crossing

CHILLI OF SOME SORT

I bought some chilli seeds last winter. Caribbean Blend the packet said, sounds nice and tropical I thought. Most things we grow are from our own saved seeds if it allows.  Although some things we do grow are Hybrids or certain types of beans won't grow true or as well after some years.

I like my chilli sweet and not to hot. For many years I have been growing Purple Jalapeño, and saving seed. In the past years I grew them next to other pepper plants. The chilli I used to grow turned into something completely different.

Unlike pumpkins which produce female and male flowers which need pollen form each to make a Pumpkin. The peeper family has two sets of chromosomes containing both female and male parts.
You can imagine for a seed company that it would be important that what they advertise on the packet and the seeds inside would match up.
Chilli are self fertile a chilli that self pollinates itself will produce seeds that will grow a cilli the same or very similar form the original plant. So eventually if your growing peepers close together you may get some new mix.


This was my fist planting of this seed and after carefully growing them all summer my nice orange red yellow mix of Caribbean grew they where nice and tasty sweet just how I like them, but hiding amongst them, some of the plants seemed to be a completely different variety? These were grown from the same packet? They are a small chilli growing upright and pointy shape of all colours from purple to pale yellow. Not sure how these came about but most likely something slipped into that seed packet accidentally.  From my re search I believe these could be a Chinese 5 colour chilli? but then again there seems to just as many names for the same chilli as there are new crossed varieties.    Anyway these where really great looking, creating the chilli rainbow, however not so good if I was trying to sell the seedlings.

wonder what will grow from this years seeds?

To grow chilli I take the seed from fresh chilly and propagate in May June to get a good early summer crop sometimes lasting through winter.