Topic: Are chillies promiscuous?

[RobinOfTheHood]

I'm asking as I'd like to save some seed from the Fatalii that was grown in close proximity to some other varieties - Numex Twilight, Cayenne, Apache f1 and A N Other (10p from B and Q, bargain!).
 
Muchly recommended by the way, plenty of heat but plenty of flavour too. 

[galina]

They are self pollinating, but subject to being pollinated by other varieties too.  Promiscuous, I am afraid yes they are.

[RobinOfTheHood]

Thanks galina, I just found this: http://www.thechileman.org/guide_seedsaving.php

Male/female   C. Annuum    C. Baccatum   C. Chinense   C. Frutescens   C.Pubescens
C. Annuum   Prolific           Sporadic           Prolific           Sporadic           Not At All
C. Baccatum   Sporadic           Prolific           Sporadic           Sporadic           Not At All
C. Chinense   Prolific           Sporadic           Prolific           Sporadic           Not At All
C. Frutescens   Sporadic          Sporadic           Sporadic           Prolific           Not At All
C.Pubescens   Not At All          Not At All           Not At All           Not At All           Prolific

As Fatalii is Chinense and the rest are Annuum I guess I'll have to overwinter my single plant again, and maybe isolate it next year.

Or buy some new seed.....

[BarriedaleNick]

How was the Fatalii to grow and in terms of number of fruit.

Goodlife sent me some Fatalii Gourmet Aji Fantasy seeds and they did really well - easy to grow, very prolific with the fruit and a great taste/heat combo.  I'm looking for something similar this year for a new one to grow..

[RobinOfTheHood]

I grew 4 plants last year, with minimal return - they are a late and slow variety. I attempted to overwinter them all but only one survived. It did pretty well this year, not a massive return but certainly worthwhile, maybe 30 fruit from a middling sized plant, 2 to 2 and a half inches long and an inch to an inch and a half across. And with the heat they possess I'll use far fewer of them than I would a milder variety - I'm still using four year old Scotch Bonnets from the freezer.

I'll certainly grow them again, they make a great alternative to the likes of Habanero.

[BarriedaleNick]

Yes the Fantasy were a little late and some haven't properly ripened but I put that down to poor judgement on my part as they went out too early and could have done with a little more time in a protected environment. Very odd as well that one plant seemed to produce almost white fruit - normally they go green to yellow but these came out very pale and not one fruit has gone yellow.  Still quite warm but the chili powder I plan to make from them may look a tad odd!

[RobinOfTheHood]

Mine are very yellow. And quite a few are still to ripen, whether or not they do is another matter.