Breeding Peppers

[Jenn]

Okay, I'm thinking that it'd be a lot of fun to make my own pepper hybrids,
if nothing else, I'd learn a bit! And who knows, I might find the perfect
combination of flavour and heat...so...how does one go about pollinating
flowers? I remember the glad-man at the community garden did this,
unfortunately, all I remember about that was that he'd remove the petals
from flowers so that bees wouldn't be attracted to the flowers pollinate
them further...

Jenn
auda...@teleport.com
free recipes: http://www.geocities.com/NapaValley/9559/

[Joseph St. Lawrence]

Chris Owens <cao...@redsuspenders.com> wrote:

>"Jenn" <auda...@teleport.com> writes:

>> Okay, I'm thinking that it'd be a lot of fun to make my own pepper hybrids,

>Get a watercolor paintbrush, some guaze, fine thread, and a very small pair
>of scissors. Pick the plant that you want to be your 'female' parent. As soon
>as the flower opens,

DeWitt and Bosland, in The Pepper Garden, recommend removing the
anthers before the flower opens -- this is done be snipping-off the
petals on an about-to-open flower and proceding as outlined by Owens.
A few notes:
Heat is a dominant trait
Some varieties may be difficult to cross, the C. annuum (most common
sweet and hot peppers) will cross with annuum and C. chinense
(habanero types) but may be difficult to cross with C. frutescens
(tobasco). C baccatum (aji) will only produce sterile hybrids if
crossed with the annuum-frutescens-chinense group. C. pubescens
(rocoto) won't cross with any of the others.
Happy Hybridising, -j

[Jenn]

Thank you SO much :) I didn't remember the word anthers, but I remember that
the stamen is the biggest little thingy and it doens't make pollen, so I'm
gonna assume that the anthers are everything else :)

Jenn
auda...@teleport.com
free recipes: http://www.geocities.com/NapaValley/9559/

Chris Owens wrote in message <356c2...@news.netacc.net>...

>"Jenn" <auda...@teleport.com> writes:
>
>> Okay, I'm thinking that it'd be a lot of fun to make my own pepper
hybrids,

>> if nothing else, I'd learn a bit! And who knows, I might find the perfect
>> combination of flavour and heat...so...how does one go about pollinating
>> flowers? I remember the glad-man at the community garden did this,
>> unfortunately, all I remember about that was that he'd remove the petals
>> from flowers so that bees wouldn't be attracted to the flowers pollinate
>> them further...
>

>Get a watercolor paintbrush, some guaze, fine thread, and a very small pair
>of scissors. Pick the plant that you want to be your 'female' parent. As
soon

>as the flower opens, use the scissors to snip off the anthers [pollen
producing
>organs]. Dabble the paintbrush in the flower of your 'male' parent, to
pick
>up pollen. Then, dabble it in the flower of your 'female' parent to
deposit
>the pollen. Cover the female flower with a sheet of guaze and secure with
thread.
>After the pepper begins to develop, remove the guaze. Pick the pepper when
>it is fully ripe and beginning to split. Harvest the seeds, store in a
cool,
>dry, dark spot until next year, and plant.
>
>Good luck.
>
>Chris Owens

[Jenn]

Thanks for the info on that...I believe all my peppers are either sweet or
hot types, with a few habaneros...ofcourse, I'm just doing this for fun...my
cats have knocked over enough flats of seedlings that I have NO clue which
pepper is which ;)

Jenn
auda...@teleport.com
free recipes: http://www.geocities.com/NapaValley/9559/

Joseph St. Lawrence wrote in message
<89628734...@executor.comnet.ca>...

>Chris Owens <cao...@redsuspenders.com> wrote:
>
>>"Jenn" <auda...@teleport.com> writes:
>
>>> Okay, I'm thinking that it'd be a lot of fun to make my own pepper
hybrids,
>
>

>>Get a watercolor paintbrush, some guaze, fine thread, and a very small
pair
>>of scissors. Pick the plant that you want to be your 'female' parent. As
soon
>>as the flower opens,
>