Omelet wrote:
> In article >,
> Sonoran Dude > wrote:


> You can see the dead growth in the background. I was afraid to trim it
> off because with these bushes, sometimes it's hard to tell and new
> growth will spring out from what looks like dead branches.
>
> This bush is several years old now and produces hundreds of fruits per
> year about the size of my pinky fingernail. :-) The Cocaktoo is the
> lucky recipient of many of them. Good source of C which birds need.

Nice looking bush... you must be in a cooler climate to have fruit this
early in the season. The Sonoran monsoon rains are rumbling in the
distance as I type and we should have showers every night for the next
few weeks. My bush will transform to twice it's size and blossom around
September and the small fruit will be ready by Nov-Dec.

This guy was only about 8 inches tall when I found him. I didn't think
he made the cross-town trip in the middle of the summer heat 3 years
ago. It looked like he was totally dead but put him in the same distance
from a north facing wall where I found him and he was alive and kicking
in a week. I've never fertilized him other than letting the pack-rats
nest under him and the occasional dead bird carcass from messy owls and
hawks. My soil is native desert so he seems to be happy.

I know it's time to pick when I see Red Cardinals hanging out on the
wall behind the bush. As you can see I don't protect him from freezing,
don't trim him much unless a dead branch is in the way of my picking and
don't baby him. The flavor from this fruit is unbelievably delicious
with a thrilling burn that is nothing like the imported chiltepin from
Chihuahua. I collect about 1 or 2 oz of chiltepin and they last me most
of the year. Looking at the size of him now I should double that
quantity this year. At this time there is not one single blossom even
beginning to bud.

Here is the link to my ugly bush... It's about 108 degrees in the
shade... just the way he likes it. I'm not sure what sex he is but his
name is George.

http://www.desktoptrouble.com/chiltepin.jpg