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Little chiles

Printed From: Foods of the World Forum
Category: The Best Foods You Can Get - Your Own
Forum Name: Gardening
Forum Discription: A place to discuss the best ways to grow your own ingredients.
URL: http://foodsoftheworld.ActiveBoards.net/forum_posts.asp?TID=3764
Printed Date: 28 March 2024 at 12:03


Topic: Little chiles
Posted By: Rod Franklin
Subject: Little chiles
Date Posted: 10 September 2013 at 14:23
An update on my siling labuyos chiles: I planted seeds outside in April last year. Out of 7 tiny, unflowered plants brought in last fall, three survived. I put those remaining three outside and they survived even though only getting maybe 4 hours of direct sun a day.

One is now in a raised bed at a goodwill recyling center and is alive but not flowered.

The other 2 are sharing a big pot out on my back deck. After struggling along for 17 months, one plant has about 70 pods on it. I'm a happy Franklin! The other plant has no flowers.  When it gets desperate I'll fetch the goodwill plant and trim it and the other one that hasn't flowered and bring them in for the winter. I'll separate the fruiting one and bring it indoors too to hopefully allow the fruits on it to mature then I'll cut it back too. I'll do some seed sprouting experiments with the new seed.

So, the 18 year old seeds are still good. I have created a real genetic bottle neck though by only having one flowering/fruiting plant.

Here's some pictures of some very hot little peppers. Too bad the red color doesn't show properly. Anyone with a clue on how to fix that problem, I'm all ears.

That white thing is the cap off of a 1 liter soft drink bottle. They're not big, but they're big hot!


Hope every ones gardening efforts have paid off for them.



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Hungry



Replies:
Posted By: Effigy
Date Posted: 10 September 2013 at 17:04
They look wonderful Rod,
I don't have much luck with chillis or even capsicums. I try every year, and am getting better. If you sowed your seeds in April mine should be going in now I think, (makes sense this is also tomato sowing week). Perhaps pots are the answer, being able to move them around might make all the difference - what size pots do you have them in? I know you say large but that's a bit non specific.

As for the red colour - that's what Photoshop is for. I did a wee tweek for you.


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Resident Peasant


Posted By: Rod Franklin
Date Posted: 10 September 2013 at 17:42
When I do this again I will start them indoors. Let them go for a few months till they get going good before putting them out in the spring. In fact I'm thinking of sprouting some now for next spring. Once they get going they are hard to kill.

These are definitely a tropical plant. These things take a long time to germinate and a long time to grow. I'm sure more sunshine than I have available would have helped too. The ones I have growing took maybe 2 months to sprout. Apparently the seed coats are pretty tough. They are normally propagated by birds, passing through their gut before being deposited elsewhere. I've read of success by nicking the edge of the seed before sprouting on a warm (85F) mat. So that's what I'll try.

I know that the ones that did sprout outside were under a little bit of dirt and then a bit of mulch, like what might be provided by a thin layer of leaves. I think it kept those seeds moist and dark and maybe a little warmer till the seed coat finally sprung a leak and allowed moisture in and they sprouted. The long germination time makes the seeds susceptible to rotting before sprouting.

The little seedlings are also susceptible to fungus fly larva and that's what got the roots of 4 of the 7 plants that I grew. The pictured plants are in a 2 gallon pot. 7 or 8 liters, I think. A "hotter" mix of soil and fertilizer and stuff in the bottom then the top 2/3rds or so regular potting soil, which gave the little plants a chance to make good roots before they got to the more intense feed available towards the bottom of the pot. Don't give up.

I wish I knew how to use, or even had a copy of photoshop.


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Hungry


Posted By: Rod Franklin
Date Posted: 10 September 2013 at 17:46
Hey! That looks good! Magic!

I wonder if there is something I'm missing about taking pictures though. Somehow I feel I should be able to take photos with realistic colors without resorting to magic to get what I want. And reds seem to always be the weak spot in my photos. I don't get it.


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Hungry


Posted By: Effigy
Date Posted: 10 September 2013 at 18:04
White-balance and artificial lighting colour temperature - its a big field to learn.

I always adjust the white balance before I take photos of food to correct the colour of the artificial lighting.
In a daylight situation you need to look around and decide what colour the majority of midtones are and adjust accordingly. Not easy if you don't earn your living working with colour.


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Resident Peasant


Posted By: Margi Cintrano
Date Posted: 10 September 2013 at 22:19
Rod. Gorgeous chili peps ... They look like Basilicata chili peps.

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Volamos a Mediterraneo, un paraiso que conquista su gente u su cocina.


Posted By: HistoricFoodie
Date Posted: 10 September 2013 at 23:23
Ann, chilies (any capsicums, actually) are traditionall started 8-10 weeks before last frost. That is two week earlier than tomatoes.

But average chilies often take 21 days of more to sprout; some types as much as 3 months. So you can't really start them too soon. 

Just keep bumping them up, as appropriate, until transplant time---which is the same as tomatoes. 

Because peppers are tropical perennials, however, if you keep them in pots, you can move them indoors in the winter and keep them just as you would a houseplant. I have friends with chili plants that are six years old.

You will not get fruiting under standard flourescents, though. Fruit set and ripening requires light in the red spectrum (which is missing in standard flourescents)---which also impinges on Rod's problem vis-a-vis photos. 


Posted By: TasunkaWitko
Date Posted: 11 September 2013 at 09:45
Rod - regarding the photos, I've noticed that depending ona lot of conditions, some colours show up better with or without a flash, so I generally take at least two photos for each shot I want - one with flash and one without. from there, i review the photos and start with the one that shows the colours best - then go from there to any sizing, editing etc.

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Posted By: Effigy
Date Posted: 11 September 2013 at 14:50
Originally posted by Rod Franklin Rod Franklin wrote:

I wish I knew how to use, or even had a copy of photoshop.


There are numerous free photo editors available.

http://www.gimp.org" rel="nofollow - Gimp is particularly good.

http://www.techradar.com/news/software/applications/best-free-photo-editing-software-10-top-image-editors-you-should-try-1135489" rel="nofollow - Here is a site that evaluates the best ones.


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Resident Peasant


Posted By: TasunkaWitko
Date Posted: 11 September 2013 at 14:57
I've used Gimp before, and it does a great job. Another one that I seem to do very well with (meaning a balance of user-friendly and the ability to bring out the best in photos) is simply the Microsoft Photo Editor (not paint) that comes with MS Office etc.

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Posted By: africanmeat
Date Posted: 12 September 2013 at 04:56
looks like mean chilli  .
they will do a great sauce .


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Ahron


Posted By: drinks
Date Posted: 05 March 2015 at 14:41
Paint.net is a good editor,(it is NOT Paint).
The peppers appear to be the wild native peppers from south Texas and Mexico.
The seeds are available from Totally Tomatoes in 2 separate shapes, an oval and a flame shaped , one is called chili pequine and the other, chili petine and people interchange the names at random.
I have grown them over 60 years .
The fastest way to sprout them is to rub the seeds between a piece of medium sandpaper a few times, then let stand in buttermilk overnight, then put in a pot that is setting on a heating pad.
I have had them sprout in 5 days doing it that way.
I finally stopped raising them after finding the dried peppers on Ebay for $10 a pound.
A pound of them is a BUNCH of peppers, especially when dried.



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