Black Pearl Photo Updated

[nctomatoman]

The two Black Pearl F2 plants are very beautiful - here they are:

Green foliaged selection -






Dark foliaged selection (looks quite a lot like the F1)






I will work a bit more on each of these next year.

[sirtanon]

Both of those plants look GREAT! So healthy and shiny looking - I wish mine looked that good.

Good going! Keep us posted on these.

- Eric

[sirtanon]

I just picked up a nice potted one of these at the local Lowe's the other day.. 1-gal pot with what appears to be 3 plants in it. I love the look of it!

Just 2 nights ago, I picked a few of the ripe fruit off of it and gave one a taste... whew! It has some heat to it! Hotter than a Halepeno, not as hot as a Hab. Good stuff though. I cut one in half and dropped it in a big jar of green olives, and this morning tried one.. already, it's got some kick. Mmmmm!

This one's definitely got a spot in the garden from now on

[Gazeofslate]

I know this is a very old thread but... Any update ? Maybe Travis or Nctomatoman kept saving seeds up to the f3 or f4 and can confirm that Black Pearl is actually a hybrid rather than an OP as stated in the first posts ?

[dmforcier]

Not a hybrid. It's been growing true since I've been growing it. Last year I did get a cross, apparently with "Cheiro Recife" (the one with teardrop shaped pods). It had lighter leaves and upright black teardrop pods (CR pods are pendant).


Contrary to Mr. Bean above, the pods are edible, but most people think that they taste soapy.

[Gazeofslate]

Hey thanks Dmforcier.
I'm surprised because searched for seeds on Ebay and I've seen it listed as a F1 in lots of auctions. Then again, that's Ebay !
I guess I'll take your word over some dodgy seller's. Or could it be that there are both an OP Black pearl and a F1 black pearl ?
Anyways, I've been interested by this variety because I'm considering using it as breeding material. Really interested by the multiple flower per node trait.
Typically Capsicum annuum only have 1 flower per node.

[dmforcier]

Well, seeds off their OP crop could produce an F1 cross. Maybe that's what they mean.

Interesting note about the clustered flowers. Yes, one flower per node is a characteristic of C.annuum but there are exceptions, at least to a couple other species I'm familiar with. I never really noticed that about Black Pearl. I'll have to take a closer look at my plant (which is just starting to come out of its aphid-induced funk and has few flowers).

Just in general, I have learned to take data from even the most conscientious seed sellers' sites with a heaping teaspoon of salt. Oh, and I wouldn't buy seeds off eBay unless I knew where the guy lived.

[Gazeofslate]

Originally Posted by dmforcier

Well, seeds off their OP crop could produce an F1 cross. Maybe that's what they mean.

Interesting note about the clustered flowers. Yes, one flower per node is a characteristic of C.annuum but there are exceptions, at least to a couple other species I'm familiar with. I never really noticed that about Black Pearl. I'll have to take a closer look at my plant (which is just starting to come out of its aphid-induced funk and has few flowers).

Just in general, I have learned to take data from even the most conscientious seed sellers' sites with a heaping teaspoon of salt. Oh, and I wouldn't buy seeds off eBay unless I knew where the guy lived.

Oh maybe I'm just mistaken then. Looking at the clusters of fruit, I thought the flowers came from the same node.

[dmforcier]

I am asking this question among experts. I'll let you know what I find.


So what are you hoping to "breed" with Black Pearl?

[ScottinAtlanta]

None of that looks like my Black Pearl.

[dmforcier]

Pics?

[Gazeofslate]

Originally Posted by dmforcier

I am asking this question among experts. I'll let you know what I find.


So what are you hoping to "breed" with Black Pearl?

I was hoping to cross it with a few of my favorite sweet peppers for the multiple flowers per node trait but now if you're telling that it doesn't have that trait ! Sure the "offsprings" would gain a little kick but then again I could probably try and select for less heat and refine them in the later generations.

[dmforcier]

Pretty peppers.

So far it has been noted that some other C.annuum also seem to violate the 'rule', e.g. Rooster Spur. But in both the flower clusters appear to occur at the end of a branch - a growing tip. Perhaps there is no defined "node" at that location, or many. Note that neither BP nor RS seem to generate flowers at the conventional branch nodes.

[Gazeofslate]

Originally Posted by dmforcier

Pretty peppers.

So far it has been noted that some other C.annuum also seem to violate the 'rule', e.g. Rooster Spur. But in both the flower clusters appear to occur at the end of a branch - a growing tip. Perhaps there is no defined "node" at that location, or many. Note that neither BP nor RS seem to generate flowers at the conventional branch nodes.

Thanks for the tip dmforcier. Oh and I'm sorry for the late reply, had a lot of paperwork to do and I'll start an internship on monday so I've been a bit busy as of late !
Anyways, I'm afraid I won't be able to grow BP or RS this year. We're now in early july so it's probably too late to sow anything given that I'm leaving my country in September.

In the meantime I've been making crosses between my brown pepper and other varieties I'm growing. Hopefully these will take !

My pepper plants are setting lots of flower buds and fruits right now. Well, the brown pepper more than the others but it's already a year old so that's not surprising.

I've noticed quite some genetic instability though, you can read about it in this thread although I've noticed some other funky things as well :
http://www.tomatoville.com/showthread.php?t=41314

One of my brown pepper plants just made a double leaf ! The pods have never had a uniform shape but a double leaf, now that's a first ! Two of my plants (fish pepper, and a cayenne type) have also set two flowers at a single node so that's interesting...

Anyways, I should probably start a separate thread about the crosses I'm trying to achieve - not too sure in which section of the forum though.

I'll have to wait a bit before growing the F1s as I'm leaving in September -as previously stated - for at least a year. I'll try to grow them as soon as I can after landing !

Probably around late September/early October. Just give me a bit of time adjusting to a new country first !

[dmforcier]

In the last pic, it seems that the plant is "reading" the split as one node (thus the pod) and the base of the leaf below it as another node, thus the flower (Note the little branch (and possible flower) at the ★★★★★★★★ of the leaf to the right). So there aren't actually two flowers from the same node, just two nodes close together.

This forum seems as good as any for a thread on your cross experiments.

Good luck with your non-gardening endeavors. Don't be a etranger.

Dennis