So I started thinking earlier today that we should start a pubescens research thread. Here it is. What was on my mind was that a lot of us seem to have issues with getting a good, reliable crop of them, be they rocotos or whatever. Lots of flowers, followed by lots of flower drop. So maybe if enough of us pooled our observations, we could come up with something to improve the odds.
First, I'm just asking that you post your interest - are you growing pubes of one sort or another and would you contribute to this thread? My idea is to keep this top post for findings and questions, links..... edit it as things evolve. This first year everyone post their observations - I'll give some questions I want you to think about answering, and you think of some stuff we should track, too. Then after we've collected a bit of data, I'll start posting findings. Once I have a bit of data and have come up with a database design that seems to be workable, will create a database participants can log into.
What I'm thinking now is that if people post findings once a month, that would be a good start. Post ONCE, then come back and edit your post, adding the date and new observations each time, rather than adding multiple posts. That way we can keep easier track of what's going on with your particular plants in one spot.
Things I'm thinking of asking up front include:
- What is your latitude, and northern or southern hemisphere? (Southern hemisphere has more water than northern, so that may be a factor.)
- Average temps over the last month, by week.
- In ground or in pots?
- What ferts?
- What soil and what soil conditions?
- When did you either pot up to final pot size or put in the ground?
- What pH?
- When did you start seeds, if you did?
- First-year or 2nd year (etc.) plant(s)?
- Hours of direct sunlight/day?
- Average humidity?
I am thinking that if you have plants in pots, give each a "name" (some sort of identifier), then post specifically about each plant. If your plants are in the ground or you have too many for individual plant tracking, "name" groups. For example, maybe you have one group in the ground that gets more shade than another, while the one that gets more sun is another group. Possibly you have an in-ground group and an in-pots group.
I currently have 3 rocotos, all in pots. Two are overwinters, so 2nd year plants, and one is new this year. Funny thing is that the new plant has a lot more pods setting now than either of the overwinters. They all have flowered profusely all summer, but I've only seen the first pods set in the last week or so. A factor could be the temperature - we had about a 2-week period where the night-time temps got down into the 50F's, and daytime highs only in the 70F's. (I'll post a link to a conversion website, so you can post in whatever designation you want.) I am thinking about putting one in a sunny window but keeping it inside next grow season, to see if being in a cooler environment all summer makes a difference.
I'll come up with a more comprehensive list, but that's to get you thinking. Hope you can contribute!
First, I'm just asking that you post your interest - are you growing pubes of one sort or another and would you contribute to this thread? My idea is to keep this top post for findings and questions, links..... edit it as things evolve. This first year everyone post their observations - I'll give some questions I want you to think about answering, and you think of some stuff we should track, too. Then after we've collected a bit of data, I'll start posting findings. Once I have a bit of data and have come up with a database design that seems to be workable, will create a database participants can log into.
What I'm thinking now is that if people post findings once a month, that would be a good start. Post ONCE, then come back and edit your post, adding the date and new observations each time, rather than adding multiple posts. That way we can keep easier track of what's going on with your particular plants in one spot.
Things I'm thinking of asking up front include:
- What is your latitude, and northern or southern hemisphere? (Southern hemisphere has more water than northern, so that may be a factor.)
- Average temps over the last month, by week.
- In ground or in pots?
- What ferts?
- What soil and what soil conditions?
- When did you either pot up to final pot size or put in the ground?
- What pH?
- When did you start seeds, if you did?
- First-year or 2nd year (etc.) plant(s)?
- Hours of direct sunlight/day?
- Average humidity?
I am thinking that if you have plants in pots, give each a "name" (some sort of identifier), then post specifically about each plant. If your plants are in the ground or you have too many for individual plant tracking, "name" groups. For example, maybe you have one group in the ground that gets more shade than another, while the one that gets more sun is another group. Possibly you have an in-ground group and an in-pots group.
I currently have 3 rocotos, all in pots. Two are overwinters, so 2nd year plants, and one is new this year. Funny thing is that the new plant has a lot more pods setting now than either of the overwinters. They all have flowered profusely all summer, but I've only seen the first pods set in the last week or so. A factor could be the temperature - we had about a 2-week period where the night-time temps got down into the 50F's, and daytime highs only in the 70F's. (I'll post a link to a conversion website, so you can post in whatever designation you want.) I am thinking about putting one in a sunny window but keeping it inside next grow season, to see if being in a cooler environment all summer makes a difference.
I'll come up with a more comprehensive list, but that's to get you thinking. Hope you can contribute!
. i have never attempted to grow this variety before but the challange is what intices me and i here they taste great. i am in east Tennessee at an elev of 1010'. hopefully next season i have several growing and be able to contribute to the research.
