F2 Candy Cane Capsicum
 

Candy Cane Capsicums were released here in Australia as a variegated Capsicum - an F1 plant that is quite popular. Last year I glued several flowers shut on our plant and this year we're growing two plants from the saved seeds. The F2 variegation is more prevalent on one plant along with the fruit exhibiting more of the white/cream of the variegated fruit. I'm assuming that the color change in the fruit will continue along with the variegated foliage.
Taste wise they are a nice capsicum, so I'm assuming the taste will stay as is, but it doesn't matter all that much.


In the photos you can see the difference between the two plants, the fruit is definitely different, so another year and they will or will not get the chance to show their colors.

You have some nice variegation going! Saving seeds from the most variegated plants should strongly establish that trait. I am jealous -- I grew plants from original F1 purchased seeds, and I only got a few faint stripes on a couple leaves per plant. I really had to search, the plant looked all green from a quick glance. I think I had at least three plants, and none had enough color to get excited about. Looks like you hit the jackpot!

Love your F2's McSee! That variegation is beautiful. The idea of gluing flowers shut had never occurred to me! Hmmm...

[QUOTE=hl2601;767073]Love your F2's McSee! That variegation is beautiful. The idea of gluing flowers shut had never occurred to me! Hmmm...[/QUOTE]




Heide,


Thank you.



I've tried numerous times to glue flowers shut, this time I put the glue on my finger instead of dipping them. Just bring your finger up to where the petals meet then leave. Dipping them into a spoon seemed to make the flower die for some reason.


mcsee


A different Capsicum flower showing the glue.

[QUOTE=mcsee;767076]Heide,


Thank you.



I've tried numerous times to glue flowers shut, this time I put the glue on my finger instead of dipping them. Just bring your finger up to where the petals meet then leave. Dipping them into a spoon seemed to make the flower die for some reason.
.[/QUOTE]

What kind of glue do you use? I've never heard of this method, but it makes sense

[QUOTE=D.J. Wolf;767080]What kind of glue do you use? I've never heard of this method, but it makes sense[/QUOTE]


I've tried many varieties over the years, but most are too toxic and burn the flowers. The one I found useful is this Elmers School Glue, a PVA Glue Made in China. It's available just about everywhere here in Australia. Ideally look for one that claims it to be Non Toxic.

Ok, that's easy lol. I used to eat that in grade school!

Mr. D J Wolf
That is funny, Amen!!!

We've now moved on from our Candy Cane Capsicums and have been busy with other garden plantings. We had the two Candy Cane plants in a dedicated Saffron Crocus bed, so they got pulled so we can spread our Saffron to spread out what we're hoping is a lot of corms.


Here's the last of the Candy Cane fruit when pulled recently, most found their way into the Worm Farm, as a favorite of theirs too.

Pretty bunch of striped peppers! I hope you chopped some to freeze for soups and stews before you shared with the Worm Farm!

Yes, we have lots of frozen 'tubes' after taking the stem end out and seed membranes, then freezing so they don't touch, then vacuum seal the bags. Fingers crossed.

The next generation is up and ready to go through our Winter, with these growing for a special project.

Just reporting back that the seeds you sent me for the Candy Cane F3's were a success! I kept two plants, one from each of the batches. They were almost identical with lots of colorful leaf variegation, and striped fruit ripening to solid red. The only difference was that one plant was quite a bit taller, in fact one of the tallest in my short season garden, and was also slower to set and ripen fruit by 2-3 weeks. These were infinitely nicer than what I received in my disappointing purchase of F1 seeds. Thank you again! :yes:


[URL="https://postimages.org/"][IMG]https://i.postimg.cc/cChN61FN/candycane-Pep-Bag.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

D - Nice to see your fruits and hear they performed well for you. Well done.

I've played with the F2 and beyond from this for a few years. Eventually I ended up with variegated plants of two different colors - scarlet red, and orange - when fully ripe - and variable levels of variegation. The plants are pretty - fruit smallish and OK. It would be fun to cross with a bell type to get variegated, striped (when unripe) bells...doing that not in my immediate plans, though.