i ordered some seed from refining fire chiles this year... shipping was prompt and they were quick to respond to questions... however, i have found a couple of my 7 pot plants to not actually be 7 pots... they are a very cool looking douglah-ish in color, pumpkin shaped hybrid so i'm still happy with the plants- just clearly not 7 pots...
vendor Refining fire chiles
- Thread starter biscgolf
- Start date
Jim actually lives 30 min from me, i picked up most of my seedlings from him at his house, and when i went back to replace some that i killed due to over watering he gave me a few free plants one being my mystery pepper. can you post pics of the pods you have in question? i notice that my yellow 7's have a wide varying array of shpes to the pods, no 2 look the same. from what i have seen he is very diligent with his plants he uses for seed stock to avoid cross pollination.
I moved into our current house around the seed-starting time of year so I didn't start any plants. Went through Jim and nurseries for quite a few plants. Same deal as you, my yellow 7 has many different shapes, all the pods of which also don't resemble the bumpy superhot-lookin yellow 7's I see posted on everyone's GL's. I think he got a weird strain of yellow 7s, even his picture on his website doesn't look like the typical Yellow7s I'm use to seeing.. Weird. All of the other 10 plants have grown true to form though.
lookin forward to some pictures biscgolf!
Brandon
biscgolf, I surely wouldn't mind seeds from that awesomely weird cross. 
Cool looking.
Chris
Cool looking. Chris
First of all I would like to address some questions. My seed stock for 7 Pot was from Semillas and stock for Yellow 7's and Douglahs is from Neal of Hippy seed company. All varieties were isolated when I grew them. Now how could someone wind up with a chocolate pod when it was supposed to be 7 Pot? There are two explanations. First is we all know that based on genetics strains can mutate or also revert back to previous varieties that crossed into them from years past. For those that doubt ask Danise at the Chile Pepper Institute. Trinidad is smaller than the State of Delaware so many of these so called pure strains of 7 Pot and Scorpion have been crossed back and forth that its literally a genetic pot of stew! Thats why on every type of 7 Pot I have grown I always get some Scorpion looking pods. And every type of Scorpion I grow I get 7 Pot looking pods. I did a photo essay on this on Dave De Witts website.I know some of you only grow out a few of each of these varieties for your eating pleasure so your observations are of only a few plants. I grow out thousands and every now and then observe differences in pod formation and color that I never saw before. An example is my overwintered Douglah fruited earlier and every early pod looked like the brown pods in this thread but were as smooth and shiny as a Chocolate hab. As outdoor temperatures got hotter my plants started producing regular Douglah pods. Another example is my Yellow 7 Pots. I got seeds from Neil late in 2009 season. So plants did not start flowering until October. I live inland from San Diego so we can get into low 40's at night even get light frost. So I got plastic over mt precious Yellow 7 plants and ended up harvesting pods December thru February. Now all of my pods looked nothing like Neals. They were very smooth with hardly any pimply texture. I saved seeds and grew out isolated 30 plants in 2010 on another property. Some of the 30 plants were the 6 overwintered mother plants. Now my pods developed during dry summer heat instead of cooler wet winter. I would say over 90% of them were rough, wrinkled and pimply looking like Neals. Some even had tails. So I can tell you that everything from soil, climate, humidity etc can effect pod size, shape and texture in the 7 Pot/Scorpion family. I believe this is a stability issue that might not get worked out for many years. I don't see this that much in habaneros or even annum types and maybe thats because they have had more years to work things out in stability. This year the Chile Pepper Institute is growing out 4 varieties. Even though my Douglah seeds from Neal produced all Brown Douglah pods the institute is getting some plants giving out red pods. Also the Capsaicin scientist Marlin Bensinger is growing an acre of superhots. Even though all my 7 Pot Jonah's I got from Semillas 2 yrs ago have grown out red for two years. Marlin is now getting some Yellow Jonahs. I also have gotten two Yellow Jonahs this year. At first I thought Yellow 7 Pot got some seeds in Jonah trays but these are not Yellow 7 Pot. So we go back to my original point made. These wonderful 7 Pots and Scorpions from the tiny Island of Trinidad have had so much crossing in their history that anything can happen.
Now here is another reason why someone could get a different variety than what they bought. First explanation is I grew out over 40,000 seedlings in two professional plant start greenhouses for 2011 season. With that many seed trays it is possible for seeds to get in the wrong tray. The more volume one grows the more mistakes can happen. Second factor is I employ teens from families that need help and I use them for de-seeding, cleaning and packing seeds. With high volumes again mistakes can and will happen. In defense of my strict policies for isolating seed stock plants I am the only person in the entire world that proves with photos that I do this. Go to my website and see all the photo proof of all I go through. In the past few years I have gotten my seeds from Neal, Pepper Lover and Semillas. I also have gotten plants from these seeds not grow out true. Does it mean that these individuals are poor seed sellers?? Hell no!! I do not know how well they isolate but fact is I do know they are ethical and will make things right and in no way are they trying to sell you the wrong variety intentionally. I have gotten many wrong plants from Janie at Cross Country Nurseries. She sells about 150,000 plants a year so mistakes will happen. Now there are other backyard growing seed sellers that do grow all varieties together and many are members here. And I know for a fact that 99% of you on here do not isolate so I will not trade. When I see 80 varieties growing for seed trades that is a red flag. I cannot afford to spend an entire season wasting my time. This year I am growing out seed plants to produce enough seed to grow acres of superhots. So I have varieties like Douglah and Butch T growing on multiple properties even out of State. So I now have more to observe. On a final note if anyone gets the wrong variety from me I will make good on it right way. Even if you are happy with the mistake in my eyes it is still a mistake so you will get a refund, double amount replacement seeds or replacement plants. Unlike other sellers I am accessible. My e mail rfire@cox.net and Cell 619-504-9777. If any of you wants to see photo comparison of 2009 Yellow 7's with 2010 Yellow 7's E mail me. I hope I have shed some light on your questions. My purpose is to educate and serve my customers. Take care.
Now here is another reason why someone could get a different variety than what they bought. First explanation is I grew out over 40,000 seedlings in two professional plant start greenhouses for 2011 season. With that many seed trays it is possible for seeds to get in the wrong tray. The more volume one grows the more mistakes can happen. Second factor is I employ teens from families that need help and I use them for de-seeding, cleaning and packing seeds. With high volumes again mistakes can and will happen. In defense of my strict policies for isolating seed stock plants I am the only person in the entire world that proves with photos that I do this. Go to my website and see all the photo proof of all I go through. In the past few years I have gotten my seeds from Neal, Pepper Lover and Semillas. I also have gotten plants from these seeds not grow out true. Does it mean that these individuals are poor seed sellers?? Hell no!! I do not know how well they isolate but fact is I do know they are ethical and will make things right and in no way are they trying to sell you the wrong variety intentionally. I have gotten many wrong plants from Janie at Cross Country Nurseries. She sells about 150,000 plants a year so mistakes will happen. Now there are other backyard growing seed sellers that do grow all varieties together and many are members here. And I know for a fact that 99% of you on here do not isolate so I will not trade. When I see 80 varieties growing for seed trades that is a red flag. I cannot afford to spend an entire season wasting my time. This year I am growing out seed plants to produce enough seed to grow acres of superhots. So I have varieties like Douglah and Butch T growing on multiple properties even out of State. So I now have more to observe. On a final note if anyone gets the wrong variety from me I will make good on it right way. Even if you are happy with the mistake in my eyes it is still a mistake so you will get a refund, double amount replacement seeds or replacement plants. Unlike other sellers I am accessible. My e mail rfire@cox.net and Cell 619-504-9777. If any of you wants to see photo comparison of 2009 Yellow 7's with 2010 Yellow 7's E mail me. I hope I have shed some light on your questions. My purpose is to educate and serve my customers. Take care.
Good explanation Jim. As you said, there's no way these are all stable to start with. Any pics of Marlin's Yellow 7 Pot Jonah you can share?
Chris
Chris
Good explanation Jim. As you said, there's no way these are all stable to start with. Any pics of Marlin's Yellow 7 Pot Jonah you can share?
Chris
Jim is the best- i once had a problem with my goronongs - he sent me another 3 packets. We are friends now. He is the a lovely guy like the bigger players like Kappy, Chapman and Grant on here. Plus thanx to the countless others who kindly helped me out with seeds.
Well Jim, first of all I love your site. Love how you show each garden and location, seperating your plants for pure seeds. Great varieties and amazing service. Last year I purchased an order of 6 plants, 3 chocolate bhuts and 3 goronong. I received 3 chocolate bhuts and 1 goronong in the mail, short 2 plants I think. I called Jim and no questions asked I received 2-4 more plants in the mail in 3 days all the way from San Diego to Eugene Oregon. Really impressed by that, thanks again. This will be my first year that I have bought seeds from RFC so will keep everyone posted. John Ford EO
wonderful read! i just got my plants in and i am super psyched about getting started no matter how everything turns out. Everything could not have been packed in a more professional way. These little guys went all the way from CA to NC in 3 days!!
http://refiningfirechiles.com/
I have purchased from him and would do so again. Shipped fast, good germination rates. No complaints from me.
I have purchased from him and would do so again. Shipped fast, good germination rates. No complaints from me.
I didn't have much luck with Germination rates on my goronong and mouraga but C'est la vie. I'll give them more time , the weather here is rubbish and cold at night. The two that germinated are looking strong at the moment. I'm new to super-hots, they seem to be much harder to grow than annum. I had tried before and failed with some habs a few years ago. This time I mean business. So far, so good. Growing this stuff is riddled with road-blocks. Just when you think you've nailed it, something bites in your backside.I'm not counting my chillies.
I ordered a few plants and they were on my doorstep in about 3 days. A few of the labels fell out, but my experience has been that the post office likes to play keep-away with all of my plant orders. 
Plants themselves looked healthy and were none the worse for wear.
Plants themselves looked healthy and were none the worse for wear.