[CH] My last big pod picture
Love2Troll (Love2Troll@kc.rr.com)
Thu, 11 Mar 2004 18:58:44 -0600
Yes, I know my rocotos aren't the world's largest C. pub pods. Some of you have grown them twice as large. Nevertheless, they give me some joy and I can't wait to grow even larger & hotter ones.
This is from a now 3rd year orange rocoto that I almost killed last spring with severe pruning. Never again will I prune back more than maybe 30% of the branches. http://www.fototime.com/4C9903B18F26ADB/standard.jpg This plant is now a 3 footer both height & width and was a 5-6 footer at this time last year. My red rocoto that was also severely pruned did recover and now is an 8 footer in my living room window and is setting pods. Awesome plant and I hope I can get it moved to my deck trellis in May.
What else has significantly changed for the better this last season is the heat & flavor of my C. pubescens. As I am forced to container garden in a wooded area with a max of 6-8 hours sun my options are limited as to sun. And I am not convinced yet that many of the C. pubs are shade lovers. Cooler temps perhaps, but I think they like intense light. I lowered the pH of my soil mix to 6.4 from a previous 6.9 or so & also inoculated with a mycorrhizal fungus. Since there were no controls I can't say whether either contributed to the better heat & flavor. And I have yet to get the fertilizing down to something I know is just right. My plants will get more early nitrogen this year.
Hot regards to you all,
JohnT