Windchicken 2013

Lakers24 · Jul 23, 2013

Working on the chocolate brain shaped with c Phillips

GA Growhead · Jul 24, 2013

Gary! Plants look good despite you trying to fool us by telling us otherwise

. Nagabrains have to continue on! What characteristics are you aiming for! Shape, growth, heat, taste, color?

DocNrock · Jul 24, 2013

Love the variety you are seeing with the Nagabrains. Crazy how two crossed red pods can give rise to brown and yellow progeny, in addition to red. There are a few phenotypes there that could be desirable targets.

Thanks for the tip on the Ashe County Pimentos. Right now Aji Dulces are my "dessert" pepper, but it sounds like the AC Pimentos might even be sweeter.

windchicken · Jul 24, 2013

Lakers24 said:
Working on the chocolate brain shaped with c Phillips

That sounds cool...Please tell me more...

GA Growhead said:
Gary! Plants look good despite you trying to fool us by telling us otherwise . Nagabrains have to continue on! What characteristics are you aiming for! Shape, growth, heat, taste, color?

Lol, thanks Jason! That's what I've been troubling over for the past few weeks. If you've got a minute to listen I'll tell you about it....

When I first began thinking about this, I had the idea that there was a typical NagaBrain shape, texture, flavor, aroma, heat level, etc. that just needed to be "purified" through successive years of breeding. I visualized each year growing several plants from the previous year's seeds, but each year more and more plants, through careful selection of seeds from the right pods, would set the fruit of that wonderful, lovely, sparkling example of NagaBrain perfection. The plants that were setting the "true" NagaBrain pods would each have a brilliant halo of golden light around them, my divine guidance in my years-long calling for bringing this most unique of NW Louisiana chiles to all mankind....

Well, shit. It's nothing like that simple...What I got in the second year were even more interesting phenotypes than I could have imagined could come from two parents...The four I'm seeing, plus whatever KingDenniz and his other friends have grown out from pods I sent him...So now I just don't know....What am I selecting for? Productivity? Capsaicin content? Pod size? Aroma? Plant vigor? HELP! I never saw myself as a breeder....I just wanted to grow as many of the well-established tasty chiles of the world as I could before I die....I'm at a point in my life where I want things to be simpler instead of more complex....

I would really appreciate some help with this, to be honest. At first I thought it was my mission to keep the NagaBrain strain "pure" and that nobody but I should be saving seeds and growing them out. I'm beginning to think that is a selfish Nazi attitude...There's no such thing as a "pure strain" of anything...I need some time to figure this out, but in the meantime I would love some input from the THP community...

DocNrock said:
Love the variety you are seeing with the Nagabrains. Crazy how two crossed red pods can give rise to brown and yellow progeny, in addition to red. There are a few phenotypes there that could be desirable targets.

Thanks for the tip on the Ashe County Pimentos. Right now Aji Dulces are my "dessert" pepper, but it sounds like the AC Pimentos might even be sweeter.

Thanks Doc! My thoughts on the whole NagaBrain progeny question are in my answer to GA Growhead, above.

The Ashe County Pimento is pleasing me more and more...If you want a few fresh pods, give me a hollah on the PM...

This F2 NagaBrain pod is from Plant No. 1...It seems to be 7 Pot shaped to me. The aroma is huge and fruity, with the typical winey, estery Naga character. As you can see by the flesh, it's got plenty of kick..It's a very nice chile, and would be well worth continuing on with. This is not making my decision any easier!

Bigoledude · Jul 27, 2013

It took me a while to finish your grow log Gary. But, what a trip! You have done beautifully with your plants. It is good to have a Loosyanna guy be as successful as you have been in growing peppers.

I wanna LULU!

You are gonna continue to grow-out the Chocolate NagaBrains right?

I know you are struggling with the idea of the "ideal" NagaBrain. Here is my opinion. Huge pods in red, yellow or chocolate. Must have that typical Naga flavor and heat. With massive pod size, grown in great profusion, on a disease-proof, insect resistant, large plant. That also ripens pods quickly.

Seriously, great job Brother!

Check your messages and mailbox.

HillBilly Jeff · Jul 28, 2013

All that pepper oil inside that pod is just sexy. I imagine it smells awesome!!!

windchicken · Jul 30, 2013

Bigoledude said:
It took me a while to finish your grow log Gary. But, what a trip! You have done beautifully with your plants. It is good to have a Loosyanna guy be as successful as you have been in growing peppers.

I wanna LULU!

You are gonna continue to grow-out the Chocolate NagaBrains right?

I know you are struggling with the idea of the "ideal" NagaBrain. Here is my opinion. Huge pods in red, yellow or chocolate. Must have that typical Naga flavor and heat. With massive pod size, grown in great profusion, on a disease-proof, insect resistant, large plant. That also ripens pods quickly.

Seriously, great job Brother!

Check your messages and mailbox.

Thanks Ray! And thanks so much for plodding through my glog! I'm not sure I would find it interesting enough to make it the whole way...Definitely a work in progress. I have to keep visualizing the finished project...Hopefully by this fall!

Haha! Lulu has saved me days and days of backbreaking labor...Now that I find myself leaning so heavily on her help, I don't know what I would do without her!

I do plan to save seeds from the "chocolate" NagaBrain pods...Hopefully successive generations will give me the same big wrinkled, bumpy brown pods, but also pods with that nice spicy layer of placenta like in Spicegeist's pik above...

Thank you for your input on my breeding questions...Of course you are exactly right....As for the "ideal" red NagaBrain, I've got it down to two plants: Plant No. 1, which is setting very spicy Naga-sized pods, with the nice thick white layer of placenta on the inside, and Plant No. 6, which is setting horking massive wrinkled, bumpy pods...Ideally, one or the other of those 2 will set pods that share both characteristics...If not, then I'll have a decision to make later on, before the first frost...

The yellow NagaBrains are looking small right now, but they have an excellent flavor and aroma...Jury's still out on that one, but it won't be any trouble to save seeds...

Bodeen said:
All that pepper oil inside that pod is just sexy. I imagine it smells awesome!!!

It does! Thanks Bodeen!

windchicken · Jul 31, 2013

Looks like any gardening work, not to mention any podding-up, is now over for me until October...

Now I can finally catch up on everybody else's glogs! :party:

Devv · Jul 31, 2013

windchicken said:
Looks like any gardening work, not to mention any podding-up, is now over for me until October...

Now I can finally catch up on everybody else's glogs!

I put a like on it cuz I'm right there with ya bro, 100 out right now. Hoping August passes quickly!

windchicken · Jul 31, 2013

Thanks Scott...Every year when this heat comes around I am struck by how brutally intense it is...Our weather in NW Louisiana is really just an extension of whatever you guys are getting in Texas...It always seems to be cooler in the rest of Louisiana, even to the south of us...

KiNGDeNNiZ · Jul 31, 2013

I'm
Loving my 80-low 90s weather day in and day out. Just sucks not to have healthy plants to enjoy them

stc3248 · Aug 1, 2013

I ain't liking that forecast!!! I am however liking the hell out of your NagaBrain story...hahaha....you should be selecting for all of the above! Then you should cross whatever your final F-One Billion selection with a Primo...and start over going for the exact same taste but with that super cool stinger (would've said the Reaper but too much drama there) and go for looks/vigor/heat/flavor/productivity...oh, oh and then you could cross it with a Pimenta De Neyde for some cool purple foliage....oh and those cool purple/red stripey pods! Mmmmm...then market it and start charging $4.92 per seed as you cross it with one of the wild Chinenses with tiny pods of the same shape and color scheme and start all over again...Or just go with ones that taste good. is plenty hot, and puts out a good number of pods and keep it simple!

Datil · Aug 1, 2013

I feel your pain Gary!
This weekend forecast is not better here... Another heat wave,100F with 70% humidity!

Cya

Datil

windchicken · Aug 1, 2013

KiNGDeNNiZ said:
I'm
Loving my 80-low 90s weather day in and day out. Just sucks not to have healthy plants to enjoy them

It's almost always better to be in Cali... :cool:

Sorry about your problems, KD...You are certainly paying your dues right now...It must mean that you will have a legendary grow in the future...

stc3248 said:
I ain't liking that forecast!!! I am however liking the hell out of your NagaBrain story...hahaha....you should be selecting for all of the above! Then you should cross whatever your final F-One Billion selection with a Primo...and start over going for the exact same taste but with that super cool stinger (would've said the Reaper but too much drama there) and go for looks/vigor/heat/flavor/productivity...oh, oh and then you could cross it with a Pimenta De Neyde for some cool purple foliage....oh and those cool purple/red stripey pods! Mmmmm...then market it and start charging $4.92 per seed as you cross it with one of the wild Chinenses with tiny pods of the same shape and color scheme and start all over again...Or just go with ones that taste good. is plenty hot, and puts out a good number of pods and keep it simple!

Man I needed to hear that Shane! With your help and the other guys here I've relaxed quite a bit around the whole "which NagaBrain to choose?" question...For the last couple days I've just been enjoying sampling them, and paying close attention to the characteristics of every pod I try.... :cool:

Datil said:
I feel your pain Gary!
This weekend forecast is not better here... Another heat wave,100F with 70% humidity!

Cya

Datil

Awww, dude, that ain't right! The weather in Italy is just like California....always sunny, never humid, and the temp never strays from the 70s...

Like I said in my reply to Shane above, I decided to just relax and enjoy my NagaBrain fruit, and try to remember which ones really grab my attention. Plant #2A, which is clumped with Plant #2B, a.k.a. "NagaBrain Chocolate," gave up these 2 pods yesterday...The first one I had last night with some awesome BBQ ribs from the Hickory Stick here in Shreveport, and the other I had in a bowl of oatmeal this morning. The burn is rock solid and all business, aroma is big and Naga-ish, and the flavor is everything you want it to be...

MGOLD86 · Aug 1, 2013

Really great looking pods Gary! I bet it is pretty tough to pick and chose. I have a hard enough time culling seedlings, let alone picking which plants to carry on the line. The good news is you could always just keep seed from them all, choose to grow out one or two, and if you don't end up liking it going back to the stock and growing the others.

windchicken · Aug 1, 2013

Thanks Matt, and thanks for the input on picking the seed plant(s)...What you said is what I'll probably do, I just need to be able to remember which seeds produce which type of NagaBrain pods, but careful notes and plenty of photos should take care of that....Either that or I could let the size of my NagaBrain grow increase exponentially every year—Each F2 plant could give rise to 6 F3 plants, and so on... :cool:

Makes me tired just thinking about it!

Pr0digal_son · Aug 1, 2013

Wow,your night temps are higher than our daytime highs! I'm not complaining though. I like pulling the covers up in August.

windchicken · Aug 1, 2013

Wow, that sounds awesome, John....I cannot imagine how people actually lived in Louisiana or Texas before air conditioning...

Thanks for stopping by!

Scarecrw · Aug 1, 2013

I'm heading your way Tuesday for 2 weeks and the ac is not working in the RV. Looks like I better put down the watering can and pick up some 134a. I might just have to stop by and enjoy yours. My seedlings are an inch high with 2 sets of leaves. :dance:

let's see if mom can keep them alive while on vacation.

Devv · Aug 1, 2013

windchicken said:
Wow, that sounds awesome, John....I cannot imagine how people actually lived in Louisiana or Texas before air conditioning...

Thanks for stopping by!

I heard that! They had to be stanking! LOL I know I would be!

Awesome looking pods!