Author Topic: Chiletepin  (Read 1319 times)

Vinci

  • Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 52
    • France, Bordeaux city zone 8b
    • View Profile
Chiletepin
« on: September 30, 2021, 05:07:57 PM »
Hi,

I start this post to know more about Chiletepin ( Capsicum annum var. glabriusculum )
I have three plant of this variety, and I don't really understand what it likes : I have a plant in full sun that does not grow..   an other beneath shade of taller plants, it grows but doesn't flower, and the last is in pot in semi shade, it grows, but is a shy bloomer..   and all my three plants have +1 year.
I thought it could set thousands of fruits, as considered as a weed sometimes, but in reality, it's the fussiest chili pepper that I have grown. ( In comparaison my Capsicum praetermissum in a neglected pot, produces many fruits )

How do you grow them  ?  Do they are frost hardy ? ( Do they really regrow )

Thanks,

Vincent

Pokeweed

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 345
    • Houston TX
    • View Profile
Re: Chiletepin
« Reply #1 on: October 01, 2021, 08:37:39 AM »
Hi Vincent, You may not get enough heat for them. They grow wild in Southern Texas. Typically under a larger plant or tree, because I think they germinate the best after passing through a bird's gut. They grow here in somewhat alkaline soil and are pretty drought tolerant. If you give them a little fertilizer they grow pretty large. Sometime we find young rattlers hunting in them....although that shouldn't be a problem for you😁. Dan

Walt

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 333
    • USA, Kansas, Kanopolis, zone 6
    • View Profile
Re: Chiletepin
« Reply #2 on: October 01, 2021, 11:51:09 AM »
I've grown chiltipins for several (20?) years.  I love the flavor, though they are very hot.  The first year I grew them (seed from Native Seed/Search) I planted them in the garden.  They didn't start to bloom until almost frost.  I didn't know they are short-day plants.  So I dug them and took them inside, where they made a nice crop.  I kept them over the winter and put them outside in the spring, still in their 1-gallon pots.  Again they bloomed about the time for frost and again they were brought inside and produced a good crop.  The longest I've kept a chiltipin plant alive is 5 years.  Each time I lost them, I was away from home when there was an early frost.
I once crossed a chiltipin with a Thai Hot pepper.  There are many selections called Thai Hot.  The one I used was much like chiltipin.  The main difference was that the Thai Hot bloomed all summer, some in the winter too.  The hybrid was very like chiltipin but it bloomed and produced year round.  I kept a few of those for some years in 1-gallon pots, but eventually lost them.
Anyway, chiltipins, at least the ones I grew, require long nights with no light in order to bloom.  Even a little light might prevent flowering.
Besides being very good to eat, they make a very pretty plant.  Especially when in bloom or covered with bright red fruit.  But when not blooming and not covered in red fruit, they can be nice bonsai. 

Vinci

  • Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 52
    • France, Bordeaux city zone 8b
    • View Profile
Re: Chiletepin
« Reply #3 on: October 03, 2021, 04:05:14 AM »
Hummmm..       Chiletepin seems a bit fussy compare to others cultivated Capsicum..
My climate is not as hot than in southern part of Texas, but we get pretty high temperature in summer ( up to 37 degrees this year, and sometimes 40°C - However it seems it's maybe not enough hot for rattlers, the reason of their absence :p )
Maybe the blossom is numbered to the day length..  like suggests Walt..
Anyway, as soon as possible I will try a cross with other Casicum annuum.

Maybe some of you have more domesticated Casicum annuum var. Glabriusculum ?

Walt

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 333
    • USA, Kansas, Kanopolis, zone 6
    • View Profile
Re: Chiletepin
« Reply #4 on: October 03, 2021, 04:27:20 PM »
Baker creek Seeds offers chiltin seeds.  I bought some but haven't planted them yet.  I don't know, but somewhere I got the idea that these produce earlier in the summer.  They don't list them as being late bloomers, and from dealing with them for many years, they would say it if they were late bloomers.
Once established, I've found chiltipin seedlings to be easy to keep going.  I do have lots of summer heat, but my house is very cool in the winter.  My seed always came from Native Seed Search and have been late bloomers but easy to grow.

Pokeweed

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 345
    • Houston TX
    • View Profile
Re: Chiletepin
« Reply #5 on: October 06, 2021, 07:43:40 AM »
I didn't even consider that there might be "improved" chilipetins. Some call them chilipequins (pekane). Here they start fruiting about May and they stop with frost. They literally grow where a bird poops seeds, so they are everywhere. Our bad freeze last Winter - about -18C killed them to the ground, but they regrew and were fruiting about 3 months later.
I hope you never find a rattler in one of your chilis! D

Vinci

  • Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 52
    • France, Bordeaux city zone 8b
    • View Profile
Re: Chiletepin
« Reply #6 on: October 06, 2021, 09:02:43 AM »
It's a very interesting testimony that you offer Pokeweed !

When I say, I aim to improve Chiltepin, it's not because I find they are mediocre, but rather because I found that they unfit with my climate, soil,..  and I want to see how frost hardiness traits can be transmitted to next generations.
Other exemple of plant I like, but doesn't seem to like my soil: Chilopsis. That's the reason why I graft this species on x Chitalpa ( it self grafted on Catalpa rootstock - Catalpa species grow very well here  )

Looking a bit around for some more info about this chilies, I have found that it sets much more fruits in presence of some mycorrhizae like Glomus fasciculatus.  Maybe they are absent in my area..
« Last Edit: October 06, 2021, 10:04:27 AM by Vinci »

Pokeweed

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 345
    • Houston TX
    • View Profile
Re: Chiletepin
« Reply #7 on: October 07, 2021, 07:41:10 AM »
Catalpas grow fine around Houston as well, although they might be a different variety.