Show Us Your Pubes! Group GLOG From The Rocoto Giveaway

I am starting this thread for folks who received some Pubescens seeds from me through the Pubescens giveaway. I figured it would be fun to see everyone's progress, plus have a general place to share any pics, growing techniques, and general Pubescens knowledge. I wish everyone great success in their gardens this year.

Even if you didn't receive seeds from me, and want to contribute info about your Pubescens plants this year, please feel free to share.

 

[CaneDog]

Yeah, Crafty.  I'd be curious to hear your experience with those rocoto cuttings too. I know of a few people who are just dropping them into water glasses in the window with success, but I don't remember ever having pepper cuttings work so quickly and easily for me. 
 
BTW, looks like you have a lot happening inside.  Those young rocotos look great - and ripe pods soon on the De Seda!

 

[CraftyFox]

 
Im gunna give it a shot with my Aji oro. Did you use any rooting product or just straight water? Ive got a mild hydro solution (CNS17 Grow)i might try.

 
I have been using some hormone, here and there, but I'm fairly certain these were with just tap water. 
 

Yeah, Crafty.  I'd be curious to hear your experience with those rocoto cuttings too. I know of a few people who are just dropping them into water glasses in the window with success, but I don't remember ever having pepper cuttings work so quickly and easily for me. 
 
BTW, looks like you have a lot happening inside.  Those young rocotos look great - and ripe pods soon on the De Seda!

 
Would you believe those are still the ones I started in January? The aphids really set them back.

 

[CraftyFox]

Definitely sold me.. With CD's Notta Yellow DeSeda, Bhutta delicious kicking Pube! 

 

 

[CaneDog]

Glad that Not-DS turned out okay despite, Crafty.  Yours looks a bit different than mine and my memory of what Stetto's looks like - though they all came from just one pod that I was sure was a bagged ISO. That plant must have got around despite my efforts!
 
I still have 1 plant from that same seed that hasn't flashed yet.  The green pods look good and are pretty beefy. I can see the De Seda influence in the shoulders, but they still look different.  I'm hoping it flashes yellow not red, but either way I know there's yellow in those genes and I'll probably grow out the seeds.
 
Here's what a few of the pods look like.

 

[CraftyFox]

Yeah, most of mine don't have that elongated neck by the calyx.. The blocky ones have 3 lobes and the others appear to only have 2.

This is about as close as I seem to come to that pheno you have there..

But most have almost no neck to them..

I'm going to see what I have left of those original seeds.. I still have a couple De Seda that haven't flowered.. They'll get their chance next spring, I'm sure. 
 

 

[stettoman]

My De Sedas came in two phenos on one plant: the bi-lobed models were easily twice the size of the tri-lobed, but all were heavy and on the very red side of orange. Mine, like the Crafty Fox's, had little to no neck, but nice broad shoulders...I actually thought of naming the plant Gunther...

 

[CaneDog]

Yours both sound like my 1 of 2, that showed the red cross.  However, my 2 of 2 just did this yesterday.  It seems on-pheno and I'm not getting anything with 3 lobes on it, just good solid rounded-triangle pods for the most part and some showing a decent neck on them.
 

 
 
These next ones look pretty cool.  It's supposed to be a CAP 1242, but came in off-red/orange-red instead of the off-yellow/orange color they're supposed to be.  I really like the look of these and the plant produced well.  I have isolated pods on it now that I'm leaving to hang a bit extra because I plan to grow out the F2 on this. The angle on this picture is bad because I couldn't get good access, but these have the 1242 shape to them, which is cool but doesn't really come through in the pic.  I'll be trying to get some better pics of these showing true color and shape.  Unfortunately, I gave away all my remaining CAP 1242 seeds counting on this guy to produce true or I'd be dropping the 1242's again to try for a true pheno as well.
 

 

[roper2008]

My Peruvian Red Rocoto has flowers, but no pods yet. I started it late. This plant is in full sun,
want to see how it can handle it. We are supposed to get some super hot weather soon in
Virginia Beach.
Its strange, the Aji Limo Rojo is growing yellow pods instead of red. I could have sworn I used my
own seed from a red pod, but its possible I used some of the original seed you sent me. Will be interesting to see if it taste different.

Linda

 
 
I left my Peruvian Red Rocoto in the full sun, absolutely no shade all summer, it gets very hot here and humid.  While it still grew and flowered, no pods.  End of summer I moved it out of full sun, and I started getting a few pods.  Last year I grew the Rocoto in part shade and I got lots of pods.  I think more ideal would be filtered shade if you have hot, sunny weather.  

 

[sknxvll]

No pubes here, srry

 

[NJChilehead]

I hope that no one minds me resurrecting this old thread! I wanted to share my progress on growing C. pubescens for the first time this year. The types pictured below are Rocoto de Seda, Rocoto Turbo, and Ecuadorian Red PFH. Seeds were started via paper towel method on 3/12/2024, and all three types germinated within about a week. They were transplanted into 2 x 2 inch cells into FoxFarm Happy Frog soil and grown under grow-lights and give very light fish/kelp extract only once or twice before up-potting. One of each type was up-potted on 4/27/24 into 32-ounce drink cups, with worm castings mixed in and Happy Frog as the medium. What I wanted was to grow the root ball as large as possible before up-potting again to 7-gallon grow bags. On 5/3/24 I up-potted the remaining three (one of each type) into smaller, 22-ounce cups, again to grow the root ball before up-potting with the same watering and nutrients as the last time. Here are some pics from today, 5/15/24 of the plants and the root ball. The larger plants in the photo below are the three that were up-potted on 4/27, the smaller of the three were up-potted on 5/3. The latter are coming along nicely, and the root balls on the three from 4/27 really look nice! I'd say another two weeks and they'll be ready for up-pot. The foil is to prevent solarization of the roots.

The roots pictured below are on the Rocoto Turbo. The de Seda is growing at the same rate as the Turbo, while the Ecuadorian Red PFH is lagging just a few days' worth of growth behind the other two.

Thanks for reading!

 

[CaneDog]

Nice! Even the roots are looking pubescent!

Several of mine are about due for a pot up as well. This season I have a Giant Arequipa Red, a couple Aji Oro (seeds courtesy of Stettoman), Tatiana F6, Manzano Amarillo Ollantaytambo and a De Seda, plus an OW that lost its label, which I'll have to go back and identify.

 

[NJChilehead]

Thanks! Yours sounds like a nice list. It's funny that you mentioned Aji Ora, I'm putting together my list of must-tries in the coming years, and Aji Oro sounded like a really nice one and I added it (the whole list so far is Aji Oro, Aji Largo, San Isidro and Mini Olive). Also, I Googled Tatiana and it's a really pretty one. Post some pictures when you get a chance!

 

[NJChilehead]

Some updates from today!

First, starting with the potted plants that are on the shadier side of the house: L to R Ecuadorian Red PFH, Rocoto Turbo, Rocoto de Seda (all in 5 gallon pots, up-potted around 5/25)

Here's a closer look at the ERPFH in the pot. It is starting to form flower buds.

The Rocoto de Seda in the pot, also forming flower buds:

The potted Rocoto Turbo, yes with flower buds!

Here are my plants in 7-gallon grow bags: from left to right Rocoto Turbo, Rocoto de Seda, Ecuadorian Red PFH. The chinense in the 5-gallon pot is the Trinidad Scorpion from my original seed line.

The ERPFH is doing well in the grow bag. It got a little sad looking, so I gave it a half strength shot of an NPK balanced fertilizer and it greened right up. The soil surface looks dry but it's not as dry throughout as it appears. It will be watered this evening.

The Rocoto de Seda in the grow bag, also looking pretty happy after some fert. Note that these plants are in almost full sun. They're nicely developing flower buds.

Last but not least: my Rocoto Turbo in the grow bag-with flowers!

...aaand after a crappy day of work I came home and found...

My Rocoto Turbo has set its first fruit! After 20 years of growing peppers, this is my first time growing any C. pubescens and I am really excited about this one! @CaneDog and @Pepper-Guru I had to tag you on this!

It looks like we have some hot weather coming, >90 degrees F, so I am going to leave the potted ones in the shade, and bring the ones in the grow bags into the screened porch and leave the fan on. Hopefully the shade and fan offsets the stress from the heat.

Thanks for looking!!

 

[CaneDog]

That's awesome! Hopefully many more pod sets will follow. They're all looking strong and should start really packing on the size now.

 

[NJChilehead]

@CaneDog thank you!! Do you think I should put them in tomato cages now, or wait to see if they need it?

 

[CaneDog]

I'd probably hold off until I had indication a plant needed it. Many of mine in containers do fine without. Though if you're planning to use the round/cone style cages and you have a permanent location selected for them so you won't have to be moving them I might start now because you can't really cage them with the cone-style cages once they get too big.

 

[NJChilehead]

I'd probably hold off until I had indication a plant needed it. Many of mine in containers do fine without. Though if you're planning to use the round/cone style cages and you have a permanent location selected for them so you won't have to be moving them I might start now because you can't really cage them with the cone-style cages once they get too big.

Okay let me see what I can come up with about a permanent location. BTW, speaking of permanent locations: I'm going to have to move them. Right now the plan was in a screened in porch with only about 3 hours of early morning sun, with a ceiling fan running. The expected temps have gone up. Any chance these temps might do some damage to them? I expect flower drop but don't want to set the plants back too much.

 

[CaneDog]

Damage would be expected going fairly suddenly from limited sun and warmth into much greater direct sun and warmth. Then you risk transpiration (wilt) and burn issues. If they're reasonably adjusted, the long hot days seem more to just result in flower drop and sometimes drop of pods that have recently set and are still small. I usually get them adjusted early, then try to stick them somewhere they'll get direct sun early, but not all day long. Sometimes I have to put them somewhere they get it all day long and they do grow big, but perhaps don't set as well during the dog days.

They're not really so significantly different in their needs than most other peppers, though I do think they generally prefer longer days of less intense sun/lighting and are a bit more sensitive to heat when it comes to setting pods. I wouldn't worry about babying them too much, rather I'd get them used to summer with it being on the way and get them growing big.

 

[NJChilehead]

Perfect, thanks!

 

[NJChilehead]

Interesting, albeit anecdotal development: the Rocoto Turbo and de Seda on the side of the house with more shade and morning-only sun are really starting to flower now, with nice sturdy plants. The Ecuadorian red pepper from hell in the full, direct afternoon sun is the one out of the two ERPFH that I have that is looking stronger and like it wants to do some flowering. I know that the real test is how well they set fruit in the high heat (of which we're about to get a lot of) but has anyone else ever noticed that Ecuador red PFH seems to tolerate the heat a little better than others?