[CH] Info needed

MidNite RamBler (nkal@hol.gr)
Sun, 6 Dec 1998 13:42:20 +0200 

Hello chile addicts,
it's been quiet a while since my last posting to the list.(since May)
As you might remember I serve my military duties now and I have been
away from home (and my chiles) for the past 7 months. Thank God, my brother
takes care of watering and _harvesting_ (yeaahh). 

As usual I have a few questions and I would appreciate any answers by the
end of the weekend. (only a 2-day leave :(

INFO:
     I had planted four Early Scotch Bonnets and two Red Habs
     (seed from Tough Love)

     Two ESBs per 16" plastic pot and the two RHs are in a cement 
     jardiniere (sorry  about spelling , I mean the elongated pots)
     14"x14"x28"

     Plants are now 4 ft tall . I harvested around 50 pods/plant.
     There are quiet a few ripening as we speak.

     ESB is a whole different plant and pod than RH.
     ESB is single stemed that goes to 2 the recursively sort of. You get
     the idea. It quiet a tall-slim-looking plant with middle sized leaves
     and the pods are thin-walled tomatillo sized.
     RH is multi stemed with branches that spread all over the place and they
     are much thicker also. Leaves are big and bumpy like the tales I used to
     hear in the past before I became a succesful grower. :))

     Tasted ESB for the first time and it was AWSOME and the hottest chile 
     I had ever tasted. Two months later I tasted my first RH and I felt sorry
     I had doubts that there could not be a hotter chile than the ESB.
     I can't describe the _pain_. ESB was very HOT but the RH was PAINFUL.
     And while the aroma and taste of ESB was GREAT the one of RH was maybe
     greater in an entirely different way.


And now my questions.



-- ESBs and RHs are made into seperate ristras and hang to dry inside the
   house. ESBs dry like a peach ;) but RHs are taking forever. In fact 
   there;s not a single RH dry yet. They are now starting to wrinkle a bit,
   but they are still soft and one has rotten or something, two weeks ago.
   Like I said they're more meaty than the ESBs.
   Is there some trick that'll do the trick for the RHs? Nope , no dehydrator
   here.(room temp is aprx. 70 F)

-- Pruning. To prune or not to prune? When should I prune? How much?
   Should I wait until leaves are dropped? Should I do it before leaves
   are dropped?  Does it matter ?  
   The pots will overwinter outside in the veranta. Current temps are 
   45-65 F. The ESBs still have almost all of their leaves while the RH
   has dropped half of them, mostly the lower ones. They are bald.(I keep 
   hearing that Habs drop their leaves, true?) 

-- The ESB seeds from Tough Love were a bit pinkish colored but it seemed 
   like they were painted with a sprayer (the color is not uniform, there
   are areas that are the usual yellowish color). The seeds from my ESBs
   are yellowish (dry seeds I mean - fresh seeds from red pod are whiteish)
   What gives? I know my seeds are true cause they were taken from the first
   ESB pods that were harvested long before RHs even flowered.
   Were the Tough Love seeds treated or something (David?)

-- Where does one find silica gel? What sort of stores sell it I mean?

-- ESB pod shape is like a small UFO :) only not that flat, while RH look
   like a usual Hab (as seen in pics)only they're a bit pointed at the end.
   The strange thing is that a month ago I had to move the RH closer to the 
   ESBs like this ->  ESBESB_ESBESB_RHRH
                       pot1   pot2   pot3 
   to a point where pot2 right ESB touches pot3 left RH. The pods that came 
   from this particular RH (and are still coming) look like a mutant between
   the two species. Top half pretty wideish like the ESB only bigger and 
   bottom half comes out of "inside" the top half and is elongated pointed 
   and narrow like the RH. Also the pod has many deep and sharp bumps .
   The pod looks almost like the Jamaican Sc. Bon. pic that used to be on the
   Tough Love home page. (Maybe still is) 

                  ___|___
                 (       )               ___|___        __|__
         Mut     (__   __)        ESB   /       \  RH  /     \
                   (   )                 \______/      (_   _)
                    \./                                  (.)
                                                     
I know crossing only happens to seed so that plant from that seed grows
a F1 hybrid next year, but this seems too much a coincidense. Any ideas?

 Now guys that was pretty much all I had to ask though I'm sure I forgot 
 something :)  

Thanks for any info.



Best wishes to all, "talk" to you around 29. Dec (will be home for NYE)

Nikos Kalofolias
   nkal@hol.gr