Capsicum species

[alkapuler]

recent studies of Capsicum species in southeastern Brazil have found that at least 10 species have 26 chromosomes
while the peppers familiar to us have 24, ie. C. chinense, C. frutescens, C. baccatum and C. annuum.
these groups do not cross, yet, and there are other genera in the Solanaceae that may be bridges between these two major groups of peppers, from the western and eastern sides of the Andes
a website 'Wild Capsicums" is very informative about these new discoveries

[johno]

Is C. pubescense (Rocoto pepper, for example) one of these 10 species with 26 chromosomes?

[alkapuler]

the peppers with 24 chromosomes, 12 pairs, are the Annuum group which includes chinense, frutescens, chacoense and galapagoense, the Baccatum group which includes pendulum, baccatum, praetermissum and umbilicatum and a third group which includes pubescens, the rocoto, eximium, tomentosum and cardenasii.

[ottawagardener]

Very interesting. I'll have to head over to that website and check it out. I like to overwinter my peppers and find that some definitely are more resilient to cooler temps and lower lights over winter. Anyhow, I'm heading over there now.

[Alan]

Thanks for the information Al, definitely something new to explore and experiment with!

Is this the site you were speaking of:

www.saunalahti.fi/~thietavu/Chili/L_wild.htm

I would like to work more with peppers myself in the near future and may have to do some more research on this subject.

[alkapuler]

last year Dylana and Mario grew alot of different Capsicums and a few weeks ago told me that the Criolla Sella, a C. baccatum was noticeably cold hardier than the annuums, chinense and fructescens that we grow

and a few days ago in Richo Cech's catalog he says the same thing about baccatums

i don't know if baccatums will cross with annuums but both have 24 chromosomes
and it seems worthwhile to try developing some bell, paprika and grossum (large, elongate, stuffing) annuums with better tolerance and success in cool soils, wet conditions, chilly summer nights

the same thing is relevant to eggplants which need more cold hardiness selection

and yes Alan that is the website for the Wild Capsicums

[toad]

Any suggestions for where to start breeding eggplants for more cold hardiness? I just started last season trying a some varieties, and found one, Vera, actually doing better outside than in the greenhouse. Last year was basicly learning some varieties, a few extra plants went outside in the melonbed, and allowed a little harvest. I even harvested seeds from outdoor growing, appearing to be of excellent quality. This year I plan to try the better of them in open ground, maybe with black plastic mulch. Wonder if I should also try some of the redfruited species.

[ottawagardener]

I use clear plastic mulch which works wonders for me. I was wondering about grafting eggplants onto another edible cold hardy solanum but this might be too much bother. Trialing eggplants for cold hardy tendencies would be great fun for me if I had the room. One thing I did notice when I accidentally left all my solanum baby plants outside during a very light frost a couple years back, the tomatoes were affected the worst by having frost bitten leaves though they were alive, the peppers looked the worst in the morning but perked up by the afternoon and the eggplants were okay and the ground cherries acted as if the hadn't noticed a thing.

[raymondo]

Toad, I think trialling varieties, as you have done with the variety Vera, is an excellent way to start finding peppers that will grow in cooler soils and with cooler summer temperatures.

According to the table on this web page ( faq.gardenweb.com/faq/lists/pepper/2003044441005626.html ) C. annuum and C. baccatum cross readily in either direction.