Protocols and Grower Resources

Participant expectations

We welcome gardeners with a variety of experience levels and gardening systems. Participating in the Canyon City Pepper Project as a research collaborator does come with some expectations for the sake of the project. Participants are expected to: 

• Remove plants that aren't performing well in our climate so that they don't contribute more pollen to future generations of seed,

• Save seeds from 3 or more peppers (if needed to get at least 25 seeds) from each plant meeting the selection criteria and return them for next year's continued selection work,

• Isolate other peppers that are not known to be in the public domain or OSSI-pledged by a minimum of 30 feet from Canyon City Pepper Project peppers, and

• Isolate superhot chiles by a minimum of 30 feet from Canyon City Pepper Project peppers.

Basic grower protocol

This section describes the minimum growing requirements and data collection we would like from all of our participants.

Starting Seeds

Many participants will choose to receive started plants. If you receive seeds:

Peppers are notorious for being slow to germinate and subject to fungal diseases that affect emerging plants. The commercial standard is to start seeds indoors with bottom heat maintaining 80 to 90 degrees F until emergence in 1 to 3 weeks. We recommend starting your seeds indoors using a well-draining potting mix that is moist but not dripping. Plant seeds in reused nursery 6 packs, repurposed egg cartons, or other small containers. If you are using plastic egg cartons or containers, punch a hole in the bottom of each cell to allow extra water to drain.

Fill containers with potting mix, and lightly compact to remove large air pockets. Use a small stick, pencil, or your finger to poke a hole about 1/4 inch deep in the potting mix. Put one seed in each hole, and cover it with soil.

You may choose to use keep your planted seeds in a warm place in your house that maintains temperatures at least 70 degrees F OR to use a heat mat to maintain temperatures around 80 degrees F until seedlings emerge. At cooler temperatures, germination will be slower (allow 3-4 weeks), and germination rates may be lower. However, selecting for germination at lower temperatures will reduce the need for extra heat in future generations. Check every few days to ensure that the soil remains just moist. Covering the trays with a plastic cover or container, or even an old sheet or kitchen towel will reduce evaporation.

Once seedlings emerge, place them in bright light. This can be in a sunny, south-facing window, in a greenhouse, or under a plant light. During warm weather, you may even bring them outside during the day. Continue to monitor the plants every few days, and water as needed to keep the soil moist (but not soggy). Your plants will be ready to transplant out when they have at least 4 true leaves and days are consistently warm (at least 70 degrees in the afternoon).

Write down the date when you plant your seeds and the conditions you use for germination and seedling growth on your grower record.

Selecting a place for your baby plants

Your plants will need a sunny location - at least 6 hours a day of full sun, preferably more. If you are planting them in pots, use pots at least 12 inches in diameter, and place one plant in each pot. If you are planting in large containers (like half barrels), raised beds, or in the ground, space plants between 8 and 12 inches apart. This is closer than many people recommend for chiles, but closer spacing will encourage insects to cross-pollinate between plants. Cluster all of your Canyon City Chile plants together in your garden. Isolate superhot chiles and peppers that are not known to be in the public domain or OSSI-pledged at least 30 feet from your Canyon City Chiles.

Planting your baby plants

When you are ready to transplant your baby plants into the ground or containers, plant them so that the soil level around the stem is unchanged, and use your hands to pat the soil around the rootball. If you add mulch to reduce evaporation and weeds, keep it a few inches back from the stem to reduce insects feasting on your plants. Write down the date you transplant your baby plants on your grower record.

Irrigation and fertilization

Your irrigation and fertilization strategy will depend on your personal gardening style. Common irrigation strategies include hand watering, soaker hoses or drip irrigation, and ollas. If you are planning to use soaker hoses, drip irrigation, or ollas for the first time, don't forget to set them up before planting, or at least before your plants get too big. Typically in our climate, summer irrigation is necessary between one and three times a week. Plants growing in containers or raised beds may need more frequent (even daily) irrigation during periods of particularly hot weather. While we don't specify an irrigation method, we do recommend that you have a plan before starting the season.

Many gardeners incorporate soil amendments (such as commercial fertilizer granules, compost, worm casings, or fish emulsion) in the planting area immediately prior to planting. Other gardeners apply compost to the surface once or twice a year. We aren't particular about which (if any) strategy you use.

Cross Pollination

Pepper flowers are capable of self pollination, and some of the seeds in each pepper are very likely to be self-pollinated. Planting your peppers close together - so close that some branches will overlap into the neighboring plant's space - will encourage insects to move pollen between plants. It is OK to allow this process to happen and not make any special efforts for hand pollination.

If you would like to hand pollinate a cross, here is a video demonstrating the process. Based on our experience last year, we strongly recommend doing hand pollination during weeks when high temperatures don't get above 90 degrees. You'll need tweezers, a magnifying glass, and qtips or a small paintbrush to move pollen grains. If you don't have access to tags with thread loops, folding a piece of masking tape over the stem to make a flag works well. Also, make sure to use a non-waterbased pen or marker - a sharpie or an old-style ballpoint pen to write on your label (not a gel pen).

Selection

Selecting and roguing out plants is one of the hardest steps for many experienced gardeners who are making their first forays into plant breeding and creating modern landraces. We’ve practiced keeping plants alive at all cost for years, and removing poorly-performing plants or plants that don’t meet our criteria for performance, growth habit, or flavor feels like a personal failure. You may have already lost half of your plants. The first year of the Canyon City Chili Project, we seeded 200 plants, transplanted out 50, harvested fruit from 40, and saved seed from 15. The very first chile that set on was lost to sunscald, so we removed the whole plant. It was brutal! Over the next 5 years, the number of plants that meet our criteria to save will increase.

As a researcher in this project, you get to influence the traits we select for! The primary selection goal for this project is to select for plants that mature chiles without losses to sunscald. If you see sunscald on a chile and afternoon temperatures have been below 100 degrees, remove the plant. If you see sunscald and it has been over 100 degrees, you may decide if the plant has qualities worth keeping (such as exceptional flavor or productivity) or if it should be removed.

Because selection for heat tolerance is a primary goal of the project, don't put up shade cloth or other protections. Plants that are generally struggling should not get special treatment.

At this stage of the breeding process, flavor is not a primary consideration. However, if there is a plant with a horrible flavor, you may choose to remove it.

Harvesting

Before you have your first taste test, pause to make sure you have a plan for saving seeds. If you enjoy green (i.e., immature) peppers, clearly label some of the first peppers on each plant as “for seed” so they don’t accidentally get picked too early. Carol Deppe (Breed Your Own Vegetable Varieties) recommends using last-year’s Christmas tinsel. In our garden, we use caution tape. Whatever your method, the more obvious the better.

If you’re planning to consume your peppers red (or yellow, orange, or brown, depending on their mature color) or leave them on the plant to dry, the seeds will be mature enough to save from every pepper as you prepare it for eating. 

The harvesting process for peppers is straightforward: when they reach your preferred maturity, twist them off the plant or snip them with garden scissors. Eat them on the spot or bring them in to prepare in your favorite recipe.

Saving Seeds

Saving seeds from peppers is a relatively simple process and allows consumption of the fruit. Allow peppers to mature on the plant until they begin to wrinkle (at or slightly past prime for eating fresh) or fully dry (preferred). Remove the seeds from the pepper and spread in a warm, dry but not hot (less than 95 degrees F) spot to dry completely. A jar lid or coffee filter are good options. Remove bits of placenta (the white-ish fleshy part) or stem or other debris. Don’t forget to wear gloves while removing seeds from hot peppers! (Or wash your hands very thoroughly after handling. Capsaicin, the compound that gives peppers their heat, is easily transferred to the skin.) Save all of the seeds from at least 3 peppers from each plant that met the selection critera to return for next year's Canyon City Chile growout. If a plant has very few seeds in each pepper, save seeds from enough peppers to get 20 seeds.

Once seeds are fully dry, seal them in a plastic bag or glass jar. Store the seeds in a cool, dry place, until you are ready to return them. We'll have an end-on-season event in September, or you may return them directly to the APU Community Garden. Label them with your name (or group name).

Record on your grower log how many plants you saved seeds from. You may enter your data electronically here, or return the hard copy along with your seeds.

Additional investigations

Traditional and modern landraces rely on a suite of adaptations to cope with the environmental stresses of their region. We are investigating a series of readily-observable traits to determine if they may be related to sunburn resistance.

Germination in cool temperatures (60 to 65 degrees F): germination in cooler temperatures potentially facilitates both maturing of fruits in advance of the hottest, driest conditions of the summer and increased canopy development in advance of extreme conditions

Earliness: fruits maturing earlier in the season are less exposed to the hottest conditions of mid- to late-summer

Extreme lateness: fruits maturing late in the fall (assuming the plant survived the hottest summer conditions) are also less exposed to the hottest conditions

Short flower-to-mature fruit period: fruits developing more rapidly are exposed to heat for fewer days

Leaf size and canopy density: larger and more dense leaves help shade fruits, reducing the temperature around the fruits and protecting them from sunscald