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pics Lemon Drop Pics and a review

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dragon49

I bought a plant from one of our board members. I was embarrassed to tell him or post, but I almost killed the plant. He did a great job of packing and shipping, but I made the mistake of opening the box at work and leaving it on my desk all day. The leaves almost all wilted and I thought it was dead! Fortunately, the roots were all good and I was able to nurse it back to life. After almost 100 days in the ground, it has produced around 20 peppers, with more on the way. I'm not sure if this is a good yield for this variety, but my garden is not ideal for growing Chile's.

The peppers have good heat, and to to my surprise, really do have a hint of citrus flavor!! They are my favorite Chile's so far. I am saving seeds for next season, and for trade.

Here are some pics: The small red ones on the plate are super Chile's, not lemon drops.

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They turn yellow when they ripen. Make sure if your going to save seed, let them fully ripen so your seed will have better germination.
 
Thanks for the advice. I'll leave the unpicked peppers for as long as I can.

I have a breeding question:

These were open pollinated, near other breeds. The other breeds that sprouted were, super chile, Big Jim and various Belles. Can any of these breed with the lemon drop? I was wondering what the chances of getting lemon drops from my collected seeds are. Is there a good chance I will get some hybrids next season from these seeds?
 
Dragon, I'm glad you got some pods out of it. They can produce hundreds their first year and many more the next. I have 3 first year plants and I don't know if I will make those numbers this year. I still have 3 months left. It is a long season plant. Hopefully you can get an earlier start next year. If you do not have any isolated pods then your best bet against cross pollination, (a good probability), is to collect seeds from as many different pods as possible. I know its a long wait for complete ripening but they will turn yellow.

Good Luck

Mike

The taste is great isn't it? My fave for a long time.
 
Lemon drop is a baccatum and the others you list are annums. From the charts I have seen, baccatums "sporadically" cross with other species. It is possible to get something different in subsequent generations with no isolation, but still a good chance of getting what you want too. Save from several peppers from the middle of the to increase the odds of getting what you want. Chances are the bees will visit the peppers on the outer rim of the plant before they get to the ones in the middle.

jacob
 
Yeah, I'm in New York too and I still have a month and a half left on my stuff before the first frost.
My habs are still setting pods and so are my cayennes. I'm fairly confident they'll ripen by then too.


I just discovered Aji Limon, and if those are any like that, I will say they are quite possibly one of the most tasty peppers I have ever had. I actually ended up adding a few slices to a sandwich a few minutes ago. The citrusy flavor is just great.

You might get a few hybrids by growing seed from those, but be aware that in order to achieve a good germination rate, you have to let them ripen.
 
Never had a fresh Lemon Drop but chillilover was nice enough to send me some powders of this pepper - Keep us updated if you get a few to ripen on the plant. :dance:
 
If you are worried about hybridizing, why not take several/many cuttings from the plant at the end of the season and root them and put the new little plants in a sunny window, and get a jump on next season.
 
That's a good idea. I do have southern exposure on one of my windowsills. I have some questions about the practicality of this:

How cold of a temperature will the plants be able to tolerate, before dying?

I have a decent grow light that I have used to grow pepper plants from sprouted seeds. I have had good success with a 17 hour on, 7 hour off cycle, for between 2 and 3 months. Assuming I would put the rooted cuttings in small pots and would want to maintain life, not encourage growth, what light cycle would be recommended?

I think that that the height of my lighting system, as well as my ceiling height would make the next suggestion impracticable, but, if I could work it out, would it be possible to put a rooted cutting in a large container under the grow light, with the plan of it producing fruit all year round? If so, what size pot would I need, and what light cycle would be recommended?

Is there any way to save and store a cutting, (either rooted or not) so it will be ready for life late next may?

Thanks
 
The Aji Lemon or Lemon drop which ever you want to call it has a great taste i use it a lot in cooking
 
I live in CT and my stuff is out after first frost with a blanket or sheet over them - and they do turn yellow -- not one of my faves though the taste was rough to me -
 
This looks like one I am going to need a plant of next year. As far as leaving the pods on the plant, from what I gather you can just leave them on and they will still ripen even if frost comes and kills the plant. Not too sure on that but think I read it somewhere? Can anybody confirm or deny that claim?
 
They may get mushy if you know there is a frost you can cover them its when the temps get to freezing = bad - if you know this will happen you can pick them and put in a bag with a banana to ripen a bit
 
That is true, I've done it - Lemon Drop pods will continue to ripen even on a plant killed by frost. Or for that matter, if you cut them off and throw them in a bag in your kitchen, they'll still ripen. As a matter of fact, a storm came through a few weeks ago that broke off a branch with about 20 green pods on it. I just set it on the ground, and now all the pods are ripening.
 
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