2012 Sweet Pepper work - Islander dehybridization, the next chapter

[nctomatoman]

I am getting fruit set on these very happy, vigorously growing sweet peppers. Here is what's happening with very young fruit color (there are distinct differences already).

09-35 White Gold - both plants have unripe fruit that are are cream to very pale yellow green
09-36 White Gold - one plant with open flowers, the other have cream colored fruit
09-32 Candy Corn - both plants have cream colored unripe fruit
09-31 Candy Corn - both plants have open flowers
09-30 Royal Purple - one plant has open flowers, the other has cream to pale yellow green fruit
10-47 Royal Purple - both plants have pale yellow green fruit
10-50 Fire Opal - both plants have cream colored blocky unripe fruit
415 Islander (sent to me by Doug F) -- my single plant has pale yellow green fruit
08-14 Islander (earlier selection - to see which line it belongs in) - both plants have cream colored unripe fruit
09-28 Amethyst - both plants have cream colored unripe fruit - one plant has bright yellow/white/green tricolored foliage!
08-27 Amethyst - one plant has open flowers, the other has medium bright green blocky fruit.

already quite interesting - the proof will be in the final coloration, and shapes.

[nctomatoman]

And here are pictures of the developing peppers, or flowers if they've yet to set. We can compare - or at least start to!

These are in alphabetical order - two each (unless otherwise noted):

08-27 Amethyst
09-28 Amethyst
09-31 Candy Corn
09-32 Candy Corn
10-40 Fire Opal (only one)
10-50 Fire Opal
08-14 Islander
415 Islander (only one)
09-30 Royal Purple
10-47 Royal Purple
09-35 White Gold
09-36 White Gold

[nctomatoman]

They are starting to differentiate a bit - some are coloring up. Today's pics -

[Linda10]

Those look great, Craig.

We finally went from 60's to 85 in 2 days while we busy with doctors. Peppers weren't growing at all after the first fruit or two, but now they are completely dead. I'm leaving the peppers on to see if they ripen okay. After I get back this afternoon I will try to take pictures of what is left. Do you want seeds from these if they ripen?

[nctomatoman]

thanks, Linda....sorry we didn't get to chat this weekend - life got in the way! If they go to a ripe color, sure....will either end up red or golden yellow.

I am really looking forward to see what colors mine end up going - first time I've used 5 gallon grow bags for sweet peppers, and they are proving to be a great success.

For unripe colors, I am seeing a cream color, a very pale yellow green, and a medium light green - hard to tell, but perhaps one in between cream and pale yellow green.....

I am thinking that the unripe color impacts the depth of violet or purple that follows. But who knows....early days yet, and just beginning to unravel the color changes of this family of peppers.

[Stepheninky]

Originally Posted by nctomatoman

thanks, Linda....sorry we didn't get to chat this weekend - life got in the way! If they go to a ripe color, sure....will either end up red or golden yellow.

I am really looking forward to see what colors mine end up going - first time I've used 5 gallon grow bags for sweet peppers, and they are proving to be a great success.

For unripe colors, I am seeing a cream color, a very pale yellow green, and a medium light green - hard to tell, but perhaps one in between cream and pale yellow green.....

I am thinking that the unripe color impacts the depth of violet or purple that follows. But who knows....early days yet, and just beginning to unravel the color changes of this family of peppers.

My best and most loaded up peppers are the ones in white 5 gal grow bags. So they seem to work really well for peppers.

[nctomatoman]

Order of pics - those that are going to turn pale lavender or deep lavender are now showing themselves....this is really cool to monitor! Key will be the final color - red, or gold!

08-27 Amethyst
09-28 Amethyst
09-31 Candy Corn
09-32 Candy Corn
10-40 Fire Opal (only one)
10-50 Fire Opal
08-14 Islander
415 Islander (only one)
09-30 Royal Purple
10-47 Royal Purple
09-35 White Gold
09-36 White Gold

[nctomatoman]

Just in case anyone is following along - the latest as of this morning!

White Gold:
09-35 - blocky bell, cream to yellow (both)
09-36 - blocky bell, cream to yellow (both)

At this time. White Gold seems to be consistent w/r to color - some variation in size/shape (elongated vs blocky bell, number of lobes, etc) - but all are sweet bells. Will see if I can select a top choice to take forward.

Amethyst:
08-27 - variability. one is pale yellow green to medium lavender, the other is pale green to dark purple to red (= hence a Royal Purple candidate) - both large blocky bells.
09-28 - one is cream to clear lavender - not yet turned. the other is a variegated plant (green/white foliage!) - and cream to lavender. Waiting for final colors.

At this time this one seems to have not settled down - the goal is cream to lavender to orange to red.

Candy Corn:
09-31 - one plant goes cream to yellow, the other is still cream.
09-32 - both are going cream to yellow.

at this time, we don't have Candy Corn from these two, but may from the uncharacterized Islander selections, see below - the cream to red color seems to be a tough one to stabilize. The three that have ripened are all White Gold candidates instead.

Royal Purple:
09-30 - one is pale yellow green to deep lavender, the other is cream to lavender - neither is at the ripe color yet.
10-47 - one is pale yellow green to dark purple to red, the other is pale yellow green to dark purple to red.

We have a few choices here, but the Royal Purple characteristics I am selecting for - pale yellow green to darker purple to red - is being observed.

Fire Opal:
10-40 - only grew one, but seems to be more of a Royal Purple coloring - pale yellow green to darker purple to red. Need to recheck the tag.
10-50 - one is cream to lavender blush to gold, the other is cream to lavender blush - awaiting final color change.

Hoping that the 10-50s come through to give a lead choice for Fire Opal - target is cream or pale yellow green to lavender to gold.

Yet to be categorized: Islander selections
08-14 - one of these may be showing the Candy Corn coloring - need to double check, but my notes say cream to orange to red. The other is showing the Fire Opal cream to lavender to gold coloration.
415 - my single plant has peppers that are cream to blushing lavender - no final color yet.

Pretty interesting stuff - we may have leads for everything in the above.

[Linda10]

Well, this was a dismal year for me, but here is what little information I have. My first problem was that I only had space for 1 gallon plants, second was the weather taking much longer than usual to warm up, third was too much time taken away due to medical issues.



Amethyst 08-27 (F4): 2 plants. Both plants turned from green to a deep black-purple, as dark as Royal Purple, then to red blocky bells


Amethyst 09-28 (F5): 2 plants. Both plants started out pale yellow and blocky bell shape, turning deep lavender; Plant 1 changed almost overnight but plant 2 took a little longer. Final color was red


Royal Purple 10-47 (F5): 3 plants, but only #1 is has set fruit. Started out as a blocky pale green then to a very black purple and finally a deep burgundy red.


Fire Opal 10-50 (F5): 3 plants, 2 have set fruit. Plant #1 started out a light yellow-green to lavender/gold to a gold and ochre color . Plant #2 started out a medium green to lavender to the same combination of gold and ochre.Strange color could be due to cold weather at final stage.



Fire Opal 10-40 (F5) or F6: 4 plants, all have set fruit. All started a pale yellow-green then lavender and finally a gold/bronze. Not sure if these would have gone to red if plants hadn't dried out.



White Gold 09-33 (F5): 2 plants. Plant#1 started pale yellow-green, slender elongated turning to red. Really looked like a hot pepper to me from the start, but I didn't get a chance to taste these until they had dried out. OUCH, really hot! Stray seed? Crossed plant? I didn't grow any other peppers except for this project.

Plant#2 started as a medium yellow-green and then to deep yellow, slender bell.


White Gold 09-36 (F5): 1 plant. Set fruit May 18. Started out pale yellow and then to yellow.


Candy Corn 09-32 (F5): 2 plants. 1st of all the peppers to set fruit but STILL not changing color from the pale yellow that it has been for a while now. Pale yellow green wide elongated pepper turning to yellow. I am still hoping to that pretty color in your pictures, Craig.

Plant #2 never flowered.


Finally, I cut all these peppers back to new growth to see if I can get any more info for you. Several have new flowers but I don't know if the weather will hold up much longer.

So sorry that my results are probably not much help, but let me know if you want any of this seed. Have a few from all but Candy Corn.

[nctomatoman]

Thanks for the report, Linda - would love small samples from all of them if it isn't too much trouble. Really appreciate the effort - and here's to a better season for you next time!

I really found the 5 gallon grow bags to be magic for these peppers.

[Jeannine Anne]

Ok, I give in and have to ask..this is the first time I have seen this post..does someone have the time to tell me what it is all about or a link maybe. it sounds fascinating bit would like toi read it from the beginning.

XX Jeannine

[nctomatoman]

Sure - I love the sweet pepper Islander - it is a very expensive hybrid from Johnny's probably identical to Stokes Blue Jay - a nice blocky bell that goes cream quickly to lavender, then through orange to red.

So for years I've been playing around with dehybridizing it.....and through the course of my work found that 5 clear types emerged - all bells. I worked them enough to name them, and am now working on selecting and narrowing for the selected traits - and a few here at Tville are helping out.

The ones I named are Amethyst (most like the hybrid - cream to lavender through orange to red), Fire Opal (cream or very pale yellow green to lavender to a golden yellow), Royal Purple (pale green to dark purple to red), White Gold (cream or very pale yellow green to golden yellow) and Candy Corn (cream or very pale yellow green to orange to red).

Where I am still trying to sort out is in the slightly different first, unripe colors - the three possibilities seem to be a very pale yellow/cream color, a very pale yellow green that is not easy to distinguish from the cream, and a pale yellow green.

But we are making progress, and in my planting of two plants each of two leads on each named variety, I have at least one plant showing what my aims are!

Hope that helps!

[Jeannine Anne]

Craig, thank you, gosh you really do put your heart and soul in your work

XX Jeannine

[Linda10]

My plants that I cut back actually produced more peppers, so I got results from the ones that didn't fruit in the spring.

White Gold F5 09-33, plant #2, started as a medium yellow-green and progressed to a deep yellow

Candy Corn F5 09-32, plant #2, fruit set was very late, I missed the early colors, but final color was a deep yellow orange with very light yellow interior. May have gone to the red orange you are looking for if a cold snap hadn't turned all the leaves black.

Fire Opal F5 10-50, plant #3, light yellow-green to the prettiest shiny lavender I have seen on any of the plants, cold prevented seeing final color.

Royal Purple F5 10-47, plant #3 medium green to a shiny deep purple to a deep burgundy red.

I'll probably grow Fire Opal 1050, plant #3 and Candy Corn 09-32 next year to see the final color of each unless you want me to try one of your selections instead.

[Fusion_power]

Nice to see this thread. I had not realized it was here. I grew 4 plants from Craig's selections in 2011 and got 3 different fruit shapes and 2 different colors. I deliberately crossed them with Orange Bell in an effort to introduce thicker walls.

I also had half a dozen plants in the greenhouse in late fall 2010 and early 2011 that fruited and made some interesting shapes and colors.

Islander tends to be relatively productive of large elongated thin walled peppers. Some of the segregants have an off flavor that I can't quite describe but reminds me of the way used motor oil smells. I have been culling the plants that taste like that.

DarJones