatum x C.Chinense)
  • X004 : Tasmanian Habanero x Giant White Habanero (C.Chinense x C.Chinense)
  • X005 : Fidalgo Roxa x Giant White Habanero (C.Chinense x C.Chinense)
  • X006 : Fidalgo Roxa x Fijian Bongo (C.Chinense x C.Chinense)
  • X007 : Fijian Bongo x Aji Jobito (C.Chinense x C.Chinense)
  • X011 : Giant White Habanero x Fijian Bongo (C.Chinense x C.Chinense)

More details of where I'm at with generations, phenotypes, plants and photos in subsequent posts on this thread. Everything is early on and ranges from F1 to F3. I've also attempted some new crosses already this season so will also mention those.
 
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@Bou picture from today whilst cleaning out the tent of the X034 F1 (plant 2) you asked about the size of.
20220226-x034-f1-srs1xpdn-p2-side-view.jpg


Also now seeing my suspicion confirmed that this will be going to red on the F1
20220226-x034-f1-srs1xpdn-p2-destination-red.jpg
 
@Bou picture from today whilst cleaning out the tent of the X034 F1 (plant 2) you asked about the size of.
20220226-x034-f1-srs1xpdn-p2-side-view.jpg


Also now seeing my suspicion confirmed that this will be going to red on the F1
20220226-x034-f1-srs1xpdn-p2-destination-red.jpg
Looking healthy! Any update on your X003??
 
Looking healthy! Any update on your X003??
The F1 plants on that were definitely sterile, so no direct way forward on that. I attempted two salvage crosses on them and have a small number of new F1 seeds where I crossed X003 F1 with a couple of other Baccatums. Can't remember if I've got those in germination or not right now, think I might have held them back from doing indoors later in the season.
 
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#stripeystarfish
- F1 plant 1, 5th or 6th harvest (top)
- F1 plant 4, 3rd harvest (bottom) and now culled plant even though it still had 30+ unripe pods on it
- F1 plant 3, growing in an Aerogarden, should have first ripe pods in next week or so.
20220226-bsy1xsrs1-f1-pt1-pt4-harvest.jpg
Some productive plants with nice colors. How do they taste? Some pretty good tasting parents in this mix.
Looks aint everything, you know... ๐Ÿ˜€
 
Some productive plants with nice colors. How do they taste? Some pretty good tasting parents in this mix.
Looks aint everything, you know... ๐Ÿ˜€
They taste as good as you'd expect given the parents. Closer to the Sugar Rush Stripey taste with perhaps a hint more apple in the background which is what I get when tasting the Starfish Yellow. Won't be a chore to taste test the 100+ F2 plants I'm planning on growing.
 
Decided to harvest the first small red-orange pod on X034 F1 Plant 2 (Sugar Rush Stripey x PDN). It had softened a little so guessing it was ripe.
20220228-x034-f1-srs1xpdn-p2-first-small-ripe-pod.jpg


Many of the other pods on the plant are bigger than this initial one
20220228-x034-f1-srs1xpdn-p2-first-small-ripe-pod-size.jpg


Only a few seeds in here, very juicy as you can see hopefully in these photos
20220228-x034-f1-srs1xpdn-p2-first-small-ripe-pod-inside.jpg
20220228-x034-f1-srs1xpdn-p2-first-small-ripe-pod-F2-seeds.jpg


Headlines:
  • Baccatum looking plant but Chinense smell when cutting pods open
  • Heat level I'd guess as 60-70% of the PDN I grew last year
  • Taste is similar to the PDN, less bitter but with the salty taste I detected on my PDN last year
  • 2 fully formed seeds inside this small pod + 1 malformed seed
  • Stuck the 2 good F2 seeds into rockwool to see if viable
If the F2 seeds are viable then it'll be fun to see if a big grow out can:
  • Find any individual plants with more of a Baccatum taste
  • Find various non-red ripe colours to try and reveal any stripes when ripe
  • Find highly fertile F2s
 
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Whew! Such a pace. How many generations per year are you expecting to achieve?
Realistically on these probably only 2 per year max.

You can clock through the generations quickly with small plants in hydro if you just want a small number of plants in each generation and pick the best of what you get rather than hunting for specific phenotypes. In that scenario probably 3 per year.

I don't have a year round growing climate, I don't have a big greenhouse and I have limited indoor space. So big population grow outs are restricted to the outdoor season and some luck on the weather. If I find some candidate F2 plants in my big grow then I can try pushing those forward in smaller numbers in the off season but that's always going to be less plants than I can do outdoors.
 
With your dedication, I expect you to see swift results!

Maybe one day the pepper growing community will foster a large-scale, disciplined project like the amazingly successful, ten-year-plus Dwarf Tomato Project.
If you haven't seen it before, perhaps take a look at the open breeding projects being run on Reddit via r/pepperbreeding. Eight different breeding lines which are just starting the F2 grow outs. @RespectTheTree who started it is also on here.
 
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