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naga morich will not pollinate yet

allenstu

allenstu

So far i have not got my Naga Morich which is starting to flower to hold any peppers yet. I am hand pollinating with a cotton swab. So far no success. Not sure what i can do but be patient i guess. ANy idea the best time to pollinate? Any other advise?
 
A watched kettle never boils. :)
I get worried every year that I'm not getting any pods but they always come through eventually.
 
Patience, early flowers have a tendency to drop on their own. I also wouldn't worry about hand pollinating since chiles self pollinate, but a fan or a good shake may help if the pollen is fertile, and pollination is probably best done in the afternoon.
 
allenstu said:
So far i have not got my Naga Morich which is starting to flower to hold any peppers yet. I am hand pollinating with a cotton swab. So far no success. Not sure what i can do but be patient i guess. ANy idea the best time to pollinate? Any other advise?
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You might be polinating for nothing, if the temps are currently or were too high, the pollen might be sterile.

I pulled these numbers from a good book on growing Peppers.

Optimal temps between 20'C (68F) and 25'C (77F)
Pollen is harmed at temperatures above 30'C (86F)
Pollen is sterile if temps are above 30'C (86F) 15 days prior to anthesis (bloom)

I tested this in my grow room by opening a window and adding a fan that blows in cold air at night and more fans for the day, without adding more light and my plants are fruiting way more under CFLs than they were before.

The real killer of fruit set seems not to be the usual suspects that are mentioned here... I.E. too much Nitrogen, Minerals in Tap Water, not enough light, not enough watering, too much watering, or any of those, but more temperature based.

If the temps are too high the pollen might be sterile, even if the flower happens to set fruit anyway and the nighttime temps are over 24'C (75.2F) then the flower will be aborted and drop regardless of pollination.

If the flower hangs around anyway and the mean temps are lower than 16'C (60.8F) or greater than 32'C (89.6F) then this effects the pollen tube growth in a negative manner, preventing the flower from setting fruit even if viable pollen had pollinated it.

By the way, the time it takes for the pollen to sprout a tube all the way down into the fruit takes anywhere between 6 to 42 hours. So there is plenty of time for a negative event in temperature to rudely interupt this process.

Long story short, keep your temps between 20'C (68F) and 25'C (77F) and you will have no problems with fruiting, assuming the other problems dont crop up :)

If your temps are high now, dont expect pollen viablility to change for up to a week or more since the young flowers may already have been affected.

I noticed when I take my plants from hostile temps under lights to outside, the first week or so of older yet to bloom and already bloomed flowers do not set and drop, and the ones following those set with no problems at all.

Edit: Also, do not use a wet paintbrush/cotten swab/q-tip/etc... water is bad for pollen!

Hope that helps, good luck :)
 
RichardK: That temperature theory is interesting and there may be a lot of lab evidence for it. But it doesn't explain why a lot of flower drop happens in late spring and early summer when it has around 68 to 77°F and why the most pepper plants flower and fruit like hell the whole summer when the temps are in the 80s and 90s.
 
Armadillo said:
RichardK: That temperature theory is interesting and there may be a lot of lab evidence for it. But it doesn't explain why a lot of flower drop happens in late spring and early summer when it has around 68 to 77°F and why the most pepper plants flower and fruit like hell the whole summer when the temps are in the 80s and 90s.
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I tend to believe, FWIW, that it is very species-related. I tend to have a lot of flower drop early in the season and then get a great deal of fruit set by the end of May and June. Most years, I have a nice harvest about the 2nd week of July or so. I also tend to get an even bigger harvest towards the end of Sept and October. I'm in zone 8b and it's hot as hell here in August.

Typically, I grow a lot of chinense varieties and this seems to be the norm for me, both in pots and in the ground.

However, Rocotos have always been a different story and it seems by the time they flower, it's just too hot to pod set and from what I've read, I believe RichardK and and pollen sterility occurs at the elevated temperatures. It does seem to me, in practice anyway, that chinense pollen sterility must occur at very elevated temperatures.

I have no experience with the Naga.

Bob
 
Armadillo said:
RichardK: That temperature theory is interesting and there may be a lot of lab evidence for it. But it doesn't explain why a lot of flower drop happens in late spring and early summer when it has around 68 to 77°F and why the most pepper plants flower and fruit like hell the whole summer when the temps are in the 80s and 90s.
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It makes sense, not a lot of polinating insects early in the year, less sun, more rain, colder night time temps.

In the summer they are in ideal weather, lots of insects, not too much rain, plenty of sun, ideal night time temps, not to mention the plants have grown more by the time summer comes around and have a better chance of holding a decent fruit load.

It's not all temps, BUT temps are the #1 problem IMO.
 
I am growing them indoors since it is too hot outside here in az now with temps around 98-100. They are in two gallon containers in fox farm soil. The plants are beautiful so hopefully they fruit up. I have lots of time. The plan is too keep them going indoors during the summer hear and set out after august. I have two puruvian white habs that are producing nice so hopefully the naga's come through eventually. Night time temps are 77-78 inside.





lee said:
@allenstu. Give some more info. plz:), like temps/light/containersize
Interesting topic ;)
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Planting outside in May is not a option in Phoenix as when it is already 102 out. The plants can't handle the sun and they will wilt if not watched closely. Secondly-- the night time temps are around 72-78 which is pretty warm. We are above normal right now. I do have some bhuts outside that only get late afternoon sun and they seem ok and are really nice and green. I will see how they do but don't expect much until the fall here which is where i should get a bunch of peppers.






Pepper Ridge Farm said:
I bet you would get many more pods if you left your plants outside but placed in the shade. Hand polinating inside just isn't mother nature.
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I had a goronong pods set in early spring here and they were in the shed under a 250w cfl. At night they had a heater but sometimes went below 10 centigrade (50F). Now we are getting whats know here as 'April showers' but in May. April showers basicly means its sunny one minute then it rains then its sunny again. Plants are in the greenhouse and I have lots of small budding plants so im picking a lot off.

Now in England there is genuine excitment about 22 degrees C (71 Fahrenheit) this coming weekend! :lol:
 
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