Re: [CH] rocoto

Love2Troll (Love2Troll@kc.rr.com)
Mon, 12 Jul 2004 15:33:44 -0500 

Brent Thompson writes:  > Chiles don't like acidic soil, they like soil that is pretty close to neutral (or maybe even pH 8?, all I remember is the part about wantingsoil pretty close to neutral).


I can site sources that agree with this & others that don't.  One of the many puzzles in growing rocotos.  Another puzzle is how much humidity they prefer.  And another is how much nitrogen & when to apply.  Another is how much direct sun they prefer (if any).  

I've not yet tried a pH of higher than 7, but for my local conditions 6.4 seems better than 6.9.  In one of Bosland's books he states that most capsicums are grown in soil with a pH of 7.0 - 8.5 and to me that seems not an endorsement, but a statement.  In the same book he states that greenhouse plants are kept at a pH of 5 to 6 and a humidity level of 60-80%.  Temps are kept at 24°C night & day.  Jean Andrews states that 5.5 to 6.8 pH is ideal.  Next year I'll try some plants at 7.5 or 8.   Please keep in mind that I am not disagreeing with Brent, as I really don't know.

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Vito writes:  > some leaves are curling up, and some plants withered.


 I have this problem early in the year when the winds are strong & the temperature is cool.  They grow out of it as the weather gets warmer.


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Matt writes:  > Do others do the same as Rob when overwintering rocotos?  I put one in my basement last year at the end of the season.  I didn't trim it back and it's doing great this year....well, sort of.


That's the $64 question for me.  I overwintered many C. pubescens last winter and did no pruning at all.  The previous year I overwintered and pruned back in the spring.  (big mistake!)  This year I will have to prune before I bring them in because most are way too large to do otherwise.  Anyways, some of the overwintered plants have set early pods like crazy & others have not.  This year has been the coolest & wettest since I first started growing C. pubs.

To me, temperature seems to be the most important single thing in growing rocotos.  Just a guess.

JohnT