Delicious garden cross

TomNJ · October 8, 2013

I grew these peppers this year from my cayenne pepper seeds I saved last year. They are thin walled, moderately hot, and about 5-6" long - clearly a cross. The other peppers I grew last year were serannos, poblanos, and Giant Marconis. Based on the size and taste I suspect they are a cross between the cayennes and Marconis.

These peppers are rich red, very prolific, and absolutely delicious, starting sweet and fruity, and then the heat slowly creeps in. After drying them I was just eating them whole and crispy before flaking the remainder! I saved the seed, knowing they will not grow true, but I may try anyhow.

Does anyone know if seeds for this particular hybrid are available commercially?

TomNJ/VA

dustdevil · October 8, 2013

Tom, all is not lost.

Like tomatoes, some of the saved pepper seeds will give you a plant like the cross you desire. Others will resemble one of the parents. Your job is to grow them out and pick out the ones you're looking for. Do that every year and you will eventually stabilize your new variety.

Hopefully you saved seeds from lots of those peppers!

peppero · October 9, 2013

Tom it seems you have experienced a great surprise. They certainly look good and just maybe your future efforts will truly be rewarding. Best wishes on your endeavors.

jon

TomNJ · October 9, 2013

Quote:

Originally Posted by dustdevil

Hopefully you saved seeds from lots of those peppers!

I did save plenty of seeds from several of these peppers. Should I specifically plant seeds taken from different peppers, or is it okay to just group them together and plant randomly from the collection?

Thanks for the encouragement! I'll try growing these out next year.

TomNJ/VA

dustdevil · October 9, 2013

Only sow seeds from all the peppers that had the attributes you liked and grow them out. Only you can decide how many seeds from each pepper, since I have no idea how much room you have to grow transplants. Since you used the term "several", I'd sow 20 seeds from each pepper if it were me. Save your leftover desireable seeds after sowing in case disaster strikes and you want to try again at a later time. You probably will have to replant and select for years to stabilize your new variety.

Good Luck!

Doug9345 · October 9, 2013

I'll make another suggestion. Since you have a good guess about what cross made these seeds why don't you do it on purpose. You'd have your very own hybrid pepper and I'd guess that if you did the cross every 4 years or so on a couple of plants you'd have all the pepper seed you ever needed.

October 8, 2013	#2
dustdevil Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: WI, USA Zone4 Posts: 1,887	Tom, all is not lost. Like tomatoes, some of the saved pepper seeds will give you a plant like the cross you desire. Others will resemble one of the parents. Your job is to grow them out and pick out the ones you're looking for. Do that every year and you will eventually stabilize your new variety. Hopefully you saved seeds from lots of those peppers!

October 9, 2013	#3
peppero Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: selmer, tn Posts: 2,944	Tom it seems you have experienced a great surprise. They certainly look good and just maybe your future efforts will truly be rewarding. Best wishes on your endeavors. jon

October 9, 2013	#6
Doug9345 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Oct 2011 Location: Durhamville,NY Posts: 2,706	I'll make another suggestion. Since you have a good guess about what cross made these seeds why don't you do it on purpose. You'd have your very own hybrid pepper and I'd guess that if you did the cross every 4 years or so on a couple of plants you'd have all the pepper seed you ever needed.