Re: [CH] Seattle WA Area Chile Heads -- Rocoto Starts
L Anderson (lowella@serv.net)
Thu, 05 Apr 2001 23:26:51 -0700
niall shackleford wrote:
>
> Lowell, (and others)
>
> > I have three or four hundred rocoto (Capsicum Pubescens cv. Canario)
> > seeds that are beginning to sprout. ...kept in the refrigerator since
> 1997...
>
> Any pointers on getting Rocotos to spout (perhaps a cold spell to break
> dormancy?)? I have had no problems with any other type of chile that I have
> tried to grow from seed but out of the few dozen Rocoto seeds I tried this
> year (two varieties from Firework Seeds, Australia) only one has sprouted
> (40 days) and now, after briefly extending its cotyledons, it seems to have
> stopped growing.
>
> Any help would be appreciated
>
> Niall in the UK chasing the dream of eating Rocotos
I've had no problem sprouting my rocotos--starting from seeds sent to me
by an acquaintance in Mexico from his own garden. He removed the seeds
from some of his peppers and sent them to me with membranes still
attached. I separated the seeds, soaked them for several days, and
potted them. I kept them in my water heater closet (which stays about
75 deg F and has no light) until they poked through. Then I moved them
to my kitchen where I kept them at 55 to 70 deg F until the weather
allowed me to put them outside. After hardening off, I planted them in
the ground. Aside from being a bit leggy, I don't recall any specific
problem with their germinating except they seemed to take two or three
weeks to do so.
For several years I've over wintered some of my plants inside and
propagated some from cuttings. In 1997 I put a hundred or so seeds in
an envelope and put them in my refrigerator. About two weeks ago I took
them out to see if they were still viable. So far, I have had three
seeds germinate!
Last fall I removed the seeds from about six peppers and kept them in a
dish on my kitchen counter (hiding in a corner) until about two weeks
ago when I applied my soaking and germinating regimen on them. Today I
planted 33 of them that had sprouted. I expect more in the next day or
so.
My sprouting regimen is very similar to what one does for sprouting mung
beans for stir fry or alfalfa for sprout sandwiches. In a small plastic
cup, I soak the seeds for a day or so. Then each day thereafter, I
rinse them, drain off all the water, and place them in an enclosed
plastic container (or bag) along with a wet paper towel. I keep them in
my hot water closet (see above) until the seeds start to sprout. Then I
pot them. It's a bit labor intensive but I find it cuts the flow time
from dry seed to growing plants.
My experience with rocotos are not much different form other peppers.
Of the dozen or so pepper varieties I try to grow, rocoto germination
falls toward the longer end of the germination time scale. If a regime
to break dormancy is required, I obviously don't know what it is unless
it is to leave the seeds in a dish on your kitchen counter from fall to
the next spring. :-)
Perhaps you just got some bad seed.
Regards,
Lowell Anderson