smoke-master 2007 did you ever receive those ice scream scorpion pepper seeds I sent. It's always a crap shoot with me and mail.

I thought I talked to you already...felt sure I did.

Sorry if I screwed up.

I never got an email that I know of...I was just checking the delivery status...no worries

Smoke--thanks for the suggestion about the Ecuador Reds. I picked up some from Judy and I planted them this morning. Wish me luck!

Sorry I still don't see the Message link. I see 3 tabs: Overview, Ideabooks and Activity. Is that the right page? I don't see an X anywhere.

This is in the FAQ: (I don't see the X or "message me" either).. oh well

You can message other Houzz users that follow you by going to their
profile and clicking the message button you see there. If someone does
follow you, but you do not see a message button, that means they have
disabled this feature in their account settings.

I grew Marazano's based on the "not enough sun" and "very long season" comments. We are in high desert nuclear sun extreme drought Nevada so I partially shaded them with three giant sunflowers single stem 12'+ high spaced 4' away located 1 each SE, 1 S, and 1 SW. Watered them as I watered my tomatoes. They have done extremely well. Enough so that I'm planning on planting 25 plants in 2016. They have produced enough to have created several restaurant customers and two groceries to carry them, never mind the neighbors. I'm real happy with them.

What was the average size of your fruit? The sizes in the grocery stores around here vary widely.

Thanks

They were mostly around 1 3/4". Maybe 10% were smaller. I got seven or eight slightly over two inches. We used two and used the others as give aways. I didn't notice any difference in heat among the sizes. One plant didn't get as much shade of the others and didn't do as well as the others.

I have tried for four years now to germinate. Probably 500 seeds. Wouldn't germinate in potting seal, peat, garden soil. I finally had some germination in a wet paper towel with a little peroxide to prevent mold--but almost instantly died. I live in South Florida--is it just too hot and wet here?

They do take a long time to germinate and I got started late this year. Now I have some nice pods on the vine. Hope they ripen before frost in CT.

I was successful last year. It grew to a plant about 2 feet tall and had some peppers but they never ripened. When winter came I was thinking that it would be able to withstand the cold (being a higher elevation plant). But it died. Seattle winters are too cold for Manzano.

I tried again this year but nothing grew.

It's a really finnicky plant to grow.

I grow mine in pots for 2 reasons.

1. I can keep moving them to partial sun locations.

2. I can bring them inside to finish ripening after frost.

(After ripening, take them back outside or you'll have a house full of afids.)

Not Manzanos, but yellow Rocotos here.

Started four plants in April 2016. Set them out in 4-5 gallon pails in late May. Slow growers, but by early August, they were by far my largest pepper plants. They only produced a handful of pods in late August, which I had to ripen indoors. I overwintered two of them. They did poorly all summer long and I got zero pods. They were in containers in the early season, then in ground with morning sun later on. They've started looking better in the last few weeks, but frost will kill them almost any day now.

Next season, I'll be starting new plants in February or so, as I think they'll prefer our typical June weather to set fruits.

My overwintered manzano is blooming! I believe it is a three year old plant, outside in a pot, left to it's own devices last winter. Tag says "Peron" and "Rocoto", and 68 days as well, and in three years I believe I have gotten three fruit (all the same year). I hope my fellow pepper-philes can appreciate this sad picture.

Hope it's okay to park this here.

Manzano Pepper: The Apple Chili

Hey nanelle, I hope your plant does well. C.pubescens sure seem to be tricky.

I ended-up starting my Rocotos on Jan 1st this year. Four of them are now out in 5/6 gallon containers. It's a bit early for my season, but they started to look "sad" indoors, so I think I had little choice. They haven't done much since, but I think new shoots are starting to form out of the nodes, hopefully they grow big and produce at least some pods this year.

Manzano

Here's a link that might be interesting.

Pepperscale on Rocoto Pepper

"Aren’t manzano peppers and rocoto peppers the same thing?

There is some confusion surrounding these two chilies. They both come from the same cultivated variety (cultivar) Capsicum Pubescens and are therefore closely related. The Pubescens cultivar has many unique characteristics – like dark seeds, meaty and juicy walls, and beautifully flowering plants with hairy leaves – which these two chilies share.

But the rocoto is cultivated much further south than the manzano, in the reaches of the Andes mountains, and it can take on shapes beyond the apple-like manzano, some even looking pear-like. Then there’s that heat difference where the rocoto can surprise with up to ten times the heat of the manzano."

I just recently found out about Manzanos, their preference for shade & their tolerance for cooler temperatures. I went to an open air market that same day & (fate is weird) I found some orange ones! They were quite large compared to other descriptions here & had a bit of a bulge near the top. Compared to other peppers, there was a distinct fruitiness, along with cayenne-like heat. I saved seeds from the largest one & they're currently in paper towel. I know the timing is weird, but I'm hoping prudent grow light use will give me a head start. PNW here & my apartment balcony isn't sunny enough for my reaper, cayenne, cherry bomb, paper lantern, ghost, Peter & mustard habs. Super excited to try Manzanos with their beautiful flowers.

If you happen to be in the PNW, I found these in Everett, WA in the open air market on Broadway. The market is called Country Farms & I'm not sure who their supplier is.

Would you want to swap any of your Manzano seeds, Amy?

I've never seen the little bulge on top. Interesting. I am in Connecticut, and raise them in pots so I can take them inside at frost time.

Amy: Would you be interested in trading some orange seeds for some of my reds ones?

John A

Hmmm, I may need to go back to that market & get some more fruits. I do have some seeds, but I sent 2 of the three peppers with my fiance to see how well they dry in his dehydrator. I'd be happy to share and trade seeds. The four I have in wet paper towel right now haven't had time to germinate yet, but they looked viable. I'll go to Everett & see what they have at the market today.

This is really late in the season to be planting unless you get no frost or freeze at all. They are very long season peppers. I tried to dehydrate them once and they came out so hard that they broke my grinder.

John A

Patience is a must with Manzano peppers. They can be finicky. If you're up for a swap, hit me up at gratefulseedsaver@gmail.com. I have a couple hundred pepper varieties and 500+ heirloom/O-P tomato varieties for swapping. Thanks. Positive Vibrations...

I'm just trying to start some now to see how they do, then I plan to overwinter them for a head start next year. Anything I can start now is an experament. For dehydrating I wonder if slicing them very thin first would help.

That might.

Well, I probably won't have much luck with those orange manzanos. I went to cut up some I bought today I found a sticker saying they're from Mexico & are irradiated. I should have asked questions instead of believing the sign that said the various pepper varieties in that area were local. Oh well. I'll probably try to germinate a bunch just in case one manages to sprout, but I think I'm probably going to end up buying a seed pack from Pepper Joe's when he gets some in.

So no manzano seeds for me to trade at this point, but maybe next year.

I did get two fruit so far, and for some reason, a recent flurry of flowers. It's been 90's to 100's, so not sure what brought it on. Maybe it will set some fruit! I can dream.

Sorry you had to experience 'shady' folks at a Farmer's Market. What a shame.

If the temps drop you'll possibly get a nice crop. A lot of plants will flower in 90+ temps, but won't set fruit. Peppers and tomatoes are are notorious for this type of behavior in high temps.

Update!

Hey Nanelle_gw, want to seed swap? gratefulseedsaver@gmail.com

Sure! I'll have to follow up with you after the holidays.

Awesome! Thank You! ENJOY the holidays!!!

gratefulseedsaver (Mike); are you still wanting seeds? I've been looking at some I've saved on a table for weeks!

Here is the plant, among others, still outside in a makeshift low tunnel.



Yes. I most definitely would like some of your pepper seeds! I very much appreciate your kindness and generosity! What would you like in return? Here’s my email address (gratefulseedsaver@gmail.com). I have a seed list if you want to swap other seeds, too. Thank You for contacting me! Have a great weekend! Positive Vibrations...Mike

Nanelle_gw - I’d love to have a few of those manzano seeds. Have you got any left?

Yes, I do.

I found orange Manzanos at a Safeway today (in Bothell, WA). I was very surprised, they had quite a few varieties of peppers, and even striped and green eggplants. I know it's probably too late to start them now, but I did put some seeds in a wet paper towel anyway, as an experiment. The seeds are black, so fingers crossed!

According to the sticker, they are from Melissa's

here is the producer

nanelle_gw - Do you still have orange Manzano seed? Would you consider trading for some red ones?

ps: I couldn't figure out how to send you a personal email.

John A

Those look really good. I got zero germination this year. I guess my seed got too old.

John A

Those do look good, Nanelle. When I grew them, I found that they refused to set pods until the weather cooled off significantly...and then it was kinda late for them to ripen in time. However, they did overwinter really well.

Josh

Peruvian red rocoto is easier to grow.

This is my four or five year old plant in 2020 . for some reason I can't seem to post except from this desktop computer.

Is that from the seed I traded to you? If it is, I’m surprised because I got zero germination with mine. I got one good rocoto from the seed you traded to me.

@John A, I can't seem to post on my tablet. did you mean me? I seem to recall buying this plant at a local hardware store several years ago, but I may have shared some seed.