Variegated Jalapeno Grow Log

So a couple years back when I was working on a commercial grow for a greenhouse I spotted this guy when I was sorting through a few dozen of our Jalapenos in 512 cell trays.  It wasn't likely to be a cross, as the seeds came from isolated seed stock from a company that only sells to nurseries. None of the other plants we had ended up looking like this. I was keeping a close eye on them.  We didn't offer any variegated peppers there at the time, so I had a hunch it was something special.  I took it home with me and tossed it in a SOLO cup.  
 

 
 
Where I found him:
 

 
 
A bit later on that season I snapped a few more pics of the plant.  
 

 
I waited for the pods to ripen and saved seeds, hoping for good things.   They took a long time to ripen and were quite corked.  Unfortunate that I didn't think to take better photos at the time:
 

 
 
Shortly afterwards I started some of those seeds and these guys turned up:
 

 
This is about as far as I managed with them, as I moved three hours away and started a new job.  Many of my plants were severely neglected for a span of a few months and all but one of them kicked the bucket.  I'm happy that I sent out seeds for these to several folks (who did have success with them!) and I am starting to grow some more thanks to Paul G and Chris Phillips. 
 

 
That's where I am right now!  Hopefully Canedog, Paul and Chris will chime in with their experience growing them.

Cheers.

 

[PaulG]

Six of the eight Variegated Jalapeños from
the ivory and the green variegated pods. The
forks are really starting to extend. The plants
are growing faster now that roots have reached 
the sides of the pots:

 
Here's one for ya. This is the VJ from the
snow white pod. Not a trace of variegation
so far   :

Later: I rescued that little sprout visible at the
lower right in the image. Usually I wouldn't but
it would be nice to have two of the white pod
seed to grow out. Sure, I can handle 10 VJ. What
could  go wrong?

 

[Acprkit]

Your peppers are rocketing up!

Once the weather gets warm, I’m going to plant out a number of seeds from my all green variegated plant (and hopefully a couple others) to see if the white appears in a larger set.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[PaulG]

Your peppers are rocketing up!

Once the weather gets warm, I’m going to plant out a number of seeds from my all green variegated plant (and hopefully a couple others) to see if the white appears in a larger set. Good plan! The more plants folks grow the better chance someone will hit the jackpot and have something worth isolating!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Right on, Patrick. The Combination fertilizer I'm using
must be kicking in. Maybe I should just plain water
next go around     One reason I build the tall light
stand was so I could accommodate that height under
the lights.
 
Just for drill, I topped off all the pots to the cotys with
some Fox Farms soil mix just to encourage more root
growth in the soil and root nodules on the stem below
the cotys.

 

[PaulG]

Second Variegated Jalapeño from the white pod seed.
No sign of variegation in the cotys, and no sign of true
leaf development, yet:

 

[mattspeppers]

Update pics from today (with bonus mutants). 
 
Been having a difficult time keeping the plants without much green on their leaves alive for any stretch of time.  I have 4 plants that aren't in too bad of shape right now.  
 

 

[PaulG]

Your grow is proceeding apace, CTB!
Quite the mutant section!
 
Did you have any luck with the seeds
from the white pod I sent you? Mine
were poor germinators, but I have two
plants going forward, along with 4 each
of the green and ivory variegated pods.
They were great germinators.
 
Since the white dominant plants don't have
any chlorophyl to produce sugar for the plants,
I wonder if adding a little molasses to the fertilizer
routine would help them.

 

[HeatMiser]

Update pics from today (with bonus mutants). 
 
Been having a difficult time keeping the plants without much green on their leaves alive for any stretch of time.  I have 4 plants that aren't in too bad of shape right now.  

 
That white jalapeno looks great CTB. I have one that is mostly white that I'm growing in hydro. What symptoms have you noticed that signal things are about to go downhill for these plants?

 

[BDASPNY]

hopefully ill have some progress to post in a few weeks.  im trying on round two thanks to PaulG.

 

[CaneDog]

I potted up all 6 of my v. jalap sprouts, yesterday.  3 are F3's from my select plant last season and 3 are from CTB's original F2 seeds, of which I still had a few.
 
The one with the variegated cotyledons is showing what I expect from will be all-white true leaves.  Some of the others are showing the classic wrinkled look that the leaves get when they'll be variegated white and green, and others are so far showing only green.
 
Obligatory pic, pre-transplant.

 

[HeatMiser]

Here's my hydro VJ
 

 
These plants are interesting. Definitely the slowest growing plants I've seen in hydro. It doesn't drink much either, but it seems to be doing OK despite having two leaves that started to shrivel up. Hopefully soon I'll get a couple flowers from it.
 
It might be interesting to cross it with another Jalapeno to see if we can get some more vigorous growth along with other traits. Will definitely try once both the Zapotec Jalapeno and this one start flowering.

 

[Pepper Merchant]

I have been neglecting to update everyone on our VJ plants, sorry its been a busy few weeks here. The plants are doing well growth has slowed a little but I am really enjoying the foliage. I am debating if I keep one inside or not we will see how the other transplanting goes. I do use isolation bags (not the small gift ones but whole plant ones) for select types each year. 

 

[Pepper Merchant]

Does the plant use the white foliage for gathering energy as well? I am debating moving it away from a growlight for a indoor plant (for isolating) and am wondering if it would require a grow light due to the low green surface area.

 

[CaneDog]

My take is that the areas that appear white have minimal chlorophyll, at best. This seems borne out by my production experience, where the all-green plants grow like crazy, mixed less so, and the essentially all-white ones are a challenge to get to production.  The whiter the plant, the more I focus on optimizing its conditions to make the plant as efficient with its energy production as possible.
 
As for isolation, with indoor plants you've typically eliminated pollinator insects, so just being indoors is usually the equivalent of using an isolation net bag outdoors.  Wind drift pollen is always a possibility, but I see it as a minimal concern.  The odd stray pollen grain that arrives by wind is likely far outnumbered by the mass of grains inside the flower itself (if the flowers aren't producing pollen is where this might be more of an issue).  Sometimes I'll turn off any fans for a period of indoor pod setting just to move the numbers even more in my favor or do manual pollination with a brush right when a flower opens and then mark it.

 

[Pepper Merchant]

Thank you, well written and informative. I have two up so I may try one inside and one outside, both at this point are of similar size and similar green blotting. I will keep the indoor one under a light and see how it does.
 

My take is that the areas that appear white have minimal chlorophyll, at best. This seems borne out by my production experience, where the all-green plants grow like crazy, mixed less so, and the essentially all-white ones are a challenge to get to production.  The whiter the plant, the more I focus on optimizing its conditions to make the plant as efficient with its energy production as possible.
 
As for isolation, with indoor plants you've typically eliminated pollinator insects, so just being indoors is usually the equivalent of using an isolation net bag outdoors.  Wind drift pollen is always a possibility, but I see it as a minimal concern.  The odd stray pollen grain that arrives by wind is likely far outnumbered by the mass of grains inside the flower itself (if the flowers aren't producing pollen is where this might be more of an issue).  Sometimes I'll turn off any fans for a period of indoor pod setting just to move the numbers even more in my favor or do manual pollination with a brush right when a flower opens and then mark it.

 

[dragonsfire]

I like the White, nice change and uniqueness. 

 

[CaneDog]

Here's progress pic's on a few of mine.  They're all still quite small.  
 
The first two look like they may have a good balance of white and green. They show the "wrinkling" deformity I'm used to seeing in the mixed color leaves. 

 

 
 
This guy has all the bells and whistles - variegated cotyledons, anthocyanin in the stem, and, so far, all-white true leaves and laterals.  It's already trailing the others in progress and I expect it will continue to do so.

 

[Acprkit]

Most of my 8 plants are now producing pods, so will hopefully have a number of seeds by May to plant out. 6/8 show some variegation, but only on a few leaves.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[PaulG]

Pods on the way! 
 
Hey Patrick, keep an eye out for spurious
white branches forming. I think the sweet
spot will be a plant with normal green foliage
and white branches with white foliage here
and there. I need to post some pics of mine,
they are starting to produce some of the white
areas.. Mine are getting ready for a drink, so
I'm going to give them a shot of Hi-Brix molasses.
Hopefully the available carbs will take the pro-
duction stress off the leaves.

 

[Acprkit]

[mention]PaulG [/mention] I’ve moved the plants from the grow tent to a sunny window sill. More variegated leaves are now growing, so I’m thinking I’ll see more as the days get brighter.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[PaulG]

Some white branches forming here and there:

 
These are showing up on the seven variegated
plants I have growing.
 
This plant from white pod seed is the only
non-variegated plant. I’ll grow it in a large
container outside: