Who here has the most varieties of Seed?

[Balac]

I've known Chris for some time and have found he has quite a few varieties that he has grown over the years. His generosity is well known and is the one person that lead me here in my search for wild peppers, which now has changed into growing one species that has the most super hot peppers in.
My numbers have dropped over time, but I guess maybe only 30 now, I have about 8 that are rare wild pepper species which I try and grow out every couple of years. The super hots are new to me but I have a number of hybrids that I didn't count, I plan to grow them out as best I can where their unique genes are not contaminated.

Great pepperhead activity keeping the wild peppers viable---I salute your effort and dedication to the pepper family (Piperaceae)

Hail a real pepper guard

 

[biscgolf]

around 400 for me at this point... of course that would make 301 of those not legit...

 

[frdlturner]

hmmm I see I have a lot of catching up to do LOL
I have about 28 different including sweets...

 

[Jamison]

I have about 70 pure strains and about 40 different OP strains.

 

[Rhody]

Edited as per ajijoe's suggestion, started a new thread...

Rhody...

 

[ajijoe]

Interesting thread, for those members who have the most varieties of seeds, how many of them have you actually grown, say you have 400 for instance, and in the past 10 years have grown 45 types, you get the idea.

I don't want to hijack Dragon's thread, which types did you like best and why ?

I don't think I will ever have a chance to grow a large number of them myself.

I would like feedback on those who have grown lots of types and what made those varieties special.

That may help me in the future to try those types as well.

Rhody...

sure Rhody be glad to help start another thread on that subject and watch what happens

thanks your friend Joe

 

[dragon49]

I am up to 81 now.

 

[millworkman]

Pretty much. There's thousands of "legit" types as you put it, but a lot of them are the same peppers under different names.

Side note, don't let your bitterness on the gun issue, spill over to pepper talk. Thanks!

If you think I am bitter or would bring that business over here then you ain't been here long. Take off your jacket and stay a while. Anyone who says there are less than 100 types of peppers would have received the same response.

 

[JungleRain]

just over 2000+ and growing....can never get enough, I store them in a wine refrigerator and have most of them documented

 

[Datil]

Once you get into triple digits, you're just collecting unstable hybrids.

Even if there's many unstable/hybrid varieties, i think that 'legit' varieties are way more.
A simple search for "capsicum" on USDA database for example gives you more than 4800 active accessions... chileman database has 3758 entries and does not lists too much unverified stuff (e.g. only six 7-pod varieties ).

Cya

Datil

 

[Trippa]

just over 2000+ and growing....can never get enough, I store them in a wine refrigerator and have most of them documented

Brilliant. I would never have thought about a wine fridge but they would never risk freezing and you could keep them a constant 10-12 degrees C. Perfect. How long before you start losing viability using the fridge JR?? 3-4 years??

 

[patrick]

Who has the most? Easy.....I do.

And no I ain't sharin'.

 

[JungleRain]

Brilliant. I would never have thought about a wine fridge but they would never risk freezing and you could keep them a constant 10-12 degrees C. Perfect. How long before you start losing viability using the fridge JR?? 3-4 years??

not too sure as yet Trippa, I've had them in there for 3 years now, and what I've grown have been all good so far!

 

[Spicegeist]

just over 2000+ and growing....can never get enough, I store them in a wine refrigerator and have most of them documented

I'm going in the opposite direction, attempting to narrow down my list to the handful of varieties and then particular "varieties" of varieties I really enjoy...

For example, I love a particular Yellow Bhut I've grown... I'm growing 5 different versions (from different pods +1 I gave to someone else who returned seed to me) of this to select 1 or 2 for future growing...

 

[j.t.delaney]

I don't think that what I have is even a drop in the bucket compared to all the different varieties, land race and heirloom stuff from around the world.

Who knows how many wilds around the world there are.

I'd say there are probably tens of thousands of different varieties in the world,if not more.
Mexico alone has to have a couple thousand,at least,I'd think.

What makes a pepper LEGIT as opposed to re named?

Well said!

Making it more complicated, what about peppers that share the same name, but are clearly different? People whinge about redundancies in collections, and I don't doubt there are examples, but more often than not, the *exact opposite* is the problem. I've done a decent amount of collecting in the field, and I always make sure to take careful notes from local growers on names and synonyms. Still, I am amazed by the variety of pods out there simply described locally as "that's the red pepper", or "the sweet pepper." This is why I photograph and taste everything, and make sure to ask a lot of basic questions on their use.

Flowers, growth habit, pod colors, and pod shapes are only a few of the more convenient traits to observe, and doesn't begin to really explore the more interesting traits. Pungency, flavor and taste profiles, and texture, are pretty important too. Oh, and we haven't even gotten into practical things like disease resistance, drought-, salinity- and frost tolerance. Storability/processability is also something to keep in mind.

It's also worth keeping in mind that the number of varieties is not at all static, and new variations catch on quickly (e.g. every single one of the "Old World" varieties are less than 500 years old.) Add to that the extra dimension of complexity that the four most commonly cultivated plants can produce fertile -- and reasonably stable -- inter-species hybrids. Cataloging and organizing (or even estimating) the global pepper inventory is no simple task.

What is a legitimate variety is a heuristic question. Do we stick with the traits mentioned above? If we wanted to make some sort of Grand Atlas of Pepperhood™, with a massive dendrogram illustrating hierarchies of relatedness, which aspects to we prioritize, and ultimately, to what level of granularity to we try to achieve?

Really, it's an amazing food crop -- in a category by itself. Basic staples vary from region to region: some parts of the world rely on rice for most of their calories, others cassava, millet, corn, wheat, potatoes, etc. In spite of all those differences in eating habits, almost *everybody* eats peppers. There are very few other crops like that, if any. And in most parts of the world, they're eating locally grown pods. Most of those local varieties were developed the old fashioned way-- farmers picking the ones that tasted and grew the best for them.

Because it isn't a major calorie source for most people, it hasn't received the level attention given to wheat or rice or soy, which is perfectly understandable. For these reasons, "amateurs" like the folks on this board, have managed to create private collections with entry numbers that rival international germplasm banks. What is exciting about this is that there are still plenty of wide open spaces to be explored. We really are just beginning.

 

[patrick]

j.t. I like the what you write and the way you present it. Do you grow peppers?

 

[idosimon]

Well said!

Making it more complicated, what about peppers that share the same name, but are clearly different? People whinge about redundancies in collections, and I don't doubt there are examples, but more often than not, the *exact opposite* is the problem. I've done a decent amount of collecting in the field, and while I always make sure to take careful notes from local growers on names and synonyms. Still, I am amazed by the variety of pods out there simply described locally as "that's the red pepper", or "the sweet pepper." This is why I photograph and taste everything, and make sure to ask a lot of basic questions on their use.

Flowers, growth habit, pod colors, and pod shapes are only a few of the more convenient traits to observe, and doesn't begin to really explore the more interesting traits. Pungency, flavor and taste profiles, and texture, are pretty important too. Oh, and we haven't even gotten into practical things like disease resistance, drought- and frost tolerance. Storability/processability is also something to keep in mind.

It's also worth keeping in mind that the number of varieties is not at all static, and new variations catch on quickly (e.g. every single one of the "Old World" varieties are less than 500 years old.) Add to that the extra dimension of complexity that the four most commonly cultivated plants can produce fertile - and reasonably stable inter-species hybrids. Cataloging and organizing (or even estimating) the global pepper inventory is no simple task.

What is a legitimate variety is a heuristic question. Do we stick with the traits mentioned above? If we wanted to make some sort of Grand Atlas of Pepperhood™, with a massive dendrogram illustrating hierarchies of relatedness, which aspects to we prioritize, and ultimately, to what level of granularity to we try to achieve?

Really, it's an amazing food crop -- in a category by itself. Basic staples vary from region to region: some parts of the world rely on rice for most of their calories, others cassava, millet, corn, wheat, potatoes, etc. In spite of all those differences in eating habits, almost *everybody* eats peppers. There are very few other crops like that, if any. And in most parts of the world, they're eating locally grown pods. Most of those local varieties were developed the old fashioned way-- farmers picking the ones that tasted and grew the best for them.

Because it isn't a major calorie source for most people, it hasn't received the level attention given to wheat or rice or soy, which is perfectly understandable. For these reasons, "amateurs" like the folks on this board, have managed to create private collections with entry numbers that rival international germplasm banks. What is exciting about this is that there are still plenty of wide open spaces to be explored. We really are just beginning.

Amazingly written! That's why I'm really excited about this place! We have such a unique member base from places all over the world, so some truly unique crosses can be made with a community collaboration effort.

I'm thinking of asking people to send me pollen in the future so that I can breed it with some bahamian goat peppers, which should result in some interesting combos.

 

[dragon49]

Great post!

What are the 4 most common cultivated plants?

Well said!

Making it more complicated, what about peppers that share the same name, but are clearly different? People whinge about redundancies in collections, and I don't doubt there are examples, but more often than not, the *exact opposite* is the problem. I've done a decent amount of collecting in the field, and while I always make sure to take careful notes from local growers on names and synonyms. Still, I am amazed by the variety of pods out there simply described locally as "that's the red pepper", or "the sweet pepper." This is why I photograph and taste everything, and make sure to ask a lot of basic questions on their use.

Flowers, growth habit, pod colors, and pod shapes are only a few of the more convenient traits to observe, and doesn't begin to really explore the more interesting traits. Pungency, flavor and taste profiles, and texture, are pretty important too. Oh, and we haven't even gotten into practical things like disease resistance, drought- and frost tolerance. Storability/processability is also something to keep in mind.

It's also worth keeping in mind that the number of varieties is not at all static, and new variations catch on quickly (e.g. every single one of the "Old World" varieties are less than 500 years old.) Add to that the extra dimension of complexity that the four most commonly cultivated plants can produce fertile - and reasonably stable inter-species hybrids. Cataloging and organizing (or even estimating) the global pepper inventory is no simple task.

What is a legitimate variety is a heuristic question. Do we stick with the traits mentioned above? If we wanted to make some sort of Grand Atlas of Pepperhood™, with a massive dendrogram illustrating hierarchies of relatedness, which aspects to we prioritize, and ultimately, to what level of granularity to we try to achieve?

Really, it's an amazing food crop -- in a category by itself. Basic staples vary from region to region: some parts of the world rely on rice for most of their calories, others cassava, millet, corn, wheat, potatoes, etc. In spite of all those differences in eating habits, almost *everybody* eats peppers. There are very few other crops like that, if any. And in most parts of the world, they're eating locally grown pods. Most of those local varieties were developed the old fashioned way-- farmers picking the ones that tasted and grew the best for them.

Because it isn't a major calorie source for most people, it hasn't received the level attention given to wheat or rice or soy, which is perfectly understandable. For these reasons, "amateurs" like the folks on this board, have managed to create private collections with entry numbers that rival international germplasm banks. What is exciting about this is that there are still plenty of wide open spaces to be explored. We really are just beginning.

 

[j.t.delaney]

j.t. I like the what you write and the way you present it. Do you grow peppers?

Thank you kindly. I grow about 40 or so varieties per season, and I have about 300 varieties of seeds. From the sound of it, that makes me sort of a mid-level enthusiast. I would love to grow more, but I do the best I can with a short growing season and a very small back yard.

What are the 4 most common cultivated plants?

There are five domesticated Capscium species; four of them can cross-pollinate:

• C. annuum
• C. baccatum
• C. chinense
• C. frutescens

The result is that while most of the time pepper varieties in these groups can be categorized pretty easily, there are some in-betweens, too. The most famous of these is bhut jolokia, which seems to share genetics with both C. chinense and C. frutescens (Bosland 2007.)

The fifth cultivated species, C. pubescens, doesn't seem to be able to hybridize with the others.

 

[JayT]

So, out of curiosity I opened this, I thought of Smokemaster, Chris, SilverSurfer, Patrick, and finally Mark. I am betting Mark (thechileman) has the most, but Chris you didn't answer the question about you. How many you got?