Bonsai Habs...2nd generation

[bentalphanerd]

Comparison pic at 3 months from seed.

http://www.linksdisk.com/scoville/pics/Hab_bons_comp.jpg

http://www.linksdisk.com/scoville/pics/Hab_bons_1.jpg

The parent "is" the orange pod in my Avatar ... very hot

[Shooty*]

You get bonsai squirrels with that?

[bentalphanerd]

Sure do Shooty - they fit on a toothpick, we call them orderves.

[Shooty*]

V good :)

The proof of your pudding, perhaps, is going to be when the fruit arrive... whether the fruit is midget or not... Willard, as in many things in life, is the expert here.

How do you go about making in Bonsai-ish?

[chilliman64]

do bonsai plants produce miniature fruit?

[Flex]

No

[bentalphanerd]

The pods are the same size as larger plants - I did find on the first batch that the color was much deeper ( from yellow to dark orange) & i think they were hotter.

Not a lot to bonsai these things - keep them in a small pot. When they start to get root bound, or roots coming out the bottom, take them out and trim the roots back to about 2" from the stem. Repot in same container with fresh soil. You can also trim back the branches, but then you will get less pods.

**They make great pets this way ;)

[chilliman64]

The pods are the same size as larger plants - I did find on the first batch that the color was much deeper ( from yellow to dark orange) & i think they were hotter.

Not a lot to bonsai these things - keep them in a small pot. When they start to get root bound, or roots coming out the bottom, take them out and trim the roots back to about 2" from the stem. Repot in same container with fresh soil. You can also trim back the branches, but then you will get less pods.

**They make great pets this way ;)

very cool! I have some Peach Habanero seeds I might try to bonsai one later in the year. I'll keep it on my desk at work :cool:

[bentalphanerd]

I have one perched outside my office window. Window planter boxes are expensive...I use a $2 shower caddy hooked onto the security grill.

[chilliman64]

I have one perched outside my office window. Window planter boxes are expensive...I use a $2 shower caddy hooked onto the security grill.

great tip 'nerd! I can't get the window open at work so I'll have to use my window seat to my advantage

[Txclosetgrower]

Great idea man! I have a spare habanero I picked up from a nursery that I didn't use cause it was in a peat pot instead of a plastic one, and the roots had already started to poke through. I didn't want to use the peat pot one in the coco coir, since I was trying to wash as much of the dirt off before transplanting into it. Right now its in the peat pot suspended in a 18 oz drinking cup to keep the roots off the ground. I think I may just toss some dirt in the bottom of said cup since roots are already poking through and just dangling in the air. Bonsai windowsil habs, mmmmm......

One question about root pruning:
Do you wash off the roots prior to pruning them? Also, I assume you never prune the tap root at all...but I know jack shit about root pruning thats why i'm asking :)

[bentalphanerd]

Great idea man! I have a spare habanero I picked up from a nursery that I didn't use cause it was in a peat pot instead of a plastic one, and the roots had already started to poke through. I didn't want to use the peat pot one in the coco coir, since I was trying to wash as much of the dirt off before transplanting into it. Right now its in the peat pot suspended in a 18 oz drinking cup to keep the roots off the ground. I think I may just toss some dirt in the bottom of said cup since roots are already poking through and just dangling in the air. Bonsai windowsil habs, mmmmm......

One question about root pruning:
Do you wash off the roots prior to pruning them? Also, I assume you never prune the tap root at all...but I know jack shit about root pruning thats why i'm asking :)

No washing just shake them loose a bit (they're fairly tied together) comb the fingers through roots a bit & trim away with very sharp secateurs. - Including tap root. The plant will start to die from that moment, so get it repotted fast & give it a good watering & dose of sunlight. Like I say the Habs are very hardy plants. May need to prop them up a bit with a stick for a few days after trimming as they want to fall over, but they get a hold again quickly.

[willard3]

do bonsai plants produce miniature fruit?


Actually, the fruit do get smaller with cloned plants. This is a 4 gen cloned purira that is 9 yrs old in the photo. Cloning has much the same effect as bonsai, you just don't have to prune much.

With every clone generation, the fruit gets smaller and more picante.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v510/willard3/purira-1.jpg

[Pam]

[QUOTE=willard3;24653]Actually, the fruit do get smaller with cloned plants. This is a 4 gen cloned purira that is 9 yrs old in the photo. Cloning has much the same effect as bonsai, you just don't have to prune much.

With every clone generation, the fruit gets smaller and more picante.

Clone? Are you talking about rooting cuttings or actual tissue culture?

[imaguitargod]

[QUOTE=willard3;24653]Clone? Are you talking about rooting cuttings or actual tissue culture?
He's talking about cuttings.

Hey Wilard, you've beeen using the same pictures for a year or two now, got any new ones?

[xgrafcorex]

great tip 'nerd! I can't get the window open at work so I'll have to use my window seat to my advantage

at least you have a window. :P my view at work is some plaid wall paper that looks like it was designed in the 70s or 80s. well besides my monitor. i really have to bring my car calendar in there.


thats pretty cool about cloning plants. i didn't realize you could do that with peppers and wind up with smaller, spicier peppers. well i've never even grown peppers yet, so i guess that says a bit. i have some jalapeño seeds though. just haven't gotten around to it yet. i think i can grow all year down here or at least most of the time.

[imaguitargod]

i think i can grow all year down here or at least most of the time.

be careful though, your are in a very moist climate and peppers have a hard time with loads of water.

[bentalphanerd]

anyone for table tennis - http://www.linksdisk.com/scoville/pics/bonsai_chilli.jpg

[imaguitargod]

anyone for table tennis - http://www.linksdisk.com/scoville/pics/bonsai_chilli.jpg

That thing's awesome!

[willard3]

Clone? Are you talking about rooting cuttings or actual tissue culture?

If you check Webster, a cutting is a clone.

[habman]

If you check Webster, a cutting is a clone.

How does one go about making clones?
Would cutting a branch and putting it in rockwool in an Ebb& flow work?

[Pam]

If you check Webster, a cutting is a clone.

Well, but one building over from where I work they're doing plant cloning with lots of fancy equipment and chemicals and tissue culture and stuff, and I find it pretty fascinating, so I thought I'd ask.

[Pam]

With every clone generation, the fruit gets smaller and more picante.

This still intrigues me. Do you think it's an artifact of the bonsai process, or would it happen with plants rooted off a series of regular-sized pepper plants?

[bentalphanerd]

The site where I got the ping-pong pic from (I can't find it now, had that pic for ages) had said that the leaves were getting smaller by one third every generation. He was trimming roots and stems to reduce the growth, as well as the tight confines of that tiny pot. He also said the pods didn't change size.

[Pam]

The site where I got the ping-pong pic from (I can't find it now, had that pic for ages) had said that the leaves were getting smaller by one third every generation. He was trimming roots and stems to reduce the growth, as well as the tight confines of that tiny pot. He also said the pods didn't change size.

huh

I wonder if that's what happens with bonsai trees? Must do research!

[willard3]

This still intrigues me. Do you think it's an artifact of the bonsai process, or would it happen with plants rooted off a series of regular-sized pepper plants?

What I do is clone a full-size plant and then clone the clone and so on.....keeps making smaller plants and fruits. I don't know what the limit is and I only have data on chiles.

Seem to work best with cap annuums, but also works with chinenses (tangerine bell below).

It's a great way to keep chile plants small for a small growing space.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v510/willard3/TANGBG3.jpg

[bentalphanerd]

Willard - I have never tried cloning, only bonsai. for me the pods stayed the same size and got a deeper color. My Habs went to deep orange (as in my avatar) yours seem to get paler. I'll need a few more generations to get some solid facts down. 2nd generation are flowering now @ about 5" high & much less leaves than yours. Are they the roots over the bench there?

[bentalphanerd]

This is definitely worth pursuing. I'm currently bonsai-ing my whole range for indoors safe keeping over the winter.

[willard3]

Are they the roots over the bench there?


Yes, those are the roots....I grow in aeroponics.

[bentalphanerd]

http://www.linksdisk.com/scoville/pics/office_pets_sml.jpg

BIGGER PIC (http://www.linksdisk.com/scoville/pics/office_pets.jpg)

my office window pets - front left front is 2 birdseye, flowering at 3" tall (1 root trim). next to it is a Hab flowering at 6"(2 root trims) - at the back is another Hab ripening pods 8 1/2"(1 root trim).

The Hab I left alone (but seed came from a bonsai) is 12" high, 16" across and has 25 ripening pods on it. Woohoo :onfire:

[habman]

Does anyone have a link that explains what happens to the plant when it's cloned?
I always though that a clone makes an exact copy of the parent without any change to size or fruits of the clone.

I want to try this with a tomato plant any idea if it would work?

[Flex]

Yeh it will work, i have done it heaps, have a look here http://www.geocities.com/WallStreet/District/9046/hydro/cloner.htm

this is a great idea that i have made and it works wonders for me. Oh and no the clone will be exactly like the parent.

[Turkey]

Im facinated!

Wow!! PEPPERS ROCK!!!

[POTAWIE]

Tomatoes are simple, just take side shoots and bury them in the shade and keep them moist. Peppers are a little trickier but not that difficult. I have not noticed pods being any different on the cloned plants although Willard mentioned that they may get more picante and smaller. The overall structure of the plant will be different than a seed plant, likely more bushy but may need extra support for bigger plants.