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mattaurand

Bell Pepper/ Chile Pepper ......Possible??

mattaurand
21 years ago

Hi,

I was wondering if I can graft a bell pepper plant branch to a red chile pepper plant, so I can have 2 varieties on 1 plant. Is this possible?

Thanks-

Matt

Comments (15)

  • ultraeco
    21 years ago

    The eggplant, tomatoe,potatoe, pepper, are all members of the nightshade family . the tomatoe has been grafted on to the potato root stock so anything should be possible. How are your grafting skills.

  • frederico
    21 years ago

    Matt, that should be possible. What may be more interesting is that the peppers will very likely cross, and the sweet bell pepper will have more 'heat' from the chili pepper as a direct result, even before growing out those new seeds.

  • munalos
    21 years ago

    Matt,
    I have grafted peppers. I prefer to keep the grafted pepper indoors and place the seedling and its pot inside a gallon jar. I cover the jar with plastic wrap to give the plant all the humidity it needs. When the plant is ready I slowly introduce it to the dryer air and ultimately transplant it outdoors. I tried to encurage a Capsicum pubesence to flower sooner by putting it on a Capsicum annuum rootstock. I never got the results I hoped for but, I now am able to graft peppers. One of my grafts is going to see its third spring.

    To make a cross between a sweet and hot pepper no grafting is required, though. If you share your garden with others be sure that your breeding efforts do not get made into "mole sauce" or used to garnish a salad.

  • Absent
    21 years ago

    I've had a putative cross - it was from saved seed where bel peppers had grown along side a large number of hot peppers. the fruits were quite small - a little larger than habeneros but smooth skinned. They were mildly hot but unfortunately also incredibly bitter.

    Absent

  • richardk_ny
    14 years ago

    Frederico wrote: "and the sweet bell pepper will have more 'heat' from the chili pepper as a direct result, even before growing out those new seeds."

    That is INCORRECT! You cannot transmit genetic traits (like heat) from one pepper to another from just polinating. The cross between the two happens in the seeds from the resulting fruit. Bell peppers lack the gene to create the chemical that is responsible from the heat, no amount of pollen will change that.

    It is NOT Possible to make a bell pepper hot by polinating it with a hot pepper, unless you grow the resulting seeds, assuming the cross even works.

    If you want to make a cross, find a flower that is about to open, carefully remove the petals and using a small screw driver or a needle, remove the male anthers (purple things) without damaging the center pistle (stamen). You can take and open flower (that has pollen) from the other pepper plant that you are crossing with, carefully remove the petals one by one by pulling them downward, and then carefully rubbing the pollen sacks over the tip of the stamen from the flower that you did surgery on before.

    If the pistle (stamen) falls off, it's too late, remove the flower and try on another.

    The female part of Pepper flowers is receptive BEFORE the flower even opens, while the male parts (anthers) do not produce pollen untill after the flower has opened. So you can be assured that if the flower sets fruit, growing the resulting seeds will indeed be a cross between the two different plants.

    Be sure to mark the stem of the flower with a sharpie so you dont forget where it is. The stem of the flower will be the stem of the pepper, so this is the best place to mark it. Also, it will enlarge quite a bit so be sure to mark it good or wrap some string around it so that you can tell it apart from other fruit.

    Make sure the fruit ripens fully before removing it. Remember that Jalapenos and Green Peppers are immature pods, they turn red when fully ripe, and seeds will not germinate from unripe pods. Next remove the seeds and let them dry 100% before attempting to germinate them.

    NEVER Freeze or Dry the pods before removing the seeds, otherwise they will NOT germinate!

  • c-ray
    14 years ago

    Just out of curiousity why don't the seeds from a dried pepper germinate?

  • len_steege_yahoo_com
    13 years ago

    Is it possible to graft tomatoes plant with a hot pepper plant?

  • keking
    13 years ago

    Len,
    I found one paper on grafting peppers onto tomato rootstocks.
    Karl

    Here is a link that might be useful: Grafting Capsicum to Tomato Rootstocks

  • yukkuri_kame
    12 years ago

    munalos, very interesting grafting the c. pubescens with the capsicum anuum. I have been thinking about trying to cross c. pubescens with a sweet bell pepper, hoping to end up with a moderately hardy perennial sweet pepper. This thread has given me exactly the inspiration to forge ahead, undoubtedly wasting an inordinate amount of time my wife would rather me spend on the honeydew list.

  • jsschrstrcks
    12 years ago

    Richard - it would seem you are not up on the latest science....

    It seems to me that non-chimeric graft hybridization is proving to be a reality. Its been reproduced in Japan, China, Mexico, and here in the USA.

    It is difficult, time consuming, and produces only about 2-22% change from generation to generation, but the results are heritable, and stable.

    I have a few things going now in fact...

    Here is a link that might be useful: google book preview of the relevant info

  • harold59
    11 years ago

    i received a surprise today i have several different kinds of chilies growing right next to several different colored bell peppers and ive noticed there(fruits) not growing very big about half there normal size i picked one today and it was a green bell and it is hot...no dought about it. so i picked a purple one and it is also hot... and there all package seeds i bought from a department store....idk im just saying they've crossed in my garden

  • guyvacho
    11 years ago

    harold59 same thing happened with my peppers only with jalapeno and serrano and the same hot. I have picked a short fat jalapeno and a longer bullet shaped serrano off the same branch. Some of the peppers get about the size of a nickel and turn red, they have a sweet tast when first bitten into then feel like a match head for about 20 minutes. Guy at works claims to eat Ghost peppers but admits my peppers make him sweat. I have a cayenne plant also they are a little hot but real bitter.
    I planted 3 Jalapenos directly in the ground but the serrano I had bought earlier and kept in a pot in the house when it got a pepper I put it outside close to the jalapenos and brought back inside at night after the jalapenos started blooming I planted the serrano about 5 feet away. the serrano only has serrano looking peppers on it, but they are dark green before turning red. in the spring i'm going to add a bell pepper.

  • yukkuri_kame
    11 years ago

    If anyone has seeds of a cross between c annum and c pubescens, I'd love to get my hands on some.

  • Altito
    10 years ago

    I read an article about a man who actually made a cross of tomato and tobacco plant (both nightshades); he got the idea from the simpsons cartoon. The rationale behind this is that the roots of tobacco are what produces the nicotine, so by grafting a tomato top to tobacco bottom, the roots provided nicotine for the aerial tomato parts. I'm not sure how much truth there is to this, but it sparks an idea. graft sweet pepper top onto a hot peppers root stem. perhaps the hot pepper roots will send heat up to the sweet pepper top including peppers?

  • yukkuri_kame
    10 years ago

    I suppose it's possible, Altito.

    As far as I'm concerned, the main advantage of grafting a sweet bell onto something like c. pubescens would be a hardier perennial rootstock to support the more tender c. annum.

    I missed out on sowing sweet peppers because I was out of the country for a month in spring when I should have been planting. Meanwhile, my yellow rocoto keeps pumping out peppers in it's second season. It would be ridiculously wonderful to have a sweeter version of this thing. Only so many hot peppers I can eat - even though the rocoto isn't even that hot.

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