Re: [CH] Chile-Heads Digest V5 #311
Cameron Begg (begg.4@osu.edu)
Fri, 30 Apr 1999 11:30:49 -0500
Hi C-H's,
>This recipe is all well and good but, as an innocent, I must ask as to just
>what ARE grits ?
Porridge made from ground maize. Usually white.
>Um yes it is getting cold now about 10-20C ..........
(Must be a definition of "cold" that I am unfamiliar with!)
>I am writing an article on the the Best Cold tolerant Chillies for a
>garden mag.
>I have observed a characteristic which may be related to your question.
>My plants
>which have the smaller leaves seem to do better in cool parts of the year,
>and are
>more likely to survive a mild winter and come back out of the roots.
I agree with Brent T. that C. pubs. do pretty well but they have large
leaves. However I think the C. annuum var. aviculare (little round and oval
ones) also do OK, and they have small leaves.
>Most C. baccatum cultivars also recover better in Spring than any of the
>other five domesticated chile species from prolonged winter temperatures at
>or no more than 1-2 degrees below freezing.
Did you mean "above" freezing Brent?
>.......... I believe 40 F. for most of the
>night is cold enough to interfere with flowering, above 80 F. for several
>hours a day is too hot, inbetween 40 and 80 is fine, and best is a constant
>temperature of 50-60 'round the clock.
Where they are cultivated in the Andes, the temperature is pretty constant
in the 55-85degF range. Although I am sure they experience the odd mountain
frost.
One thing you have to bear in mind is the soil temperature. In the Autumn,
when the ground is still warm, the plant can resist a frost that it might
succumb to in the Winter when it's roots are close to the air temperature.
>What's wrong with the seeds?
Can cause diverticulosis (Sp.?) which is an irritation of your guts where
the bits get trapped.
>
>Nothing - they're just hotter
>
Wrong! Put on the dunce's cap and stand in the corner!
---
Regards, Cameron.