Re: [CH] wierd chiles
Celeste or Dave Anderson (chilehed1@powernet.net)
Sun, 30 Aug 1998 08:45:54 +0000
> Something strange is happening among growers of chile in and around Las
> Cruces. I've been hearing lots of grumbling in supermarkets and at the
> Farmer's Market as we compare notes. People are discovering lots of new
> crosses--jalapeņos mixing with habaneros, jalapeņos mixing with Big
> Jim's, yellow mirasoles with Naki's, and a variety of other strange
> mixtures.
>
> My giant "habanero" turned brilliantly red. I rushed to pick and taste
> it. It doesn't have any fruity flavor except that of lemon. It's hot and
> sour, the flesh is thick and the skin low in cellulose but it looks
> more like a grossly overgrown jalapeņo than an habanero or any other
> chile that I know of.
Let me venture a guess. Farming is a tough business and saving seeds
from last year's crop is less expensive than purchasing new seeds
each year.. This works fine with open pollinated varieties of Chiles
as long as different varieties are separated because most Chiles are
self-pollinating and there would be very little cross-pollination
by bees and other critters. The few fruits from seeds that were the
result of cross-pollination would look different and probably be
discarded by the farmer.
Hybrid seeds are a completely different proposition. If a farmer
purchases hybrid Jalapeno seeds because they produce bigger
fruits or more fruits per plant and then plants seeds from those
fruits he can end up with what you described. While hybrids produce
bigger and better crops, the seeds are up to 100 times more expensive
than open pollinated varieties so the temptation to save seeds is
understandable.
Hybrid seeds are the result of planned cross-pollenation and their
fruits will yield seeds which produce fruits entirely different from
the parents. That may be what you are seeing in New Mexico.
Dave Anderson
Tough Love Chile Co.
http://www.powernet.net/~chilehed1