Re: [CH] rocoto
Brent Thompson (brent@hplbct.hpl.hp.com)
Fri, 09 Jul 2004 12:33:50 -0700
> What's the length of the growing season like for them?
As I recall, C. pubescens takes a bit longer to begin flowering than most
other species of chiles (though not nearly as bad as the "king", C.
baccatum var baccatum "Aji Amarillo", thank goodness). I don't really
remember at this point how long they take, since nowadays my rocoto plants
are all volunteers (and completely unnoticed until they have fruit to
harvest) and most of them are at least 3-4 years old.
Even in a short-growing-season climate, starting the plants early and
growing in pots indoors, especially under good grow-light conditions,
should allow you to get at least some fruits from your C. pubescens plants.
Anyway, once they start flowering, they keep on producing nearly all year.
For me, mostly only the coolest months have no flowers (like probably
December through February), meaning I get ripe fruits probably most of
May-December, I suppose (except years when I whack them back excessively,
since they climb over everything if you don't).
I think the fruits take approximately the same time to mature after
flowering as other, common types of chiles, so I haven't noticed anything
special in this department.
Potted plants that could be moved to winter locations with temperatures
never below 40 degrees F. would allow fruit production to continue all year
'round, depending on situational specifics, of course.
--- Brent