Re: [CH] Chile Birds (help)
Steve (snearman@erols.com)
Wed, 2 Dec 1998 13:30:46 -0500
We have been growing Mexican Piquins for several years now. Beautiful
plants about 4 ft. tall with hundreds of bright orange/red fruit (1/8" X
1/4"). This year we had a big problem with one type of bird. We call them
"cat birds" don't know what they really are we just call them that because
they make sounds like a cat and have long tail feathers. Anyway, these
critters love the Piquins. the fruit is erect and falls off just with the
slightest touch so it make them easy pray for the birds. The robbery
started late summer and continued into the fall. There were only 2-3 birds
at first but quickly increased to several dozen! We had 25 plants and could
pick about a quart a day before the birds hit, then, down to less than a
quart a week. The only thing that worked to keep them away was good
marksmanship. Sorry animal lovers, but nobody picks my Chiles but me. As a
point of interest, I gave a hand full to our chickens who eagerly went
after the bite sized treats as they do with anything we toss oven the
fence. I think they can feel the heat (unlike some birds), because in just
a few seconds they stopped eating the Chiles and started rubbing and
dragging their beaks on the ground as if to rug off the offensive taste.
They also will not eat habs.
Question for Piquin growers. Do any of you have an easy way to harvest the
fruit? I have tried to wrap a sheet around the bottom of the plants to
catch them as I rub the top of the plants to make the Chiles fall. This
work well if the plants are spread 3-4 foot apart, but with row planting
spaced 18-20 inches between plants it takes a lot of time to place the
sheet and move down the row. I have heard that experienced pickers can pick
as much as 6 quarts a day in the wild. Maybe a 10-12 hour day. Our best is
about a quart in an hour with 3 people picking. Any suggestions or helpful
comments?
Steve
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