How to Pollinate Hot Chili Blossoms?

Hi,

I have these hot chili plants growing inside my apartment, and since I am not really yet a giant, yellow-black, full-scale honey bee, I need your assistance in how to pollinate these blossoms. Any assistance? I wouldn't mind illustrations showing me, what part of the blossom is which one and how to do the pollination.

 

OK, when that blossom is fully open, it will have a star-like shape with a cone-shaped structure in the center. Take a small, soft paintbrush (a completely clean one) and gently brush around this cone, then repeat in the other flowers.

Do you know which kind of hot pepper you're growing? Some will require that you pollinate from another plant, and some won't. Others won't require pollination at all.

 

Just a heads up that most species won't cross pollinate.
IE Capsicum chinense won't pollinize C. frutescens and
C. annuum won't pollinize C. baccatum etc.
http://www.springerlink.com/content/gq211m0741325255/
Intraspecific hybrids work well in most cases.
IE Scotch bonnet x Ají dulce (Both C. chinense )

 

Thanks a lot! Will use a brush and try to be a big honey bee, ha ha ha!

And thanks, too, for the cross pollination advise - I indeed play with those ideas... :-)

Any idea how to get to Bhot Jolokia seeds? Nowhere to buy in Jamaica, and Jamaican credit cards aren't accepted on PayPal or Ebay (due to all the fraud attempts here).

I need the Bhot Jolokia because I want to extract the capsaicin (that's even another question about the equipment needed and the How), and to create a number of spicy, hot, and "quite exciting" ultra hot sauces. Jamaica got plenty fruits and vegetables to experiment with. But I would need that Bhot Jolokia first, and then some advise about the capsaicin extraction method and equipment (how best to substitute elements of that equipment)...

 

Alright, just did the first pollination in my life! Let's see, what comes out of it. my brush was used before, but will buy a new brush just for that purpose tomorrow. Hope, the war on the streets has finished by then, between police/army and the criminals (Dudus).

 

Just a note that Amazon sells these seeds. Good luck!

 

Thanks. I tried. But credit cards issued by Jamaican banks are usually not accepted, so I couldn't buy the seeds (and other things) I wanted. I prefer to exchange seeds with others. :-)

 

Sven, send me a PM, I have seeds for Bhut Jolokia and I'd be happy to trade you.