Heirloom Peppers for 09

[Blanesgarden]

Hey Diggers, I need some help with this, and many of you do too!

What constitutes an heirloom pepper, and what do you advise growing from year to year?

Ive saved seed from Jalapenos, and Ceyannes, grew them out, just fine...
But as for some of these Peppers from other countries, and some of the newer varietys...How do I know whats/what?

For Example, the Trinidad Perfume, I gave some to a friend at work, he loves them, and wants to save the seed to grow in 09.

Zavory, Im gona put some of these up for trade....
Big Jim, These are one of my favorites, but not sure about saving the seed.
Give your Expo on this...:)

[Denninmi]

Blane, over on the tomato forum on gardenweb, there was a discussion thread about what constitutes an heirloom. The general consensus seemed to be that an heirloom variety was one at least 30 years old, and open pollinated.

But, I personally consider some older hybrids to be "heirlooms" as well, in the sense that they are old classics or standards. 'Illini Xtra Sweet' Corn is one of these, IMO -- while a Sh2 hybrid, so you can't save seeds, it's still a heirloom to me, because it's been around since the 1960's, and because it's a "classic" in the true sense of that word, it defines and is the standard for the entire class of Sh2 corns.

As far as what peppers to grow, can't really help you there, since I'm pretty much in the same boat you are, been wondering myself. I guess I'll just keep trying new ones to see what's out there and what I like. All of the new to me ones I grew this year were great, and I want to try new ones next year.

Dennis

[Train]

Ya!
I'me gonna get killed for this but,
I consider if a seed can come true
the following year then that's
an heirloom.
It's not but it's not a hybrid
either and I submit "it's gotta
be something, Heheh.
Train

[puttgirl]

I agree with you, Train-if it's OP, it's heirloom enough for me!

[Pharmerphil]

to be an heirloom, a plant must be open pollinated..
I can't agree with the "Pre 1940 or 1951 concept", or on any set amount of time a variety has been around to constitute it being an heirloom.
they were experimenting in the 30's with hybrids...
so we could say Pre 1930...hogwash!
After all, many "heirlooms" listed in the catalogs today, DID NOT Exsist...in 1951, and have been crossed and bred since then.
More to my liking is the definition that an Heirloom is a plant/crop, that is not grown on a large scale or commercially.
Because no matter what, IF, you raise more than one variety of peppers, or tomatoes together...you WILL get crosses

Several years back I saved seed from a friends Hybrid bell pepper pepper, I still to this day grow this variety, and have saved the seed from the beginning. It produces reliably and is very prolific

[TennOC]

Just to add to the confusion, back in the '50's and '60's there were seed companies that sold seeds labeled as Hybrid that weren't. It was just a way of saying "super" or "new and improved". The hope was that the customer would think they were somehow superior seeds, when they were really just re-named OP standards.

[neoguy]

I'm sure you know that peppers can cross pollinate very easily. The best way to ensure genetic integrity is to bag the blossoms or to plant at least 500' away from each variety. There is another method of using a glue, I haven't tried that one, but will next year.

That being said, we have a small city backyard and I've saved seeds from peppers for years without bagging the blossoms. I can't say that I've had a cross, at least not noticeable to me. I've even saved seed from a hybrid, Paprika Supreme, the F-2 looked and tasted just like the F-1. Next year I'll plant the F-3 seeds.

Last winter I received pepper seeds from a generous individual, who received seeds from a trader in Hungary. The seeds are for Hungarian Paprika peppers. I grew out 3 varieties and they grew true to the information I could find on them. Unfortunately, I don't speak, read, or write Hungarian so I have several varieties that are still a mystery to me.

The three I grew out were Hot Apple (sweet, AKA as Alma Paprika), Feher Ozen (sweet) and Kalocsai v-2 (2-2.5 out of 5 for heat).

I'll offer 3 packs of about 20 F-2 seeds of each, to the first responders. I'll also offer 3 packs of the Paprika Supreme F-3, for a total of 12 freebies for SASE or SASBE. Send me a PM if interested. Remember, only 3 of each variety, first come, first reserved.:)

[Pharmerphil]

Neoguy, strictly luck that they have not crossed.

[Lillian Osborne]

I agree with you, Train-if it's OP, it's heirloom enough for me!

Have to say I agree, but being a person of many words, I will share a thought or two concerning why I do.

If it is an OP variety, and it is a good one, word will get around, seeds will get around, and it will be an heirloom one day. Growing heirlooms is not only about
the best of our past, it is also about what we may be able to preserve from our
own era for future growers of heirloom garden treasures.

People like Frank Morton, Tim Peters, Dr. Alan Kapular and others have given us many fine selected and new strains of veggies and flowers in the recent past.
Home gardeners select for the best characteristics of their favorites. The world
of heirloom varieties is far from static, and aren't we glad of that?

Lillian

[Lillian Osborne]

[QUOTE=Blanesgarden;173447]

For Example, the Trinidad Perfume, I gave some to a friend at work, he loves them,

I have been intrigued by the descriptions of this pepper and would like to try growing it. Your garden is in Zone 8, and mine is 6a, any thoughts on what I
might do to make Trinidad Perfume feel a little more at home?

Lillian

[neoguy]

Phil, yeah, I know. Next year I'll try tea bags for bagging pepper blossoms and the aforementioned glue method.