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breeding Galapagos Red Habanero x CGN 21500 Cross

I didn't get the best pheno on my tepin x lemon drops. Almost no heat to them and taste like a combo of grass clippings and lemon zest. I might try again next year with the f2 seeds. See if I can get a better pod.

Really like the sound of this cross.
 
Thing continues to look tasty, Chris.

Are you doing any regular Galapagos red this year? Would love to see a side by side comparison of that and your cross.
 
Genetikx said:
Thing continues to look tasty, Chris.

Are you doing any regular Galapagos red this year? Would love to see a side by side comparison of that and your cross.
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Yes but they are all still green so far. I do plan on doing the comparison once ripe. From what I remember from my Galapagos red from last year though is that these are much hotter and have thicker walls. I do notice from this year too that the cross shows a lot of the purple coloration on the leaves, stems, and pods whereas the Galapagos red shows none.
 
Newest update - I sacrificed some of the leaves and pods and took pictures of all three types of plants from this year, the Galapagos Red Habanero, the Galapagos Red Habanero x CGN 21500 cross, and the CGN 21500 to compare them to each other.
 

Leaves - L to R (Galapagos red habanero, Galapagos red x CGN 21500, CGN 21500). Might not be as pronounced in this picture but the cross' leaves color fall somewhere in between the two parent plants.
 
 

Branches - L to R (Galapagos red habanero, Galapagos red x CGN 21500, CGN 21500). The branches from the cross are very much closer in color to the CGN 21500 father.
 
 

Unripe Pods - L to R (Galapagos red habanero, Galapagos red x CGN 21500, CGN 21500). I tried to pick pods that are fairly representative of each type. The CGN 21500 plant is lagging behind somewhat so the pods are still not full sized. The cross' pods are somewhat smaller than the Galapagos red habanero pod but quite a bit larger than a full-sized CGN 21500 pod and take the shape more of the Galapagos red but are more uniform in shape as a whole. They also show the purple shoulders where the sun hits them like the CGN 21500 pods but not as pronounced as the CGN 21500.
 
Also, as was seen in early growing, the cross is very fast growing and producing. I've been getting pods for about 3 weeks regular now with major production of the larger pods happening about now. I am still waiting to get ripe pods off of the CGN 21500, the Galapagos red, or for any other of the super-hots that I have growing this year. It was a very cool first half of the summer up here in the north which slowed down almost all of my pepper plants.
 
A couple questions, Chris.
 
Did all 17 plants you are growing come from one pod?
 
Do you see much variation in the pods from any of the plants?  Are any markedly different in taste or shape?
 
How are you going about selecting the seed you will grow next year?  
     - Are you selecting a mix from all the plants?  Just seed from the best plant?  Specifically crossing some of the best plants?
 
Just kinda curious.  As this is F1, you have a ways to go to before considered stable and I'm wondering about your plans as you move in that direction.
 
cone9 said:
A couple questions, Chris.
 
Did all 17 plants you are growing come from one pod?
 
Do you see much variation in the pods from any of the plants?  Are any markedly different in taste or shape?
 
How are you going about selecting the seed you will grow next year?  
     - Are you selecting a mix from all the plants?  Just seed from the best plant?  Specifically crossing some of the best plants?
 
Just kinda curious.  As this is F1, you have a ways to go to before considered stable and I'm wondering about your plans as you move in that direction.
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The 17 plants came from two pods, and no I don't see any variation between any of the plants, all seem to be growing very similar. I have 14 of the 17 left, 7 garden growing and 7 in pots. I gave 2 away and one didn't make it. Unfortunately I did not mark the seeds to know which pod which plant came from - rookie mistake I won't be repeating this year. The only difference I see in the plants comes from where they grew. The plants in the ground are slightly larger than the potted plants and the pods are slightly larger as well. They are also slower to ripen. 98% of the pods in the picture above came from the potted plants.
 
For F2 I have 9 isolated pods on 2 two plants (three almost ripe now). I tried on other plants but was unsuccessful. I also learned too late about possibly crossing plant with plant for a better genetic stability. I will for certain do that next year. Depending on when we get our first frost up here I should have quite a decent number of seeds from those isolated pods. I am collecting seed from a number of pods from all 14 plants and will be growing them out along with the seeds from the isolated pods. I am also going to attempt at cloning these plants as well as overwintering a couple or so.
 
I am very happy with this cross so far and plan on having fun over the years stabilizing it. I'm also excited about seeing what different pods types come out from some recessive traits showing up next year and growing them out as well. Fun stuff overall.
 
I received a box of these from Chris today and just had to have one for lunch.  My camera is down or I'd post a pic of the packed box!
 
They are very nice peppers.  Fine flavor.   Thick, juicy, crunchy flesh.  Plenty of heat - it started slow and built to what was, for me at least, a pretty intense heat.  After the burn crested and began to fall off a bit it was a very pleasant and very prolonged burn.  I refreshed the burn occasionally with extra nibbles throughout the afternoon! Interesting addiction we have isn't it?
I like them.
 
It will be interesting to see how/if they change as Chris works the stabilize the cross.  Good job - nice choice for  a cross.
 
Yeah, I got a box yesterday too! I was a bit hesitant due to Chris saying they weren't that hot. Bit off half of one with my first bite of dinner. Holy crap these are plenty hot! I was anticipating the relatively mild heat of a CGN 21500 and had read the Galapagos Reds weren't too hot. Not the case with these!
Like Dave said above.... thick, juicy and crunchy. Great flavor to me. Really unique shade of red too. Can't say enough good things about these. I don't have much room for plants but I'm going to grow this one out next year for sure! :party: :party: :party: A truly worthy pepper!
 
cone9 said:
I received a box of these from Chris today and just had to have one for lunch.  My camera is down or I'd post a pic of the packed box!
 
They are very nice peppers.  Fine flavor.   Thick, juicy, crunchy flesh.  Plenty of heat - it started slow and built to what was, for me at least, a pretty intense heat.  After the burn crested and began to fall off a bit it was a very pleasant and very prolonged burn.  I refreshed the burn occasionally with extra nibbles throughout the afternoon! Interesting addiction we have isn't it?
I like them.
 
It will be interesting to see how/if they change as Chris works the stabilize the cross.  Good job - nice choice for  a cross.
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Glad you liked the pods. I also noticed that the burn seemed to last longer than most peppers I've eaten but I am far from an expert on this. Yes, interesting addiction to pain that we have. And I had to pack the box full to reciprocate for the box of peppers you sent me.

Chewi said:
Yeah, I got a box yesterday too! I was a bit hesitant due to Chris saying they weren't that hot. Bit off half of one with my first bite of dinner. Holy crap these are plenty hot! I was anticipating the relatively mild heat of a CGN 21500 and had read the Galapagos Reds weren't too hot. Not the case with these!
Like Dave said above.... thick, juicy and crunchy. Great flavor to me. Really unique shade of red too. Can't say enough good things about these. I don't have much room for plants but I'm going to grow this one out next year for sure! :party: :party: :party: A truly worthy pepper!
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Thanks Chewi, glad that you liked the pods as well. I guess I should have been more specific when I talked about the heat. They are still very hot to me, it's just that after a couple years of trying all these super-hots my reference point might be a bit off. Strange though that you say that the CGN 21500 was mild, that also was a very hot pod to me. You're right on the Galapagos reds, not much heat though but great flavor.
 
Picked up a box from Chris as well. He's got an offer going in the Ads section right now, you should look into it. By the way, he's an all around great guy.

As others mentioned, the pods are thick, crunchy, and juicy. They are also very uniform in shape which seems abnormal for a cross like this since it is not yet stable.

The smell has some pine to it which I've only encountered in the Billy Goats I'm growing this year. Pleasant. Fruity. Fresh.

The taste also came with a little pine but that didn't last long and is pretty cool for a pepper to have. Makes me want to grab an IPA. I get some chinense flavor, some of that typical red that you come to expect. I've never tried a Galapagos red or CGN 21500, but Chris did throw in one GR. I'll get at it soon for a compare.

I'm with Chris in saying these don't pack a ton of heat which I actually appreciate with all the ultra hots I have going. Probably similar to Joyner's mystery wine based on what I've read. These would go great sliced up on pizza or an Italian sandwich. I did only try one large sliver so far so I'm not perfectly capable of an accurate heat assessment.

I'm done with reds after this year but this is one I'd definitely purchase, grow, and eat. Bet it would pickle nicely with serrano, jalapeno and the like.

Chris, excellent excellent job on this and thanks again!

 
Genetikx said:
Picked up a box from Chris as well. He's got an offer going in the Ads section right now, you should look into it. By the way, he's an all around great guy.

As others mentioned, the pods are thick, crunchy, and juicy. They are also very uniform in shape which seems abnormal for a cross like this since it is not yet stable.

The smell has some pine to it which I've only encountered in the Billy Goats I'm growing this year. Pleasant. Fruity. Fresh.

The taste also came with a little pine but that didn't last long and is pretty cool for a pepper to have. Makes me want to grab an IPA. I get some chinense flavor, some of that typical red that you come to expect. I've never tried a Galapagos red or CGN 21500, but Chris did throw in one GR. I'll get at it soon for a compare.

I'm with Chris in saying these don't pack a ton of heat which I actually appreciate with all the ultra hots I have going. Probably similar to Joyner's mystery wine based on what I've read. These would go great sliced up on pizza or an Italian sandwich. I did only try one large sliver so far so I'm not perfectly capable of an accurate heat assessment.

I'm done with reds after this year but this is one I'd definitely purchase, grow, and eat. Bet it would pickle nicely with serrano, jalapeno and the like.

Chris, excellent excellent job on this and thanks again!


 
Great review Genetikx, much better than my attempt. Thanks. Glad you liked the pods. Funny you mentioned the pizza and the pickled peppers with serranos, I've done both with these peppers.
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Saving seeds of these two for next year. I liked 'em all but these are what I dig. I'd grow more, but I have limited space. Here's to 2016!!
 
The pods on the plants grown in the garden are finally starting to ripen. Note the size difference, the garden-grown pods are much larger than the pot-grown pods.
 

 
Average sized pods from pot-grown plants (Left) and garden-grown plants (Right)
 
Looks like the first grouping of seeds are dried. Anybody interested in growing these out next year the only thing I ask is for a sase and to keep me updated, either on this thread or somehow, on how the grow is going. I have tons of seeds to go around. All are F2 OP. I might have some extra isolated seeds as well in a little bit and also plan on putting some pods out in the classified section this weekend for shipping on Monday.
 
MiChris said:
Looks like the first grouping of seeds are dried. Anybody interested in growing these out next year the only thing I ask is for a sase and to keep me updated, either on this thread or somehow, on how the grow is going. I have tons of seeds to go around. All are F2 OP. I might have some extra isolated seeds as well in a little bit and also plan on putting some pods out in the classified section this weekend for shipping on Monday.
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I'll take a few seeds! What's your addy?
 
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