Re: [CH] Pubescent in the Andes [v8 #738]
Love2Troll (Love2Troll@kc.rr.com)
Thu, 15 Jan 2004 12:09:27 -0600
Cameron writes:
> So we know that rocotos:
> 1 Like plenty of light.
> 2 Do not like to be too hot (say above 80F/25C).
> 3 Can tolerate very mild frost.
> 4 Come from an area with abundant rain.
> 5 And, following on from 4 implies that they must like a well drained soil.
> 6 Need help (insect or paintbrush) with pollination.
> 7 Will drop blossom (or not set fruit) at higher temps.
> 8 Can be cloned by rooting cuttings fairly easily.
> 9 Soil type and chemical needs? See below -
Only want to add a few comments and observations. First off, I think they like a lot more fertilizer than I had previously thought. Secondly, there are a couple varieties that I know will set pods well with daytime temps in the low 90s. The light requirement issue is a little confusing. My C. pubs for the most part get from 6-8 hours of direct sun per day. Would they do better with more light? I don't know. Truth is, I'm thinking about very lightly shading mine with tulle next summer & adding misters to keep the temps down. Some of my plants were in a heavily shaded area of my woods and did quite well. So far I haven't had pod set with indoor plants under fluorescent or in a south window in the wintertime. Am thinking about hanging some HPS & MH fixtures in the next few days and see what happens.
I made quite a few rocoto clones in late winter 2002 and although they rooted easily, the resulting plants were very disappointing. They lacked the vigor of the parent plants and didn't come close to ones started from seed collected from the same parents.
Part of my pepper patch in the woods (July 2003) http://www.fototime.com/8B40E3A20C148D8/standard.jpg
JohnT