Sweet Pepper Research and Development

**nctomatoman** · January 8, 2009

Folks, over the last few years I've played around with dehybridizing/selecting some good hybrids to see what I can find, also to aim to stabilize some unusual OPs. At this point I have seeds from the following:

Chocolate Bell (a nice big blocky hybrid - green to brown - from Stokes- very sweet) - both F2 (seed from the hybrid) and F3 (seed from one plant from that F2 seed, which came out as a green to chocolate brown fruit).

Tawny Port (a very productive elongated bell that goes green to a reddish brown) - both F2 (seed from the hybrid) and F3 (seed from one plant from the F2 seed, which produced very large, elongated green to brown fruit)

Early Sunsation (a nice blocky green to yellow tasty bell) - F2 seed (seed saved from the hybrid)

Various generations and selections from Islander hybrid - including bells that go from pale yellow to red, pale yellow to golden yellow, pale yellow to lavendar purple to red, pale yellow to lavendar purple to golden yellow, and pale green to purple to red. I have seed saved from the hybrid (F2 seed), seed from 8 different growouts of the F2 seed (so 8 F3 selections), and seed from growout of two plants of each of the F3 seed (so, 15 different F4 seeds - one of the plants died before fruiting). These are very nice peppers - productive, colorful, and would represent the first OP lavendar, as well as the first lavendar to gold ripening pepper.

Yellow Belle II hybrid (large blocky green to yellow bell) - seed saved from the hybrid (F2 seed)

There is no way I can fully work through all (any?) of these...so if anyone would like a sample or two of the above to grow out this coming season, please send me a PM with your mailing address, what you would like to try, and when you would like the seeds.

All I ask is that you report on it in this thread, and send me a few seeds from your growout efforts.

__________________________________________________ _________

I am growing some of these out myself - will use this area to update my germination. This way if you got some of these we can compare. Germination percent below is at the 9 day mark

Islander 1.1 F4 vial 08-14 germinated in 8 days 10% germ
Islander 2.1 F4 vial 08-17 germinated in 5 days 90% germ
Islander 2.2 F4 vial 08-18 germinated in 6 days 70% germ
Islander 3.1 F4 vial 08-19 germinated in 9 days 10% germ
Islander 4.1 F4 vial 08-20 germinated in 5 days 70% germ
Islander 4.2 F4 vial 08-22 germinated in 6 days 100% germ
Islander 8.1 F4 vial 08-30 germinated in 6 days 80% germ
Islander plant 5 F3 vial 07-22 germinated in 6 days 40% germ
Chocolate Bell F3 vial 08-7 germinated in 5 days 70% germ
Tawny Port F3 vial 08-11 germinated in 6 days 90% germ
Yellow Bell F2 vial 07-10 germinated in 6 days 60% germ
Early Sunsation F2 vial 08-12 germinated in 5 days 70% germ

For those who got pepper 1.1 and pepper 3.1, will be interesting to hear your germination results. I hope to see a few more from each, but at this point I am one out of ten on each.

**nctomatoman** · January 12, 2009

Here is where I am going to list what I am going to send whom, and when.

sfmathews: Tawny Port F3 seed, vial 08-11, Islander plant 7.2, F4 seed, pale yellow to lavendar to red, vial 08-29. Seeds sent on January 13.

hill 60: Tawny Port F2 seed, vial 06-13; Chocolate Bell F3 seed, vial 08-7; Islander plant 8.2, F4 seed, cream to lavendar to yellow, vial 08-31. Seeds sent on January 13.

Dukerdawg: Islander plant 3.2, F4 seed, cream to golden yellow, vial 08-21; Islander plant 5.2, F4 seed, pale yellow to lavendar to red, vial 08-24, seed sent January 13.

Fusion: Islander plant 1.1, F4 seed, ivory to lavendar to red, vial 08-14; Islander plant 6.1, F4 seed, ivory to lavendar to golden yellow, vial 08-26, seed sent January 13.

Suze: Islander plant 8.2 F4 vial 08-31, seed sent last week.

Rutabaga: Islander plant 2.2, F4 seed, ivory to lavendar to red, vial 08-18; Islander plant 3.1, F4 seed, ivory to lavendar to golden yellow, vial 08-19.

hill60 · January 19, 2009

The seeds arrived today.

I'm looking forward to getting started some time this week.

Thanks Hill60

hill60 · February 12, 2009

Jan 25 I started 9 Tawny Port F2, 9 chocolate Bell F3 and 9 Islander F4 seeds. Islander and Chocolate Bell germinated within 7 days. Tawny Port took 12 days to germinate.

Islander and Chocolate Bell 7 seedlings so far. Two of the Islander don't look very healthy. The Tawny Port that took longer to sprout all 9 seeds have started and looking healthy.

I will be growing the peppers in pots. I will be making use my heated grow room for the first while until they can go into my unheated greenhouse after that I plan on putting them out around the garden.

Being new to seed saving and participation in this project I'd like to know about isolation to prevent cross pollination of the peppers. Do I keep each individual plant separate or can I group them Tawny Port together Chocolate Bell together and Islander together.

Hill60

Raymondo · February 12, 2009

This is the way I do it. Others will have their own methods.

Those I want seed of, I grow in pots or in a garden spot with space around each plant. As soon as buds develop I cover the entire plant in a spun polyetser sheet which is very light and allows light and moisture through. I secure the sheet around the base. This excludes pretty much all insects. Once a few fruit are evident, I take away the cover and mark each of those fruit with a bright ribbon. That's it. These fruit will have pure seed and can be further processed when ripe.

**nctomatoman** · February 12, 2009

The way that I do it is to watch for insect population - when the plants are small and the flowers are not that prominent, I find that bees are not visiting the flowers very often, so if I save seed from either first set, or very late set, fruit, I've had good luck with maintaining purity.

Bagging plants as well described by Ray is another way. Then there is just growing them in pots that are separated by large distances.

Suze · February 18, 2009

Quote:

Originally Posted by nctomatoman

Suze: Islander plant 8.2 F4 vial 08-31, seed sent last week.

Good germination %, and within 7-10 days or so on a heat mat. Did not see any discernible differences in the appearance of the seedlings, green, with some vague traces of purple/lavender at the tips.

Also need to know about what size I can expect from these plants, four seedlings have been recently potted up to either eventually plant in 3-4 gal pots or can just plant out in the garden if too large for smaller containers...

**nctomatoman** · February 18, 2009

Thanks for the info, Suze. No variation is good news....truly purple cot leaves would be a sign of sure crossing with some of my purple leaf hots! They should be typical bells - for me, I put them in a 5 gallon pot, plants get up to 2 feet tall and wide. They all yielded very well for me! Watch the color changes carefully as they ripen!

**nctomatoman** · February 24, 2009

In the original post for this sticky thread, at the end, I am tracking my germination results - so we can compare progress. I edited the first post in this thread.

sfmathews · February 26, 2009

I didn't have good germ on Islander, but am giving them another try. I do have one up with purple cots.
The Tawny's had great germ and they have been transferred to 20 oz cups. They are loving our very warm weather this week

but will be in for a shock tomorrow afternoon, when temps drop back below the norm

Susan

**nctomatoman** · February 27, 2009

If you look at the end of the first post in this thread, with the descriptions, I just updated my germination percentage at day 9.

hill60 · March 3, 2009

In a project like this do you cull seedlings.

One of the Islander seedlings germinated, shed its seed coat but did not have any cotyledon leaves. I left it alone assuming it would die before potting up time. It now has four small leaves, the seedling is also much smaller than the rest of the peppers. I'm going to continue to let it grow out curiosity on my part. I would think that if it does survive and produce it would not be one to keep seed from.

When I started the seeds I only planted half the number of seed sent for each plant. I wanted to leave myself room for mistakes so I could restart if I have to. What I've potted up at this point, 8 Tawny Port, 6 Chocolate Bell and 7 Islander one of them the odd one. I'm pleased with the way they are looking so far.

Thanks Hill60

Penny · March 3, 2009

I started my peppers yesturday, #'s 9,10 and 14, so i will keep you posted as to how they do.

rutabagaboy · March 17, 2009

I planted 12 seeds each of Islander plant 2.2, F4 seed, vial 08-18 and Islander plant 3.1, F4 seed, vial 08-19 in Jiffy peat pellets on 2/21/09. The seeds had no bottom heat, no lights and remained outdoors as much as possible. Although I've had 80% germination of seeds in the dwarf tomato project and 70% germination in the hot pepper project, as of 3/16 I've had only one seed (vial 08-19) come up and it hasn't been able to shed the seed coat. Other sweet peppers sown at the same time and suffering the same conditions are doing much better. I'll continue to watch them.

hill60 · March 29, 2009

Thought I would update pictures of the Tawny Port, Chocolate Bell, and Islander.

At this point they are all healthy and growing well.

Hill60

January 8, 2009	#1
nctomatoman Tomatoville® Moderator Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Hendersonville, NC zone 7 Posts: 10,385	Sweet Pepper Research and Development Folks, over the last few years I've played around with dehybridizing/selecting some good hybrids to see what I can find, also to aim to stabilize some unusual OPs. At this point I have seeds from the following: Chocolate Bell (a nice big blocky hybrid - green to brown - from Stokes- very sweet) - both F2 (seed from the hybrid) and F3 (seed from one plant from that F2 seed, which came out as a green to chocolate brown fruit). Tawny Port (a very productive elongated bell that goes green to a reddish brown) - both F2 (seed from the hybrid) and F3 (seed from one plant from the F2 seed, which produced very large, elongated green to brown fruit) Early Sunsation (a nice blocky green to yellow tasty bell) - F2 seed (seed saved from the hybrid) Various generations and selections from Islander hybrid - including bells that go from pale yellow to red, pale yellow to golden yellow, pale yellow to lavendar purple to red, pale yellow to lavendar purple to golden yellow, and pale green to purple to red. I have seed saved from the hybrid (F2 seed), seed from 8 different growouts of the F2 seed (so 8 F3 selections), and seed from growout of two plants of each of the F3 seed (so, 15 different F4 seeds - one of the plants died before fruiting). These are very nice peppers - productive, colorful, and would represent the first OP lavendar, as well as the first lavendar to gold ripening pepper. Yellow Belle II hybrid (large blocky green to yellow bell) - seed saved from the hybrid (F2 seed) There is no way I can fully work through all (any?) of these...so if anyone would like a sample or two of the above to grow out this coming season, please send me a PM with your mailing address, what you would like to try, and when you would like the seeds. All I ask is that you report on it in this thread, and send me a few seeds from your growout efforts. __________________________________________________ _________ I am growing some of these out myself - will use this area to update my germination. This way if you got some of these we can compare. Germination percent below is at the 9 day mark Islander 1.1 F4 vial 08-14 germinated in 8 days 10% germ Islander 2.1 F4 vial 08-17 germinated in 5 days 90% germ Islander 2.2 F4 vial 08-18 germinated in 6 days 70% germ Islander 3.1 F4 vial 08-19 germinated in 9 days 10% germ Islander 4.1 F4 vial 08-20 germinated in 5 days 70% germ Islander 4.2 F4 vial 08-22 germinated in 6 days 100% germ Islander 8.1 F4 vial 08-30 germinated in 6 days 80% germ Islander plant 5 F3 vial 07-22 germinated in 6 days 40% germ Chocolate Bell F3 vial 08-7 germinated in 5 days 70% germ Tawny Port F3 vial 08-11 germinated in 6 days 90% germ Yellow Bell F2 vial 07-10 germinated in 6 days 60% germ Early Sunsation F2 vial 08-12 germinated in 5 days 70% germ For those who got pepper 1.1 and pepper 3.1, will be interesting to hear your germination results. I hope to see a few more from each, but at this point I am one out of ten on each. __________________ Craig

January 12, 2009	#2
nctomatoman Tomatoville® Moderator Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Hendersonville, NC zone 7 Posts: 10,385	Here is where I am going to list what I am going to send whom, and when. sfmathews: Tawny Port F3 seed, vial 08-11, Islander plant 7.2, F4 seed, pale yellow to lavendar to red, vial 08-29. Seeds sent on January 13. hill 60: Tawny Port F2 seed, vial 06-13; Chocolate Bell F3 seed, vial 08-7; Islander plant 8.2, F4 seed, cream to lavendar to yellow, vial 08-31. Seeds sent on January 13. Dukerdawg: Islander plant 3.2, F4 seed, cream to golden yellow, vial 08-21; Islander plant 5.2, F4 seed, pale yellow to lavendar to red, vial 08-24, seed sent January 13. Fusion: Islander plant 1.1, F4 seed, ivory to lavendar to red, vial 08-14; Islander plant 6.1, F4 seed, ivory to lavendar to golden yellow, vial 08-26, seed sent January 13. Suze: Islander plant 8.2 F4 vial 08-31, seed sent last week. Rutabaga: Islander plant 2.2, F4 seed, ivory to lavendar to red, vial 08-18; Islander plant 3.1, F4 seed, ivory to lavendar to golden yellow, vial 08-19. __________________ Craig

February 12, 2009	#5
Raymondo Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Saumarez Ponds, NSW, Australia Posts: 946	This is the way I do it. Others will have their own methods. Those I want seed of, I grow in pots or in a garden spot with space around each plant. As soon as buds develop I cover the entire plant in a spun polyetser sheet which is very light and allows light and moisture through. I secure the sheet around the base. This excludes pretty much all insects. Once a few fruit are evident, I take away the cover and mark each of those fruit with a bright ribbon. That's it. These fruit will have pure seed and can be further processed when ripe. __________________ Ray

February 12, 2009	#6
nctomatoman Tomatoville® Moderator Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Hendersonville, NC zone 7 Posts: 10,385	The way that I do it is to watch for insect population - when the plants are small and the flowers are not that prominent, I find that bees are not visiting the flowers very often, so if I save seed from either first set, or very late set, fruit, I've had good luck with maintaining purity. Bagging plants as well described by Ray is another way. Then there is just growing them in pots that are separated by large distances. __________________ Craig

February 18, 2009	#8
nctomatoman Tomatoville® Moderator Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Hendersonville, NC zone 7 Posts: 10,385	Thanks for the info, Suze. No variation is good news....truly purple cot leaves would be a sign of sure crossing with some of my purple leaf hots! They should be typical bells - for me, I put them in a 5 gallon pot, plants get up to 2 feet tall and wide. They all yielded very well for me! Watch the color changes carefully as they ripen! __________________ Craig

January 19, 2009	#3
hill60 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Vancouver Island BC Posts: 122	The seeds arrived today. I'm looking forward to getting started some time this week. Thanks Hill60

February 24, 2009	#9
nctomatoman Tomatoville® Moderator Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Hendersonville, NC zone 7 Posts: 10,385	In the original post for this sticky thread, at the end, I am tracking my germination results - so we can compare progress. I edited the first post in this thread. __________________ Craig

February 26, 2009	#10
sfmathews Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Allen, TX Posts: 398	I didn't have good germ on Islander, but am giving them another try. I do have one up with purple cots. The Tawny's had great germ and they have been transferred to 20 oz cups. They are loving our very warm weather this week but will be in for a shock tomorrow afternoon, when temps drop back below the norm Susan

February 27, 2009	#11
nctomatoman Tomatoville® Moderator Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Hendersonville, NC zone 7 Posts: 10,385	If you look at the end of the first post in this thread, with the descriptions, I just updated my germination percentage at day 9. __________________ Craig

March 3, 2009	#12
hill60 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Vancouver Island BC Posts: 122	In a project like this do you cull seedlings. One of the Islander seedlings germinated, shed its seed coat but did not have any cotyledon leaves. I left it alone assuming it would die before potting up time. It now has four small leaves, the seedling is also much smaller than the rest of the peppers. I'm going to continue to let it grow out curiosity on my part. I would think that if it does survive and produce it would not be one to keep seed from. When I started the seeds I only planted half the number of seed sent for each plant. I wanted to leave myself room for mistakes so I could restart if I have to. What I've potted up at this point, 8 Tawny Port, 6 Chocolate Bell and 7 Islander one of them the odd one. I'm pleased with the way they are looking so far. Thanks Hill60

March 3, 2009	#13
Penny Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Ontario, Canada Posts: 948	I started my peppers yesturday, #'s 9,10 and 14, so i will keep you posted as to how they do.

March 17, 2009	#14
rutabagaboy Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Near Sacramento, California Posts: 322	I planted 12 seeds each of Islander plant 2.2, F4 seed, vial 08-18 and Islander plant 3.1, F4 seed, vial 08-19 in Jiffy peat pellets on 2/21/09. The seeds had no bottom heat, no lights and remained outdoors as much as possible. Although I've had 80% germination of seeds in the dwarf tomato project and 70% germination in the hot pepper project, as of 3/16 I've had only one seed (vial 08-19) come up and it hasn't been able to shed the seed coat. Other sweet peppers sown at the same time and suffering the same conditions are doing much better. I'll continue to watch them.