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Is the Big Jim Ready to Pick?

D

dragon49

Is this Big Jim Ready to Pick? It huge, but still green. How much bigger do these get? Also, If I pick these before they are red, will the seeds not be viable?

Thanks,



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You can pick it now, but I would wait. Big Jims can get up to a foot long. If you want it to be hotter, I would wait till it shows signs of turning red. I do not know about viability of the seeds. Good luck. I hope there are many more on the way.
 
There are flowers, so hopefully more are on the way. No other peppers yet. This plant has weird history. The seed took 29 days to sprout, and then a few more weeks to break away from the Cotyledon. Then, it grew at a rapid pace and flowered like crazy, while still indoors. The one pepper started, while at least 10 flowers fell to the ground. I transplanted it to my garden exactly 14 days ago. The transplant went well, as the pepper is getting bigger, and more flowers are starting.
 
kiddc said:
hey, dragon. That sounds like a crazy pepper that i would just love to grow!
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Cool - I still have the pack of seeds that this came from. Let's trade.

Also, I'm eager to grown and share the seeds from some of these peppers. They may be hybrids, as I don't take any effort separate different types of peppers in my garden. I don't really care. If they are hybrids, it will be fun to see what happens. In any event, I fell good about propagating the species! I can send you some after this season as well.
 
it's definitely a pepper I want to grow. mine didn't germinate this year so I'll have to wait for next. The heritage version has my interest especially. Wait for the pepper to fully ripen before salvaging seeds, then let them air dry away from sun for about 3 weeks or so, then store in a cool dry place.
 
+1 Let pepper mature good and red for seeds,and it depends on how you like your Chile RED or GREEN mine are about 8" long and still green.
 
The Numex Big Jim is a hybrid. Thus, there is no point at all in saving the seeds. Sorry :(

I would not let them ripen to red. They taste pretty good green, but are actually kind of bleh when fully ripe. Just my opinion, ymmv of course.
 
mega said:
The Numex Big Jim is a hybrid. Thus, there is no point at all in saving the seeds. Sorry :(

I would not let them ripen to red. They taste pretty good green, but are actually kind of bleh when fully ripe. Just my opinion, ymmv of course.
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it's a hybrid?

i'm trying to find info on that but i can't find a place listing it as a hybrid.
 
charlesNYC said:
it's a hybrid?

i'm trying to find info on that but i can't find a place listing it as a hybrid.
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it's not a hybrid (at least not since the 70's when it was cultivated by NMSU). Seeds are definitely fine to save. Even for peppers that are hybrids, that wouldn't deter me from saving seeds and growing it out if I liked it.
 
actually, I do believe the Big Jim is a hybid, though of course I could be wrong. Here are a couple of websites that describe it as such:

http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/62176/
http://www.aldenlane.com/pepper.html

I am pretty sure that my seed package last year for the Big Jim's said F1 on them, but I'm not positive.
 
mega said:
actually, I do believe the Big Jim is a hybid, though of course I could be wrong. Here are a couple of websites that describe it as such:

http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/62176/
http://www.aldenlane.com/pepper.html

I am pretty sure that my seed package last year for the Big Jim's said F1 on them, but I'm not positive.
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Hybrid could just be the term that these sellers are using, knowing that it was a cross bred creation from NMSU. At one point or another, almost everything was a hybrid. (how many 7 pot varieties do we have now?)

I'm pretty confident that if something labeled it as F1, they were incorrect in doing so. F1 is a first generation cross. Big Jims were created in the 70's so unless they're selling seeds from the mother plant that was on the original set of Mork and Mindy, it's not an F1. Plus the chile pepper institute wouldn't sell an F1 to the public even if it was a new creation. They've been selling that pepper for many years, and people have been growing them for years, so it's certainly not F1).
 
I would pick it just so the plant will grow. That stem looks small and the pod is awful close to the ground. I've grown Big Jims for a few years and got sick of it. Not much flavor and almost no heat. I much prefer something like a Fresno for a milder pepper, way more flavor. BJs are good for poppers though, but so are Fresnos. Save seeds from red ripe, you'd be lucky to get 30% germination from green seeds.
 
Thanks for all of the replies.

I've decided to not pick it just yet.

Knowing whether the Big Jim is a hybrid will not influence my decision to save the seeds. I try to save seeds from everything that I grow. It is much more satisfying to create life from life that I helped create, rather than buy new seeds each season!


bigt said:
I would pick it just so the plant will grow. That stem looks small and the pod is awful close to the ground. I've grown Big Jims for a few years and got sick of it. Not much flavor and almost no heat. I much prefer something like a Fresno for a milder pepper, way more flavor. BJs are good for poppers though, but so are Fresnos. Save seeds from red ripe, you'd be lucky to get 30% germination from green seeds.
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dragon49 said:
Cool - I still have the pack of seeds that this came from. Let's trade.

Also, I'm eager to grown and share the seeds from some of these peppers. They may be hybrids, as I don't take any effort separate different types of peppers in my garden. I don't really care. If they are hybrids, it will be fun to see what happens. In any event, I fell good about propagating the species! I can send you some after this season as well.
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Hey dragon,

Thanks for the offer. I'm a new grower as well, as such, i do not have seeds to trade currently. But i will have seeds when the plants pod up :) thanks for the offer!
 
dragon49 said:
Why,

Is the plant using too much of its energy in making the first pod bigger?
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Yes, exactly. That's why a lot of growers pinch pods early in the season to let their plants get bigger, it more than pays off in the long run. More foliage = more energy = more pods. Early pods suck the life out of a plant.
 
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