Chili Seeds Have Arrived - I Am Ready For Crossbreeding
Last week I made the first purchase with money earned from my steemit blog. I ordered seeds four strains of chili peppers and they finally arrived yesterday :D With these four new strains, I will have six different strains growing this year! I will keep some of the strains intact, but the main reason for ordering these is to try my hand at crossbreeding for the first time.
The seeds for my four new strains: Carolina Reaper, Trinidad Moruga Scorpion, Aurora, and Bhut Jolokia Chocolate
In addition to these four, I have two strains which I have have been growing for the past two years. They are both accidental hybrids of a few different strains and I will never know which strains they have in their DNA.
I am pretty certain one of the strains is cross of Serrano pepper and some other species. It has a similar shape and taste to Serrano. It also has that nasty trick Serrano pulls on its victims: for first half a minute - minute after eating it you feel no burn, and when you start feeling safe, the burn ambushes you! This is my favorite strain so far because it inherited that fun aspect of Serrano, but it is much hotter.
I have no idea which strain is the other but it is pretty tasty so I will continue growing them.
Dried peppers from the last season
Crossbreeding plans
The first strains I wanted to crossbreed are the Serrano hybrid and Bhut Jolokia Chocolate. I wanted to do that past year but I ordered Bhut Jolokia from a bad retailer and none of the seeds grew. I don't have specific goals for this breed I am only curious about what will come out from crossing them. Best case scenario would be if I got peppers with color and some of the brute force of Bhut Jolokia Chocolate and burn delay of Serrano (this part is very probable as Bhut Jolokia also has a slow heat buildup).
The second cross I will attempt is the one between Carolina Reaper and Aurora. This one is a bit of a stretch but I hope to get a pepper as similar to Purple Carolina Reapers as possible except for the color. I love everything about Carolina Reaper, their demonic heat, wicked look, and fruity taste, but I would like to get all of that in purple color. Aurora peppers are usually grown only for their have a purple color, and this cross just might work. :)
Carolina Reaper grown by my favorite retailer
The final cross I will attempt is between Trinidad Moruga Scorpion and Aurora. I ordered Scorpions because I like their taste a bit more than the taste of Carolina. I also think purple Carolina would look more wicked than purple Scorpion, but I wouldn't mind a few purple Scorpions either. :)
Preparation of seeds
The first part of the process is planting the seeds. It is advisable to soak them in the water over the night to soften them and increase their germination chances. I prefer to soak them in chamomile tea because it can kill some of the bacteria that might be affecting the seeds.
Glasses of tea and seed packages prepared
Properly mark your glasses to know which seed is in which glass and let them spend a night in a warm place. It is important not to mix up the seeds because you could get unwanted crossbreeds if different strains grow to close to each other during the pollination process.
The morning has come, and seeds are waiting to be planted
Next part is preparing the pots, properly marking them, and getting your seeds out of the water/chamomile tea. Make sure your pots have holes in the bottom so all excess water can leak out. It is now time to plant the seeds.
I recommend a soil that was bought in an agricultural shop as such soil is sterilized and you avoid the risk of plant diseases being in the soil.
One last piece of advice is to not to put the seeds to close to each other so their roots don't entwine with each other which will prevent you from replanting the saplings in their separate pots once they start growing.
Planting the seeds
The Master advisor - Grandma
I had to summon an expert for assistance as I have broken my collarbone this weekend, and I know of no greater expert than my grandma :)
I will keep you informed on the progress! I tried to keep this one as short as possible, as writing a post with only one hand is a pain in the ass. :/
Peppers are ready to grow
Thats an interesting use of your Steem earned money :-D grandmas are the best, they always help you out when you need them the most! Looking forward to when the little chilis become big chilis!
When I started my account I decided my first investment would be seeds for peppers :) Agreed on grandmas!
Brilliant stuff. We tried to grow our first chillies last year but it was a total disaster and we couldn't even get them to germinate. I will be trying again this year and will take your tips in hand.
Maybe you got bad seed, they don't require much if the seed is good. For example, last year none of the new seeds I ordered, while most of the the seeds I took from my batch from year before germinated although they were all in the same conditions.
I actually took them out of some bullet and birds eye chillies. Followed some directions I found on the net but didn't work. I'll try again this year as I really want to have my own stash.
I know some of the plants give sterile seeds, so it might be due to that. If this years batch doesn't work for you feel free to contact me, I would be happy to send you some of my seeds that have been checked. I always gladly help other chilimaniacs :D
Wow that's really generous of you. Thank you.
Haha it really isn't much of a generosity, I just have to put seeds in an envelope and send them 🌶️
Great investment! These will keep giving and giving as long you look after them.
Actually, I have very little talent for growing plants, it was nice to read about someone who takes so much care!
I also don't have much experience growing other plants, but I really love chili peppers and there is a special feeling when you eat fruits of those for which you cared since they were little saplings :)
Yes, have to agree with that. We started a veggie patch a couple years ago. It's great when we do the harvest, and fun for the kids to help.
I still don't get it xD My sister is also crazy about them... She has her little garden on the window and she's also doing crossbreeding... I don't even want to know hahaa :P
Anyway, good luck with your chilis, I know you're gonna enjoy it!
They are my favorite drug :D Ask her which varieties she grows :)
I'll ask her, I know they were extra extra chili xD
great photo's to go along with this post!!
Thx :)
I wish I was still in the country. Miss growing peppers. This looks incredible.
What kind of peppers did you grow? I can't wait for these ones to sprout :D
Habaneros were the hottest ones. Also some serranos and cubanos.
I haven't tried cubanos yet, but serranos are one of my favorites :D I also love hotness of Habanero, but taste is not among my favorites 🌶️
Congratulations! This exceptional post has been featured in Episode 14 of The STEEM Engine Express Podcast. Click the link to hear what I had to say, and keep up the good work!
Thanks Ethan :)