Tomatoville® Gardening Forums


Notices

General information and discussion about cultivating peppers.

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old December 12, 2018   #1
greenthumbomaha
Tomatovillian™
 
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: Omaha Zone 5
Posts: 2,514
Default Pepper Isolation Tactics

I've just started reading about isolation for peppers, and there is a lot of general information but I have still more questions. This is not for going the tulle route (which I will do in the city where space is limited), just spacing in a large garden.



I read 30 feet is suggested between hot and sweet, buildings in between help, and planting pollinator plants attract pollinators on their journey and they drop pollen by the flowers before continuing to a pepper.


Before I even start on details, is 30 feet an adequate minimum?


Should I grow my "hots' bed north and bells south garden end or vise versa?


Grow all cayennes of one variety together , another variety yet isolate again, with flowers in between?


What are good examples of that pollinator plants that would make a likely pollinaor get so excited that it would stop and get the old pepper pollen off (more sticky pollen?)


As you can see I am a novice at large scale isolation, and I would prefer to overthink than bite into a hot marconi next year.



- Lisa
greenthumbomaha is offline   Reply With Quote
Old December 13, 2018   #2
Nan_PA_6b
Tomatovillian™
 
Nan_PA_6b's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2016
Location: Pittsburgh, PA
Posts: 3,194
Default

I use organza bags to cover the flower buds.
Nan_PA_6b is offline   Reply With Quote
Old December 13, 2018   #3
jtjmartin
Tomatovillian™
 
jtjmartin's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2016
Location: Williamsburg VA Zone 7b
Posts: 1,110
Default

Nan:

When you bag your blossoms (tomato or pepper) - does the bag ever damage the blossom? Seems like a good percentage of my blossoms fall off.

Tips?

Jeff
jtjmartin is offline   Reply With Quote
Old December 13, 2018   #4
Nan_PA_6b
Tomatovillian™
 
Nan_PA_6b's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2016
Location: Pittsburgh, PA
Posts: 3,194
Default

If the tomato plants are diseased, the bagged flowers might abort.

I tried bagging the first pepper blossoms this past summer and many did fall off. I don't know how much the bag contributed. Then I started putting the bag over the whole stem, trying to avoid any bag/flower contact. The less it touched the flower, the better it worked. Maybe later flowers are tougher or maybe all pepper flowers hate to be touched; I don't know.
Nan_PA_6b is offline   Reply With Quote
Old December 13, 2018   #5
jtjmartin
Tomatovillian™
 
jtjmartin's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2016
Location: Williamsburg VA Zone 7b
Posts: 1,110
Default

Thank you. I'll give it a try.

Jeff
jtjmartin is offline   Reply With Quote
Old December 14, 2018   #6
Patihum
Tomatovillian™
 
Patihum's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: Southeast Kansas
Posts: 878
Default

Unless you can distance separate varieties by at least 1/4 mile bagging is the only way to get pure seed.


This may answer some of your questions -



https://www.southernexposure.com/iso...rs-ezp-34.html
Patihum is offline   Reply With Quote
Old December 16, 2018   #7
carolyn137
Moderator Emeritus
 
carolyn137's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Upstate NY, zone 4b/5a
Posts: 21,169
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Patihum View Post
Unless you can distance separate varieties by at least 1/4 mile bagging is the only way to get pure seed.


This may answer some of your questions -



https://www.southernexposure.com/iso...rs-ezp-34.html
I LOVE your link to SESE since Jeff McCormack knows more about isolation distances for not just peppers but also tomatoes.

Jeff was the original owner of SESE, now there are new owners. And it was Jeff who did the original website design for Glenn Drowns/Sandhill Preservation.

I gave up on growing especially hot peppers several decades ago and I had trouble preventing X pollination with plain old bell peppers as well no matter HOW I tried.

If you bag blossoms for peppers you'd be surprised how many wee insect pollinators can get inside.So it also depends on which insects are present where a person gardens.

Just my experience with peppers, too darn many variables involved, but good luck to the rest of you.

Carolyn
__________________
Carolyn
carolyn137 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old December 14, 2018   #8
KarenO
Tomatovillian™
 
KarenO's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: Vancouver Island
Posts: 5,918
Default

Sometimes it’s easier to bag the whole plant, depending on the plant.
A tomato cage and tulle or is other fine mesh will work

KarenO
KarenO is offline   Reply With Quote
Old December 14, 2018   #9
jtjmartin
Tomatovillian™
 
jtjmartin's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2016
Location: Williamsburg VA Zone 7b
Posts: 1,110
Default

Thanks KarenO - may try that too. I have some mosquito netting we used to use on missions trips -that should work.
jtjmartin is offline   Reply With Quote
Old December 14, 2018   #10
Cole_Robbie
Tomatovillian™
 
Cole_Robbie's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: Illinois, zone 6
Posts: 8,407
Default

I would think that prevailing wind direction would be relevant as well. Pollen travels a lot farther with the wind than against it.
Cole_Robbie is offline   Reply With Quote
Old December 15, 2018   #11
AlittleSalt
BANNED FOR LIFE
 
AlittleSalt's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2014
Posts: 13,333
Default

This won't help, but every variety of every plant ever was a hybrid or the first of it's kind. How to isolate it is a mankind thing. Tossing a condom on it should work, but that's not how nature works.

Lisa, I apologize. I believe in nature more than mankind.
AlittleSalt is offline   Reply With Quote
Old December 15, 2018   #12
jtjmartin
Tomatovillian™
 
jtjmartin's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2016
Location: Williamsburg VA Zone 7b
Posts: 1,110
Default

On the other hand, Salt, much of my work over the years has been to overcome or improve on "nature:"

disease is natural,
poverty is natural,
weeds are natural

. . . I won't even get into raising a teen!
jtjmartin is offline   Reply With Quote
Old December 15, 2018   #13
rhines81
Tomatovillian™
 
rhines81's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2015
Location: Zone 5A, Poconos
Posts: 959
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by jtjmartin View Post
poverty is natural,
Poverty is man-made and a very subjective term.
rhines81 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old December 15, 2018   #14
jtjmartin
Tomatovillian™
 
jtjmartin's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2016
Location: Williamsburg VA Zone 7b
Posts: 1,110
Default

Good thread on isolation of peppers - including gluing the blossoms closed.

I got the glue last year - but didn't find the time to try it.

http://tomatoville.com/showthread.ph...ht=pepper+glue
jtjmartin is offline   Reply With Quote
Old December 16, 2018   #15
roper2008
Tomatovillian™
 
roper2008's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Virginia Bch, VA (7b)
Posts: 1,337
Default

I may try bagging blossoms next year. I’ve bought these little muslin bags about 4 years ago for this purpose and never tried it once.
roper2008 is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -4. The time now is 09:16 PM.


★ Tomatoville® is a registered trademark of Commerce Holdings, LLC ★ All Content ©2022 Commerce Holdings, LLC ★