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Post by glen on Jun 25, 2020 9:42:54 GMT -6
The rains have been heavy and constant. Over-cast sky's are the norm. I have been feeding the new Chili Rayado plants a water soluble plant food-20-20-20 formula. I noticed some blossom abortion today as well. However, on one plant I did notice 2 small pods forming!!!! This is great news. I do not expect the plants to perform at their true potential during the rainy season. I never did expect this. However, it appears we are going to have at least some pods. Only one plant is bearing. Plants are actively growing now. I expect to have plenty of pods so I can at least taste them and collect seed. When we get a little sun I will try and get some clearer foto's. What my plan is is to wait until the middle of October and plant more Chili Rayado seedlings. Chili Rayado should grow and produce to its full potential if started in October. Oh, I wanted to say this. I have 6 Purple Thunder juveniles planted also. We have had a few days where there was full sun. The full sun caused a few of the Purple Thunder plants to wilt. During those days the Chili Rayado juvenile plants did not wilt. The full sun did not bother them at all. Just an observation. This goes along with my current thought that super-hot variety's do not really like harsh direct sun light. They need protection from bright sun and high wind. I have a hunch that Chili Rayado needs less protection and is equipped to handle harsh sunlight better. I am not going to know until I have trialed it for several seasons.
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Post by glen on Jul 25, 2020 18:17:52 GMT -6
It has been a month since I commented on the 3 chile Rayado plants I have growing in small pots outside. As you may or may not remember the plants are in small pots. They are not doing well. The wet and over cast weather is not ideal for this variety. Many of the branch ends are rotting taking the blooms with it. However, this variety is very resilient. I now have only one pod that is maturing on one plant. There was 2 but one aborted. The pod is still green but has the distinct cracking. Now all three plants are putting on new blooms. Again. They put on blooms over and over again. Big beautiful white blooms. Now however all three plants are setting fruits. There are quite a few. They may abort? I don't know. These plants are very vigorous growers and really want to bloom. They just cannot tolerate this rainy season. Chili Rayado is not a tropical ahi. So this is to be expected. I am how ever, very confidant that when I replant this October, I am going to have some fine productive plants.
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Post by glen on Jul 25, 2020 18:25:44 GMT -6
I also wanted to make this observation. George posed the question on A Chili Pepper forum concerning the identity of this pepper. They said it was C Annuum. I am no expert. However, this pepper does not cross with other peppers according to George. George has been growing this pepper for eons. It really doesn't cross. Also today I am looking at this pepper and noticed something astonishing. There are multiple bloom buds coming from the nodes!!! This is occurring on all three plants. Some nodes show 4 tiny blossom buds!! Now, typically the blossoms fall off leaving only one fruit. This is the confusing part of identifying this ahi. C Annuum typical only has one blossom per node. You will sometimes see 2 blossoms but always one aborts. Chili Rayado has multiple blossoms but what is confusing is that the plant aborts the blossoms. I noticed nodes with as many as 4 blossoms. This is clearly not an annuum trait. And, that goes along with why Chili Rayado does not cross with annuums. So, I may or may not be on the right track but I wanted to make this observation here on the forum. I think Chili Rayado is a different species of pepper. I don't know which one.
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Post by glen on Jul 25, 2020 18:34:50 GMT -6
If you compare this pepper to for example, C chinense. C chinense has multiple blossoms of anywhere from 2 to 5 or even 6 from each node. Some will abort but it is common to see 2 or 3 chili's at each node. The confusing part about Chili Rayado is that you usually only see the one berry at each node. Chili Rayado also has the peculiar hairy trait. The branches are just covered over in fine whitish hair or fuzz. I will be continuing to observe these plants although I doubt I can ID the plant or solve what is for now a real mystery to me.
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Post by glen on Sept 17, 2020 16:21:11 GMT -6
I failed at growing chili Rayado on my first try. I did get a few pods. I did save seed but I don't have confidence in the seeds purity. I planted 5 more starters today using Georges original seed. I am going to try again. My rainy season is not over but I think I am going to be ok. The little starter's won't be ready for a month. The rainy season will almost be over then. I have my fingers crossed. This is an important variety to me.
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