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 Cross	Current Status
X001 : Bolivian Rainbow x Cheiro Roxa (C.Annuum x C.Chinense)	16/8/21: F1 seeds, not grown on yet.
X002 : Fijian Bongo x Cheiro Roxa (C.Chinense x C.Chinense)	16/8/21: 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)	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)	16/8/21: Growing F2 plants, some initial pods setting.
X005 : Fidalgo Roxa x Giant White Habanero (C.Chinense x C.Chinense)	16/8/21: Growing F2 plants, no pods set yet.
X006 : Fidalgo Roxa x Fijian Bongo (C.Chinense x C.Chinense)	16/8/21: Growing F2 plants, some initial pods setting.
X007 : Fijian Bongo x Aji Jobito (C.Chinense x C.Chinense)	16/8/21: Growing F2 plants, some initial pods setting.
X008 : Fijian Bongo x Brazilian Starfish Yellow (C.Chinense x C.Baccatum)	16/8/21: F1 seeds.
X009 : Brazilian Starfish Yellow x C.Flexuosum (C.Baccatum x C.Flexuosum)	16/8/21: 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)	16/8/21: 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)	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)	16/8/21: 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)	16/8/21: F1 seeds, not grown on yet.
X014 : White Bhut Jolokia JW x Sweet Apple Kambe (C.Chinense x C.Annuum)	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)	16/8/21: F1 seeds, not grown on yet.
X016 : White Bhut Jolokia JW x Brazilian Starfish Red (C.Chinense x C.Baccatum)	16/8/21: 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)	16/8/21: 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)	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)	16/8/21: 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)	16/8/21: F1 seeds, not grown on yet.
X021 : Sugar Rush Stripey x White Bhut Jolokia JW (C.Baccatum x C.Chinense)	16/8/21: 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)	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)	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.

 

[ChilliCrosser]

Some recent F1s getting going

 

[CaneDog]

Some recent F1s getting going

Interesting. I too have been working on a cross involving this rocoto and an orange variety.

 

[ChilliCrosser]

Interesting. I too have been working on a cross involving this rocoto and an orange variety.

I've also got some interspecific cross attempts on it that I'm waiting on F1 seeds for, normal mixes of eximium and cardenasii.

What gen are you up to on yours?

 

[CaneDog]

I'm just getting started. Hopeful on a cross with puna pica orange and still trying to run some other purple clade crosses this season. I'm thinking that if it has only y & c1 then an orange cross might introduce c2 for an even whiter pepper, though it's already the whitest/most pale yellow rocoto I've seen, so... I also though a cross with something like rocoto sukanya would be interesting, with it's white flower, but mine has always flowered late and hasn't yet this season.

 

[ChilliCrosser]

I'm just getting started. Hopeful on a cross with puna pica orange and still trying to run some other purple clade crosses this season. I'm thinking that if it has only y & c1 then an orange cross might introduce c2 for an even whiter pepper, though it's already the whitest/most pale yellow rocoto I've seen, so... I also though a cross with something like rocoto sukanya would be interesting, with it's white flower, but mine has always flowered late and hasn't yet this season.

I had the same thinking with the orange.
My mother plant didn't end up being as pale as I wanted. I have another growing outside but that's only just started flowering.
The father is an F3 I got from Croatian Seeds, have 2 or 3 of them growing, the one I used had a nice dark pod when immature.
Mother and father below.

I've seen various pictures of the white flowered rocoto but it's not one I've grown before.

 

[ChilliCrosser]

Starting to get some initial indications on my X006.A F3 plants (Fidalgo Roxa x Fijian Bongo)

The F2 of this line looked like this:

One of the F3 plants is now starting colour transitions:

 

[CaneDog]

I had the same thinking with the orange.
My mother plant didn't end up being as pale as I wanted.

Did you have any late season pods that hung around until later in the fall? The plant from the original peru-sourced seeds apparently had more yellow pods at first, but they became much more pale almost white by fall. It's hard to tell from the picture, but your pods seem like they have a pale quality to them. The shape also seems less pear shaped, but that's something that can change within or from season to season on the same plant. I have two plants from what I believe to be from the first generation after the original seeds. One was late and didn't produce last year. The other I started indoors OW for this season. On the latter, the pods are shaped more like yours. The former has only just started setting.

And oh, it appears my neighbor threw a ball over the fence earlier this week and broke a big piece off one of them

 

[ChilliCrosser]

Did you have any late season pods that hung around until later in the fall? The plant from the original peru-sourced seeds apparently had more yellow pods at first, but they became much more pale almost white by fall. It's hard to tell from the picture, but your pods seem like they have a pale quality to them. The shape also seems less pear shaped, but that's something that can change within or from season to season on the same plant.

Those pods were from indoor solo cup grow, the plant was only started at the beginning of this year so will see if anything changes as it goes along. I have another one outdoors so I'll see how that does.

 

[ChilliCrosser]

X043 F1 going full on purple except for the baccatum calyx

Update on the plant that had pods like the one above.
Extreme heat in the UK a few weeks ago hit my tent in the shed hard and this plant dropped all but one of the pods, it's in a small can hydro.
It's flowering again after a trim so I'll get more pods OK.

Cross is X043 F1: (Sugar Rush Stripey x Pimenta da Neyde) x (Brazilian Starfish Yellow x Sugar Rush Stripey). I also have the reciprocal growing as X044, that has SRP shaped pods.

The one surviving pod on X043 is now ripe, although it was under the canopy originally so only had a touch of purple on it.

Observations:
- The darker areas that look like blemishes on each side of the pod by the calyx are actually retained anthocyanin. If this specific pod had started as one of the more heavily purpled pods then it might have ended a more mottled peach colour. We'll see on future pods.
- Kept dark foliage, stems and as can be seen a dark pedicel
- Much thinner walls than a typical starfish pod & very small placenta
- Low heat
- Sweet but not as sweet as a SRP
- Has none of the bitter/salty flavours from the PDN which were present in my F1 for Stripey x PDN. That's a good outcome for me as it improves the flavour but still keeps the dark traits on the plant :-)

Looking forward to comparing this with pods from the reciprocal F1.

 

[ChilliCrosser]

Reciprocal of the above looking something like this at the moment as it starts ripening

 

[ChilliCrosser]

First leaves appearing

 

[ChilliCrosser]

Reciprocal of the above looking something like this at the moment as it starts ripening

Now have a ripe pod.

Barely visible striping on this F1 but, as with some of my other crosses, it is there and should be revealed in the F2s. The remaining anthocyanin on this pod also seems to be highlighting some underlying striping structure.

As with the reciprocal F1, which was peach, the flavour has improved versus the father as the bitter/salty PDN tones are not present in this F1. This red F1 is slightly hotter than the reciprocal peach F1.

 

[ChilliCrosser]

Attempt to get some dark genetics into C.rabenii, F1 seeds look OK at least. Playing with 3 species so long odds.

31 days to germinate :-)

 

[ChilliCrosser]

The tale of three F1 plants with seeds taken from the same parent pod. I think I'm close to knowing the final results now as Plant 3 is ripening, I'll leave it a bit longer in case it moves from orange to red.
X034 : Sugar Rush Stripey x Pimenta Da Neyde

Plant 2 is still the standout winner. All have good looking flowers and foliage but Plant 2 wins for amazing colour transitions.
All the F2s I have growing at the moment are from Plant 2.

Another example from plant 1

 

[thoroughburro]

It’s cool to see that the stripes can carry anthocyanin. Sugar Rush Stripey already looks like a Dr Seuss creation; imagine it with bold purple stripes!

 

[ChilliCrosser]

Another example from plant 1

Another unripe pod with heavier markings

 

[ChilliCrosser]

First leaves appearing

A few weeks later and the F1 plant for possible C.rabenii x C.flexuosum is picking up speed. Looking like the mother at this point.

No other seedlings have emerged from this specific F1 seed batch, they are 60+ days and counting now. They were all from the same crossed pod.
No other seedlings have emerged from any of the subsequent seed batches, taken from other crossed pods. They've mainly been in 30+ days.
If this ends up being the only seedling to appear from this batch and the only seedling from ALL batches then who knows!

 

[ChilliCrosser]

Hopefully now close to some good quality F3 seeds from this plant that I overwintered.
X005.B F2 (Fidalgo Roxa x Giant White Habanero

)

 

[francisp]

Beautiful colored pods.

 

[ChilliCrosser]

A few weeks later and the F1 plant for possible C.rabenii x C.flexuosum is picking up speed. Looking like the mother at this point.

No other seedlings have emerged from this specific F1 seed batch, they are 60+ days and counting now. They were all from the same crossed pod.
No other seedlings have emerged from any of the subsequent seed batches, taken from other crossed pods. They've mainly been in 30+ days.
If this ends up being the only seedling to appear from this batch and the only seedling from ALL batches then who knows!

This seedling now has company! Seedling 2 has emerged from the same crossed pod seed batch. This one took 67 days to emerge versus 37 days for the first. Makes 2/10 seedlings from this seed batch. I'd expect a better germination rate after 67 days if this was selfed but perhaps I'm just looking for reasons to justify something exciting