Chilli pepper update - Potting on seedlings and more seeds!

This week I have some time off so I have started to re-pot some of the seedlings I have growing in peat disks. I don't know how big plants can get in these without getting stunted, so will err on the side of caution.

I have picked the largest five to pot on (well the largest 4 plus "Pimenta de neyde" because it was getting leggy).

The plants I potted were: Pimenta de Neyde, Aji jobito, Habanero Hawaii beach, 7pot Bubblegum and not pictured here My own F2. All had roots coming through the sides and base, so I guess were ready to be potted. They went into my standard self watering pots so will not need to be re-potted again until spring. I top all pots off with a light volcanic substrate made for aquariums to seal in moisture and help provide a barrier to fungus gnats.

The first plant needing to be potted was an annuum. I have not planted many annuum seeds yet because they grow fast and can quickly outgrow my space. However I could not resist planting at least one of my F2 own creation. the F1 was a cross between a Hungarian black with something larger and look forward to seeing the variation in the F2 plants. I planted a seed just too see what the seed viability would be like. Things look good as the seed germinated quickly and has grown quickly. Another good sign is the purple colouring in the plants cotyledons, this usually shows the plant will have purple colouring in its flowers and peppers.

F2 My own chill

The next plant I decided to pot was my Pimenta de Neyde. This was one of the smaller seedlings but had grown overly tall so would benefit going into a pot so it could be earthed up (although looking at it now I should have planted it deeper). I love the colour already showing on the leaves of this plant, it should be a great plant for crossing with in the future.

Pimenta de Neyde

The third plant I potted was one of the chinense I am most looking forward to growing Aji jobito. This is meant to be one of the best tasting low/no heat chinense varieties. Interestingly this plants seems to have split growing tip on its first set of leaves.

Aji jobito

The last two seedlings I potted just happened to be the next biggest seedlings. 7pot Bubblegum is probably the hottest variety I am growing this season but what i am really growing it for is its trait of having a coloured calyx on its fruit. the other seedling was Habanero Hawaii beach, a large red habanero I got free seeds for.

7pot Bubblegum

Habanero Hawaii beach

I also started off some more seeds. Mostly more wild peppers but also some first sowings of pepper relatives.

Capsicum rhomboideum x 1 - already got one growing well, started a second.
Capsicum galapagoense  x 2 first sowing not germinated yet so started two more.
Capsicum lanceolatum  x 2 first sowing not germinated yet so started two more.

Capsicum eximium x 1 - already got one growing well, started a second.

Capsicum cardenasii x 2 just recieved these seeds so started off two.

Capsicum chinense x annuum Pimenta de Neyde x 1 already have one but like the plant so much I started a second.

Solonum uporo x 2 first experimental sowing of these. The "Cannibals tomato" is plant I am looking foreward to studying. it is probably too early to start these off as these grow like an eggplant/aubergine so may get too large with my space restrictions, but we will see.

Solonum topiro/sessiliflorum x 2 first experimental sowing of these. The "Cocona" is tropical plant so will probably stay indoors as a houseplant.

Solanum quitoense x 2 first experimental sowing of these. The "Naranjilla" is tropical plant so will probably stay indoors as a houseplant.

Solonum albutiloides x 2  first experimental sowing of these. "Dwarf Tamarillo"

lycium chinense x 2 first experimental sowing of these. Either "goji" or "wolfberry" there are two species that seem to be interchangeable. I will try to find seeds for the other and check out both.

That is all for today, I will leave you with a photo of two of my wild seedlings.

Capsicum eximium and Capsicum rhomboideum

Current pepper list

For this update I thought make a list of my peppers to keep track of where I am with sowing and what varieties I have. I think I may have a few too many already and i have not sown the bulk of my annuum varieties. I will give away all the doubles and may lose a few annuum overwintered plants.

Propagator

Capsicum Chinense Manabi Sweet - Sowed November.

Capsicum Chinense CGN2150xxx - Sowed November.

Capsicum Chinense Cheiro Roxa - Sowed November.

Capsicum Chinense Habanero Manzano - Sowed November.

Capsicum Chinense Biquinho Amarelo - Sowed November.

Capsicum Chinense 7pot/pod Bubblegum - Sowed November.

Capsicum Chinense Habanero Hawaii Beach Pepper - Sowed November.

Capsicum Chinense Aji Dulce Amarillo - Sowed November.

Capsicum Chinense Aji Jobita x 2 - Sowed November.

Capsicum Chinense Habanero Big Sun - Sowed November.

Capsicum Chinense Habanero Red (Turkish shop fresh peppers) - Sowed November.

Capsicum Chinense x annuum Pimenta da Neyde - Sowed November.

Capsicum Rhomboideum - Sowed November.

Capsicum galapagoense - Sowed November - Not yet germinated.

Capsicum galapagoense Long - Sowed November.

Capsicum lanceolatum - Sowed November - Not yet germinated.

Capsicum chacoenese PI 260427 - Sowed November.

Capsicum chacoenese CAP 524 - Sowed November.

Not Capsicum parvifolium - Sowed November.

Grow area 1

Capsicum annuum Mirasol - Overwintered.

Capsicum annuum Superchilli F1 - Overwintered.

Capsicum annuum Cyklon - Overwintered.

Capsicum annuum Black Hungarian - Overwintered.

Capsicum annuum Serrano - Overwintered (may be on its way out).

Capsicum annuum Apache F1 - Overwintered.

Capsicum annuum Cayenne - Sowed October.

Capsicum annuum Sweet bonnet - Sowed September.

Capsicum baccatum Aji lemon x 2 - Overwintered.
Capsicum baccatum Mini bonnet (Brazilian starfish) - Sowed October.

Capsicum Chinense Paper lantern - Overwintered.
Capsicum Chinense Chocolate Habanero - Overwintered.
Capsicum Chinense Big Sun Habanero - Overwintered.
Capsicum Chinense Probably not Carolina reaper - Overwintered.
Capsicum Chinense Grafted Trinidad Mouraga Scorpion - Overwintered.
Capsicum Chinense Tobago seasoning x 2 - Sowed September.
Capsicum Chinense CGN21500 - Sowed September.
Capsicum Chinense Gambia red - Sowed September.
Capsicum Chinense Frontera sweet - Sowed September.
Capsicum Chinense Rocotillo - Sowed September.
Capsicum Chinense? (I think due to the growth habbit) PI260490 - Sowed September.
Capsicum Chinense Chupetinho x 2 - Sowed October.
Capsicum Chinense Itallian market Scotch bonnet yellow - Sowed October.
Capsicum Chinense Tesco Habanero yellow - Sowed October.
Capsicum Chinense Tesco Habanero red x 2 - Sowed October.
Capsicum Chinense Tesco Habanero red pointy - Sowed October.

Capsicum frutescens Gusto purple - Overwintered.

Capsicum praetermissum Cumari pollux  - Sowed September.

Grow area 2

Hard to get a photo and plants are recovering from aphid attack and subsequent spraying.

Capsicum annuum Tepin - Sowed November.

Capsicum baccatum Mini bonnet (Brazilian starfish)  - Sowed October.
Capsicum baccatum Aji crystal x 2 - Sowed October.
Capsicum baccatum Aji omnicolor - Sowed October.
Capsicum baccatum Aji Amarillo - Sowed October.
Capsicum baccatum Apple crisp - Sowed October.

Capsicum frutescens Tobasco - Sowed October.

Capsicum praetermissum Cumari pollux  - Sowed September.

Kitchen windowsill 

Capsicum Pubescens Rocoto Giant - Sowed September.

Capsicum Pubescens Rocoto Giant yellow - Sowed September.
Capsicum Pubescens Rocoto Large red - Sowed September.
Capsicum Pubescens Rocoto Mini - Sowed September.
Capsicum Pubescens Rocoto Montufar - Sowed September.
Capsicum Pubescens Turbo pube - Sowed September.

Dining room windowsill/door

Capsicum annuum Caldero - Overwintered.
Capsicum annuum Cheyenne - Overwintered.
Capsicum annuum Chenzo - Overwintered.
Capsicum annuum Thai dragon - Overwintered.
Capsicum annuum My F1 (Black hungarian x something bigger) - Overwintered.

Capsicum Pubescens Rocoto red -  Overwintered.

Solonum Nigrum Black nightshade - Collected from 2 locations.

Living room windowsill 

Capsicum baccatum Aji lemon - Overwintered.

Capsicum Pubescens Turbo pube - Sowed September.

Capsicum Pubescens Rocoto Large red - Sowed September.

Capsicum Pubescens ? - When I topped my rocotos I put all tops in a glass of water, this one rooted.

Bedroom windowsill

Capsicum annuum Tepin x 2 (One pot) - Sowed October.
Capsicum annuum Pequin - Sowed October.
Capsicum annuum Italian market big cherry - Sowed October.
Capsicum annuum Tesco yellow  - Sowed October.
Capsicum annuum ? x 2 (One pot) - Sowed October - Spares I should really ditch.
Capsicum annuum Two spares of different varieties twisted together from birth - Sowed October.

Capsicum Chinense Itallian market Scotch bonnet yellow - Sowed October.
Capsicum Chinense Tesco Habanero yellow - Sowed October.

Bathroom windowsill

Capsicum Chinense Chupetinho - Sowed October - My best plant of this variety seems to be liking the humidity.

Thats all at the moment, I will be starting off a few more wilds soon and then the bulk of my annuum varieties probably in February.

Chilli pepper update - Self-watering pot update and c.rhoboideum has germinated!

Firstly an update on the new reservoir I made for my self-watering pots.

The original post - Larger reservoir for self-watering pots

I made this in the hope that next spring when the weather warms up I can put lots of my peppers in these. This would mean I could keep them in small pots and save on soil. Also what limited me this year was keeping my very small reservoir pots topped up. This much larger reservoir should last them much longer and give them much more root space.

So as for the update. The kale I planted has grown a lot (I didn't realise just how much till I looked at these pictures).

Before                                                            After

The growth on top which I can start to harvest is very nice but what i was really testing was how well the plants roots grow in this reservoir. The roots have also grown a lot and are white and healthy.

Roots

So all in all. A success! looks like I will have to start saving up these poly-boxes as I think I will put many of my peppers in these next year.

The next piece of good news is many of the seeds I planted last week have germinated. Including  the Capsicum rhoboideum, which is meant to be difficult to germinate. One of the reasons for such successful germination rates is good quality seed. For this I have semillas.de to thank, as their seed always seems to be top notch. Also I seem to have most success, "doing it the old fashion way". planting seeds in moist compost in a pot rather than germinating first or using so other modern method.

So for anyone wishing to emulate my success germinating Capsicum rhomboideum

1. Good quality seed - Mine were from semillas
2. Moist compost in a pot (other methods may work but this is what worked for me)
3. Warmth\humidity - I used a heated propagator
4. Patience - Try to forget about them a bit. Not essential but I find nothing ever comes up when I keep checking all the time. Make sure they have enough water and then leave it alone for  a while.

Capsicum rhomboideum

Thats all for now, more updates to follow as more wilds come up and I start to pot them up.

Chilli pepper update - New seeds started

This week I finally started off a new batch of pepper seeds. I was waiting till I knew I had some space for them when they are potted on. I have moved stuff around and have made space for some of them, although I will need to find more space as time goes on.

I planted some wild species and some chinense varieties. I am holding off planting any of the annuum varieties I have bought till spring as these grow more quickly.

Labels (chinense to the right, wild species on the right)

I only started off one of each plant (2 seeds the strongest seedling will be kept), I may start more of these varieties at a later date as space permits.
I will start with the chinense varieties:

Manabi Sweet - I didn't actually order this variety, it came as a free gift with my seed order from semillas.de. A large low heat chinense variety. From the photos I can find, the peppers look like large versions of "habanero paper lantern", which I grew this year. More varieties of low or no heat chinense peppers are always welcome. They have all the fruity flavors chinense peppers have, without burning your face off. it also means you can add far more of that flavour to a hot sauce by combining them with hotter varieties.

CGN2150xxx - An F4 cross between "Scarlet lantern Peru" and CGN21500 (another variety with unique colouring that I already have a plant of). Peppers are fairly hot and ripen from purple to orange to red.

Cheiro Roxa - Another variety related or similar to CGN21500. Cone-shaped peppers mature from purple back to ivory yellow. The peppers in between colour is almost a cerise pink colour. Mostly I got this variety for the colour but the peppers are fairly hot and has chinense flavoring so still will be useful.

Habanero Manzano - Another free gift variety.  Not claimed by semillas, but some vendors claim this is a cross between a Habanero and a Manzano (Capsicum pubescens). This is highly doubtful as it not possible to cross these two species, also these seeds are white and you would expect to see some colour from the pubescens black seeds if these were indeed a cross. The reason vendors say this is peppers are Orange with thick salmon coloured flesh reminiscent of a manzano.

7pot/pod Bubblegum - The 7pot peppers come from Trinidad and are meant to be hot enough so that one pod has enough heat for 7 pots of stew. Bubblegum has an enlarged calyx that turns the same colour as the fruit when ripe. I don't normally like peppers this hot but am growing this variety to cross with others as the enlarged coloured calyx  is an interesting unique trait for passing on.

Pimenta da Neyde - Actually thought of as a cross between a chinense variety and a purple annuum variety. First discovered and named after Neyde Hidalgo. Peppers are purple black and don't really change colour. The pods resemble annuum pods but have the flavour and smell of a chinense. Another variety I have got mostly for hybridizing with other varieties.

Habanero Hawaii Beach Pepper - Another one I didn't order as I already have a large red habanero. Peppers are large boxy and ripen to a dark red. The description sounds very similar to "Gambia red", which I already have growing. It will be interesting to compare this, the Gambian red and the two varieties of red habanero I have collected from fresh store bought peppers.

Biquinho Amarelo - This is the yellow (hence amarelo) version of a variety I already have growing. The red variety I have labeled chupetinho but this just another name for biquinho. Pea sized peppers are round but with a point almost like an upside-down teardrop. the red version was one of my favourites when I grew it a few years ago. Plants were prolific, made great ornamental pieces and the peppers were very useful. Peppers are fairly mild with chinense flavour so were nice in salads and for pickling.
Aji Dulce Amarillo - Not a typo by the way, this variety name and the previous spell amarillo differently - Who knows why?  Anyway... Another variety that ripens to yellow. Its flavour and looks are very similar to a habanero, but without the heat. I have quite a lot of no or low heat chinense varieties this year as these should be useful round the kitchen. I would like to use the chinense flavour more in cooking and not everyone can take the heat, so these peppers should give them the opportunity to try some more of my food.
Aji Jobita x 2- Another low/no-heat chinense variety originating from Venezuela. Reportedly the best tasting of the low-heat chinense. Orange oval shaped peppers have a subtle chinense flavour with lots of brown sugar-like sweetness.
Habanero Red (Turkish shop fresh peppers) - I have collected two versions of store-bought red habanero and grown the seeds. This version came from a local Turkish shop, the other from a market in Italy. It will be interesting to compare these.  They were labeled scotch bonnet but I have pretty much ruled out that name. They were not Scotch bonnet-shaped, and they did not have the distinct flavour. Instead peppers were large, red and typically habanero-shaped.
Habanero Big Sun - I already have one plant of this variety that grew very well this year. Because this plant did so well I have started of some seeds from one of the fresh peppers. These were not isolated so could be an unintentional cross. Peppers are large, yellow and habanero shaped.

Habanero Big Sun

Next I have started of some wild species:
Capsicum Rhomboideum - The most un-pepper like capsicum, there is some argument about if it should be considered a capsicum at all. Originally Capsicum ciliatum, it was removed as Witheringia ciliates and then reclassified more recently as Capsicum rhomboideum. Plants are large upright and bushy. It has distinctly oval-shaped, hairy leaves. Yellow flowers make this species look very un-pepper like and more like many of the pepper relatives I am growing. the fruit is pea-shaped, red and is meant to have no heat.
Capsicum galapagoense - Small plant coming from you've guess it! The Galapagos islands. Closely related to c.annuum and c.chaconese. Plants look small annuum plants covered in fine hairs. reportedly difficult to grow and bloom. flowers look similar to c.annuum and also have the fine hairs. fruit is small round and very hot when ripe.
Capsicum galapagoense Long - As above except for the fruit it more oval shaped than round.
Capsicum eximium - A wild species from Bolivia more closely related to C.pubscens than any of the other cultivated species. Small plants produce attractive purple flowers with a lime/white center. Small round fruit grow on a long thin stem. Only meant to produce a small amount in first year, better in their second year.
Capsicum lanceolatum - A wild species with  leaves in pairs. Leaves can be round when small then very elongated when large. Again like c.eximium it has extremely attractive flowers. Each petal is purple down the centre midrib and white to the edges. Fruit is small, round and have very little or no heat.
Capsicum chacoenese PI 260427 - C.chacoenese bear small white flowers that look much more delicate than c.annuum flowers. PI 260427 originates from Argentina. Plants are small and many branched, with extremely hot pods.
Capsicum chacoenese CAP 524 - meant to be large productive plants that produce large yields even in low temperatures. Hopefully this will mean it likes my growing conditions. bullet shaped pods have a medium heat with good flavour.
Not Capsicum parvifolium - Semillas has this variety that has been distributed around as c.parvifolium but probably isn't. I have decided to grow some as these look more like a wild baccatum species, which I haven't got one of anyway.

There are a more wild species I would like to try and grow. For instance I have just ordered seeds for Ulupica Capsicum cardenasii. There is also a hybrid between C.pubscens and C.cardenasii called Rocopica that i am dieing to try so if anyone has seeds let me know.

Updates on these will appear once they germinate and I have some seedlings to show.

Chilli pepper update - hybrid is ripened, ripe rocoto and second grow area,

With the season over I am currently trying to find homes for all the peppers I want to overwinter. it was a pretty successful season considering I started so late. 

The stars of the show this year were Aji Lemon, Big Sun Habanero, My own Hybrid (what can I say I'm biased), and some of the small fruited annum varieties.

Aji lemon produced very well and peppers have a unique flavour. I have overwintered three plants, two of which produced well. The third was a very late start so didn't have a chance to fruit. The reason I am keeping this one is it was grown from homegrown seed so there chance it could be another hybrid.

Big Sun Habanero is/was the first chinense  variety that has ever produced well (or at all) outside for me. It produced good numbers of large pods with the typical habanero heat and flavour and the pods are extremely sort after round the kitchen for sauces, jams and Caribbean cuisine. I only had one plant of these which has been brought in over winter, but as it will did so well I will start off some seed from a pod. None of these were isolated pods so there maybe another accidental cross. I am not worried as this is half the fun with home collected seed.

Big Sun Habanero

My own Hybrid produced/ripened only a few peppers but was started very late. It appears to be a cross between Black Hungarian and a Bell Pepper. It seem to produce well for a larger podded variety. More about this pepper in a minute.

Small fruited annum varieties all produce fairly well and seem to be the best types for growing outside in our climate.

The next thing I have been looking forward to all season is my Red Rocoto. Capsicum pubescens varieties take a very long time to mature, but overwinter well. I recently bought the plant indoors in order to help ripen its peppers and have been rewarded with my first very nearly ripe fruit. Any day now I will harvest my first pod, which no doubt will be stuffed. Capsicum pubescens have a different heat profile because of different levels of chemicals to the other species. The peppers are large round and juicy and make great stuffing peppers. I will collect and save the seeds as I didn't grow any other pubescens varieties (I don't think any neighbors grew any), so the seeds should be true to type.

Capsicum pubescens Red Rocoto

Next I have taken a photo of some of plants in my second grow area which is predictably full already. This a strange view of the plants in there because it is difficult to get a photo because the area is inside my aquarium cabinet. I may need to start thinking about where I am going to put the next batch of plants or maybe start giving away some where I have more than one of the same variety.

Cupboard plants (grow area 2)

Lastly I have harvested my first ripe pepper off my own hybrid pepper, that I wrote about in my blog post -  "A tale of two brothers". The plant grew from seed taken from a Hungarian black pepper. The other seeds grew normally, true to phenotype. One plant grew  larger leaves, flowers and peppers. My best guess was that it crossed with a bell pepper.

Homegrown hybrid pepper photographed with unripe Hungarian Black

As can be seen in the above photos, the hybrid pepper has a larger, more boxy appearance than the purebred pepper. The pepper had thick juicy walls very much like a bell pepper. the flavour also reminded me of bell pepper. it was sweet juicy but we some heat. the heat was about as hot as it is pleasent to eat raw. these would be nice in a salad if you like a little heat. they would also make very good stuffing peppers. inside the pepper had a good number of seeds and appeared to have three lobes, again like a bell pepper, even though you could not see the separate lobes from the outside. The pepper ripened to a vibrent red with some black shadowing

Inside of Hybrid pepper with proper camera

Overall I really like this accidental hybrid and have saved the plant for next year. I have also saved the seeds from the ripe pepper and will attempt to grow F2 next year. Due to the large amount of variation in F2 plants I will have to grow a quite a few to see lots of different characteristics. I will be aiming for plants similar to F1. The characteristics I would like to stabilize are, the larger size(still with good yield), lots of sweetness, some heat but not too much and attractive pod colour. At the end of the season I will save seeds from the F2 plant that most follows these characteristics.

That's all folks! lots more posts on the way. Among other projects, I have now received lots more wild capsicum seeds and will get some started soon.

Pepper relatives continued, Solanaceae - Part 4 - Non-solanum solanaceae

I have enjoyed writing about my pepper relatives and l look forward even more too starting of the seeds. If you have not read the previous installments of pepper relatives they can be accessed here - 

1. Pepper relatives - Tomato, Potato and Aubergine
2. Pepper relatives - Black nightshade - Solanum nigrum
3. Pepper relatives - Other Solanum sp.
4. Pepper relatives - Non-solanum Solonaceae

For the last post on pepper relatives I will list some of the non-solanum solanaceae species I have collected to grow next season. The first of these species is physalis, which I have covered in a previous blog post but I thought I would relist as I have collected more varieties since writing that original post. 

Physalis

Tomatillo

Physalis ixocapa ( philadelphica) Verde - Green tomatillo. These have been cultivated in mexico and Guatemala for a long time. This means there are multiple varieties. I have "verde" so far but may try to find one of the really big varieties. I have grown these before and they were very nice and very productive. The fruits are large and burst through the husk. they have a savory flavour similar to but different from a tomato. Used for making salsa verde. Also nice in sauces.

Physalis ixocapa ( philadelphica) Purple - As above but with smaller purple fruit. I only have one variety just called purple so far. I may pick another in due course.

Physalis ixocapa  ( philadelphica) Yellow - I haven't yet got seed for this one. as above but ripening yellow.

Physalis ixocapa  ( philadelphica) Amarylla - Large abundant yellow fruits. A polish heirloom variety. This species originates in central America was developed in poland, I bought it from america where it was grown and will grow it in the UK, so a truely international plant. Being a Polish developed variety it should also like the conditions here better than some of the varieties developed in Mexico or Guatemala. 

Tomatillo Amarylla seed packet

Cape gooseberry

Physalis peruviana - I haven't yet got seed for this one, but will do just haven't picked a cultivator. Originally from Peru as the name suggests. It has been cultivated in UK and South Africa for a long time so there are few different varieties. Fruits are smaller than tomatillos but sweeter. They used as a fruit, apparently with a pineapple like flavour.

Ground cherry

the rest of the species I can find are ground cherries of varying wildness

Physalis pruinosa - The seeds I ordered from the states have now arrived.they looked like home collected seed in a hand written packet. The variety is called "Old molly's". Physalis pruinosa appear to be like a smaller cape gooseberry. ripening yellow or red.

Physalis pubscens - As above. Hairy leaves as name suggests. a wilder species. I have bought a chinese packet of seeds that says its physalis pubscens. on the website it was listed as cape goosberry, on the packet it says melon, so I am not sure what they will turn out to be. I hope they are pubscens and should be able to tell from the hairy leaves or lack there of.

Physalis crassifolia - Small and wild and probably not edible. I saw the seeds while flicking through physalis on ebay, they were cheap and  not a species I had so I bought some.

Physalis pubscens - I hope!

Chinese lantern

Physalis alkekengi - Chinese lanterns are ornamental plants grown for their red husks. The plant is much more cold tolerant than the other species. Because of this, I thought I would grow some to try and use as root-stocks - grafting other physalis to its roots. There is much conflicting information about if this plant is edible. It appears that it is edible when fully ripe but not particularly pleasant. The confusion seems to come from seed companies and plant labels being too lazy to explain. It has developed for colour not flavour and could be toxic if eaten unripe(so can a tomato). This certainly seems to happen with ornamental peppers.

Physalis alkekengi - Chinese lanterns

Jaltomata

Meant to be the sister genus to Solanum. The fruits of jaltomata procumbens (the cultivated variety I see available) are similar in use and look to Solonum nigrum except that have a larger calyx like a physalis, However unlike the physalis the calyx does not extend around the fruit as protection.  Plants look similar to pepper plants and are meant to be productive, producing good amounts of pea sized fruit. There are many species within the genus originating in North, Central and South America. the common cultivated species seems to be jaltomata procumbens, but the seed packet I have collected just list as jaltomata sp.

Jaltomata sp.

Tamarillo

There is again some argument around the classification of these, again... they could be a solanum sp. rather than in there own genus 

Solanum/Cyphomandra betaceum - The Tamarillo or tree tomato is a small tree or large shrub native to the andes. its fruit are said to taste like a cross between a tomato and a passion fruit. I have not collected seed for these as i have tried unsucessfully in the past. the plant is not frost tolerant and gets large.

Solanum/Cyphomandra abutiloides - Known as the Dwarf tomatillo as it simillar if smaller to its above reletive. Like its relative it grows very quickly into a large plant with fragrant leaves. fruits are edible but can be unpredictable as not been domesticated for flavour. I have seeds for these in the hope that the smaller sixe of the fruit and plant should give me more of a chance at getting ripe fruit.

Dwarf tomatillo

That is all my pepper relatives for now I may do a round up and add some more pictures when I have more seeds delivered or seedlings to show off. Also I am always finding new species and varieties that I cant resist on collecting. Like just now for instance while researching fruits for this page I found another plant in the solonum nigrum group which I will have to obtain seeds for - Solanum opacum greenberry.

Anyway, enough... signing off

Seaside trip

I have not posted for a while because I have be so busy. This past weekend was the first holiday I have been on in a very long time. I thought it would be nice to do a post about what I saw and did, and show some of the photos I took.

We stayed In a cottage in Wangford in Suffolk. Wangford is a small village near Southwold. Southwold is a picturesque town centered around its lighthouse and brewery. The Adnams brewery was founded in 1872 and is and was the main employer in the town. I used to Visit Southwold on holiday as a child and can remember them delivering casks to the local pubs by horse and cart (they ended this only 2006).

On our first morning we visited RSPB Minsmere. Upon arrival, once we had traveled through the obligotery gift shop, we walked out into a beautiful sunny morning. We walked along paths through the marsh which was made up of areas of open water between tall reeds phragmities sp. and reedmace typha sp. Once we got nearer the coast and walked over a sand dunes I got my first sight of the sea. Along these dunes I spotted lots of sea kale Crambe maritima growing.

The flats at Minsmere

Phone photo over the dunes at Minsmere

Sea kale Crambe maritima

While walking along the shale beach I found a mermaids purse or "shark egg". From the shape and a bit of googling I think it is probably the egg of some variety of Skate Raja sp., So a ray rather than a shark or dogfish.

Mermaids purse

 The beach with better camera

On the way out of Minsmere I was lucky enough to snap a photo of a darter dragonfly resting on a handrail between hunting midges.

Dragonfly

I accomplished another one of the things I wanted to do later that day while at another beach near Covehithe hamlet. I went in the sea, to me a trip to the seaside is not complete without going in at least once, even if it is October. The sea was quite rough and the water pretty cold, but not as bad as I was expecting and I manged to wade out and swim a few strokes.

Getting in!

On the other side of the beach from the sea there was a marsh and this marsh i saw an egret searching food. a beautiful bird, I wish I had taken a photo. I also collected a piece of drift wood with some living algae on on this beach which I brought home and added to my refugium. I know this a risk of adding nasties to my tank but I wanted to do add it anyway. 

Driftwood - floating

On the second day we stopped to take photos at the field of pumpkins near the village.

Pumpkins, all ready for haloween

we then visited southwold pier and i got a photo on my phone of Southwold with the sun breaking through cloud and hitting the lighthouse.

lucky photo

Sunday was pretty windy, and a lot of foam from organics in the water was building up on the shore, like a giant protein skimmer.

Foam

The other place we visited on Sunday was Southwold harbor. The harbor is home to a reduced but still working fishing fleet. There was large amount of what looked like marsh saphire Salicornia europaea. 

Marsh saphire Salicornia europaea.

All in all I had a great time and it was very nice to go somewhere different with lots of new scenery and new species (to me) to study.