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In January 2018, I got some seeds from Chris11. Included in that pack was a mix bag of 50 seeds. The Challenge was to identify up to a dozen varieties of Sweet and Chilli peppers from leaf, structure and colour of flowers and pods. The final list to be provided at the end of the season. The seeds were sown on 10th Feb along with my other peppers. After germination and 2 blogs on progress, Chris notified me there was a bakers dozen - i.e. 13 varieties of pepper to identify.
Earlier blogs have the story to date. Today we are reviewing the results and looking at any lessons learned. This blog should have been posted in September... a few days late
The Results.
Peppers Identified
The following table lists all the varieties I grew. Of the 13 possible varieties , I harvested pods from 10.
With only 24 seeds sown - and an expectation of up to 50% failure rate - 18 seeds germinated and were grown on to produce peppers. That gives is a 75% success rate.
Now armed with the full list of seeds, I see that the 3 hottest chillies - In Bold - did not germinate. This may be because they take longer to germinate and I gave up too soon or simply because they were not selected.
Next year will tell....
To help identify the fruit, the number following the variety identifies the pod in the "Harvest Picture"
Pot Black - 13
Ring of Fire MX F2 - 7
Numex Sandia - 16
Orange Thai Large - 9
Palermo - 15 (red)
Enjoya - 21
Golden Cayennne - 6
MoA,
Elysium Oxide F7
Orange Habanero
Long Green Buddha - 10
Golden Marconi - 15
Nokturn aka Nocturne - 17
Full List of Peppers in Mystery Bag
Harvest Picture
Correction
16 - Numex Sandia
15 - Palermo Pointed Red (Next Marconi)
All in all, a good season.
Seed Isolation
I didn't have wedding bags to isolate the pods when chillies started to flower so only collected isolated seed from
Pot Black
Ring of Fire MX F2
Numex Sandia
Palermo
Long Green Buddha
Golden Cayennne
Nokturn aka Nocturne
some pods have very few seed.
The sweet peppers had mostly flowered and set fruit by the time I tried to Isolate.
Next season I'll be able to verify the drying process by sowing a few for each bag next season.
Awards
Sweet Peppers
1st Equal - Enjoya and Nokturn.
Thick skinned sweet peppers that could be enjoyed straight off the bush.
Golden Marcon and Palermo Pointed Red both made good salads and salsa's. Last place to my own mini sweet pepper.
Peppers - Growing Pleasure
1st - 7b - Pot Black Cross.
Nice Purple flowers - Would grow it just for that.
2nd - 6a - Enjoya - Always stood out from Germination with its variegated leaf. You could call it my "Little Shop of Horror" plant.
Chilli Peppers Taste
Cooking - Golden Cayenne
Salsa - Numex Sandia
Culinary
Cowboy Candy (Thanks SP)
Chilli sauce,
Chilli powder
Apple, Green Tomato and Chilli pickle.
Best Preservation technique - Chest Freezer. - I just have to think what to do with the masses of chilli's in the freezer.
Lessons Learned
Germination.
The germination rate was good. Once I have been able to isolate seeds for the Hot varieties would have no hesitation growing seeds in pots as I have done this year. However, given that there are Hot Seeds in the mix and with the experience I gained germinating the Red Scotch Bonnet will sprout all seeds on kitchen paper before potting up into seed pots.
The longest to germinate will be identified as potential hot chilli's.
Growing on.
I can now identify sweet peppers plants and will be grown them on in to 12l pots along with the "Hot Chilli" plants.
Others will be potted up into smaller pots to produce smaller plants and take up less space.
Temperature
This was an experimental year for isolation of flowers with result that I missed collecting seed from quite a few varieties.
The temperature in the polytunnel got very high, plants getting stressed and pods dropping, leading to an early end to the season.
For anyone following this Blog - Would it be worth collating pictures for each variety and posting a blog (for each) showing the growing stages from germination to harvest?
Add a comment to the blog if you think it is a good idea.
Conclusion
The Chris11 challenge is complete and I now have a freezer full of produce.
The exercise would not have been possible without the help and support: -
Chris - supplying seeds, guidance and keeping me motivated.
The Grapes in the Over Wintering and Growing Chillies Thread.
HMO - Will be onside more now that the fruit of the year are now on the table
SP - for posting the link to
https://redhotpepperpatch.com/shop?o...d-chilli-seeds
Now it is for a few days off before we all start planning for the new Chilli season...
Anyone for a 100 Red Hot Pepper Patch Challenge
