Growing Capsicum flexuosum

[hot.miner]

I stumbled across Capsicum flexuosum recently and I really like that it's not your everyday jalapeno or habanero. For those who are just hearing this, it's a wild species from South America, super rare in cultivation, and has this crazy tolerance for cold that most peppers would just keel over from. The plants get these long, winding, almost vine like branches which ..... kinda makes sense with flexuosum in the name. Enough drooling, I think I really wanna grow this indoors but I'm not very familiar with hydroponic side of things so, anyone here actually grown it out? I'm interested in knowing if the cold tolerance lives up to the hype and if it's worth trying to cross with other varieties and... even if it's just a quirky yard specimen, I feel like it'd be a conversation piece on its own.

 

[OutChiliMe]

Growing those indoors sounds like a cool project! I've heard they're incredibly tough and will easily survive winter temperatures that would kill other peppers, making it a great perennial in a container. I haven't done hydroponics myself, but given its natural vining habit, you might need a decent-sized setup or to prune it aggressively to keep it manageable under lights. I think cross-breeding it can be tricky since this species is genetically isolated from common types. But honestly, even if it stays a quirky specimen, the unique flowers and the novelty alone make it a winner!