Hi everyone!
I come from the Italian Pepperfriends community (where every now and then I've seen ChilliCrosser, Pepper Guru and cmpman1974 stop by to say hello).
I've been lurking THP for a while; I prefer forums to social media (apart from Reddit), even if unfortunately they are on the verge of extinction.
I have been growing a bit of everything for 20 years, I have a small wild garden (all local plants recognized in nature and transplanted/sown) which requires no maintenance. Peppers have been keeping me company on the balcony for 6 years.
I almost immediately started to get passionate about crossings, as they gave me a plant that wasn't true to type and which intrigued me. The first few years I crossed C. annuum, OP, without the slightest idea of what I was doing; in fact, I was pursuing bizarre ideas such as selecting shapes or deformed peppers. Then I started to inform myself and in line with Mendel's laws I brought forward the purple stem, the yellow color and the flower cluster. Since last year I have been carrying out more targeted intraspecific crosses, and following the genetics papers and monographs. This year I will try some interspecific crosses.
I am currently growing 40 cultivars: all 5 domestic species, various old and new crosses of mine, C. flexuosum, C. rabenii, C. cardenasii, Rocopica and Chiltepin.
My crops are ecological, I do not use fertilizers or pesticides. Of course, I struggle with aphids every now and then, but I try to let the ants handle them as much as possible. In any case, compared to my wild approach, this is the first year in which I try to integrate more "modern" techniques (lamps, soil composition).
I have a palate with a very large database, I like to describe chili peppers and in private I also review beers, wines, coffee; but as SHU I prefer to stay low, in the C. baccatum area. I love inventing sauces, cooking traditional dishes but also making chili. I'm curious about your international approach to pepper, which is different from ours. I hope to visit the USA one day to taste some delicacies!
See you soon
I come from the Italian Pepperfriends community (where every now and then I've seen ChilliCrosser, Pepper Guru and cmpman1974 stop by to say hello).
I've been lurking THP for a while; I prefer forums to social media (apart from Reddit), even if unfortunately they are on the verge of extinction.
I have been growing a bit of everything for 20 years, I have a small wild garden (all local plants recognized in nature and transplanted/sown) which requires no maintenance. Peppers have been keeping me company on the balcony for 6 years.
I almost immediately started to get passionate about crossings, as they gave me a plant that wasn't true to type and which intrigued me. The first few years I crossed C. annuum, OP, without the slightest idea of what I was doing; in fact, I was pursuing bizarre ideas such as selecting shapes or deformed peppers. Then I started to inform myself and in line with Mendel's laws I brought forward the purple stem, the yellow color and the flower cluster. Since last year I have been carrying out more targeted intraspecific crosses, and following the genetics papers and monographs. This year I will try some interspecific crosses.
I am currently growing 40 cultivars: all 5 domestic species, various old and new crosses of mine, C. flexuosum, C. rabenii, C. cardenasii, Rocopica and Chiltepin.
My crops are ecological, I do not use fertilizers or pesticides. Of course, I struggle with aphids every now and then, but I try to let the ants handle them as much as possible. In any case, compared to my wild approach, this is the first year in which I try to integrate more "modern" techniques (lamps, soil composition).
I have a palate with a very large database, I like to describe chili peppers and in private I also review beers, wines, coffee; but as SHU I prefer to stay low, in the C. baccatum area. I love inventing sauces, cooking traditional dishes but also making chili. I'm curious about your international approach to pepper, which is different from ours. I hope to visit the USA one day to taste some delicacies!
See you soon
