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Never Give Up...

Bhuter

Bhuter

Every year, I have at least one helmet head...sometimes more. I've kinda gotten accustomed to getting the helmets off by keeping the hull moist while removing with tweezers. Here's a pic of a Peach Bhut fresh out of surgery.

0PFuOOD.jpg


And here it is a month later.

n8eQPGt.jpg


So thinking I know what I'm doing, I try to remove the hull from a C. Pubescens, Aji Oro. I get overzealous and rip off 3/4 of the cotyledons. But I'll be darned...it's still growing! If you zoom in, you can see the first true leaves starting.

MZp1MU8.jpg


I'm sure this will grow, so don't give up on the little soldiers!

-Adam
 
ThatBlondGuy101 said:
Can you provide your secret to surgery? I always feel that I could do it better than I do...
Click to expand...
Here's a quote from geeme. This is exactly what I do. (Thanks geeme!)

I tend to think that most helmet heads are caused by the seeds not being planted deep enough - as you state, they work their way out of it when there's enough soil to push against. Still, I've had a few that just refused to budge, and if the cotyledons are stuck together in there is, by my experience, the most common cause of plants dying from helmet head. It seems that if only one cotyledon is stuck the plant can handle it, though. The few times I've felt it was necessary to remove the helmet head, I soaked it thoroughly with water from a spray bottle to soften up the seed casing, then used tweezers to gently squeeze on the seam (thereby making the opening larger) and GENTLY tugging at it. If it doesn't come off easily, I wait another day and try again

Here's the thread:

http://thehotpepper.com/topic/46546-dont-you-hate-helmet-head-seedlings/?hl=%2Bremoving+%2Bhelmet+%2Bheads#entry980649
 
I used to preform surgery on them but have found it no longer necessary. I have a injected syring for meat injection that I fill with water and use to encapsulate the helmet head with droplets of water. If kept moist, the cots will continue to shed the hull. Water also lubricates the underlying growth. It is when the hull emerges intact and dries out the it becomes more difficult to shed. In some cases.
 
If you have to resort to surgery, try using extremely sharp scissors (I have very sharp kitchen shears) and snipping off a tiny fragment of the seed casing on the opposite side from the shoot. This, combined with keeping the casing moist, can help the cotyledons bust on out of there. Instead of water, I use saliva, which is easy since I have been known to drool over my babies.
 
While I was testing my seeds that I harvested to check that they are okay, I set some up for germination. Three helmeted, but I found that I could slide the case off the cotyledons, but very gently easing it off in a circular direction. All three turned out perfectly fine, and are a couple of weeks old now, gaining their first leaves. They look no different to the non helmet ones!
 
ThatBlondGuy101 said:
While I was testing my seeds that I harvested to check that they are okay, I set some up for germination. Three helmeted, but I found that I could slide the case off the cotyledons, but very gently easing it off in a circular direction. All three turned out perfectly fine, and are a couple of weeks old now, gaining their first leaves. They look no different to the non helmet ones!
Click to expand...
Hooray! Success! Congratulations! Once they get big enough to produce fruit, I often think back to the helmet stage and think, "This plant almost wasn't". I hope they turn out to be great producers for you!

-Adam
 
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